Official Radeon 7970 Reviews Thread

[OVerLoRDI]

Hopefully EK and the other block manufacturers are able to get cards before hard launch. It would be sweet to have the card watercooled from day 1. 1.3Ghz maybe??

Definitely could be amazing.

I think I'm going to skip on the $550 entry fee for the 7970. I'd have to get two of them for it to be a solid upgrade (buying 1 would be a downgrade), plus waterblocks... That is getting close to $1400.

Maybe after NVidia drops Kepler, or AMD offers a respin.

 

[SHAQ]

meh. 25% faster than a 580. An OC'd 580 will almost tie it. Nvidia will destroy this card with their release. I believe Nvidia will only release the 768 shader card as that will be plenty to beat the 7970 (25%+). The rumored 1024 shader card will be the refresh unless AMD has a faster card in the works.

 

[AnandThenMan]

You also have to take in the context of 40nm Fermi going head-to-head with ATI's 40nm DirectX 11 hardware. -- and --- the 28 nm DirectX 11. 1 7970 is going head-to-head with nVidia's current 40nm DirectX 11 generation GTX 580.

The only context you need to be concerned with is what is available from the respective GPU makers, and how they perform for the power draw/cost. It doesn't matter what node, or memory interface or anything else.

 

[Awkward]

meh. 25% faster than a 580. An OC'd 580 will almost tie it. Nvidia will destroy this card with their release. I believe Nvidia will only release the 768 shader card as that will be plenty to beat the 7970 (25%+). The rumored 1024 shader card will be the refresh unless AMD has a faster card in the works.

And if you OC the 7970 it's not even a contest. Also, when is kepler scheduled to be released?

Oh, that's right, none even in sight. Fanboys are ridiculous.

 

[hans030390]

Not sure why anyone is disappointed by the 7970. Large performance increase over the GTX 580, same price range, more power efficient, etc.

I understand it's not as crazy impressive as the 5870 launch, but I was still very impressed by the reviews I've read.

 

[GaiaHunter]

Yeah, 25% over a previous gen card in a smaller nod is so crappy.

 

[SHAQ]

And if you OC the 7970 it's not even a contest. Also, when is kepler scheduled to be released?

Oh, that's right, none even in sight. Fanboys are ridiculous.

Maybe debate the points next time instead of throwing useless inflammatory accusations around. The point is it isn't much faster than the old gen from Nvidia. It runs cooler with slightly less power consumption but doesn't break new ground in performance.

 

[Madcatatlas]

What arguments? That nvidia will destroy this card with a rumored 1024 part? Have you spent even a moments thought as to how they will double the specs of complicated fermi arch? To me it seems your post is the inflammatory one.

 

[Sind]

meh. 25% faster than a 580. An OC'd 580 will almost tie it. Nvidia will destroy this card with their release. I believe Nvidia will only release the 768 shader card as that will be plenty to beat the 7970 (25%+). The rumored 1024 shader card will be the refresh unless AMD has a faster card in the works.

Eh? Maybe take a look at the HardOCP review with a 3GB OC 580, I wouldn't call that anywhere near a tie.

 

[OVerLoRDI]

Eh? Maybe take a look at the HardOCP review with a 3GB OC 580, I wouldn't call that anywhere near a tie.

Gotcha!

 

[PCboy]

meh. 25% faster than a 580. An OC'd 580 will almost tie it. Nvidia will destroy this card with their release. I believe Nvidia will only release the 768 shader card as that will be plenty to beat the 7970 (25%+). The rumored 1024 shader card will be the refresh unless AMD has a faster card in the works.

Must be painful having two of the world's second-fastest single GPU/single card solutions. Let alone six more months of it. Chin up. It'll be okay soon. ^_^

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

anyone think of the HASH RATE POTENTIAL on this sucker???

 

[blackened23]

I've seen estimates ranging from 2-7 months. :\

2nd half 2012 at best. It only recently taped out and a product release takes 8 months+ after tapeout, *if* the prototypes are validated.

That said, I would certainly love for nvidia to release an answer sooner. I don't think its going to happen before the August 2012 timeframe, however. We know that kepler only recently taped out and there are to date no prototypes.

 

[AnandThenMan]

August 2012 for Kepler? That seems too far out, is Nvidia really that far behind? I have my doubts...

 

[nsavop]

meh. 25% faster than a 580. An OC'd 580 will almost tie it. Nvidia will destroy this card with their release. I believe Nvidia will only release the 768 shader card as that will be plenty to beat the 7970 (25%+). The rumored 1024 shader card will be the refresh unless AMD has a faster card in the works.

Agreeded 25% increase for a new generation with a full nod shrink is disappointing but I think overall when you factor in power efficiency, perf/watt, and OC potential it starts to look better.

Everyone comparing it to a GTX 580 use some common sense and think of the big picture, Tahiti will compete with Kepler not fermi (yes I know Kepler is no where in sight) but do you really think 10-30% improvement will hold up when Kepler is released in the comming months.

There's no denying 25% faster then a 580 is on the low end of most peoples expectations for a full node shrink.

 

[Flipped Gazelle]

Everyone comparing it to a GTX 580 use some common sense and think of the big picture, Tahiti will compete with Kepler not fermi (yes I know Kepler is no where in sight) but do you really think 10-30% improvement will hold up when Kepler is released in the comming months.

The current 7970 most likely won't have to compete with Kepler (GTX 680). Unless Kepler is released within the next couple of months, AMD will have a different card (7970 MkII? 7980?) for that.

 

[nsavop]

2nd half 2012 at best. It only recently taped out and a product release takes 8 months+ after tapeout, *if* the prototypes are validated.

That said, I would certainly love for nvidia to release an answer sooner. I don't think its going to happen before the August 2012 timeframe, however. We know that kepler only recently taped out and there are to date no prototypes.

Kepler taped out in September so if you say 8 months that puts it at late Q1 to early Q2. That coincides with recent rumors of GK104 (560ti replacement) in Q1 and GK100 (580 replacement) in Q2.

 

[96Firebird]

So if everyone is talking about another card coming out in a couple of months, why would you get the 7970 now?

 

[Silverforce11]

Kepler taped out in September so if you say 8 months that puts it at late Q1 to early Q2. That coincides with recent rumors of GK104 (560ti replacement) in Q1 and GK100 (580 replacement) in Q2.

Yep, assuming no problems with the first tapeout.

Any requiring respins add 3 months to that.

Now, do you have confidence NV's first tapeout has no issues? If so, then you can expect a late Q1 release for gk104. Otherwise its late Q2 (where rumors point to).

Then factor in GK100, with its proposed 1024 CUDA cores (double gtx580), with added Kepler features. How big do you think that is? Obviously bigger than gtx580's 520mm2. I'm expecting 600mm2 on the realistic side. Do you think making a 600mm2 die on a brand new process at TSMC with so much flaws is easy? If gk104 requires a single respin, gk100 is going to need at least 1 as well, more likely 2. Think about it.

Ofcourse, there's a chance NV will risk it and not do respins, sell crippled chips to bring it to market faster. They've done it before. But if they do that, performance targets will drop.

 

[Flipped Gazelle]

So if everyone is talking about another card coming out in a couple of months, why would you get the 7970 now?

We aren't talking a couple (2) months, more like 6-ish. Some people want the newest shiny toy before that.

 

[nsavop]

Yep, assuming no problems with the first tapeout.

Any requiring respins add 3 months to that.

Now, do you have confidence NV's first tapeout has no issues? If so, then you can expect a late Q1 release for gk104. Otherwise its late Q2 (where rumors point to).

Then factor in GK100, with its proposed 1024 CUDA cores (double gtx580), with added Kepler features. How big do you think that is? Obviously bigger than gtx580's 520mm2. I'm expecting 600mm2 on the realistic side. Do you think making a 600mm2 die on a brand new process at TSMC with so much flaws is easy? If gk104 requires a single respin, gk100 is going to need at least 1 as well, more likely 2. Think about it.

Ofcourse, there's a chance NV will risk it and not do respins, sell crippled chips to bring it to market faster. They've done it before. But if they do that, performance targets will drop.

Silverforce you pretty much just stated a worse case scenario, but there's no evidence of that happening. On the contrary Nvidia had this to say.

Nvidia has recently disclosed that Kepler is on track and that they have already entered into the possession of the first 28nm chip samples.

“We are on track with our Kepler roadmap. We have 28nm silicon in house now,” said Igor Stanek, Senior Product PR Manager at Nvidia during an interview with the Fudzilla website.

“Our transition to 28nm is going better than 40nm, and yields are better than our original plan,” concluded the company’s rep without going into any details regarding Kepler’s roadmap.

However, over the course of the last few months, multiple Nvidia representatives have said that the first Kepler-based graphics cards aren’t expected to arrive until Q2 of 2012, so this is probably the timeline that Stanek is referring to.

 

[Flipped Gazelle]

May as well add this snippet from Legit Reviews, then:

We talked to NVIDIA today and they said they plan on releasing their next generation processor in the first half of 2012 and our sources off the record said it would be at the end of that time frame.

 

[Silverforce11]

I'm not stating worse case scenario, its just logical given how much problems TSMC has been having with their 28nm node. The worse case scenario for NV is gk100 is DOA and just cannot be made by TSMC. Require a total redesign and wouldn't see the light of day until 2013.

Making a 520mm2 GPU is hard enough on a mature 40nm process (remember the gtx560ti-448, selling low yield chips for $$), making an even bigger GPU on a new process?

Your quote, the last sentence. Read it. Q2 2012. It means they need a respin for gk104. The smaller easier to make GPU.

 

[96Firebird]

We aren't talking a couple (2) months, more like 6-ish. Some people want the newest shiny toy before that.

Could be 2 months, could be 6 months. No one really knows right now. There might be some more concrete dates coming out just before the 7970 is available next year...

And judging by your most recent post, closer to 3 months...

Edit - Whoops, misread first half for first quarter. ^_^ Small screen on my iPod Touch means I misread things.

 

[Flipped Gazelle]

Nvidia GTX 580Ti. 925mhz/1.1ghz. $449. You heard it here first.