Radeon 7900 Reviews

[Stuka87]

Will update this list as more come along.

ArsTechnica:
(Ryzen 5800X3D, Asus ROG Crosshair VIII Dark Hero, 64GB DDR4-3200, Windows ???)
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/202...0-gpus-are-great-4k-gaming-gpus-with-caveats/

Gamers Nexus:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=We71eXwKODw

Guru3D:
(Ryzen 5950X, ASUS X570 Crosshair VIII HERO, 32 GB (4x 8GB) DDR4 3600 MHz, Windows 10)
https://www.guru3d.com/articles-pages/amd-radeon-rx-7900-xtx-review,1.html

Hardware Canucks
(Ryzen 7700X, Asus X670E ROG Crosshair hero, 32GB DDR5-6000, Windows 11)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3XPNr506Dc

Hardware Unboxed:
(Ryzen 5800X3D, MSI MPG X570S Carbon Max WiFi, 32GB DDR4-3200, Windows 11)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4UFiG7CwpHk

Igor's Lab:
(Ryzen 7950X, MSI MEG X670E Ace,32GB DDR5 6000)
https://www.igorslab.de/en/amd-rade...giant-step-ahead-and-a-smaller-step-sideways/

Jay's Two Cents:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yq6Yp2Zxnkk

KitGuruTech:
(Intel 12900K, MSI MAG Z690 Unified, 32GB DDR5)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qThrADqleD0

Linus Tech Tips:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBJ-vo6Ri9c

Paul's Hardware:
(Ryzen 7950X, Asus X670E ROG Crosshair Hero, 32GB DDR5-6000, Windows 11)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q10pefkW2qg

PC Mag:
(Intel 12900K, Asus ROG Maximus Z690 Hero, 32GB 5600MHz, Windows 11)
https://www.pcmag.com/reviews/amd-radeon-rx-7900-xtx

Tech Power Up:
(Intel 13900K, ASUS Z790 Maximus Hero, 2x 16 GB DDR5-6000 MHz, Windows 10)
AMD: https://www.techpowerup.com/review/amd-radeon-rx-7900-xtx/
ASUS: https://www.techpowerup.com/review/asus-radeon-rx-7900-xtx-tuf-oc/
XFX: https://www.techpowerup.com/review/xfx-radeon-rx-7900-xtx-merc-310-oc/

Tech Spot:
(Ryzen 5800X3D, MSI MPG X570S, 32GB of dual-rank, dual-channel DDR4-3200 CL14, Windows ???)
https://www.techspot.com/review/2588-amd-radeon-7900-xtx/

TechTesters:
(Intel 13900K, ASUS ROG Maximus Z790 HERO, 32GB DDR5-6000, Windows 11)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3uQh4GkPopQ

 

[biostud]

Back in the day there was a chunky subset of GPU buyers who bought purely out of the added value OC brings to SKU x or y.

Never had one but I remember the gamer magazines overclocking the $190 GeForce Ti 4200 into a $400 Ti 4600.
Or the Radeon 9550 XT... good times!

nForce2 + AMD Athlon 2500+ and Ti 4200 = overclocking value

 

[coercitiv]

while there was a time when they were going for volume where what mostly happened is that people bought Nvidia cards for less.

Gamers trained AMD to NOT play the value game, now everybody is suprised AMD plays the margin game while figuring out ways to improve their mind share instead.

Even someone like RedGamingTech figured this out:

How "we want a competitor" works:

1. I'd buy AMD if they had better hw/sw
2. AMD improves
3. Nvidia launches product
4. AMD is slightly worse in X, I'll buy if they're cheap
5. AMD sells cheaper
6. I wonder if Nvidia will lower their price to match
7. *person buys Nvidia*

 

[Saylick]

Gamers trained AMD to NOT play the value game, now everybody is suprised AMD plays the margin game while figuring out ways to improve their mind share instead.

Same thing happened when AMD took the gaming crown with Zen 3. AMD priced their Zen 3 lineup based on how it performed relative to the competition, i.e. higher than Intel because they simply had the superior CPU, and then a sizeable portion of gamers cried foul play. People expect AMD to be the budget brand and with that implication comes the expectation that AMD's sole purpose in the market is to be a price check to Intel and Nvidia. They expect AMD to always price their products based on a pricing structure that is a step down from their competitors, never in-line with the competition's pricing structure, even if they have the better product. If AMD give in to gamer's silly expectations instead of pricing things from the simple business standpoint of "what makes us the most money", they'd be broke because they'd always be selling themselves short. I've heard people constantly say "AMD needs to gain market share, so the 7900XTX should have been $600", but they are just looking out for themselves. They don't make that statement because they care about AMD's market share, or the lack thereof; they really just want cheaper GPUs and they know that Nvidia will never give that to them, so they yet again put the expectation on AMD to be the budget brand. Unsurprisingly, the same people are actually just waiting for Nvidia to follow suit and lower the price of the 4080/4090 to buy that instead.

 

[GodisanAtheist]

Oh yeah the "AMD needs to be competitive and cheap so I can afford an NV card" meme is pretty deeply entrenched at this point.

AMD essentially has an impossible task, which is to consistently beat, not just match but beat, NV across the board in everything for say three generations or more, while also somehow costing less and making a profit.

All things being equal, people will still buy the NV card thanks to brand recognition alone, so it just isn't enough.

 

[lopri]

What this launch says to me is that AMD are not interested in volume or clawing back marketshare. Even when they have lower costs (the whole point of chiplets), they want to continue dream about high margins.

I disagree. Just from these cards' memory bus width (384-bit, 320-bit) it is clear they wanted to shake up the status quo. Something along the way things did not pan out as planned.

 

[Paul98]

Seeing these different clock speeds, clocking behavior, power behavior, and it's current issues. I am quite excited to see how this goes in the future, looks like there are a lot of performance, and performance per watt improvements to be had.

 

[Ranulf]

Same thing happened when AMD took the gaming crown with Zen 3. AMD priced their Zen 3 lineup based on how it performed relative to the competition, i.e. higher than Intel because they simply had the superior CPU, and then a sizeable portion of gamers cried foul play. People expect AMD to be the budget brand and with that implication comes the expectation that AMD's sole purpose in the market is to be a price check to Intel and Nvidia. They expect AMD to always price their products based on a pricing structure that is a step down from their competitors, never in-line with the competition's pricing structure, even if they have the better product. If AMD give in to gamer's silly expectations instead of pricing things from the simple business standpoint of "what makes us the most money", they'd be broke because they'd always be selling themselves short. I've heard people constantly say "AMD needs to gain market share, so the 7900XTX should have been $600", but they are just looking out for themselves. They don't make that statement because they care about AMD's market share, or the lack thereof; they really just want cheaper GPUs and they know that Nvidia will never give that to them, so they yet again put the expectation on AMD to be the budget brand. Unsurprisingly, the same people are actually just waiting for Nvidia to follow suit and lower the price of the 4080/4090 to buy that instead.

Zen3 is not a good comparison. AMD could get away with those price increases because of market demand and Intel had no competition at the time. Nevermind that many of us critics had complained about Intel's pricing especially the i5 midrange K models for years. Oh yay, AMD now sells a 6/12 chip for $300 that is equal to an Intel 6/12 i7 from three years ago for $50 less. One and half years later, AMD has to drop prices to compete with Intel. All of a sudden that R5 chip drops 40%-50% of its value even before the new gen shows up.

AMD doesn't always get a fair deal from gaming customers but then over the last ten years, especially the last six years now, I expect little problems with AMD to crop up and I don't care to pay Nvidia prices to deal with AMD's little issues or to beta test a new chip design with the less support on the driver front compared to Nvidia simply because AMD can't or won't put in the money to support the software/drivers.

I've been far more disposed to give AMD a break over the years but these days with $500+ midrange cards and now $1000-1200 x80 class cards, no matter who makes the product, it better not stink.

 

[biostud]

I think nvidia had to move its entire product line to match RDNA2, the GA102 should have been 3090/3080Ti and the GA103 3080/70Ti, but they had to move 3080 up to GA102 to match 6800XT. They did not want to be in the same situation where AMD could threaten their market leadership, so they engineered the best chip on the best node and launched the 4090. So nvidia has won the high end, but when it comes to the lower tier segments we will have to wait and see. If RDNA3 simply does not scale very well for a "large" chip then it might stand a chance in N32 and N33. The pricing of nvidia cards at least leaves lots to be desired.

 

[MrTeal]

LOL @ $200 4060

The only way we're getting a $200 4060 is if Nvidia launches it using AD107 with 8 SM, 8GB on a 64bit bus and PCIe 4 x4.

Make sure you buy that one and not the $180 4060 DDR4 edition though.

 

[MangoX]

nForce2 + AMD Athlon 2500+ and Ti 4200 = overclocking value

Had that exact same setup. As well a modded 9500 pro to 9700.

 

[biostud]

Had that exact same setup. As well a modded 9500 pro to 9700.

I got a 9800 pro afterwards.

 

[MangoX]

I got a 9800 pro afterwards.

That setup lasted me so well until I upgraded to a 8800 gts 640mb I swear! Then later on I upgraded to a oc q6600 g0 and doubled my WoW framerates

 

[lopri]

Evidence of memory downclocking at high core clocks with manual overclocking.

Kinda like Infinity Fabric OC halving memory controller speed + Clock stretching.

Actually on the CPU front, it's memory overclock that halves the memory controller after a certain frequency. Whatever it is, it sounds like a familiar stuff to AMD CPUs. This used to affect performance quite a bit in earlier Zen, but along with increased L3 cache its impact has become less severe on Zen 4. (It's by design, btw, not a defect. Just how memory divisor works)

 

[biostud]

That setup lasted me so well until I upgraded to a 8800 gts 640mb I swear! Then later on I upgraded to a oc q6600 g0 and doubled my WoW framerates

Hehe, I went with the 8800GT

 

[tamz_msc]

Gamers trained AMD to NOT play the value game, now everybody is suprised AMD plays the margin game while figuring out ways to improve their mind share instead.

Even someone like RedGamingTech figured this out:

The first condition you quote has never actually been met by AMD in a long, long time. All the other things in that list needs to follow from the first point. AMD habitually stumbles at the first hurdle, so there is no point in considering what-ifs afterwards.

 

[biostud]

More information on overclocking the 7900XTX

 

[PJVol]

More information on overclocking the 7900XTX

for those seeking to join the "Idiots Club" ?

This is hilarious: "...don't do that! But it's a slider there and people are gonna slide it ..."
Such a fun guy.

 

[biostud]

for those seeking to join the "Idiots Club" ?

Well, some things he says you might not like, but this video I can't fin any problems with.

 

[igor_kavinski]

Hehe, I went with the 8800GT

I still have the Leadtek 9600 GT. Probably my first relatively expensive card. Pretty heavy. Maybe some museum or collector will take it off my hands some day in return for a decent pension

 

[PJVol]

Well, some things he says you might not like

Quite the opposite - I literally meant what I said and just quoted the most liked

 

[Stuka87]

More information on overclocking the 7900XTX

This video proves the point I made on the other video.

But the TLDW for anybody wondering, undervolting tends to mean free performance. Which has been the case since the Polaris days.

 

[PJVol]

This video proves the point I made on the other video.

He admitted he just overlooked the undervolting.
But really, it's amazing how many people on PC forums, with enviable tenacity still try to manually control the voltage and frequency, which is exactly the opposite of what modern processor's PM logic does.

 

[biostud]

He admitted he just overlooked the undervolting.
But really, it's amazing how many people on PC forums, with enviable tenacity still try to manually control the voltage and frequency, which is exactly the opposite of what modern processor's PM logic does.

That's our hobby. When boards are sold, stability is the most important factor, so they don't push the card to edge. That's what you can do by tweaking it. Whether it is worth it, must be up to the individual.

 

[kallisX]

whats the deal with the high temps drama now on several youtube channels?
one guy posts a response from AMD where they say 100c is normal.

 

[Stuka87]

whats the deal with the high temps drama now on several youtube channels?
one guy posts a response from AMD where they say 100c is normal.

People tend to get hung up on temps too much. The chips are rated for 95C before they will start to do any sort of throttling. If the chips are designed for that temp, running them there won't hurt them.

However, better cooling will allow them to boost to higher clocks. So if you can have a better cooler, you can also get better performance. This is why undervolting is the new overclocking. The automatic boosting logic for both AMD and NV means lowering the voltage will lower temps, which will allow higher boost clocks.