AMD Preparing Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition

Nice I hope AMD does beat the 680 with a higher clocked 7970.
So Nvidia can feel the pressure to release Big Kepler.
 
I like this sciencey bit! :D

The actual overclocking (not performance) ranking would look like this (roughly estimated by hwbot and multiple reviews):

1.AMD Radeon HD 7970 6GB (up to 1300 MHz Sapphire Toxic 6GB)
2.AMD Radeon HD 7970 3GB GHz Edition (around 1250 MHz)
3.AMD Radeon HD 7970 3GB (around 1200 MHz)
4.NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 2GB (around 1180 MHz)
5.NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 4GB (around 1150 MHz)
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So if it has no relation to performance, what exactly is this a ranking of? Video cards in decending mhz order? If they have this info, why not just rank them by performance! Or we really should all be using pentium 4s (we do, but thats not the point)...
 
That highly informal chart shows about how far one can generally expect overclock (or overclock plus boost) a given GPU when given reference or near reference air cooling. So it is a ranking of general speed and is roughly a ranking of performance in games that do no specially favor either Red or Green.

Clock for clock, a GTX 680 running at full boost is nearly equivalent to a 7970 running at the same speed when dealing with high resolution or multi-display setups. The GHz editions will narrow the "stock" performance gap between the 7970 and the 680 while the hopefully improved yield leading to a better overclocking will mean that the generally achievable maximum stable overclock speed will result in the 7970 being a marginally better performer in a neutral game. Of course, it does nothing for anybody who already owns a 7970 unless they do not mind having uneven crossfire speeds.
 
Aye it's kinda silly hehe, but regardless 7970's do scream over or around 1300GHz. Just wished they worked closer with devs on the driver/software side =(
 
Feellia said:
Aye it's kinda silly hehe, but regardless 7970's do scream over or around 1300GHz. Just wished they worked closer with devs on the driver/software side =(
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As far as the 7xxx is concerned working with Devs is the least of the problems as its clear that AMD still has to learn how to code drivers for it.

If you see Gaming Evloved then AMD have been working with the games Devs which has been going on since 2010 and there are many games which AMD do not keep listed on its website but of course there is always room for improvement.

I'm seeing more and more Profiles for games before they are released, but everytime someone posts about needing to work closer with Devs they always seem to make it sound as if AMD are not working with them at all..
 
they could make all HD 7970 move to GHZ edition... just do a driver with a "turbo boost" like Nvidia, since all 7970 can do 1100 or more... so 1050 would be a safe place to be.
 
Drangueos said:
they could make all HD 7970 move to GHZ edition... just do a driver with a "turbo boost" like Nvidia, since all 7970 can do 1100 or more... so 1050 would be a safe place to be.
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They all most certainly can't.
 
Drangueos said:
they could make all HD 7970 move to GHZ edition... just do a driver with a "turbo boost" like Nvidia, since all 7970 can do 1100 or more... so 1050 would be a safe place to be.
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next-Jin said:
They all most certainly can't.
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Not only that, but nVidia's "turbo boost" aka dynamic clocking, is not overclocking. This has been gone over a dozen times or more.
 
MavericK96 said:
Not only that, but nVidia's "turbo boost" aka dynamic clocking, is not overclocking. This has been gone over a dozen times or more.
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Dynamic clocking has set manufacture guaranteed boundaries which all will do in that range, anything outside that range is overclocking.

Specification:-
- Core Clock: 1006MHz (GK104)
- Core Boost Clock: 1058MHz.
Anything more than 1058MHz is over clocking because there is no guarantee on its limit just like overclocking.

Intel CPU
- Frequency: 3.40 GHz (Turbo Mode 3.80GHz)
Anything more than 3.80GHz is over clocking because there is no guarantee on its limit just like overclocking.

AMD
- 3.60GHz Clock Speed
- 4.20GHz Turbo Clock Speed.
Anything more than 4.20GHz is over clocking because there is no guarantee on its limit just like overclocking.

It doesn't matter what you want to call it as its only arguing semantics.
 
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What is it with the Nvidia fanboys always trash talking in the AMD forums? Or are you more of the paid Nvidia shills I have read so much about?
 
Word semantics.

Video card chipset makers had not done overclocking before. This is overclocking, just like turbo is on cpus. The difference between user or manufacturer overclocking is that instead of set parameters that do not consider heat, they are using the power and thermal envelopes to over clock the card, yet staying within bounds of electromigration and thermal damage.

Expect AMD to counter with this same overclocking methodology.

Anyone saying that AMD can't do similar is plain wrong. At worst, you can use a separate logic unit to read thermals and apply clocks and voltages dynamically.
 
tc17 said:
What is it with the Nvidia fanboys always trash talking in the AMD forums? Or are you more of the paid Nvidia shills I have read so much about?
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Solomutt said:
Word semantics.

Video card chipset makers had not done overclocking before. This is overclocking, just like turbo is on cpus. The difference between user or manufacturer overclocking is that instead of set parameters that do not consider heat, they are using the power and thermal envelopes to over clock the card, yet staying within bounds of electromigration and thermal damage.
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:rolleyes:

Let me just quote Kyle when faced with this same complaint:

http://hardforum.com/showpost.php?p=1038687787&postcount=244
 
MavericK96 said:
:rolleyes:

Let me just quote Kyle when faced with this same complaint:

http://hardforum.com/showpost.php?p=1038687787&postcount=244
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Not the same context and not the same complaint at all, as its seems that his reply was to someone saying its not fair that the NV card auto boosts which is not what we are talking about, the boost is 1058MHz so what and overclocking past the boost is not a problem as long as you know what it is as that part is variable between cards as you end up with greater discrepancy between reviews depending on the card and if AMD starts to do the same then things will really be all over the place.
 
1050MHz is the minimum at this point. I'd like to see them push to 1100MHz. It seems like they're trying to keep TDP low and squeeze out some extra performance. However, the 7970 simply isn't going to compete with the GTX 680 on performance/watt due to all the HPC dead-weight. Therefore I'd think it better for them to shoot for the crown (undeniably) if they want to sell more cards.
 
Maybe AMD should do like nvidia here... Release a bigger version of the 7870 with little gpgpu capability like the 680, and relegate the Big 7970 gpu's to their firepro line. Better efficiency & smaller die for gaming.

Then again, I think AMD may surprise us with something with all those console wins... ;)

tc17 said:
What is it with the Nvidia fanboys always trash talking in the AMD forums? Or are you more of the paid Nvidia shills I have read so much about?
Click to expand...

My money is on both shills & followers... Lol...
 
Final8ty said:
Not the same context and not the same complaint at all, as its seems that his reply was to someone saying its not fair that the NV card auto boosts which is not what we are talking about, the boost is 1058MHz so what and overclocking past the boost is not a problem as long as you know what it is as that part is variable between cards as you end up with greater discrepancy between reviews depending on the card and if AMD starts to do the same then things will really be all over the place.
Click to expand...

Well my comment was mostly in regard to Solomutt who said outright in the post that I quoted that GPU boost and even CPU "turbo boost" is overclocking. It isn't. Several people, including Kyle and Brent have already gone over this. Yet, apparently over in this forum, pointing out that fact will get you labelled as a "shill" or a "troll". :rolleyes:

The issue is that people seem to believe that since many 7970s can do 1100+ MHz, they should all automatically be clocked to that. As next-Jin pointed out, not all cards do that, and that is likely why AMD chose to clock how they did. On the other side of the fence, nVidia chose to set boost clocks at 1058 MHz because ALL 680s are capable of that. There is no guesswork involved, they are built to achieve that speed out of the box. Just like a 3.4 GHz processor with 3.8 GHz "turbo boost" is built to hit 3.8 GHz out of the box, with stock cooling, no overvolting or anything.

If AMD wants to release a "GHz version" of the 7970, that's cool, more power to them. I'm guessing the cards/chips they use are going to be better binned than the general reference 7970s at launch. Also, several other manufacturers have made non-reference designs that are clocked higher as well. That's fine too. The problem is when people start coming around saying "well my card can hit 1200 MHz so AMD should just make all cards that speed". That's just ignorant.
 
MavericK96 said:
Well my comment was mostly in regard to Solomutt who said outright in the post that I quoted that GPU boost and even CPU "turbo boost" is overclocking. It isn't. Several people, including Kyle and Brent have already gone over this. Yet, apparently over in this forum, pointing out that fact will get you labelled as a "shill" or a "troll". :rolleyes:

The issue is that people seem to believe that since many 7970s can do 1100+ MHz, they should all automatically be clocked to that. As next-Jin pointed out, not all cards do that, and that is likely why AMD chose to clock how they did. On the other side of the fence, nVidia chose to set boost clocks at 1058 MHz because ALL 680s are capable of that. There is no guesswork involved, they are built to achieve that speed out of the box. Just like a 3.4 GHz processor with 3.8 GHz "turbo boost" is built to hit 3.8 GHz out of the box, with stock cooling, no overvolting or anything.

If AMD wants to release a "GHz version" of the 7970, that's cool, more power to them. I'm guessing the cards/chips they use are going to be better binned than the general reference 7970s at launch. Also, several other manufacturers have made non-reference designs that are clocked higher as well. That's fine too. The problem is when people start coming around saying "well my card can hit 1200 MHz so AMD should just make all cards that speed". That's just ignorant.
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Valid points.
 
Feellia said:
Aye it's kinda silly hehe, but regardless 7970's do scream over or around 1300GHz.
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Wow... video cards have come a long way in such a short time. My 6850 only runs 950Mhz and now they're reaching 1.3Thz already? Crazy... ;)
 
Feellia said:
http://videocardz.com/32758/amd-preparing-radeon-hd-7970-ghz-edition

Hopefully variants of these come out soon, especially the Sapphire Atomic version @ 1325 GHz.
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The funny thing is the vanilla 7970 is now actually faster and cheaper than the 680 using the latest drivers so there is very little need to come out with a new SKU except to reclaim the crown. Reviewers are finally testing with actual retail bought cards instead of the cherry picked high self overclocking samples Nvidia passed around to review sites and with real enthusiast settings, not this 1080P with FXAA bullshit I keep seeing everywhere.
 
Blah that sucks for me consumer. I don't really care about AMD or nvidias bottom line but mine.

So what's going to happen is they will let current stock sell out at high prices not forced to lower them much and come out with nividia prices on higher clocked 7970 and 7950 which are just as fast as 680 and 670 respectively. Basically implicit collusion to sell $400 and $500 cards at high end.:(

I miss days of taking $250 cards and making top enders, not all that long ago either.
 
Lorien said:
The funny thing is the vanilla 7970 is now actually faster and cheaper than the 680 using the latest drivers so there is very little need to come out with a new SKU except to reclaim the crown. Reviewers are finally testing with actual retail bought cards instead of the cherry picked high self overclocking samples Nvidia passed around to review sites and with real enthusiast settings, not this 1080P with FXAA bullshit I keep seeing everywhere.
Click to expand...

example? link?
 
Lorien said:
The funny thing is the vanilla 7970 is now actually faster and cheaper than the 680 using the latest drivers so there is very little need to come out with a new SKU except to reclaim the crown. Reviewers are finally testing with actual retail bought cards instead of the cherry picked high self overclocking samples Nvidia passed around to review sites and with real enthusiast settings, not this 1080P with FXAA bullshit I keep seeing everywhere.
Click to expand...
lol what
 
A time frame on the release would be really nice. "Very soon" is so vague. I'm really interested in seeing the high end Sapphire cards
 
I am very much hoping that with the higher ref. stock clocks, we get same or lower voltage/power draw.

Not only will it mean more performance for less heat/noise, but it might mean even more OC headroom :D

EDIT: Also, the current 7970 sucks a lot of power to OC, so I hope that improves too. I mean, I'm fine that it more or less keeps pace with or trumps 680, but I'd like it to do it more gracefully, is all.
 
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