Today AMD launched it's latest graphics processing unit
(GPU), the AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition, positioned to
take on Nvidia's GeForce GTX 680 solution.
The AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition uses AMD's Graphics
Core Next (GCN) architecture and offers GPU compute
functionality through AMD App Acceleration technology,
allowing users to enjoy fast gameplay and realistic
physics effects. AMD App Acceleration technology also
optimizes common tasks like encrypted file compression
and speeds up digital content creation suites.
The AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition also comes equipped with
3GBs of GDDR5 frame buffer, AMD Eyefinity 2.0
technology, and support for PCI Express 3.0 and
multi-GPU configurations with AMD CrossFire technology.
Compared to the Radeon HD 7970, the new Radeon HD 7970
GHz Edition (7970GE) features the same PCB, cooling,
VRMs, and AMD's Tahiti GPU - meaning 2048 stream
processors paired with 128 texture units and 32 ROPs,
all on a 4.31B transistor GPU with a die size of 365mm2.
| GPU Specification Comparison |
| |
AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition |
AMD Radeon HD 7970 |
AMD Radeon HD 7950 |
| Stream Processors |
2048 |
2048 |
1792 |
| Texture Units |
128 |
128 |
112 |
| ROPs |
32 |
32 |
32 |
| Core Clock |
1000MHz |
925MHz |
800MHz |
| Boost Clock |
1050MHz |
N/A |
N/A |
| Memory Clock |
6GHz GDDR5 |
5.5GHz GDDR5 |
5GHz GDDR5 |
| Memory Bus Width |
384-bit |
384-bit |
384-bit |
| VRAM |
3GB |
3GB |
3GB |
| FP64 |
1/4 |
1/4 |
1/4 |
| Transistor Count |
4.31B |
4.31B |
4.31B |
| PowerTune Limit |
250W+ |
250W |
200W |
| Manufacturing Process |
TSMC 28nm |
TSMC 28nm |
TSMC 28nm |
| Architecture |
GCN |
GCN |
GCN |
| Price |
$499 |
$549 |
$449 |
When it comes to clockspeeds, the 7970 shipped at a
925MHz core, while the 7970GE will ship at 1GHz.
Furthermore the 7970GE introduces AMD's PowerTune
Technology with Boost, which is AMD's name for GPU
turbo, and similar to the GPU turbo feature that is
already on AMD?s APUs. The 7970GE can boost a further
50MHz up to 1050MHz. AMD has also boosted their memory
clocks from 5.5GHz to 6GHz, which will give the card
more memory bandwidth.
The 7970GE will have a PowerTune limit of 250W,
identical to that of the 7970.
AMD says that compared to rival Nvidia GTX 680 graphics
card, the AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition offers higher
FPS at DiRT Showdown (up to 59%), Sniper Elite V2 (up to
40%) and Nexuiz (up to 37%) - at 2560?1600 in each
game's highest possible detail settings.
Reports reveal that the Radeon HD 7970 GHz competes well
against the GeForce GTX 680, trailing in some synthetic
benchmarks but trading aggressive blows with Nvidia's
best on gaming tests. Generally, the cards go head to
head and their in-game performance seems to vary accross
game titles.
In addition, it seems that an overclocked GeForce GTX
680 has a small lead over an overclocked Radeon HD 7970
GHz Edition.
The AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition will be available as
early as next week from ASUS, Gigabyte, HIS, MSI,
Sapphire, TUL and XFX starting at USD$499 SEP.