Warning: Cannot use a scalar value as an array in /httpdocs/libraries/src/Document/Renderer/Html/ScriptsRenderer.php on line 69
NitroWare.net - AMD Radeon HD7970 versus NVIDIA GeForce GTX460 SLI Performance Review
Warning: Cannot use a scalar value as an array in /httpdocs/libraries/src/Document/Document.php on line 514

Warning: Cannot use a scalar value as an array in /httpdocs/libraries/src/Document/Document.php on line 518

Tahiti – the destination for extreme graphics performance ?

We compare AMD's marketing claims to what we found during our limited initial evaluation of the AMD Radeon HD 7970, which was tested in Intel's DXX79SI motherboard fitted with their i7-3960X six-coreenthusiast class extreme CPU.

AMD's marketing statements are enclosed in quations with our analsysis of the claims based on our evaluation following each statement.

AMD has further enhanced its GPU design efficiency through the introduction of the 28nm process technology and Graphics Core Next Architecture, realizing an improvement of over 150% in performance/sq mm over the prior generation.


Our testing found that one HD7970 uses less power and runs cooler in idle and under load than two mid-range NVIDIA GPUs and approached the numbers obtained by one NVIDIA GPU.

The performance per watt is excellent also compared to a pair of older cards. Users who only have a single monitor will not be able to fully max out the performance of a high-end system based on this card in standard setting scenarios.

AMD Power Tune technology: Designed with the most advanced power management features, the AMD Radeon HD 7970 is equipped with the intelligence to convert unused power headroom into extra performance by dynamically controlling clock speeds, allowing gamers advanced performance inside of the power envelope they specify

AMD Overdrive and Power tune specifically on the HD7970 allows some significantly high overclocking potential. We only tested a 100MHz overclock however such infamous overclockers such as 'Shamino' and 'Kingpin' have achieved near double the benchmark scores from super cooling and super over clocks.

AMD Zero Core Power technology found in the AMD Radeon HD 7970 ensures that no power is wasted when the graphics card is not in use, enabling lower idle power than any other currently available graphics card. With support for AMD Crossfire technology, AMD Zero Core Power eliminates wasted power, as well as additional heat and noise from extra cards when you are not using them.

For single cards, we are not sure of the merit of Zero Core which will turn off all of the graphics logic when the system enters long idle, that is screen saver or screen sleep. Zero Core only provides benefit when the graphics is asleep not when he desktop is drawn but idle. For multiple cards, this is a much sought after feature which can save up to hundreds of watts.

The AMD Radeon HD 7970 comes natively equipped with support for PCI Express 3.0.


AMD's own 900 series and A75 series chipset platforms do not support PCI Express 3.0 Intel 6 series motherboards are PCI-E 3.0 ready such as those from Asrock., however these will be superseded by 7 series once Intel's 3rd Generation Core CPU (codenamed Ivy Bridge) CPUs are launched.

We do not see a large number of users upgrading their 2011 6 series motherboards with PCI-E 3.0 CPU and Graphics cards combined. In such scenario user might as well upgrade motherboard for additional benefits of on-board features.

To make the best use of the faster models of the 7000 series one needs to pair the AMD cards with an Intel X79 platform. AMD even recommended testing using i7-3960X in its review documentation

AMD SOUTHERN ISLANDS - TAHITI XT

Discrete Digital Multi-Point (DDM) Audio: DDM Audio provides multiple independent audio streams for audio-capable displays via DisplayPort or HDMI signals.

The audio system in Windows 7 only allows one default audio device but many enabled devices. To use all six audio outputs provided by the new Radeon GPU we need to run six applications, each set to a different audio output. A particular game or software cannot use all six connected monitor audio systems as a surround sound setup.

Users who have Eyefinity multi monitor and use monitor audio can direct audio to their preferred screen. Additionally a directional feature is supported which allows the audio device to follow applications that are moved between different displays.

AMD Crossfire technology, coupled with PCI Express 3.0, will allow for unprecedented bandwidth in TriFire and QuadFire configurations.


The only platform on sale that can support PCI-E 3.0 with TriFire and QuadFire is the Intel 2nd Generation Core i7 3000 series processor and certain motherboards based X79 chipset whose BIOS incorporates PCI-E 3.0 support.

AMD claim 2x Crossfire scaling when a second card is added, 15-20fps increase for Battlefield 3 at 19x12 and 25x16 for a single HD7970 versus HD6970 and GTX580 where two cards will double the frame rate. Although we did not test Battlefield 3, we confirmed the levels of performance with other reviews versus numbers provided by AMD.

AMD Eyefinity 2.0 features all-new support for stereo 3D, universal bezel compensation, brand new display configurations and an expanded and more immersive field of view. This allows users with 2560x1600 monitors in an AMD Eyefinity 5x1 landscape configuration to achieve a horizontal resolution of 12,800 pixels, driving more than 20 million pixels of screen real estate.

Eyefinity 2.0 gives us a means to use the AMD 7900's immense processing headroom. HD7970 AKA "Tahiti XT" is designed to drive multiple monitors at high fidelity at fair frame rates. The GPU's new architecture is highly scalable. AMD claim 40fps at 7680x1600 Ultra for Battlefield 3 when two HD7970 are in Crossfire.

We have seen no results so far from AMD or independent reviews indicating what performance is possible at 12,800 horizontal resolutions. The reference card only allows four outputs and we would need to daisy chain DisplayPort monitors to use additional screens.

DisplayPort 1.2 and HDMI 1.4a: With full support for 3GHz HDMI 1.4a and DisplayPort 1.2 HBR2, the AMD Radeon HD 7970 is set to drive next generation displays at up to 4K resolution.


The display industry is gearing up to transition to 4Kx2K and 4Kx4K high resolution displays so the support for High-Speed specifications of HDMI and DP is welcome. DisplayPort 3D monitors are now supported.

3D entertainment choices with AMD HD3D technology: With the arrival of the latest in stereo 3D technology, AMD continues to deliver an enhanced visual experience on stereo 3D-capable desktops and notebooks powered by AMD Radeon graphics. The AMD Radeon HD 7970 is backed by AMD's open 3D initiative for stereo 3D gaming and Blu-ray 3D movies.

Stereoscopic 3D regardless of the vendors technology does have performance penalties involved in its display. With an AMD FX based system, AMD claim 47fps is achievable for 3D stereo gaming in Battlefield 3 at 1080p High settings with one HD7970.

2018-09-21 | NVIDIA QUADRO RTX 6000 In action - Photoshop, Porsche RTX, Kubernetes, CLARA and Metropolis


2018-09-20 | NVIDIA RTX Live Demo - Ray Traced Porsche on Turing GPU


2018-09-21 | EPSON goes bright with laser projection and 4K


2018-09-15 | 8 NVIDIA TESLA V100 VOLTA GPU server from HP


2017-12-31 | Future of Networking with Extreme Networks - Eric Broockman CTO Interview


2018-02-16 | NVIDIA’S VOLTA is real, it works and it is finally here.


2018-02-07 | motorola harbourside chat and interview | moto x4, g5s plus, 360 camera & gamepad


2018-02-07 | Inwin X-Frame product tour and interview


2018-02-07 | ASUS Zenbook 3 Deluxe UX490 Ultrabook


2017-11-20 | VICHYPER - Australian Hyperloop Interview and Tour


2017-11-17 | Eugene Kaspersky & Kaspersky Lab Press Conference Sydney 2017


2017-11-17 | Eugene Kaspersky Keynote Sydney 2017


2017-05-21 | AMD RYZEN - Australian launch and Q&A Session | BIOS Update Detailed


2016-11-21 | Motorola Mobility VP Engineering Interview | Moto Z and Moto Mods Developer Kit for Makers & Modders


2016-11-30 | EPSON Tech Interview | 2016 Business and Professional Projectors


2016-11-30 | EPSON Tech Interview | 2016 Home Theatre Projectors 6000, 8000 & 9000 Series


2016-11-22 | EPSON HDR Home Theatre Projector Demo | EPSON TW9300W


2016-11-21 | HDR video Demo - AMD Radeon 'Polaris' RX480 with LG OLED TV


2016-11-30 | Intel Game Chamber 2016 Tour and Interviews | VR, Games, PC Mods, Overclocking and FUN


2016-11-30 | Intel Core i7-6950X Broadwell-E @ 5.62 GHz Live Overclock | Intel Game Chamber 2016


2016-08-29 | LG puts OLED in all the things - Integrate/CEDIA AUS 2016 Booth Tour


2016-08-12 | What is Software Defined Networking with Doug Murray, CEO Big Switch Networks.


2016-06-17 | NVIDIA DGX-1 launches in Australia - NVIDIA ANZ Interviewed


2016-05-01 | Build a kickass Dolby ATMOS Home Theatre - The Pros show us how


2016-04-01 | The Panasonic Toughbook CF-20 Story


2016-03-23 | Seagate 8TB Family, 10TB Helium & Mobile HDD 2016 Hard Disk Update


2016-03-21 | Panasonic Toughbook 20 : Fully Rugged detachable Laptop launch - Water, Drop & Weight Tested


2016-03-23 | ASUS ROG Gaming House Tour - Sydney, Australia


2016-03-01 | ASUS ROG GX700 Liquid Cooled Notebook Preview & Interview


2016-03-23 | League of Legends Legacy eSports Team Interview


2015-12-09 | Microsoft Store SYDNEY - Grand Opening Press Conference


2015-11-11 | HP 6th Gen Core Intel Skylake PC & Jet Intelligence Printing Launch - Melbourne Experience Centre


2015-11-11 | HP Experience Centre Melbourne Tour -Part 2


2015-11-11 | HP Experience Centre Melbourne Tour -Part 1


2015-08-28 | Parrot Interviewed - Flower Power Wireless Plant Monitor


2015-08-28 | Parrot Interviewed - ZiK 2.0 Headphones


2015-08-28 | Parrot Interviewed - AR. Drone, MiniDrones, Bebop Drone


2015-08-23 | MOTO G 3rd Gen IPX7 Water Proofing Demo & Moto X Style/Play/G Q&A


2015-08-21 | Motorola Mobility Interviewed - 3rd Gen Moto G, Moto X Play, Moto X Style


2015-08-20 | NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 950 Launch Ep.1 | Gamestream Co-Op - A New way to share games


2015-08-20 | NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 950 Launch Ep.2 | MOBA/DOTA 2 Latency and Smoothness


2015-08-08 | Intel SKYLAKE i5-6600K LN2 overclock at 6.33 GHz with ASUS Z170 ROG Hero


2015-08-07 | Intel Skylake i7-6700K @ 4.8 GHz & DDR4 @ 3.5GHz on ASUS Z170 Deluxe Overclocking Guide


2015-08-05 | ASUS Z170 Deluxe Motherboard for Intel Skylake 6th Gen Core CPU Overview


2015-08-05 | Review - ASUS Installation Tool for Intel SKYLAKE 6th Gen Core CPU


2015-08-02 | HP Pavilion and Envy 2015 Consumer Notebook First Look


2015-07-25 | HP Envy Phoenix 2015 Overclockable Gaming Tower First Look


2015-07-22 | Ashes Of The Singularity - DirectX 12 Hands-On Demo with AMD FURY X


2015-07-14 | Media Q&A with AMD and Richard Huddy - AMD Fury X ‘Fiji’ Graphics comes to Australia


2015-07-14 | MSI Interview - AMD Radeon R9 300 Gaming, Armour and Lightning GPUs