You state this is the most power hungry card you have ever tested. Does this actually beat the GTX 480? Your review says 376 watts (for geforce card) but the test setups are different.

I guess it was expect for the card to be hungry due to the new power phase design and it managed to be on top of most tests except for the 1920x1080 in games that are nvidia optimized. What I wonder is if you have or will test any pre overclocked GTX680 (possibly an EVGA).

With this in mind I also wonder if the manufacturer's are being a bit tight about lending some pre overclocked graphics card since there's quite a lot of offer around from major players like Sapphire, MSI, Gigabyte, Asus and such.

Has BT signed a NDA for the HD7990 or are you being kept in the dark? I'm think it's strange for AMD delaying the flagship since the 690 is already out and cashing checks (of wealthy people).

Impressive performance, but god it's frikkin ugly

Games Tested

Battlefield 3 (DX11)
Crysis 2 (DX11)
Dirt: Showdown (DX11)
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (DX9) (Hi-res texture pack applied)
The Witcher 2 (DX9)
Unigine Heaven 3.0 (DX11 Benchmark)

Is Dirt Showdown appearing on that list a mistake, or why is there no mention on it?

Originally Posted by PCBuilderSven

Quote:

Games Tested

Battlefield 3 (DX11)
Crysis 2 (DX11)
Dirt: Showdown (DX11)
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (DX9) (Hi-res texture pack applied)
The Witcher 2 (DX9)
Unigine Heaven 3.0 (DX11 Benchmark)

Is Dirt Showdown appearing on that list a mistake, or why is there no mention on it?

It's a mistake :P Fixed now, thanks!

Its a nice card, had a play myself at work but I must agree the price premium (on face value) does make it a little hard to swallow.

Originally Posted by andrew8200m
(...)(on face value) does make it a little hard to swallow.

That's what she said :P

I agree, the price is too much for nowadays economics without really justifying completely the price

Crazy pricing for a card that bearly out performs a stock 680 in BF3 thats a good £60 cheaper.

Not to mension its ghz breathen which is faster than the 680 in all games where AMD claims victory anyway. Whilst been a good £100 cheaper to boot if you pick up one on special.

nice card

wtf is up with the 19W idle difference between this and the Ghz edition? Is it not downclocking properly or is the new power circuity just crap on idle?

Nice card, but really too expensive, other premium 7970 models like the MSI Lightning or the Asus Matrix Platinum are just below £400.