Final thoughts and rating

If you're a die-hard PC gamer, start saving as the Gigabyte HD 7970 OC is a top-end card that ought to be on every enthusiast's radar.

Gigabyte clearly knows how to make a finely-tuned graphics card, and by applying a custom-designed WindForce cooler to AMD's finest 28nm GPU, it has created a solution that's better than reference in just about every regard.

The card's shorter and lighter than AMD's standard design, it runs comfortably cooler - to the tune of around 15 per cent - it's quieter in use, and to top it all off, it's factory overclocked to give that extra ounce of performance.

It is the best HD 7970 we've seen thus far, but despite our high praise, it's worth echoing an earlier proviso; this is a card that's only really suited to die-hard PC gamers. When it arrives at retail, Gigabyte's range-topping powerhouse will likely cost more than an Xbox 360, a PlayStation 3 and a Nintendo Wii combined, and unless you're gaming at mega-high resolutions, the HD 7970 OC clearly won't represent the best value for money.

Furthermore, if you are a PC gamer at heart, it won't have escaped your notice that a pair of lesser graphics cards can be teamed up in SLI or CrossFire for what's likely to be superior performance at a lower price point.

Though, this one isn't really about delivering value, is it? It's about living on the bleeding edge of graphics technology, and to that end, we've seen no single-GPU solution as potent as Gigabyte's HD 7970 OC.

Bottom line: cooler, quieter and faster than reference? There will no doubt be others, but right now, this is probably the best Radeon HD 7970 money can buy.

The Good

Fastest single-GPU card we've tested
Lots of overclocking headroom
Quieter than reference
Cooler than reference

The Bad

It's a hugely-expensive proposition

HEXUS Rating

Gigabyte Radeon HD 7970 OC
(GV-R797OC-3GD)

HEXUS Awards

Gigabyte Radeon HD 7970 OC
(GV-R797OC-3GD)

HEXUS Where2Buy

TBC.

HEXUS Right2Reply

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What's the point of the back io plate having gaps for air to be pushed out when the fins on the heatsink push the air out the sides of the card into the case. Might as well used the space for more display ports or something.

Seems to be fairly common, only the reference coolers exhaust out the back any more it seems. The XFX double disappation card is the same.

That is the reference design from AMD, obviously this is the exact same design with a different cooler attached so you can't expect anything different. Custom designs might change things, maybe Sapphire will have something that you prefer.

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I was wondering how the benchmark for Total War: Shogun 2 is done, is the “Benchmark DX11 Graphics High 1080p” option used? When I use that setting my system manages 48FPS, which is 16FPS more than a similar card in your tests… Comparing my results with your 2Gb HD6950

System Specs:
Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 @ 3825Mhz
4Gb Crucial Balistix @ 1080Mhz 5-5-5-18
Gigabyte EP45-UD3 @ 1800Mhz FSB
1Gb Gigabyte HD6950 OC Standard
120 OCZ Vertex 2E Hard Drive

I understand I have an overclock running but the Intel i5 2500K should still be faster than my system and my overclocked HD6950 should't be 30%+ better than a standard 2Gb HD6950… I suspect the standard High 1080p benchmark option isn't used and you have higher AA and AF set for your game setting, but I just wanted to ask to be sure.

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What's the point of the back io plate having gaps for air to be pushed out when the fins on the heatsink push the air out the sides of the card into the case.

Some air will flow over the heatsink, and after it's been pushed through the fins some will spread under the heatsink in all directions, so there will be a little flow backwards and out of the case via the vent. More importantly, if you've got a front fan at the bottom of a standard tower case, the vent allows air to escape from the bottom half of the case (because a 10.5" graphics card essentially divides most cases into a top heat chamber and a bottom heat chamber!), which will assist with venting the warm air that channels down onto the motherboard and effectively gets trapped underneath the card.

So in terms of venting hot air directly from the graphics card you're absolutely right, that vent doesn't do an awful lot. But in most instances it will improve general case airflow, so there is a point to it.