Test Methodology
Sapphire HD 7870 Flex (BIOS 1) |
Sapphire HD 7870 Flex (BIOS 2) |
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GPU comparisons |
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| Graphics card | GPU clock (MHz) |
Stream processors |
Shader clock (MHz) |
Memory clock (MHz) |
Memory bus (bits) |
Graphics driver | |
| AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition (3,072MB) | 1,000+ | 2,048 | 1,000+ | 6,000 | 384 | Catalyst 12.7 beta | |
| AMD Radeon HD 7970 (3,072MB) | 925 | 2,048 | 925 | 5,500 | 384 | Catalyst 12.7 beta | |
| AMD Radeon HD 7950 (3,072MB) | 800 | 1,792 | 800 | 5,000 | 384 | Catalyst 12.7 beta | |
| Sapphire Radeon HD 7870 Flex Edition (2,048MB, BIOS 2) | 1,050 | 1,280 | 1,050 | 5,000 | 256 | Catalyst 12.7 beta | |
| Sapphire Radeon HD 7870 Flex Edition (2,048MB, BIOS 1) | 1,000 | 1,280 | 1,000 | 4,800 | 256 | Catalyst 12.7 beta | |
| NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 (2,048MB) | 1,006+ | 1,536 | 1,006+ | 6,008 | 256 | GeForce 304.48 beta | |
| NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670 (2,048MB) | 915+ | 1,344 | 915+ | 6,008 | 256 | GeForce 304.48 beta | |
HEXUS high-end test bench |
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| Processor | Intel Core i5-2500K (3.30GHz, 6MB smart cache, quad-core, LGA1155) | |||||||||||
| Motherboard | Intel Desktop Board DP67BG | |||||||||||
| Memory | 8GB Corsair Vengeance (9-9-9-24 @ 1,600MHz) | |||||||||||
| Power Supply | Corsair AX750W | |||||||||||
| Monitor | Dell 30in 3007WFP | |||||||||||
| Disk drive(s) | Crucial RealSSD C300 (256GB) | |||||||||||
| Chassis | Corsair Graphite Series 600T | |||||||||||
| Operating system | Windows 7 Ultimate (64-bit, SP1) | |||||||||||
HEXUS high-end benchmark suite |
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| Aliens vs. Predator | DX11, 1,920x1,080, 2,560x1,600 resolutions, 4xAA, 16xAF, very high quality | |||||||||||
| Batman: Arkham City | DX11, 1,920x1,080, 2,560x1,600 resolutions, 8xMSAA, extreme quality | |||||||||||
| Battlefield 3 | DX11, 1,920x1,080, 2,560x1,600 resolutions, 4xMSAA, 16xAF, ultra quality | |||||||||||
| Crysis 2 | DX11, 1,920x1,080, 2,560x1,600 resolutions, 4xAA, ultra quality | |||||||||||
| Just Cause 2 | DX10, 1,920x1,080, 2,560x1,600 resolutions, 4xAA, 16xAF, very high quality | |||||||||||
| Total War: Shogun 2 | DX11, 1,920x1,080, 2,560x1,600 resolutions, 4xMSAA, 16xAF, high quality | |||||||||||
| Power Consumption | To emulate real-world usage scenarios, we record mains power draw both when idle and whilst playing Batman: Arkham City | |||||||||||
| Temperature | To emulate real-world usage scenarios, we record GPU core temperature both when idle and whilst playing Batman: Arkham City | |||||||||||
| Noise | A PCE-318 meter is used to record noise levels when idle and whilst playing Batman: Arkham City | |||||||||||
Notes
To provide as much data as we can, we've benchmarked Sapphire's HD 7870 Flex GHz Edition in both available states; BIOS 1 (stock clocked) and BIOS 2 (factory overclocked).
The card is up against some serious competition, but it'll be interesting to see how close it can get to the pricier Radeon HD 7950 and GeForce GTX 670.
