GIGABYTE HD7950 Windforce x3 Review

👤by Richard Weatherstone Comments 📅12-03-12
First Look

Card Top

From the top down you would be hard pushed to distinguish this card from it's bigger brother, the HD7950 because both cards use the same cooling design. The three black/translucent fans dominate the cooler which are framed by a moulded black glossy plastic shroud.


Card Bottom

Flipping the card over we see that GIGABYTE have once again implemented there blue PCB. While this well be perfect for those who have a blue colour scheme running through their PC setup, those with red/black may find the blue PCB on this graphics card clashes. GIGABYTE cannot be criticized for being individual but I cannot help but feel that some users will be detered (while others no doubt attracted) by the blue PCB design.


Card Side

The side of the card has a full length aluminium strip with the GIGABYTE insignia. This bracket helps to prevent the power circuit board from bowing under the weight of the custom cooler.


PCIe Power

As with the reference design, the GIGABYTE HD7950 requires twin PCIe 6pin power cables which are capable of delivering 75W each. GIGABYTE recommend a 500W PSU as a minimum which should not be an issue for anybody owning a mid/high end gaming PC.


Crossfire Capability

Multiple graphics card setups are afforded thanks to the twin Crossfire tabs allowing for CrosfireX configurations.


I/O Area

The I/O area is reference in that is unique in that it has the standard DVI, HDMI 1.4a and twin 1.2 mini-display ports of which they are 4K resolution ready. The card is also capable of running 4 screens in an Eyefinity 2.0 setup.

Let's take a closer look at the Windforce cooler and the guts of the HD7950 hidden beneath...

19 pages « < 5 6 7 8 > »

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