XFX R7970 Black Edition Review

👤by Richard Weatherstone Comments 📅18-02-12
Introduction

Product on Review: XFX Black Edition R7970
Manufacturer and Sponsor: XFX
Street Price: £455.99

Being the fastest single core graphics card on the planet, the HD7970 is going to be hard to improve. Considering that the reference cooler already performs very well and the stock AMD card overclocks freely, XFX certainly have their work cut out. As we saw with the XFX R7770 though, a sprinkling of XFX magic goes a long way when you want the very best, the ultimate in overclocking ability. Hopefully we will see similar results with the XFX R7970 Black Edition because at £455.99 it is anything but cheap however, it is cheaper than some reference designs from other manufacturers so even with the added expense of a custom cooler and pre-overclocking the graphics card, XFX have managed to slip under the radar, beating the competition by a good £25 which is a great start for the R7970.



Most manufacturers have their 'elite' overclocked graphics card range, more often than not with a fancy title. XFX are no different and call there own overclocked examples by the title of 'Black Edition'. Pre-overclocked cards are often scoffed at by the enthusiast community and sometimes rightly so because a premium is often charged for a what is in effect less than a 5 minute job if you have the basic knowledge of what overclocking a graphics card entails. The justification for inflated prices however becomes clear when the pre-overclocked card also comes with a custom cooler able to keep the pre-overclocked card's temperatures under control and perhaps of greater interest to the avid overclocker aven higher clockspeeds. We've seen some very garish GPU coolers in the past and some very attractive ones. Some are little more than good looking lumps of metal while others push the boundaries of cooling technology. The Double Disipation cooler fitted to some XFX cards is a great looking cooler with it's posh brushed aluminium shroud and as we have seen matches those good looks with excellent performance. Today we will be pushing the cooler to it's limit as we test XFX's flagship card the R7970 'Black Edition'



XFX select their Black Edition GPU's by means of what they call GPU Edging. The selection process not only involves weeding out the average overclocking boards but also factors in the power requirements. Afterall, the lower power a GPU uses to gain similar overclocks to the competition usually means there is more overclocking headroom for the end user when that power is increased. The Duratec components used on the XFX range of GPU'[s should also ensure that this optional power addition by the end-user is monitored and controlled by the highest grade of components so you can overclock safe in the knowledge that the GPU should not die in a finale of sparks and smoke. Some famous sayings are very apt here. 'With great power comes great responsibility' yet also 'Power is nothing without control'. XFX have certainly considered this when building the XFX R7970 Black Edition.

About XFX
XFX dares to go where the competition would like to, but can’t. That’s because, at XFX, we don’t just create great digital video components—we build all-out, mind-blowing, performance-crushing, competition-obliterating video cards and motherboards. And, not only are they amazing, you don’t have to live on dry noodles and peanut butter to afford them.

XFX is a division of PINE Technology Holdings Limited, a leading manufacturer and marketer of innovative solutions for the worldwide gaming technologies market. Founded in 1989, PINE designs, develops, manufactures and distributes high-performance video graphics technology and computer peripherals. The company’s dedicated research and development team are continually pushing the limits to meet the demands of the ever-growing and performance-driven community. Headquartered in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (Hong Kong SAR), PINE has more than 1,000 employees worldwide with 16 offices around the globe. PINE also maintains four state-of-the-art research and development facilities in the Asia Pacific region and two factories in Mainland China. To learn more about PINE, please visit www.pinegroup.com.


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