XFX R7970 Black Edition Review - PAGE 15

From the onset of our testing it was clear the XFX R7970 BE was going to easily best the reference model in all of our benchmarks, and subsequently become the fastest single GPU graphics card we have tested. This is of course due to the overclocked core and memory, which have an out-of-the-box boost of 7.5% and 3.5% respectively. At these speeds, the XFX R7970 was able to perform an around 8% to 10% faster than the reference model in most benchmarks, meaning this SKU essentially offers around 7.5% better performance at a 10% markup.

However, not all the value in a custom designed graphics card is found in its gaming prowess. In fact, much of the reason why gamers prefer a custom design is due to the upgrades to thermal and acoustic performance, and in our labs the XFX R7970 scored well on both fronts. During long durations of gaming, the XFX model proved to be 8% more efficient than the reference design, but with greatly lower acoustic levels. So, even while the R7970 is clocked higher and uses slightly more power than the reference models it was still able to yield better thermal results, which allowed the fans to run at a lower RPM even during gaming.

Stepping back from the XFX model for a second and looking at the Tahiti XT GPU on its own, we can see that the drivers have finally started to improve. Our launch reviews of the HD 7970 and the HD 7950 were done with Beta drivers sent to us through AMD. These drivers did well for the most part, but in games such as Crysis 2 and Skyrim, the performance was simply not where it should be. The latest Catalyst 12.2 drivers appear to have resolved some of these performance issues, and the results in this review have improved over what we saw just a month ago. The drivers are still in their infancy, but we are pleased to see they are improving with each new release.

To sum it up, the XFX HD 7970 is an exceptional graphics card that boosts better gaming performance, thermal efficiency and acoustics than the reference design. Of course this means it also demands a higher premium and at $599 it definitely doesn't come cheap. Still, if you can afford it, the XFX R7970 BE will be a worthwhile investment that will push more pixels than any other single GPU solution available to-date.