Sapphire's Radeon HD 7970 OC Edition Graphics Card

There is a new graphics card in town, one that Sapphire created based on the Radeon HD 7970 from Advanced Micro Devices, the one that leads its single-GPU collection. 

Making an already powerful video card stronger than ever takes a bit of effort and imagination, especially when it comes to cooling. 

Sapphire managed it by means of the Dual-X multi-heatpipe cooler that has two fans and a heatsink that covers more or less the whole PCB. 

The base specs of the HD 7970 OC Edition, as the card is called, are left intact, except for the clock speeds. 

The GPU runs at 950 MHz instead of 925 MHz, while the 3 GB of GDDR5 VRAM operate at 1,425 MHz (5.7 GHz) instead of 1,375 MHz (5.5 GHz). 

What's more, the dual BIOS feature allows owners to easily push the card even higher, to 1 GHz and 1,450 MHz (5.8 GHz), respectively. 

That said, there are still 2,048 stream processors, plus a memory interface of 384 bits. 

Furthermore, for connection to more or less any monitor or HDTV, Sapphire tossed in Dual-Link DVI, HDMI with 3D, DisplayPort 1.2. 

Not only that, but for those who want multi-display setups, the company will be shipping some cable adapters so that three or even six screens may be used. 

There is an 8 PIN to 4 PIN Power Cable, a DVI to VGA Adapter, a Mini-DP to DP Cable, a 6 PIN to 4 PIN Power Cable, an HDMI to SL-DVI Adapter(Full Retail SKU only) and a Mini Display Port to SL-DVI Active dongle. 

Finally, this would not be a top-tier graphics board if it didn't have a CrossFire Bridge Interconnect Cable, for multi-card setups. 

The price is of $579.99 on Newegg, which translates into 444 Euro, according to current exchange rates. All one needs now is a motherboard to match, like MSI's or any other provider's 7-Series.

Posted in: Hardware, Preview