AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition "Tahiti XT2" Detailed

[btarunr]

We've known since May, the existence of a new high-end single-GPU graphics card SKU in the works, at AMD. Called the Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition, the SKU is being designed to regain AMD's competitiveness against NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 680. We're hearing a few additional details about the SKU. To begin with, AMD has worked with TSMC to refine the chip design. The Tahiti XT2 will be able to facilitate significantly higher clock speeds, at significantly lower voltages, than the current breed of Tahiti XT chips.

Tahiti XT2, or Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition, will ship with a core clock speed of 1100 MHz, 175 MHz faster than the HD 7970. The GPU core voltage of Tahiti XT2 will be lower, at 1.020V, compared to 1.175V of the Tahiti XT. It's unlikely that AMD will tinker with memory clock speed, since Tahiti already has a 384-bit wide GDDR5 memory interface, which gives it 264 GB/s memory bandwidth at 1375 MHz (5.50 GHz effective). According to the source, the new SKU enters mass-production next week. So best case, it should reach markets by late-June or early-July.



View at TechPowerUp Main Site

 

[Melvis]

This should be called the 7990 like the 4890 was.

Nice to see higher clocks and lower voltage, well done AMD.

But is it enough?

 

[btarunr]

I have reason to believe this SKU will succeed (at beating GTX 680). MSI R7970 Lightning, with lower GPU clock (1070 MHz) beats GTX 680, and the Tahiti XT2's lower voltages could result in lower power draw and possibly higher OC headroom.

 

[Nordic]

So... Worth it?

 

[acerace]

Haters gonna hate.

 

[silapakorn]

Already got two GTX670 for SLI. There's nothing AMD can do to interest me, at least for a couple years.

 

[Zakin]

Well with a setup like GTX 670s I don't think anything should interest you for quite some time from either party.

 

[Melvis]

Already got two GTX670 for SLI. There's nothing AMD can do to interest me, at least for a couple years.

I find that an odd thing to say, as i can say the same thing, im happy with my 2 4870X2's in crossfire for the next few yrs also or until they die? i just dont under stand your comment?

 

[repman244]

FirePro W9000 (Dual GPU)

http://www.4gamer.net/games/135/G013536/20120615004/

 

[Nordic]

FirePro W9000 (Dual GPU)
http://www.4gamer.net/games/135/G013536/20120615004/SS/002.jpg

http://www.4gamer.net/games/135/G013536/20120615004/SS/005.jpg

http://www.4gamer.net/games/135/G013536/20120615004/SS/004.jpg

http://www.4gamer.net/games/135/G013536/20120615004/

Bad link, no pics

 

[repman244]

Bad link, no pics

Hm weird it worked for a few minutes

EDIT: fixed

 

[Over_Lord]

So... Worth it?

It sure is to me. 1100 MHz on a much lower core voltage. Seems magical.

Needs 7GT/s memory to make it a monster

 

[the54thvoid]

Have to say, that's a higher than expected clock speed (nearly 19% higher than the original 925MHz). And a much lower voltage too.

I'm looking forward to seeing reviews.

And pricing. :shadedshu

Edit: form the source

According to our source the Tahiti XT2 chip will be also powering the Radeon HD 7970 X2 for sure

If that maintains the 1100 clock speed, it will beat the 690.

 

[boomstik360]

Damn, yet another reason to hold off on buying a 680 lol...

 

[alwayssts]

1100mhz at 1.02v? That's pretty impressive.

Makes me wonder if it's tuned to clock at the high-end range of 28nm (~1200-1300mhz) at the leakage curve which is somewhere around 1.175v. That would be pretty neat and if curious if the process as a whole is being tuned toward that idealism. It makes sense and could be a stepping stone towards why TSMC is adopting a singular performance/leakage level for 20nm. Guess we'll see, but I think it could be a huge indicator.

Agree it shouldn't need higher mem speeds, but that's pretty close to matching memory bandwidth with computational ability...which is smart and something they really should have done from the beginning. Should, in theory, out-of-the box give it a tangible benefit very close, to slightly better, than what even an overclocked 7gbps (figuring ~7700mhz) 256-bit design can achieve when (big 'when' I suppose) those resources are used. Good play capitalizing on the design strong-points and delivering a compelling reason for their decisions with Tahiti.

 

[HellasVagabond]

1) Wait until it actually gets released (it may be as they say now but until it gets released many things could change).
2) Price (If it retails around the same price as the 680 and it's slightly faster we also need to take into consideration the upcoming NV specific features / GRID - VGX)

 

[amdftw]

The new King!
If it can overlcok to 1300-1400MHz it will be a monster!

 

[Stephen.]

Will it have shenanigans boost technology like Nvidia? nah i guess it don't need it.

 

[dj-electric]

DIY, i really hope for good numbers from such a cards (not only Mhz\power\Voltage ratio but also price)

 

[Prima.Vera]

So... Worth it?

Nothing is worth at the moment, the age of console ports and Diablo 3 - 10 years ago graphics. Common!

 

[hardcore_gamer]

Even if it beats GTX680, AMD will price it close to $500. Nvidia will not reduce the price of GTX680 because they can't produce enough chips to supply the demand.

This is not the AMD we used to know.

 

[fullinfusion]

Sounds like amd don't have anything up it's sleeve for awhile if there just binning for higher clocks.

 

[INSTG8R]

Typica! I buy a 7970 like a week ago and now this...

 

[hardcore_gamer]

Sounds like amd don't have anything up it's sleeve for awhile if there just binning for higher clocks.

I'm not surprised. They already launched 77, 78 and 79 series cards. 7990 and 7970x2 will be launched soon. That ends this generation of GPUs from AMD. We won't see the 8X series before Q1 2013.

 

[phanbuey]

They already screwed themselves. Anyone who was willing to spend $550 for the 7970 already did so. And this little boost is not going to make anyone drop their 670s or 680s to spend $500 and get a whopping 5% boost.

Plus, nvidia's 670 is prime for a good price drop, which is all they would have to do to counter this card.