As I said:
Of the "cons" outlined in the reference card review, price was what AMD could charge, perf/watt was a necessary trade off for compute functionality, and PowerTune/ZeroCore weren't a big influence which leaves...
Now, are you going to tell me that the largest negative gleaned from reviews, users, and tech site/forum feedback WASN'T due to the reference blower shroud?
Do you not think that if AMD had put more resources into putting together a better reference cooling solution that the overall impression of the reference board - THE ONLY OPTION AT LAUNCH - might have been better from a marketing and PR standpoint ? How many people stated that they would only consider the HD 7970 once the card was available with non-reference cooling - whether air or water?
Then how come my HD7950 is the most silent card I've ever owned? I had it clocked at 1175/7000 and it was pretty much inaudible even during gaming? Pay that extra 20 bucks and take a card with proper heatsink and not that crap blower heatsink and every card will be silent. Without exceptions.