Terminal Thoughts

Gigabyte's Radeon HD 7970 SOC takes air-cooling to an obnoxious level and many enthusiasts will fence information technology'southward too big, too loud, too heavy, too expensive and simply besides impractical. All of those points are valid, withal we don't mind. The manner we see it, the HD 7970 SOC is meant to be all of the above. Information technology's supposed to be the most extreme HD 7970 coin can buy, and there'due south no denying it accomplished that feat.

The menu spans eleven.4" (29cm), but why should you intendance? About enthusiast cases can handle that with room to spare -- though it also occupies iii expansion slots, which could be a concern depending on your motherboard'south layout and the number of expansion cards you need.

Surprisingly, the SOC was fairly quiet when gaming until we cranked the settings up to ane.3v and ane.26GHz, at which point it was near equal to the Hd 7970 GHz Edition. There is at least one glaring weakness on this front, nonetheless: the SOC uses 40mm fans that accept to spin pretty difficult to keep the carte du jour cool and they aren't exactly known for their long lifespan.

The SOC's three.5lb torso was a non-consequence. We didn't spot any PCB flex, which is mutual in cards that weigh one-half equally much. You can likely thank the rear-mounted aluminum heat spreader for this, as information technology distributes the load well.

All told, the card'southward weakest points are besides its strongest if you intend to overclock heavily, which is precisely what the SOC is designed for. Although we arrived at a maximum overclock of 1.26GHz, this should only be used as a rough guide as seasoned overclockers may fare better.

Gigabyte expects the Radeon Hard disk drive 7970 SOC to become available in early August and we believe information technology will retail for around $530. If this estimate is accurate, the 7970 SOC will be a deal hunter's nightmare, costing twenty% more than than the standard Gigabyte 7970 OC. Simply for those who appreciate the excessive side of computing, the Hd 7970 SOC certainly delivers.

Pros: The most extreme HD 7970 money can buy. Up to 19% performance gains compared to a standard Hard disk drive 7970. Fairly quiet when gaming at its default settings. Solid overclocking abilities and runs cooler than AMD's reference pattern.

Cons: Occupies iii expansion slots. Uses 40mm fans that have to spin pretty hard to proceed the bill of fare cool and they aren't exactly known for their long lifespan. Expected price.