Performance winner: HIS 7970 X2
It is not only the fastest card on paper, but also in practice due to the highest GPU and memory clock ex-factory, and it is almost consistently the fastest card in our test field in applications. The Crossfire profile for Battlefield 3 is not really good, and the Catalyst 12.11 does not really bring any progress in some games, but this card is still the fastest card in the field on average, except for a few applications. However, we cannot make a recommendation or give any award due to the still pending market launch.
Second fastest card and food for the eye: PowerColor 7990 Devil 13
PowerColor self-confidently calls its dual card HD 7990, although there is no official reference from AMD for it at all. If you use the OC BIOS, this card is also a blink of an eye faster than the GeForce GTX 690, thanks to the new Catalyst 12.11. The extensive accessories and the low number of pieces make the Devil 13 a guaranteed collector’s item. Cards like this just scream for water cooling; however, they are also so exclusive that no specially adapted board will probably be available in normal stores.
Winner of reason: EVGA GTX 690
While both cards with the two AMD chips are quite uninhibited in terms of power consumption and even break the 525 watt limit under full load, the GTX 690 is downright modest in comparison in this department. This is because it gets by with two slots, has the quietest cooling in the field, and is much more efficient in terms of feed conversion. If the performance of a graphics card is not enough for you, you can confidently take a look at this card, because the performance differences between all three tested cards are not that big. One should also not disregard EVGA’s special warranty services and support, especially if you plan to use water cooling.
Concluding remarks
THE fastest card still does not exist, because it implies winning all benchmarks and applications. However, Catalyst 12.11 in particular has shown that there can always be surprises despite all the already known tests and results. No one is sure that a specific benchmark or game can be the domain of a card or cards from a specific chip manufacturer in the long run. There are always distortions, and we also don’t want to hide the fact that looking at the pure result bars without also having the power consumption in mind causes us a bit of a stomachache. Conquering the crown with a crowbar is also an art, but we would almost have preferred another competition.
- 1 - Introduction and overview
- 2 - The challenger: HIS 7970 X2
- 3 - The efficient: EVGA GTX 690
- 4 - The beauty: PowerColor 7990 Devil 13
- 5 - Synthetic benchmarks
- 6 - Gaming benchmarks (Catalyst 12.11)
- 7 - Micro stuttering: the current situation
- 8 - Micro stuttering: AFR render methods
- 9 - Micro stuttering: adaptive VSync (Nvidia)
- 10 - Micro stuttering: dynamic VSync (AMD)
- 11 - Power consumption and temperatures
- 12 - Fan speed and noise (with videos)
- 13 - Summary and conclusion
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