Review: ASUS HD 7950 DirectCU II Top - Tahiti Pro on steroids

Category : AMD

Published by Marc Büchel on 31.01.12

Today the information embargo regarding the AMDs Radeon HD 7950 has ended. Therefore we did not just get a standard reference design card, we arranged an ASUS Radeon HD 7950 DirectCU II Top which comes with a factory overclocking of no less than 100 MHz. What we think about it? Just keep on reading.


On the following pages we will show you the strenghts and weaknesses of the ASUS Radeon HD 7950 DirectCUII Top.

Page 1 - Introduction	Page 8 - Stone Giant
Page 2 - Technical Data / Specifications	Page 9 - World in Conflict
Page 3 - Preview / Delivery	Page 10 - Resident Evil 5
Page 4 - Testing conditions	Page 11 - Call of Juarez
Page 5 - 3D Mark 11	Page 12 - Far Cry 2
Page 6 - 3D Mark Vantage	Page 13 - Overclocking
Page 7 - Unigine Heaven	Page 14 - Conclusion

Discuss this article in the forums

[pagebreak]

Technical data / specifications

In December last year, AMD paperlaunched their new Radeon HD 7970 which was developed under the codename Southern Island. The two biggest advancements concern their new Graphics Core Next architecture and the memory interface which is now 384 bit wide as well as the jump in process manufacturing technology from 40 nanometer to 28 nanometer. Actually that was quite a lot of work, especially if you keep in mind, that this chip, with its 4.31 billion transistors, has an insane complexity.

With the new architecture AMD did not only improve performance, they also optimized the anisotropic filtering and they added super sampling anti aliasing for DirectX 10 as well as DirectX 11, which helps improving overall display quality in games or generally 3D applications. Lets stay with the improvements. Meanwhile AMD also offers broader support GPU computing and hopefully they'll, at least at some point, be able to keep up with NVIDIA. AMD has also improved power consumption when the card is in idle mode. The ZeroCore power feature almost completely deactivates the GPU when the display(s) have been turned off.

The Radeon HD 7950 itself is based on the exact same GPU like the Radeon HD 7970. It also counts 4.31 billion transistors and it being manufactured using TSMCs latest 28 nanometer process technology. The differences can be found as soon as we dig a bit deeper. The Radeon HD 7950 comes with a total of 28 CUs whereas the Radeon HD 7970 has 32. As a result you get 1'792 scalar ALUs which are able to perform one MADD (Multiply Add) operation per clock. Furthermore every CU comes with four texture units and additionally there are 16 Load/Store-Units which do texture fetch operations. Finally you end up with 112 TMUs and 448 L/S-Units.

Regarding clock speeds the Radeon HD 7950 reference design posts 800 MHz for the GPU and 2'500 MHz (effective 5'000 MHz) for the memory. There is a total of 3'072 Megabyte of GDDR5 graphics memory and this gets the data via a 384 bit wide interface. Finally we end up with 240 Gigabyte per second of raw memory bandwidth. Thanks to the new 28 nanometer manufacturing process technology it has also been possible to keep the thermal design power at a reasonable level of 200 Watts.

Of course there are some more features. Therefore you can find PCI Express 3.0 support, DirectX11, UVD 3.0 and VCE (Video Codec Engine).

	Radeon HD 7970	ASUS HD 7950 DirectCUII Top	Radeon HD 6970	Radeon HD 6950
Chip	Tahiti	Tahiti	Cayman XT	Cayman Pro
Process	28 nm	28 nm	40 nm	40 nm
Transistors	4.31 billion	4.31 billion	2.64 billion	2.64 billion
GPU clock	925 MHz	800 MHz	880 MHz	800 MHz
Shader clock	925 MHz	800 MHz	880 MHz	80 MHz
Memory	3'072 MB GDDR5	3'072 MB GDDR5	2'048 MB GDDR5	2'048 MB GDDR5
Memory clock	2'750 MHz	2'500 MHz	1'375 MHz	1'250 MHz
Memory interface	384 Bit	384 Bit	256 Bit	256 Bit
Memory bandwidth	264'000 MB/s	240'000 MB/s	176'000 MB/s	160'000 MB/s
TMUs	128	112	96	88
TAUs	128	112	96	88
Shader Cores	2'048 (1D)	1'792 (1D)	384 (4D)	352 (4D)
ROPs	32 ROP	32 ROP	32 ROP	32 ROP
Shader model	SM 5.1	SM 5.1	SM 5	SM 5
Maximum board power	250 Watt	200 Watt	250 Watt	200 Watt

As you might expect the ASUS HD 7950 DirectCU II Top is everything but standard. First of all core clock speeds have been increased from 800 MHz to 900 MHz. For factory overclocked cards ASUS uses "Top" in the name. Furthermore ASUS equipped this card with its own DirectCU II cooler. This massive triple slot cooler features two 100 millimeter fans as well as five heatpipes. Each of which has a diameter of eight millimeters. In 2D mode card is almost inaudible and under load it still is much quieter than the AMD reference design.

Page 1 - Introduction	Page 8 - Stone Giant
Page 2 - Technical Data / Specifications	Page 9 - World in Conflict
Page 3 - Preview / Delivery	Page 10 - Resident Evil 5
Page 4 - Testing conditions	Page 11 - Call of Juarez
Page 5 - 3D Mark 11	Page 12 - Far Cry 2
Page 6 - 3D Mark Vantage	Page 13 - Overclocking
Page 7 - Unigine Heaven	Page 14 - Conclusion

Discuss this article in the forums

[pagebreak]

Preview / Delivery

Delivery

For the Readon HD 7950 DirectCU II, ASUS uses their standard box. Everything has its specific place and in the delivery you find an installation CD, a manual, power adaptor, one mini Display Port-to-DVI adaptor, a mini Display Port-to-HDMI adaptor and a CrossFire bridge. Therefore the delivery is sufficient but we would have loved to see an additional game in the box.

Page 1 - Introduction	Page 8 - Stone Giant
Page 2 - Technical Data / Specifications	Page 9 - World in Conflict
Page 3 - Preview / Delivery	Page 10 - Resident Evil 5
Page 4 - Testing conditions	Page 11 - Call of Juarez
Page 5 - 3D Mark 11	Page 12 - Far Cry 2
Page 6 - 3D Mark Vantage	Page 13 - Overclocking
Page 7 - Unigine Heaven	Page 14 - Conclusion

Discuss this article in the forums

[pagebreak] 

Testing conditions

Hardware

Mainboard	Asus P6TD Deluxe
CPUs	Intel Core i7 920 @ 2.66Ghz
Memory	OCZ Platinum Series Triple Channel 3x2GB CL7.0-DDR3-1333 MHz
Graphic Cards	ASUS HD 7950 DirectCU II Top XFX R7970 Double Dissipation ASUS ENGTX560 TI 448 DCII/2DIS/1280MD5 ASUS EAH6770 DC SL/2DI/1GD5 AMD Radeon HD 6570 ASUS GTX 580 Matrix Platinum MSI GTX 580 Lightning ASUS GTX 550 Ti DirectCU Top ASUS EAH5550 ASUS ENGT 440 ASUS ENGT 430 NVIDIA GTX 590 ASUS GTX 590 ASUS EAH6990 (Radeon HD 6990) ASUS GTX 560 Ti DirectCUII Top Gigabyte GTX 460 Super Overclock ASUS HD6970 DirectCUII ASUS EAH6970 2GB ASUS EAH6950 2GB ASUS ENGTX580 ASUS EAH6850 DirectCU ASUS ARES 5870X2 2DIS 4GD5 MSI HD R5870 Lighning Gigabyte 5870 SOC ASUS Radeon EAH 5970 ASUS GTX470 ASUS Radeon EAH 5870 ASUS Radeon EAH 5850 ASUS GTX 275 Matrix ASUS Matrix GTX 285 nVidia GTX 295 SLI nVidia GTX 295 EVGA 8800 GT 512MB ZOTAC GTX 275 1792MB SLI ASUS EAH3870X2 ASUS ENGTS250 DK
HDD	Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 500 GByte
PSU	Corsair HX850 / 850 Watts

Software

Futuremark

• 3DMark 11
  • Performance

• 3DMark Vantage
  • Performance

Unigine Heaven Benchmark

	High
API	DX11
Stereo 3D	Disabled
Shaders	High
Tessellation	Extreme
Anisotropy	16
Anti-aliasing	8x
Full Screen	Yes
Resolution	1920x1080

Stone Giant

	High
Resolution	1920 x 1080
Aspect	Auto
Tessellation	High
Window Mode	No

World in Conflict

	High
Resolution	1920 x 1080
Graphic Detail	very high
Antialiasing	8x
Anisotropic Texture Filtering	16x

Resident Evil 5 DX10

	High
Resolution	1920 x 1080
Display Mode	Full Screen
Refresh Rate	60 Hz
V-Sync	No
[de]Bildwiederholrate[/de]Frame Rate	Full Screen
Antialiasing	8x
Anisotropic Texture Filtering	16x
Motion Blur	Yes
Shadow Detail	High
Texture Detail	High
Overall Quality	High

Call of Juarez

	High
Resolution	1920 x 1080
Display Mode	yes
Quality	High
Shadowmap size	2048x2048
Shadows quality	High
Antialiasing	4x SSAA
Audio	disabled

Far Cry 2 DX10

	High
Resolution	1920 x 1080
Antialiasing	8x
Direct3D	10
Fire	very high
Physics	very high
Real Trees	very high
Overall Quality	custom
Vegetation	very high
Shading	ultra high
Terrain	ultra high
Geometry	ultra high
Post FX	high
Texture	ultra high
Ambient	high
HDR	yes
Shadow	ultra high
Bloom	yes

Page 1 - Introduction	Page 8 - Stone Giant
Page 2 - Technical Data / Specifications	Page 9 - World in Conflict
Page 3 - Preview / Delivery	Page 10 - Resident Evil 5
Page 4 - Testing conditions	Page 11 - Call of Juarez
Page 5 - 3D Mark 11	Page 12 - Far Cry 2
Page 6 - 3D Mark Vantage	Page 13 - Overclocking
Page 7 - Unigine Heaven	Page 14 - Conclusion

Discuss this article in the forums[pagebreak]

3DMark 11

3DMark 11 is Futuremarks latest benchmark for the entire graphical subsystem. The benchmark uses DirectX 11 and it supports all recent features which can possibly generate high load on a GPU. Therefore you find tessellation, compute shader calculations, divers lighting effects and different depth of filed animations. Following we publish values regarding the performance preset of 3DMark 11.

3DMark 11 Total	Score	Percent
AMD Radeon HD6970 CrossFire	8'772	245.23 %
ASUS EAH6990 (880 MHz / 5'000 MHz)	8'625	241.12 %
ASUS EAH6990 (830 MHz / 5'000 MHz)	8'370	233.99 %
ASUS GTX 590	8'123	227.09 %
NVIDIA GTX 590	8'043	224.85 %
XFX Radeon HD 7970 Double Dissipation	7'201	201.31 %
ASUS HD 7950 DirectCU II Top	6'636	185.52 %
ASUS GTX 580 Matrix Platinum	6'356	177.69 %
MSI GTX 580 Lightning	6'048	160.08 %
Palit GTX 580 SLI (3DMark11 wasn't supported in SLI by nVidia Drivers)	5'841	163.29 %
ASUS GTX 580 DirectCUII	5'988	167.40 %
ASUS GTX 580	5'803	162.23 %
ASUS HD6970 DirectCUII	5'335	149.15 %
ASUS GTX 570 DirectCUII	5'273	147.14 %
ASUS ENGTX 560 TI 448 DCII/2DIS/1280MD5	5'212	145.71 %
ASUS EAH6970 2GB	5'175	144.67 %
Zotac GTX480 SLI (3DMark11 wasn't supported in SLI by nVidia Drivers)	5'046	141.07 %
Zotac GTX 480	4'922	137.60 %
ASUS EAH6950 2GB	4'606	128.77 %
ASUS GTX 560 Ti DirectCUII Top	4'551	127.23 %
Gigabyte GTX460 Super Overclock	3'754	104.95 %
ASUS EAH6850	3'577	100.00 %
EVGA GTX 460 EE	3'404	95.16 %
ASUS GTX 550 Ti DirectCU Top	2'717	75.96 %
ASUS EAH6770 DC SL/2DI/1GD5	2'713	75.85 %
AMD Radeon HD 6570	1'571	43.92 %
ASUS ENGT440	1'327	37.10 %
ASUS ENGT430	1'075	30.05 %
ASUS EAH5550	1'017	28.43 %
	more is better

3DMark 11 GPU	Score	Percent
AMD Radeon HD6970 CrossFire	10'189	305.52 %
ASUS EAH6990 (880 MHz / 5'000 MHz)	9'977	299.16 %
ASUS EAH6990 (830 MHz / 5'000 MHz)	9'571	286.98 %
ASUS GTX 590	8'914	267.29 %
NVIDIA GTX 590	8'854	265.49 %
AMD Radeon HD 6570	6'779	203.27 %
XFX Radeon HD 7970 Double Dissipation	7'797	233.79 %
ASUS HD 7950 DirectCU II Top	6'800	203.90 %
ASUS GTX 580 Matrix Platinum	6'314	189.32 %
MSI GTX 580 Lightning	5'952	178.47 %
ASUS GTX 580 DirectCUII	5'872	176.07 %
ASUS GTX 580	5'812	174.27 %
Palit ENGTX 580 SLI (3DMark11 wasn't supported in SLI by nVidia Drivers)	5'697	170.82 %
ASUS HD6970 DirectCUII	5'132	153.88 %
ASUS GTX 570 DirectCUII	5'082	152.38 %
ASUS GTX 570 DirectCUII	5'007	150.13 %
ASUS EAH6970 2GB	4'949	148.40 %
Zotac GTX480 SLI (3DMark11 wasn't supported in SLI by nVidia Drivers)	4'870	146.03 %
Zotac GTX 480	4'802	143.99 %
ASUS GTX 560 Ti DirectCUII Top	4'341	130.16 %
ASUS EAH6950 2GB	4'108	123.18 %
Gigabyte GTX460 Super Overclock	3'562	106.81 %
ASUS EAH6850	3'335	100.00 %
EVGA GTX 460 EE	3'148	94.39 %
ASUS EAH6770 DC SL/2DI/1GD5	2'460	73.76 %
ASUS GTX 550 Ti DirectCU Top	2'440	73.16 %
ASUS ENGT440	1'160	34.78 %
ASUS ENGT430	937	28.10 %
ASUS EAH5550	882	26.45 %
	more is better

Page 1 - Introduction	Page 8 - Stone Giant
Page 2 - Technical Data / Specifications	Page 9 - World in Conflict
Page 3 - Preview / Delivery	Page 10 - Resident Evil 5
Page 4 - Testing conditions	Page 11 - Call of Juarez
Page 5 - 3D Mark 11	Page 12 - Far Cry 2
Page 6 - 3D Mark Vantage	Page 13 - Overclocking
Page 7 - Unigine Heaven	Page 14 - Conclusion

Discuss this article in the forums [pagebreak]

3DMark Vantage

3DMark Vantage is able to squeeze nearly everything out of a recent system. Therefore the feature liste is also pretty long: DirectX10, FP16-HDR, motion blur, parallax occlusion mapping, GPU-physics simulation and different shader effects are being used to even make recent high-end systems struggle.

3DMark Vantage	Score	Percent
Palit GTX 580 SLI	36'482	262.50 %
AMD Radeon HD6970 CrossFire	25'076	180.43 %
nVidia GTX 295 SLI	24'638	177.28 %
Zotac GTX480 SLI	24'520	176.43 %
ASUS EAH6990 (880 MHz / 5'000 MHz)	24'353	175.22 %
ASUS EAH6990 (830 MHz / 5'000 MHz)	24'309	174.91 %
ASUS GTX 590	23'995	172.65 %
NVIDIA GTX 590	23'588	169.72 %
XFX Radeon HD 7970 Double Dissipation	23'153	166.59 %
MSI GTX 580 Lightning	22'725	163.51 %
ASUS ARES 5870X2 2DIS 4GD5	22'496	161.86 %
ASUS GTX 580 Matrix Platinum	22'382	161.04 %
ASUS HD 7950 DirectCU II Top	22'023	158.46 %
ASUS GTX 580 DirectCUII	21'341	153.55 %
ASUS ENGTX 580	21'171	152.42 %
ASUS GTX 570 DirectCUII	19'614	141.13 %
ZOTAC GTX 285 SLI	19'441	139.88 %
ASUS HD6970 DirectCUII	19'165	137.90 %
ZOTAC GTX 275 1792MB SLI	19'098	137.41 %
ASUS EAH6970 2GB	19'019	136.85 %
ASUS GTX 570 DirectCUII	19'016	136.82 %
ASUS EAH5970	18'895	135.95 %
ASUS GTX 560 Ti DirectCUII Top	18'273	131.48 %
Gigabyte HD5870 Super Overclock	18'244	131.27 %
Zotac GTX 480	17'859	128.50 %
MSI HD 5870 Lightning	17'732	127.58 %
nVidia GTX 295	17'598	126.62 %
ASUS EAH6950 2GB	17'485	125.81 %
ASUS GTX 470	16'730	120.37 %
ASUS EAH5870	16'056	115.52 %
Gigabyte GTX460 Super Overclock	16'024	115.30 %
ASUS EAH6850 DirectCU	15'301	110.09 %
EVGA GTX 460 EE	14'606	105.09 %
ASUS EAH5850	13'898	100.00 %
ASUS GTX285 Matrix	13'047	93.87 %
MSI GTX 275 Lightning	12'323	88.09 %
ASUS GTX 550 Ti DirectCU Top	11'793	84.85 %
ASUS EAH6770 DC SL/2DI/1GD5	10'806	77.75 %
ASUS EAH3870X2	9'508	68.41 %
ASUS ENGTS250 DK	8'481	61.02 %
AMD Radeon HD 6570	7'270	52.31 %
EVGA 8800 GT 512MB	6'427	46.24 %
ASUS ENGT440	5'827	41.93 %
Zotac 9600 GT ECO	4'803	34.56 %
ASUS ENGT430	4'609	33.16 %
ASUS EAH5550	3'614	26.00 %
	more is better

3DMark Vantage GPU	Score	Percent
Palit GTX 580 SLI	33'378	254.08 %
AMD Radeon HD6970 CrossFire	29'775	226.65 %
Zotac GTX480 SLI	29'283	222.90 %
nVidia GTX 295 SLI	29'128	221.72 %
ASUS EAH6990 (880 MHz / 5'000 MHz)	28'525	217.13 %
ASUS EAH6990 (830 MHz / 5'000 MHz)	28'397	216.16 %
XFX Radeon HD 7970 Double Dissipation	27'451	208.96 %
ASUS ARES 5870X2 2DIS 4GD5	25'544	194.44 %
MSI GTX 580 Lightning	25'091	190.99 %
ASUS HD 7950 DirectCU II Top	25'062	190.77 %
ASUS GTX 580 Matrix Platinum	24'515	186.61 %
ASUS ENGTX 580	23'628	179.85 %
ASUS GTX 590	23'588	179.55 %
NVIDIA GTX 590	23'353	177.77 %
ASUS GTX 580 DirectCUII	23'440	178.43 %
ASUS GTX 570 DirectCUII	20'914	159.20 %
ZOTAC GTX 285 SLI	20'715	157.68 %
ASUS GTX 570 DirectCUII	20'203	153.79 %
ASUS HD6970 DirectCUII	20'039	152.54 %
ZOTAC GTX 275 1792MB SLI	19'960	151.93 %
ASUS EAH6970 2GB	19'835	150.99 %
ASUS EAH5970	19'789	150.63 %
ASUS GTX 560 Ti DirectCUII Top	18'944	144.20 %
Gigabyte HD5870 Super Overclock	18'745	142.68 %
Zotac GTX 480	18'345	139.64 %
MSI HD 5870 Lightning	18'095	137.74 %
nVidia GTX 295	17'857	135.93 %
ASUS EAH6950 2GB	17'679	134.57 %
Gigabyte GTX460 Super Overclock	15'755	119.93 %
ASUS EAH5870	15'858	120.71 %
ASUS EAH6850 DirectCU	14'866	113.16 %
EVGA GTX 460 EE	14'002	106.58 %
ASUS GTX 470	13'753	104.68 %
ASUS EAH5850	13'137	100.00 %
ASUS GTX285 Matrix	12'156	92.53 %
MSI GTX 275 Lightning	11'337	86.29 %
ASUS GTX 550 Ti DirectCU Top	10'717	81.58 %
ASUS EAH6770 DC SL/2DI/1GD5	9'641	73.39 %
ASUS EAH3870X2	8'292	63.12 %
ASUS ENGTS250 DK	6'722	51.17 %
AMD Radeon HD 6570	6'075	46.24 %
EVGA 8800 GT 512MB	5'328	40.55 %
ASUS ENGT440	4'782	36.40 %
Zotac 9600 GT ECO	3'878	29.52 %
ASUS ENGT430	3'709	28.23 %
ASUS EAH5550	2'863	21.79 %
	more is better

Page 1 - Introduction	Page 8 - Stone Giant
Page 2 - Technical Data / Specifications	Page 9 - World in Conflict
Page 3 - Preview / Delivery	Page 10 - Resident Evil 5
Page 4 - Testing conditions	Page 11 - Call of Juarez
Page 5 - 3D Mark 11	Page 12 - Far Cry 2
Page 6 - 3D Mark Vantage	Page 13 - Overclocking
Page 7 - Unigine Heaven	Page 14 - Conclusion

Discuss this article in the forums
[pagebreak]

Unigine Heaven

Unigine Heaven	Score	Percent
Palit GTX 580 SLI	1'484	420.40 %
AMD Radeon HD6970 CrossFire	1'247	353.26 %
Zotac GTX480 SLI	1'223	346.46 %
ASUS EAH6990 (880 MHz / 5'000 MHz)	1'217	344.76 %
ASUS EAH6990 (830 MHz / 5'000 MHz)	1'183	335.13 %
ASUS GTX 590	1'276	361.47 %
NVIDIA GTX 590	1'122	317.85 %
XFX Radeon HD 7970 Double Dissipation	1'047	296.60 %
ASUS GTX 580 DirectCUII	883	250.14 %
MSI GTX 580 Lightning	878	248.73 %
ASUS HD 7950 DirectCU II Top	877	248.44 %
ASUS GTX 580 Matrix Platinum	835	236.54 %
ASUS ENGTX 580	812	230.03 %
ASUS GTX 570 DirectCUII	777	220.11 %
ASUS GTX 570 DirectCUII	692	196.03 %
EVGA GTX 460 EE SLI	690	195.47 %
ASUS GTX 560 Ti DirectCUII Top	677	191.78 %
ASUS EAH6970 2GB	637	180.45 %
ASUS HD6970 DirectCUII	635	179.89 %
Zotac GTX 480	593	167.99 %
ASUS EAH6950 2GB	583	165.16 %
Gigabyte GTX460 Super Overclock	520	147.31 %
EVGA GTX 460 EE	447	126.63 %
ASUS EAH6850	353	100.00 %
ASUS GTX 550 Ti DirectCU Top	334	94.62 %
ASUS EAH6770 DC SL/2DI/1GD5	263	74.50 %
ASUS ENGT440	163	46.18 %
ASUS ENGT430	126	35.69 %
ASUS EAH5550	86	24.36 %
AMD Radeon HD 6570	71	20.11 %
	more is better

Unigine Heaven	Average	Percent
Palit GTX 580 SLI	58.9 fps	420.71 %
AMD Radeon HD6970 CrossFire	49.5 fps	353.57 %
Zotac GTX480 SLI	48.6 fps	347.14 %
ASUS EAH6990 (880 MHz / 5'000 MHz)	48.3 fps	345.00 %
ASUS EAH6990 (830 MHz / 5'000 MHz)	47.0 fps	335.71 %
ASUS GTX 590	50.7 fps	362.14 %
NVIDIA GTX 590	44.5 fps	317.86 %
XFX Radeon HD 7970 Double Dissipation	41.6 fps	297.14 %
ASUS GTX 580 DirectCUII	35.3 fps	252.14 %
MSI GTX 580 Lightning	34.9 fps	249.29 %
ASUS HD 7950 DirectCU II Top	34.8 fps	248.57 %
ASUS GTX 580 Matrix Platinum	33.1 fps	236.43 %
ASUS ENGTX 580	32.2 fps	230.00 %
ASUS GTX 570 DirectCUII	30.9 fps	220.71 %
ASUS GTX 570 DirectCUII	27.5 fps	196.43 %
EVGA GTX 460 EE SLI	27.4 fps	195.71 %
ASUS GTX 560 Ti DirectCUII Top	26.9 fps	192.14 %
ASUS EAH6970 2GB	25.3 fps	180.71 %
ASUS HD6970 DirectCUII	25.2 fps	180.00 %
Zotac GTX 480	23.5 fps	167.86 %
ASUS EAH6950 2GB	23.1 fps	165.00 %
Gigabyte GTX460 Super Overclock	20.6 fps	147.14 %
EVGA GTX 460 EE	17.7 fps	126.43 %
ASUS EAH6850	14.0 fps	100.00 %
ASUS GTX 550 Ti DirectCU Top	13.3 fps	95.00 %
ASUS EAH6770 DC SL/2DI/1GD5	10.4 fps	74.29 %
ASUS ENGT440	6.5 fps	46.43 %
ASUS ENGT430	5.0 fps	35.71 %
ASUS EAH5550	3.4 fps	24.29 %
AMD Radeon HD 6570	2.8 fps	20.00 %
	more is better

Page 1 - Introduction	Page 8 - Stone Giant
Page 2 - Technical Data / Specifications	Page 9 - World in Conflict
Page 3 - Preview / Delivery	Page 10 - Resident Evil 5
Page 4 - Testing conditions	Page 11 - Call of Juarez
Page 5 - 3D Mark 11	Page 12 - Far Cry 2
Page 6 - 3D Mark Vantage	Page 13 - Overclocking
Page 7 - Unigine Heaven	Page 14 - Conclusion

Discuss this article in the forums [pagebreak]

Stone Giant

Stone Giant	Average	Percent
Palit GTX 580 SLI	159 fps	512.90 %
ASUS GTX 590	123 fps	396.77 %
NVIDIA GTX 590	122 fps	393.55 %
ASUS EAH6990 (830 MHz / 5'000 MHz)	119 fps	383.87 %
ASUS EAH6990 (880 MHz / 5'000 MHz)	107 fps	345.16 %
EVGA GTX 460 EE SLI	96 fps	309.68 %
MSI GTX 580 Lightning	92 fps	296.77 %
XFX Radeon HD 7970 Double Dissipation	89 fps	287.10 %
ASUS GTX 580 Matrix Platinum	89 fps	287.10 %
ASUS ENGTX 580	86 fps	277.42 %
ASUS GTX 580 DirectCUII	85 fps	274.19 %
Zotac GTX480 SLI	83 fps	267.74 %
ASUS GTX 570 DirectCUII	75 fps	241.94 %
Zotac GTX 480	75 fps	241.94 %
ASUS HD 7950 DirectCU II Top	71 fps	229.03 %
ASUS GTX 570 DirectCUII	70 fps	225.81 %
ASUS GTX 560 Ti DirectCUII Top	66 fps	212.90 %
Gigabyte GTX460 Super Overclock	53 fps	170.97 %
AMD Radeon HD6970 CrossFire	51 fps	164.52 %
ASUS HD6970 DirectCUII	51 fps	164.52 %
ASUS EAH6970 2GB	50 fps	161.29 %
ASUS EAH6950 2GB	44 fps	141.94 %
EVGA GTX 460 EE	48 fps	154.84 %
ASUS GTX 550 Ti DirectCU Top	37 fps	119.35 %
ASUS EAH6850	31 fps	100.00 %
ASUS EAH6770 DC SL/2DI/1GD5	23 fps	71.19 %
ASUS ENGT440	17 fps	54.84 %
AMD Radeon HD 6570	14 fps	45.16 %
ASUS ENGT430	14 fps	45.16 %
ASUS EAH5550	10 fps	32.26 %
	more is better

Page 1 - Introduction	Page 8 - Stone Giant
Page 2 - Technical Data / Specifications	Page 9 - World in Conflict
Page 3 - Preview / Delivery	Page 10 - Resident Evil 5
Page 4 - Testing conditions	Page 11 - Call of Juarez
Page 5 - 3D Mark 11	Page 12 - Far Cry 2
Page 6 - 3D Mark Vantage	Page 13 - Overclocking
Page 7 - Unigine Heaven	Page 14 - Conclusion

Discuss this article in the forums
[pagebreak]

World in Conflict

World in Conflict, 1920 x 1080, high details, 8xAA 16xAF	Average	Percent
Palit GTX 580 SLI	110 fps	164.18 %
ASUS ARES 5870X2 2DIS 4GD5	106 fps	179.66 %
ASUS EAH6990 (880 MHz / 5'000 MHz)	84 fps	142.37 %
Zotac GTX480 SLI	83 fps	140.68 %
AMD Radeon HD6970 CrossFire	82 fps	138.98 %
ASUS GTX 580 Matrix Platinum	82 fps	138.98 %
MSI GTX 580 Lightning	82 fps	138.98 %
ASUS GTX 590	81 fps	137.29 %
ASUS EAH6990 (830 MHz / 5'000 MHz)	81 fps	137.29 %
NVIDIA GTX 590	80 fps	135.59 %
XFX Radeon HD 7970 Double Dissipation	78 fps	132.20 %
ASUS EAH5970	77 fps	130.50 %
ASUS ENGTX 580	77 fps	130.50 %
ASUS GTX 580 DirectCUII	75 fps	127.12 %
Zotac GTX 480	75 fps	127.12 %
ASUS GTX 570 DirectCUII	74 fps	125.42 %
ASUS GTX 470	73 fps	123.72 %
ASUS HD 7950 DirectCU II Top	72 fps	122.03 %
Gigabyte HD5870 Super Overclock	72 fps	122.03 %
ASUS GTX 560 Ti DirectCUII Top	72 fps	122.03 %
MSI HD 5870 Lightning	69 fps	116.94 %
ZOTAC GTX 285 SLI	69 fps	116.94 %
ASUS GTX 570 DirectCUII	68 fps	115.25 %
ASUS HD6970 DirectCUII	68 fps	115.25 %
ASUS EAH6970 2GB	67 fps	113.56 %
EVGA GTX 460 EE SLI	67 fps	113.56 %
ASUS EAH6950 2GB	61 fps	103.39 %
ZOTAC GTX 275 1792MB SLI	59 fps	100.00 %
ASUS EAH5870	59 fps	100.00 %
ASUS EAH5850	59 fps	100.00 %
ASUS EAH6850 DirectCU	57 fps	96.61 %
nVidia GTX 295 SLI	57 fps	96.61 %
ASUS GTX285 Matrix	56 fps	94.91 %
Gigabyte GTX460 Super Overclock	55 fps	93.22 %
nVidia GTX 295	53 fps	89.83 %
MSI GTX 275 Lightning	50 fps	84.74 %
EVGA GTX 460 EE	41 fps	69.49 %
ASUS GTX 550 Ti DirectCU Top	39 fps	66.10 %
ASUS EAH6770 DC SL/2DI/1GD5	30 fps	50.85 %
ASUS EAH3870X2	26 fps	44.06 %
ASUS ENGTS250 DK	25 fps	42.37 %
EVGA 8800 GT 512MB	21 fps	35.59 %
AMD Radeon HD 6570	20 fps	33.90 %
ASUS ENGT440	18 fps	30.51 %
Zotac 9600 GT ECO	18 fps	30.51 %
ASUS ENGT430	13 fps	22.03 %
ASUS EAH5550	10 fps	16.95 %
	more is better

Page 1 - Introduction	Page 8 - Stone Giant
Page 2 - Technical Data / Specifications	Page 9 - World in Conflict
Page 3 - Preview / Delivery	Page 10 - Resident Evil 5
Page 4 - Testing conditions	Page 11 - Call of Juarez
Page 5 - 3D Mark 11	Page 12 - Far Cry 2
Page 6 - 3D Mark Vantage	Page 13 - Overclocking
Page 7 - Unigine Heaven	Page 14 - Conclusion

Discuss this article in the forums [pagebreak]

Resident Evil 5

Resident Evil uses nearly every modern rendering technology: HDR, Hemisphere Lighting, Soft Shadows, Soft Particles, Field- und Motion-Blur oder auch Alpha to Coverage and static Ambient Occlusion. Furthermore Resident Evil 5 has been optimized for multicore architectures and already comes DirectX11 ready. By using the DirectX9 as well as the DirectX10 benchmark we can again show you CPU-scaling with low resolutions and the compared to the CPU overproportional influence of the graphics card at high resolutions.

Resident Evil 5, 1920 x 1080, high details, 8xAA 16xAF	Average	Percent
AMD Radeon HD6970 CrossFire	162.50 fps	169.62 %
Palit GTX 580 SLI	140.10 fps	146.24 %
ASUS ARES 5870X2 2DIS 4GD5	123.20 fps	128.60 %
ASUS EAH5970	119.50 fps	124.73 %
XFX Radeon HD 7970 Double Dissipation	114.80 fps	119.83 %
ASUS EAH6970 2GB	113.60 fps	139.46 %
ASUS HD6970 DirectCUII	113.00 fps	117.95 %
ASUS GTX 590	110.20 fps	115.03 %
NVIDIA GTX 590	109.30 fps	114.09 %
ASUS GTX 580 Matrix Platinum	108.70 fps	113.47 %
ZOTAC GTX 285 SLI	108.60 fps	113.36 %
ZOTAC GTX 275 1792MB SLI	108.30 fps	113.05 %
ASUS GTX 580 DirectCUII	107.40 fps	112.11 %
ASUS ENGTX 580	107.30 fps	112.00 %
MSI GTX 580 Lightning	107.20 fps	111.90 %
ASUS HD 7950 DirectCU II Top	106.40 fps	111.06 %
ASUS EAH6950 2GB	105.70 fps	110.33 %
Gigabyte HD5870 Super Overclock	105.00 fps	109.60 %
MSI HD 5870 Lightning	104.30 fps	108.87 %
ASUS EAH6990 (880 MHz / 5'000 MHz)	103.20 fps	107.72 %
ASUS EAH6990 (830 MHz / 5'000 MHz)	102.90 fps	107.41 %
EVGA GTX 460 EE SLI	101.80 fps	106.26 %
ASUS GTX 570 DirectCUII	101.70 fps	106.16 %
nVidia GTX 295	100.50 fps	104.90 %
ASUS GTX 570 DirectCUII	100.20 fps	104.59 %
ASUS GTX 560 Ti DirectCUII Top	99.50 fps	103.86 %
ASUS EAH5870	97.20 fps	101.46 %
Zotac GTX480 SLI	96.50 fps	100.73 %
ASUS EAH5850	95.80 fps	100.00 %
nVidia GTX 295 SLI	95.30 fps	99.48 %
ASUS EAH6850 DirectCU	93.30 fps	97.39 %
Zotac GTX 480	92.20 fps	78.50 %
ASUS GTX 470	90.30 fps	94.25 %
Gigabyte GTX460 Super Overclock	88.10 fps	91.96 %
EVGA GTX 460 EE	78.60 fps	82.04 %
ASUS GTX285 Matrix	75.00 fps	78.28 %
ASUS GTX 550 Ti DirectCU Top	69.20 fps	71.19 %
ASUS EAH6770 DC SL/2DI/1GD5	62.50 fps	65.24 %
MSI GTX 275 Lightning	62.40 fps	65.13 %
ASUS EAH3870X2	51.60 fps	53.86 %
ASUS ENGTS250 DK	44.40 fps	46.35 %
AMD Radeon HD 6570	39.20 fps	40.92 %
EVGA 8800 GT 512MB	34.60 fps	36.10 %
ASUS ENGT440	30.80 fps	32.15 %
Zotac 9600 GT ECO	29.70 fps	31.00 %
ASUS ENGT430	24.40 fps	25.47 %
ASUS EAH5550	23.90 fps	24.95 %
	more is better

Page 1 - Introduction	Page 8 - Stone Giant
Page 2 - Technical Data / Specifications	Page 9 - World in Conflict
Page 3 - Preview / Delivery	Page 10 - Resident Evil 5
Page 4 - Testing conditions	Page 11 - Call of Juarez
Page 5 - 3D Mark 11	Page 12 - Far Cry 2
Page 6 - 3D Mark Vantage	Page 13 - Overclocking
Page 7 - Unigine Heaven	Page 14 - Conclusion

Discuss this article in the forums [pagebreak]

Call of Juarez

Call of Juarez, 1920 x 1080, high details, 4xSSAA	Average	Percent
AMD Radeon HD6970 CrossFire	91.00 fps	228.64 %
ASUS GTX 590	88.80 fps	223.16 %
NVIDIA GTX 590	88.70 fps	222.86 %
Palit GTX 580 SLI	88.60 fps	222.61 %
ASUS EAH6990 (880 MHz / 5'000 MHz)	78.90 fps	198.24 %
ASUS EAH6990 (830 MHz / 5'000 MHz)	76.00 fps	190.95 %
Zotac GTX480 SLI	73.10 fps	183.67 %
ASUS ARES 5870X2 2DIS 4GD5	72.80 fps	182.91 %
XFX Radeon HD 7970 Double Dissipation	70.70 fps	177.64 %
MSI GTX 580 Lightning	56.10 fps	140.95 %
ASUS GTX 580 Matrix Platinum	54.40 fps	136.68 %
ASUS HD 7950 DirectCU II Top	53.90 fps	135.43 %
ASUS EAH5970	53.60 fps	134.67 %
ASUS ENGTX 580	52.40 fps	131.65 %
EVGA GTX 460 EE SLI	52.00 fps	130.65 %
ASUS GTX 580 DirectCUII	51.90 fps	130.40 %
ASUS GTX 570 DirectCUII	49.20 fps	123.62 %
ASUS GTX 570 DirectCUII	49.00 fps	123.12 %
ASUS GTX 560 Ti DirectCUII Top	48.70 fps	122.36 %
nVidia GTX 295 SLI	47.60 fps	119.59 %
ASUS GTX 550 Ti DirectCU Top	46.30 fps	116.33 %
ASUS HD6970 DirectCUII	46.20 fps	116.08 %
Gigabyte HD5870 Super Overclock	43.20 fps	108.54 %
ASUS EAH6970 2GB	42.90 fps	107.79 %
MSI HD 5870 Lightning	42.50 fps	106.78 %
ASUS EAH5870	41.90 fps	105.27 %
ASUS EAH5850	39.80 fps	100.00 %
ASUS EAH6950 2GB	39.50 fps	99.25 %
ZOTAC GTX 285 SLI	38.80 fps	97.48 %
Zotac GTX 480	37.20 fps	93.47 %
ZOTAC GTX 275 1792MB SLI	38.00 fps	95.47 %
ASUS GTX285 Matrix	34.60 fps	86.93 %
ASUS GTX 470	34.20 fps	85.92 %
nVidia GTX 295	33.20 fps	83.42 %
ASUS EAH6850 DirectCU	32.10 fps	80.65 %
Gigabyte GTX460 Super Overclock	32.10 fps	80.65 %
EVGA GTX 460 EE	30.70 fps	77.14 %
MSI GTX 275 Lightning	28.50 fps	71.60 %
ASUS EAH3870X2	24.50 fps	61.56 %
ASUS ENGT440	21.90 fps	55.03 %
ASUS EAH6770 DC SL/2DI/1GD5	21.10 fps	53.02 %
EVGA 8800 GT 512MB	18.20 fps	45.73 %
ASUS ENGT430	16.60 fps	41.71 %
Zotac 9600 GT ECO	15.20 fps	38.19 %
ASUS ENGTS250 DK	13.90 fps	34.92 %
ASUS EAH5550	12.30 fps	30.90 %
AMD Radeon HD 6570	12.20 fps	30.65 %
	more is better

Page 1 - Introduction	Page 8 - Stone Giant
Page 2 - Technical Data / Specifications	Page 9 - World in Conflict
Page 3 - Preview / Delivery	Page 10 - Resident Evil 5
Page 4 - Testing conditions	Page 11 - Call of Juarez
Page 5 - 3D Mark 11	Page 12 - Far Cry 2
Page 6 - 3D Mark Vantage	Page 13 - Overclocking
Page 7 - Unigine Heaven	Page 14 - Conclusion

Discuss this article in the forums [pagebreak]

Far Cry 2

Far Cry 2, 1920 x 1080, high details, 8xAA	Average	Percent
Palit GTX 580 SLI	132.41 fps	250.21 %
ASUS EAH6990 (880 MHz / 5'000 MHz)	122.40 fps	231.29 %
ASUS EAH6990 (830 MHz / 5'000 MHz)	120.76 fps	228.19 %
Zotac GTX480 SLI	118.04 fps	223.05 %
ASUS GTX 590	113.17 fps	213.85 %
NVIDIA GTX 590	111.46 fps	210.62 %
EVGA GTX 460 SLI	107.77 fps	203.65 %
ASUS GTX 580 Matrix Platinum	104.74 fps	197.92 %
MSI GTX 580 Lightning	103.82 fps	196.18 %
XFX Radeon HD 7970 Double Dissipation	99.05 fps	187.17 %
AMD Radeon HD6970 CrossFire	98.50 fps	186.13 %
ASUS ENGTX 580	98.36 fps	185.86 %
ASUS GTX 580 DirectCUII	95.27 fps	180.03 %
ASUS ARES 5870X2 2DIS 4GD5	91.87 fps	173.60 %
ASUS GTX 570 DirectCUII	88.83 fps	167.86 %
nVidia GTX 295 SLI	86.87 fps	164.15 %
ASUS GTX 570 DirectCUII	86.41 fps	163.28 %
ZOTAC GTX 285 SLI	84.49 fps	159.65 %
ASUS GTX 560 Ti DirectCUII Top	84.00 fps	158.73 %
ASUS HD 7950 DirectCU II Top	82.71 fps	156.29 %
ASUS EAH5970	80.35 fps	153.48 %
ZOTAC GTX 275 1792MB SLI	79.51 fps	150.24 %
ASUS EAH6970 2GB	79.21 fps	149.68 %
ASUS HD6970 DirectCUII	77.54 fps	146.52 %
Gigabyte GTX460 Super Overclock	74.37 fps	140.53 %
ASUS EAH6950 2GB	71.40 fps	134.92 %
Zotac GTX 480	68.87 fps	118.80 %
nVidia GTX 295	66.72 fps	126.08 %
ASUS GTX 470	64.51 fps	121.90 %
EVGA GTX 460 EE	60.66 fps	114.63 %
Gigabyte HD5870 Super Overclock	59.21 fps	111.88 %
MSI HD 5870 Lightning	55.66 fps	105.17 %
ASUS EAH5870	54.99 fps	103.91 %
ASUS EAH6850 DirectCU	54.14 fps	102.30 %
ASUS GTX 550 Ti DirectCU Top	52.92 fps	100.00 %
ASUS EAH5850	52.92 fps	100.00 %
ASUS GTX285 Matrix	49.69 fps	93.89 %
MSI GTX 275 Lightning	42.31 fps	79.95 %
ASUS EAH6770 DC SL/2DI/1GD5	36.51 fps	68.99 %
ASUS ENGT440	22.08 fps	41.72 %
AMD Radeon HD 6570	20.13 fps	38.04 %
ASUS ENGTS250 DK	17.95 fps	33.92 %
ASUS ENGT430	17.07 fps	32.26 %
Zotac 9600 GT ECO	16.49 fps	31.16 %
EVGA 8800 GT 512MB	15.73 fps	29.72 %
ASUS EAH5550	13.33 fps	25.19 %
ASUS EAH3870X2	10.21 fps	19.30 %
	more is better

Page 1 - Introduction	Page 8 - Stone Giant
Page 2 - Technical Data / Specifications	Page 9 - World in Conflict
Page 3 - Preview / Delivery	Page 10 - Resident Evil 5
Page 4 - Testing conditions	Page 11 - Call of Juarez
Page 5 - 3D Mark 11	Page 12 - Far Cry 2
Page 6 - 3D Mark Vantage	Page 13 - Overclocking
Page 7 - Unigine Heaven	Page 14 - Conclusion

Discuss this article in the forums
[pagebreak]

Futuremark Overclocking

Overclocking

For our overclocking test we used the delivered software ASUS GPU Tweak. This tool allows you to adjust the core voltage and clock frequencies as well as the memory clock. The standard voltage regarding the GPU is 1.087 Volt. Using Smartdoctor you can rise the value all the way up to 1.170 Volt. For our overclocking we made use of the maximum voltage. At this point it has been possible for us to drive the GPU at 1'080 MHz and the memory at 6'300 MHz.

3DMark 11 Total	Score	Percent
ASUS EAH6990 (980 MHz / 5'756 MHz)	9'201	170.92 %
ASUS EAH6990 (880 MHz / 5'000 MHz)	8'625	160.22 %
ASUS GTX 590 (681 MHz / 3'620 MHz)	8'572	159.24 %
NVIDIA GTX 590 (673 MHz / 3'602 MHz)	8'564	159.09 %
ASUS GTX 590	8'123	150.90 %
NVIDIA GTX 590	8'043	149.41 %
XFX Radeon HD 7970 Double Dissipation (GPU 1'125 MHz / Mem 6'300 MHz)	8'205	152.42 %
ASUS HD 7950 DirectCU II Top (GPU 1'080 MHz / Mem 6'300 MHz)	7'146	132.75 %
MSI GTX 580 Lightning (GPU 970 MHz / Mem 4'500 MHz)	7'103	131.95 %
ASUS GTX 580 Matrix Platinum (GPU 956 MHz / Mem 4'128 MHz)	7'046	130.89 %
ASUS GTX 580 DirectCUII (GPU 952 MHz / Mem 4'568 MHz)	6'512	120.97 %
ASUS GTX 580 Matrix Platinum	6'356	118.08 %
ASUS ENGTX 580 (GPU 966 MHz / Mem 2'332 MHz)	6'212	115.40 %
ASUS GTX 570 DirectCUII (GPU 939 MHz / Mem 4'056 MHz)	6'199	115.16 %
MSI GTX 580 Lightning	6'048	160.08 %
ASUS GTX 570 DirectCUII	6'040	112.21 %
ASUS GTX 580 DirectCUII	5'988	111.24 %
ASUS HD6970 DirectCUII (974 MHz / Mem 5'872 MHz)	5'656	105.07 %
ASUS ENGTX 580	5'383	100.00 %
ASUS EAH6970 (GPU 1'001 MHz / Mem 3'008 MHz)	5'365	99.67 %
ASUS GTX 570 DirectCUII	5'273	97.96 %
ASUS GTX 560 Ti DirectCUII Top (GPU 1'009 MHz / Mem 4'708 MHz)	5'003	92.94 %
ASUS EAH6950 (GPU 986 MHz / Mem 5'764 MHz)	4'733	87.92 %
ASUS EAH6950	4'606	85.57 %
ASUS GTX 560 Ti DirectCUII Top	4'551	84.54 %
Gigabyte GTX460 Super Overclock (GPU 951 MHz / Mem 4'300 MHz)	4'125	76.63 %
Gigabyte GTX460 Super Overclock	3'754	69.74 %
ASUS GTX 550 Ti DirectCU Top (1100 MHz / 2800 MHz)	3'067	56.98 %
ASUS EAH6770 DC SL/2DI/1GD5 (950 MHz / 5000 MHz)	2'999	55.71 %
ASUS GTX 550 Ti DirectCU Top	2'717	50.47 %
ASUS EAH6770 DC SL/2DI/1GD5	2'713	50.40 %
AMD Radeon HD 6570	1'645	30.56 %
ASUSEAH5550 (868 MHz / 1'134 MHz)	1'519	28.22 %
ASUS ENGT440 (925 MHz / 980 MHz)	1'492	27.72 %
ASUS ENGT430 (880 MHz / 1052 MHz)	1'352	25.12 %
ASUS ENGT440	1'327	24.65 %
ASUS ENGT430	1'075	19.97 %
ASUS EAH5550	1'017	18.89 %
	more is better

3DMark 11 GPU	Score	Percent
ASUS EAH6990 (980 MHz / 5'756 MHz)	11'047	193.91 %
ASUS EAH6990 (880 MHz / 5'000 MHz)	9'977	175.13 %
NVIDIA GTX 590 (673 MHz / 3'602 MHz)	9'786	171.77 %
ASUS GTX 590 (681 MHz / 3'620 MHz)	9'724	170.69 %
XFX Radeon HD 7970 Double Dissipation (GPU 1'125 MHz / Mem 6'300 MHz)	9'264	162.61 %
ASUS HD 7950 DirectCU II Top (GPU  1'080 MHz / 6'300 Mem  MHz)	7'783	136.62 %
ASUS GTX 590	8'914	156.47 %
NVIDIA GTX 590	8'854	155.42 %
ASUS GTX 580 Matrix Platinum (GPU 956 MHz / Mem 4'128 MHz)	7'260	127.44 %
MSI GTX 580 Lightning (GPU 970 MHz / Mem 4'500 MHz)	7'346	128.95 %
ASUS ENGTX 580 (GPU 966 MHz / Mem 2'332 MHz)	6'679	117.24 %
ASUS GTX 580 DirectCUII (GPU 952 MHz / Mem 4'568 MHz)	6'731	118.15 %
ASUS GTX 570 DirectCUII (GPU 939 MHz / Mem 4'056 MHz)	6'151	107.97 %
ASUS GTX 580 Matrix Platinum	6'314	110.83 %
MSI GTX 580 Lightning	5'952	178.47 %
ASUS GTX 570 DirectCUII	5'919	103.90 %
ASUS GTX 580 DirectCUII	5'872	103.53 %
ASUS ENGTX 580	5'697	100.00 %
ASUS HD6970 DirectCUII  (974 MHz / Mem 5'872 MHz)	5'510	96.72 %
ASUS EAH6970 (GPU 1'001 MHz / Mem 3'008 MHz)	5'191	91.12 %
ASUS GTX 570 DirectCUII	5'082	89.20 %
ASUS GTX 560 Ti DirectCUII Top (GPU 1'009 MHz / Mem 4'708 MHz)	4'837	84.90 %
ASUS EAH6950 (GPU 986 MHz / Mem 5'764 MHz)	4'641	81.46 %
ASUS GTX 560 Ti DirectCUII Top	4'341	76.20 %
ASUS EAH6950	4'108	72.11 %
Gigabyte GTX460 Super Overclock (GPU 951 MHz / Mem 4'300 MHz)	4'022	70.60 %
Gigabyte GTX460 Super Overclock	3'562	62.52 %
ASUS GTX 550 Ti DirectCU Top (1100 MHz / 2800 MHz)	2'777	48.74 %
ASUS EAH6770 DC SL/2DI/1GD5 (950 MHz / 5000 MHz)	2'747	48.22 %
ASUS EAH6770 DC SL/2DI/1GD5	2'460	43.18 %
ASUS GTX 550 Ti DirectCU Top	2'440	42.83 %
AMD Radeon HD 6570	1'496	26.26 %
ASUS EAH5550 (868 MHz/ 1'134 MHz)	1'340	23.52 %
ASUS ENGT440 (925 MHz/ 980 MHz)	1'309	22.98 %
ASUS ENGT430 (880 MHz / 1052 MHz)	1'185	20.80 %
ASUS ENGT440	1'160	20.36 %
ASUS ENGT430	937	16.45 %
ASUS EAH5550	882	15.48 %
	more is better

Page 1 - Introduction	Page 8 - Stone Giant
Page 2 - Technical Data / Specifications	Page 9 - World in Conflict
Page 3 - Preview / Delivery	Page 10 - Resident Evil 5
Page 4 - Testing conditions	Page 11 - Call of Juarez
Page 5 - 3D Mark 11	Page 12 - Far Cry 2
Page 6 - 3D Mark Vantage	Page 13 - Overclocking
Page 7 - Unigine Heaven	Page 14 - Conclusion

Discuss this article in the forums


[pagebreak]

Conclusion

General		+	-
With the HD 7950 DirectCU II Top ASUS has a very powerful version of AMDs Radeon HD 7950 in its portfolio. The factory overclocking, which is no less than 100 MHz, is very well measurable and increases the performance noticeably. Furthermore there is ASUS' DirectCU II cooler which once more did an awesome job. When running Furmark Burn-In the GPU did get hotter than 62 °C. Furthermore the noise leve, even under load, we describe as audible.		- 2D silent - Noise Level in 3D mode
Performance		+	-
Regarding performance the ASUS Radeon HD 7950 Direct CU II Top can be compared with a GeForce GTX 580 from NVIDIA. On average both cards are equally powerful. The 7950 has its advantages when it comes to Futuremark benchmarks and the GTX 580 is quicker in games. Keeping the thermal design power in mind one can see the big difference the new manufacturing process makes.		- Performance in general - On the same level as GTX 580
Overclocking		+	-
Included in the bundle you get the software ASUS GPU Tweak, which allows to adjust the GPU voltage as well as memory frequencies. It has been possible to run 3DMark 11 with 1'080 MHz on the GPU and 6'300 MHz on the memory. Therefore overclockig this card really was fun. Especially the core is remarcable.		- Overclocking GPU 1'080 MHz / Mem 6'300 MHz	- Max 1.17 V
Recommendation		+	-
If you should be looking for a very powerful graphics card which comes with a factor overclocking then the ASUS HD 7950 DirectCU II Top definitely can be recommended.		- High-End Gaming	- Desktop PC
The ASUS HD 7950 DirectCU II Top gets good four out of five stars. You can get this card for about CHF 549.- (est. EUR 458.-).

Author: Christian Ney, c.ney@ocaholic.ch Edition and translation: Christian Ney, c.ney@ocaholic.ch Marc Büchel, m.buechel@ocaholic.ch

Page 1 - Introduction	Page 8 - Stone Giant
Page 2 - Technical Data / Specifications	Page 9 - World in Conflict
Page 3 - Preview / Delivery	Page 10 - Resident Evil 5
Page 4 - Testing conditions	Page 11 - Call of Juarez
Page 5 - 3D Mark 11	Page 12 - Far Cry 2
Page 6 - 3D Mark Vantage	Page 13 - Overclocking
Page 7 - Unigine Heaven	Page 14 - Conclusion

Discuss this article in the forums