XFX Double D Edition R7950 Review

Being a big player in the graphics card industry, XFX were not about to miss the HD7950 boat. See how the overclocked XFX DD Edition R7950 competes.

Product on Review: XFX Double Dissipation R7950
Manufacturer and Sponsor: XFX
Street Price: £397.99

Our third HD 7950 review sees yet another newcomer to Vortez, XFX who sent us their R7950 complete with custom GHOST GPU cooler. XFX is a global presence in the world of electronic gaming. With its focus on taking gaming to the extreme, XFX has developed an exciting array of video cards, motherboards, and accessories that are designed to maximize the entire entertainment experience. The last XFX product I reviewed was the excellent GTX280 XXX which proved to be an excellent performer but a lot has changed since then. XFX have now added power supply units to their product line along with monitor accessories but they are best known for their awesome graphics cards. XFX are no longer tied solely to NVIDIA and they now offer products from both parties so whether you are a fan of the green team or the red, XFX have the means to provide the GPU solution you are looking for. Take for example today’s sample, the HD7950, or rather the R7950 which I’m sure you are aware is the very latest GPU to hail from AMD.

The R7950 retains the standard clockspeed of the HD7950 but what makes the card different from the ‘stock’ HD7950 at first glance is the cooler. The GHOST cooler really is a thing of beauty and while I do not wish to pre-empt it’s ability, if looks are anything to go by, this card will be one seriously cool customer. Looks however can be deceiving and none were this more so than with the XFX R7950. While the closkpeeds may remain the same, the card is far from being a reference design. The PCB as we will see is very different from the stock design as it features XFX’s ‘X’ features of both power management, cooling and on-board components which make this card truly ‘custom’.

If you prefer pre-overclocked then XFX will also be releasing a product under the ‘Black Edition’ umbrella, most likely featuring the same cooler as the card we are reviewing today but with an overclock pre-loaded into the BIOS. We will, as always, address the stock overclocks of today’s sample later in the review when we push this card to it’s limit as the 800MHz stock clocked speed is worryingly low for what appears to be a highly modified and capable graphics card. As you will see, XFX simply don’t do ‘stock’ graphics cards – this one has the potential to be blisteringly quick!

About XFX
XFX dares to go where the competition would like to, but can’t. That’s because, at XFX, we don’t just create great digital video components—we build all-out, mind-blowing, performance-crushing, competition-obliterating video cards and motherboards. And, not only are they amazing, you don’t have to live on dry noodles and peanut butter to afford them.

XFX is a division of PINE Technology Holdings Limited, a leading manufacturer and marketer of innovative solutions for the worldwide gaming technologies market. Founded in 1989, PINE designs, develops, manufactures and distributes high-performance video graphics technology and computer peripherals. The company’s dedicated research and development team are continually pushing the limits to meet the demands of the ever-growing and performance-driven community. Headquartered in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (Hong Kong SAR), PINE has more than 1,000 employees worldwide with 16 offices around the globe. PINE also maintains four state-of-the-art research and development facilities in the Asia Pacific region and two factories in Mainland China. To learn more about PINE, please visit www.pinegroup.com.

Specification

The HD7900 series will feature the new Tahiti core which is the successor to the Caymen core of the HD6900 family. The Caymen core was based on a 40nm manufacturing process so it is fair to say that perhaps the biggest improvement to the Tahiti core is the reduction to 28nm process. This has enabled AMD to cram 4.31 billion (4,312,711,873) transistors into the new Tahiti core as opposed to the 2.64 billion on the HD6970 Caymen XT.

Comprising of what AMD calls ‘Graphics Core Next (GCN)’ archetecture which is optimised for heterogeneous computing, the new Tahiti core has upto 32 CU’s (compute units) with dual geometry engines along with 8 back-ends comprising of 32 colour ROPs per clock and 128 Z/Stencil ROPs per clock. Each CU has a Vector unit and Scaler Co-Processor and can execute instructions from multiple kernels.

The VLIW4 SIMD has evolved to the GCN quad SIMD which equates to similar computational power yet grants better performance, threading and simplification. The GCN also has a new Cache hierarchy with 16KB instruction Cache and32KB Scaler Cache shared between 4 CU’s. The L2 Cache is accessible by each CU with it’s own separate process to ensure coherency. These changes increase the GFLOPs by 140%.

Tesselation on the Tahiti core is also enhanced by increased Vertex re-use off-core which theoretically at least, means the 7900 series has 4 times the throughput of the 69XX series. The are improved ansioscopic filtering algorithms too which come at no performance cost allegedly. These new algorithm improvement will allow the use of Forward Rendering with 1000’s of potential light sources and will also mean MSAA can be rendered easily.

Tahiti XT Schematic

Looking at the schematics above, we can identify the bulk of the GPU is taken up with the 32 CU’s. Above these are the geometry engines. To the left and right are the 8 Render back-ends, 4 each side. There’s 768KB of L2 cache along with 6x64bit dual channel memory controllers making a 384-bit GDDR5 memory interface capable of delivering up to 264GB/sec. All of technology coupled together is transferred through a fully compatible PCI Express 3.0 x16 bus interface. Have no fear though because the cards are backwards compatible with PCIe 2.0. Note that 256 Stream Processors are disabled for the Tahiti Pro Core. Whether this is at the hardware or simply a software level remains to be seen. If it is software then a BIOS flash may see the Pro’s becomming XT’s again?

Comparing the HD7950 against it’s bigger brother, the HD7970, the 7950 has 256 less Stream Processors with 16 less Texture units. Obviously this equates to less Pixel and Texture fillrate and coupled with the slightly lower clocked memory of 5000MHz (effective) as opposed to the 5500 of the HD7970, performance is due to take a hit. The power requirements of the HD7950 are however slightly lower in that it has a claimed TDP of 200w compared to the 20% higher TDP of the HD7970.

Comparing the HD7950 to the green team it is interesting to note that the HD7950 has more the double the texture fillrate of the GTX570 and a 40Billion/sec advantage over the GTX580. The NVIDIA cards do however have the upper hand in pixel fillrate but by a much smaller margin. AMD card have traditionally been clocked higher than their NVIDIA counterparts and we see no change in that here with the lowest clocked HD7950 (800MHz) still surpassing the 772MHz of the GTX580. The memory clockspeed is also higher and now with a matching 320-bit memory interface, the AMD cards are finally on a level playing field. this equates to a much higher memory bandwidth than NVIDIA.

XFX

The XFX R7950, like the reference HD7950 is clocked to a standard 800MHz on the core and 1250MHz on the memory. XFX appear to want to leave the overclocking to you, afterall why buy a custom cooled graphics card if you are not going to overclock? The visual difference is of course the custom cooler which is worlds apart from the reference cooler as we shall see but the differences go further than the cooler with the XFX card having a completely redesigned PCB of their own.

Let’s take a look at the cards features…

Features

‘X’ Features

Xpertise – Ultra Realistic 3D Gaming with Direct X 11 Technology

Xformance – Next Generation Performance. A Quantum leap in archetecture and processing power, double the bandwidth.

Xcelerate – Workstation grade performance accelerating your professional applications.

Xfactor – See the XFX difference with quality components giving greater durability.

Xperience – MAximise your gaming experience through multi-monitor and stereoscopic 3D.

GHOST Thermal Technology – maximizes airflow for exceptional venting through the card.

Double Dissipation Technology – XFX’s unique dual fan design allows air to cool everything including GPU, heatsinks, components and the PCB board.

Standard HD7950 features

AMD CrossFire™ Technology
The AMD Radeon™ HD 7950 GPU supports AMD CrossFire™ Technology and provides excellent multi GPU scaling. With the introduction of the AMD Radeon™ HD 6900 Series Graphics, AMD began delivering improved AMD CrossFire™ Technology scaling when using two GPUs. AMD is proud to continue to offer that amazing performance with its newest AMD Radeon™ HD 7000 series graphics products.

AMD Eyefinity Technology
AMD Eyefinity Technology provides advanced multiple monitor technology enabling an incredibly immersive graphic and computing experience with innovative display capabilities, supporting massive desktop workspaces and super-high resolution gaming environments. AMD Eyefinity technology with DisplayPort connectivity enables a single GPU to support up to six independent display outputs simultaneously, depending on the OEM implementation.
AMD Eyefinity technology works with games that support non-standard aspect ratios, which is required for panning across multiple displays. To enable more than two displays, one of two cases must be satisfied:

1) Additional panels with native DisplayPort™ connectors are used;
2) Certified DisplayPort™ adapters to convert your monitor’s native input to your cards

DisplayPort™ or Mini-DisplayPort™ connector(s) are used.
With the introduction and wide availability of DisplayPort™ to single-link DVI dongles, option 2 above is a low cost way to convert a set of already-owned monitors into an AMD Eyefinity technology ready display configuration.

Unlike a similar multi monitor gaming solution offered by NVIDIA, AMD Eyefinity technology does not require two graphics cards to work. Therefore, AMD offers a multi monitor gaming solution with potential for a lower setup cost. A single AMD Radeon™ 7950 GPUs can employ AMD Eyefinity technology and AMD CrossFire™ technology to provide an outstanding multi monitor gaming experience. The following chart shows the AMD Radeon™ HD 7950 graphics in a dual AMD CrossFire™ configuration versus the NVIDIA SLI GTX 580 in three monitor gaming scenario’s.

Improved Tessellation
The latest iteration of architecture in the AMD Radeon™ HD 7970 GPU features a brand new Generation of Tesselator (Gen 9) in its Geometry Engine. This features optimizations such as; Increased vertex re-use, Off-chip buffering improvements and larger parameter caches. This helps Improve performance at all tessellation factors at up to 4x the throughput of AMD Radeon™ HD 6900 series graphics (Gen 8 ).

AMD HD3D Technology
AMD HD3D Technology is supported by an advanced and open ecosystem that, in conjunction with specific AMD hardware and software technologies, enables 3D display capabilities for many PC applications and experiences.

Your PC has evolved, offering unprecedented amount of games, photos and movies for you to play, watch, design, create, share and download in 3D. With the arrival of the latest in 3D technology you can now enjoy an enhanced visual experience on Stereo 3D-capable desktops and notebooks powered by AMD HD3D Technology.

HDMI 1.4a
More bandwith than standard HDMI allows full implementation of 60Hz Stereo 3D. Standard HDMI ports do not have adequate bandwidth for more than 3D 1080p at 24fps.

Ultra-high resolution (4k Panels)
– Current implementations currently use 4*DVI or 2*DP 1.1, which is expensive and unwieldy.
– AMD will move to a single-connector output for 4k via DP 1.2 HBR2 and HDMI 1.4a 3GHz mode.

AMD Quad Buffer SDK
– Native 3D support for Developers.
– functions with Dx9, 10 and 11
– Native support scheduled for Windows 8
Nearly 600 games support AMD’s implementation of 3D either natively or through middleware partners. Also support for many 3D displays already on the market including Samsung and LG’s proprietry implementation.

Video Codec Engine (VCE)
– H.264 HD Encoder
– Power efficient
– faster than realtime 1080p @ 60 FPS
– Variable Compression Quality
– Multiple Input Options:- (1) Frame Buffer, (2) GPU Display. (2) is useful for wireless displays.

AMD ZeroCore Power

When a discrete GPU is in a static screen state it works to minimize idle power by enabling a host of active power saving functions including (but not limited to); clock gating, power gating, memory compression, and a host of other features. However, GPUs with AMD’s exclusive ZeroCore Power technology can take energy savings to entirely new heights by completely powering down the core GPU while the rest of the system remains active.

Nearly all PCs can be configured to turn off their displays after a long period of inactivity. This is known as the long idle state; where the screen is blanked but the rest of the system remains in an active and working power state (ACPI G0/S0). As soon as the system goes into long idle state and applications are not actively changing the screen contents, the GPU enters the ZeroCore power state. In the ZeroCore power state, the GPU core (including the 3D engine / compute units, multimedia and audio engines, displays, memory interfaces, etc.) is completely powered down.

However, one cannot simply remove the GPU and its associated device context completely; particularly when it is the only GPU in the system as is the case in many enthusiast platforms. The operating system and SBIOS must still be aware that a GPU is still present in the system. For this reason, the ZeroCore Power state maintains a very small bus control block to ensure that GPU context is still visible to the operating system and SBIOS. The ZeroCore power state also manages the power sequencing of the GPU to ensure that the power up/down mechanism is self-contained and independent of the rest of the system.

The enablement of the ZeroCore Power feature is controlled by the driver. The driver monitors the display contents and allows the GPU to enter the ZeroCore Power in the condition that the GPU enters long idle and subsequent work requests are no longer being submitted to the engine. If any applications update the screen contents, ZeroCore Power technology can periodically wake the GPU to update the framebuffer contents and put the GPU back into the ZeroCore Power state. Furthermore, applications such as Windows 7 desktop gadgets are architected to minimize activity and save power in the long idle state. These applications are active during screen-on mode to display dynamic content such as weather, RSS feeds, stock symbols, system status, etc. but also have the intelligence to suspend any updates and activity when the system enters long idle. These applications will not wake the GPU from the ZeroCore Power state in long idle.

AMD ZeroCore Power technology delivers tremendous energy savings. Many PCs remain in the long idle state for a variety of use cases that are highly relevant to everyday consumers, enthusiasts and professionals. In ZeroCore Power mode, users can still enjoy non-graphics activities such as file serving/streaming, motherboard audio and music, and remote access while the GPU core is essentially powered off.

ZeroCore Power technology also scales with AMD CrossFire™ technology. With an AMD CrossFire platform, all non-primary GPUs are in the ZeroCore Power state when not in use. For AMD CrossFire workloads, the driver will engage the non-primary GPUs to deliver full performance on-demand. The primary GPU can also enter the ZeroCore Power state during long idle as well. This delivers scalable benefits for the enthusiast. First, it effectively removes the power increase for users of AMD CrossFire under idle and light (single GPU) workloads. Second, it removes the noise penalty multiGPU users have always had to endure since the GPU fans are off in ZeroCore Power mode.

Packaging & Accessories

Front Packaging

The XFX product arrives in a comparatively small package, much the same as HIS products. The oblong box is very well presented though with the frosty ‘DD'(Double Dissipation) moniker taking pride of place with the R7950 product title beneath.

Package Rear

The rear of the package is crammed full of the products details describing each of the many features this card has. This feature list is expanded upon with a wall of text on the sides explaining all of the AMD HD7950 details at great length.

Accessory Tray

Opening the box up we see that it is a compartmentalised affair with an accessory tray hiding the graphics card beneath. a Separate flip up lid on the tray holds the cables and adapters whereas the huge variety of paraphernalia XFX has included with the package lays uppermost on the tray.

Accessories

Here we see that XFX have included everything but the kitchen sink with regards to the variety of leaflets, guides and warranty card. There is even a do not disturb door hanger which rose a smile. Strangely, there was no VGA to DVI adapter which seems odd however when you consider most modern monitors are DP/HDMI capable there seems little point. You do get a DVI-HDMI cable and a Crossfire bridge though and a massive multi-monitor setup guide along with the obligatory driver CD.

Let’s shift our focus to the graphics card…

First Look

Card Top

This card is a stunner. The silver and black shroud with raised brushed aluminium shroud is quality throughout and contrasts really well with the glossy black twin 92mm fans separated by the XFX logo in the coolers midriff. The cooler is folded very well at the ends with no sharp edges to be found and rather than using flimsy plastic, the metal should stand the test of time no matter how many times the card is removed/replaced.

Card Bottom

The rear of the card shows us that this is no ordinary HD7950 with the PCB having flecks of copper contrasting with the matt black PCB not previously seen on a HD7950. It is interesting that the PCIe power area has 8 points solder where there are 6 pins hinting that this is the same PCB used on the R7970 which uses an 8+6 pin power configuration.

Card Side

The side of the card has a full length aluminium strip anodised red which displays the card name and cooler identification ‘GHOST’. It is labled ATX side up which will look great in any ATX style case with the window to the left panel looking head-on.

PCIe Power

As with all of the HD7950’s, the XFX R7950 has a dual 6pin PCIe power ports and requires a minimum 500w power supply unit to operate. Caution as always is advised in that a more powerful supply could be needed under high load/overclocking scenarios for optimum performance.

Crossfire Capability

Multiple-GPU compatibility setups are afforded thanks to the twin Crossfire tabs.

I/O Area

The I/O vent is unique in that it has the XFX logo carved out of the metal. Other than that the standard DVI, HDMI 1.4a and twin 1.2 mini-display ports of which they are 4K resolution ready.

XFX DD R7950

The XFX DD R7950 is perhaps the best looking GPU we have tested to date. I love the aluminium GHOST shroud and the contrasting red trim with black PCB looks fantastic. It seems a shame to remove the cooler but as in all of our GPU reviews, we like to go that one step further and see exactly what makes each card ‘tick’ as it were. So without further ado, let’s strip the card…

Closer Look

Warranty

Unlike most of the graphics cards we have reviewed, the XFX card has protective stickers over two of the screw heads preventing them from being removed without voiding the warranty. This is a shame as many people will want to replace the TIM to their favoured brand. As we will see though this isn’t really necessary.

Heatsink

Throwing caution to the wind, we removed the cooler to display a near perfect contact with the GPU. The TIM was soft and perfectly aligned so I see little reason to break the warranty seal as stated above. The VRM and memory modules have fabric thermal interface material and again are all in place with excellent coverage. The heatsink is a three part design with the main bracket holding the copper baseplate in situ along with the aluminium finned heatsink array welded to the core baseplate.

The cooler also makes use of ‘Hyrdocell’ cooling which in short makes use of condensation wicks to efficiently transfer heat from the copper baseplate to the aluminium heatsink.

Naked XFX

As you can see from the picture above the card comprises of a modified, beefed-up VRM comprising of a 6+2+1 phase power configuration. The 12x 256MB memory modules frame the GPU core as with all modern graphics card PCB’s with enough memory to do so. Again we see that the card emphasizes the use of 2oz copper layer throughout the PCB with sections of the die cut away to display the copper beneath.

Voltage Regulation

As stated above, the VRM is a 6+2+1 affair and comprises of what XFX like to call ‘Duratec’ components which include Solid Capacitors, Ferrite core chokes. This coupled with the 2oz copper layer should ensure the very best in stable, efficent, noise free operation.

CHiL Controller

To get the most from the Duratec components, the CHiL controller yet again makes an appearance which if you haven’t already read allows the tweaking of both clock frequencies and criticil voltages (memory and GPU core).

GDDR5 Memory

The memory used on the R7950 are the same HYNIX modules we have seen on both previous HD7950 reviews, the very overclocking friendly H5GQ2H24MFA T2C modules.

Finally we reach the Tahiti Pro core. Despite lacking 256 Stream processors of its bigger brother, the HD7970, the larger VRM module (compared to reference HD7950) should equate to some serious overclocking capability. I think it’s time we found out just how far this card will go don’t you?

Test Setup

With the latest Intel chipset release we decided to update our ageing X58 setup to the new X79 chipset. Not only that but we will be using the flagship Core i7-3960X Extreme Edition processor clocked to 4.5GHz to ensure we have no CPU bottlenecks. With 16GB of ram on board there should be minimal paging so the benchmarks we run today will hopefully give a true reflection of the graphics card’s performance.

Some of the components for our test bench were kindly donated by CORSAIR who provided the majority of components without whom we would not have been able to bring you this review so a big thanks to them.

Graphics cards on test:

XFX DD Radeon R7950 3072MB GDDR5

PowerColor PCS+ Radeon HD7950 3072MB GDDR5
AMD Radeon HD7950 3072MB GDDR5
AMD Radeon HD7970 3072MB GDDR5
ZOTAC GTX570 AMP! 1280MB GDDR5
NVIDIA GTX570 1280MB GDDR5
MSI GTX560Ti-448 Twin Frozr III 1280MB GDDR5
MSI GTX560Ti-384 Twin Frozr III 2GB GDDR5

For this review we will be using the very latest CAT 11.12 drivers.

Motherboard: ASRock X79 Extreme4-M
CPU: Intel Core i7-3960X Extreme Edition @ 4.5GHz
RAM – 16GB (4x4GB) Corsair Vengeance (Red) DDR3 @ 1866MHz 9-10-9-27
Power Supply – ANTEC High Current Pro 1200W
Hard Drive – Hitachi SATA II 250GB
Samsung F3 1TB
Cooler – Corsair H100

Benchmarks
We have also updated our range of benchmarks to include the following games which will give the graphics cards a challenge and sort the wheat from the chaff. Each benchmark will be run at both stock and maximum overclock settings and utilise 1920×1080 and 2560×1600 resolutions along with AA at various levels (application dependent):

Battlefield 3
Crysis 2
Crysis Warhead
Metro 2033
Batman: Arkham City
Elder Scrolls: Skyrim
DiRT 3
Futuremark 3DMark 2011
Unigine: Heaven 2.5

Let’s see how today’s test sample performed…

Overclocking, Temperature & Power Consumption Analysis

Overclocking
Overclocking graphics cards has never been easier. There are a variety of overclocking tools available on the internet and some included with the actual driver, in this case, the AMD ‘Overdrive’ Utility. Our favourite overclocking utility though is the excellent Afterburner from MSI which we use for all of our GPU overclocking exploits.

As you can see above, the XFX7950 comes with the reference clockspeeds of 800MHz. Memory frequency also remains the same at 1250MHz (5000MHz effective). Loading up MSI’s latest beta version of afterburner we find that both clockspeed and voltages can be adjusted courtesy of the CHiL controller.

When we first starting overclocking the XFX R7950 we used the pre-release BIOS which struggled to reach 1000MHz topping out at around 950MHz and even then it was not fully stable. Thankfully, XFX sent us the official release version that all the XFX DD R7950 cards will ship with. Again, the card simply refused to play ball. The usual method of whacking up the voltages which is normally enough to spring even the most stubborn of graphics cards to life didn’t give us any more joy either. Using subtle increases though and taking my time this time around I had much better luck:

The card surpassed the 1GHz mark with ease this time around and even hit 1100MHz! Any further than this though proved unstable so we settled for an amazing 1100MHz which it reached with less voltage than the PowerColor GPU we reviewed earlier. An excellent if somewhat initially stubborn performance by the XFX card!

Power Consumption
To test for power consumption we do not use anything to technical, just a wall meter which measures the total system power draw minus the monitor.

The XFX card was surprisingly hungry at idle which could partially be attributed to the increased fan speed profile of the latest BIOS. Under overclocked conditions too, despite using less voltage to overclock than both the PowerColor and reference cards it didn’t show this in the power consumptions tests striking a balance between the two cards. It isn’t a bad performance by any stretch of the imagination but I expected better from the acclaimed Duratec power components.

Temperature
The temperatures were taken upon first installation of the card after windows had finished loading any background applications and when sat in an idle state. Furmark was used to stress the card to 100% which is more than any application will ever do to give the card as much heat as possible to cope with.

The XFX card was the coolest we have had the pleasure of testing here at Vortez – testament to the fantastic GHOST cooler. At stock speeds with the latest BIOS revision the card topped out at a mere 58C which is unreal for a card of this calibre. Even when overclocked to a mammoth 1100MHz the card barely broke a sweat.

There is however a caveat to this in that the cards noise levels did make a little more noise that was quite noticeable. While not as loud as the older AMD cards, you would know it was there and it is worth noting that the tone is different, being more of a whine than a rush of air. This however is an acceptable trade off when the card offers such performance I’m sure you will agree.

Let’s move on to our suite of benchmarks…

Battlefield 3

Battlefield 3 leaps ahead of its time with the power of Frostbite™ 2, the next instalment of DICE’s cutting-edge game engine. This state-of-the-art technology is the foundation on which Battlefield 3 is built, delivering enhanced visual quality, a grand sense of scale, massive destruction, dynamic audio and incredibly lifelike character animations. As bullets whiz by, walls crumble, and explosions throw you to the ground, the battlefield feels more alive and interactive than ever before. In Battlefield 3, players step into the role of the elite U.S. Marines where they will experience heart-pounding missions across diverse locations including Paris, Tehran and New York.

Average and minimum frames per second were measured using Fraps during the parking lot scene on Operation Sword Breaker. High and Ultra presets were loaded at both resolutions.

Crysis 2

Crytek took an internet beating from its loyal fans due to the fact that they pandered to the console masses and dumbed down the graphics to DirectX 9. Fortunately, fans of the PC version of Crysis managed to force Cryteks hand and they have since developed a DX11 patch and have also enhanced the textures with added tesselation. It is for this reason that we have decided to include it in our suite of benchmarks.

To test the cards we used the Crysis 2 benchmark courtesy of Adrenaline with both the 1.9 patch, DX11 update and Hi-res texture pack. Settings were manually placed to Ultra, DX11 and tessellation enabled with the Central Park map being run 3 times per resolution benchmark test.

Crysis Warhead

Following the success of Crysis, the stand alone expansion “Warhead” was hotly anticipated to bring more game play, more weapons, improved visuals whilst maintaining better performance, the latter being what gamers wanted most. After all how many people upgraded their rigs just to play this game… In the game, you play as the upbeat Brit Sergeant “Psycho” Sykes, chasing down a Korean nuclear warhead. Throw in some ice shooting aliens and we’re bound to have a great game. It sure delivered.

Testing was done using Framebuffer’s Crysis Warhead benchmarking tool. The tests were configured to DirectX 10 at Enthusiast levels. Each test on the Ambush map was looped three times from which the average FPS was recorded.

Metro 2033

Based on the novel by the same name, Metro 2033 is a first person shooter with elements of survival horror. As Artyom, you trawl through the mutant infested metro systems of post-apocalyptic Moscow. The game delivers presents a grim ambience that reflects on the overall atmosphere of the underground setting. Metro 2033 uses the setting as a back drop to showcase some of the best visuals of any games out now, making it the ideal benchmark for those looking for the best graphics card.

The bundled benchmarking tool was used on Metro 2033, configuring the settings to High and making use of DirectX 11. The frontline scene was looped 3 times for each configuration. The average FPS was recorded at the end.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Skyrim is not a direct successor to the very popular Oblivion. Instead it takes place 200 years after the events of Oblivion. The non-linear playing that made the Elder Scrolls such a popular series does however make a return along with the beautiful scenery the encompasses the world of Skyrim.

Average and minimum frames per second were measured using Fraps during the drop down passage to Riverwood. V-sync was disabled to allow fluctuating (higher the 60) FPS for these runs. It is however recommended that v-sync is left enabled during normal gameplay due to the games dynamics.

Batman: Arkham City

Batman: Arkham City builds upon the intense, atmospheric foundation of Batman: Arkham Asylum, sending players soaring into Arkham City, the new maximum security “home” for all of Gotham City’s thugs, gangsters and insane criminal masterminds. Set inside the heavily fortified walls of a sprawling district in the heart of Gotham City, this highly anticipated sequel introduces a brand-new story that draws together a new all-star cast of classic characters and murderous villains from the Batman universe, as well as a vast range of new and enhanced gameplay features to deliver the ultimate experience as the Dark Knight.

The results below were obtained from the builtin benchmark utility from the game. All the settings were set to

DiRT 3

As players race to elevate their global standing, DiRT 3 is back delivering mud, sweat and gears world over: from the intense weather-beaten rally stages of Europe, Africa and the US, to executing performance driving showcases and career challenges where car control is pushed to spectacular limits.

The in-game benchmarking tool was used to test performance. All the display settings were set to the maximum available and DirectX 11 was applied. The average FPS was recorded at the end.

Futuremark: 3DMark 2011

3DMark 11 is the latest version of the world’s most popular benchmark. Designed to measure your PC’s gaming performance 3DMark 11 makes extensive use of all the new features in DirectX 11 including tessellation, compute shaders and multi-threading. The benchmark was run in both Performance and Extreme presets.

Unigine: Heaven 2.5

Heaven Benchmark is a DirectX 11 GPU benchmark based on advanced Unigine™ engine from Unigine Corp. It reveals the enchanting magic of floating islands with a tiny village hidden in the cloudy skies. Interactive mode provides emerging experience of exploring the intricate world of steampunk.

Conclusion

I’ve always been impressed with XFX products. From their early days with NVIDIA, their cards have always been very well presented and I am happy to report that nothing has changed in this respect. While the package is compact and bijou it is surprisingly well stocked with a fantastic array of manuals and leaflets. The card is well protected and held firmly in place so I have no qualms there.

Upon first glancing at the card you could be forgiven for believing you have bought an Apple product such is the minimalistic yet attractive design. There are no garish caricatured decals here thank you very much. This product oozes class and is for grown up gamers who prefer the finer things in life like brushed aluminium coolers rather than tacky plastic. It doesn’t sacrifice looks for performance either as it was our best card on test in the temperature performance benchmark.

Overclocking the card was initially a torrid affair as I have never come up against a card that disliked voltage so much. Take your time though and caress the overclocking sliders with sympathy and you will get the best results from the XFX R7950. A 1.1GHz overclock (28%) on the core is a fantastic achievement made all the more impressive by the fact it needed less voltage to do so than our best overclocking card. While it couldn’t quite match the best overclocking card we have tested thus far you have to consider that this card is not a pre-overclocked version. The Black Edition of the R7950 may well overclock even higher! Regardless 1100MHz is fast enough for anyone and is sure to rattle the cages of XFX’s competitors.

Overall it was a mighty impressive showing from XFX who have once again shown everyone how to make a GPU. Great cooling, magnificent overclocking ability and sublime packaging. What more could you ask for? Well priced at £397.99 it is competitive but still £50 more than the reference design so if you do not intend on overclocking this may seem like false economy as as good as the cooler looks, it is overkill for reference clockspeeds. However, you will know where that extra £50 went when you start increasing the clockspeeds and wonder why the temperatures are not rocketing because the XFX GHOST design is one heavenly cooler, a cooler which matches a God like card which as a result is deserving of our prestigious Vortez Gold and Approved awards.

Pros:
+ Amazing cooling
+ Fantastic overclocking
+ Quiet (when fan below 40%)
+ Great looking GHOST cooler
+ Black PCB
+ Compact yet well provisioned package

Cons:
– Loud fan at high rpm
– No BIOS Switch
– Only one DVI port
– Warranty voided if cooler removed