Sapphire Radeon HD 7970 OC Dual-X specifications and picture

Sapphire release the Radeon HD 7970 based graphic card with factory overclocked feature and dual fan cooling system and dual-BIOS physical switch option allows you to select between a higher performance setting of 1GHz for the core and 5800MHz for the memory and a normal speed, its the Sapphire Radeon HD 7970 OC Dual-X.

The card use the latest "tahiti" GPU from AMD which use 28nm process technology allow a faster performance with less power consumption and low heat, the GPU pack 2048 Stream processors run at speed of 950Mhz and 1425MHz for the memory, when in higher performance mode, the GPU core rise up to the 1Ghz barrier and 1450MHz for the GDDR5 memory, that will make sense when Sapphire use the dual fans, more details at the press release:

The SAPPHIRE HD 7970 OC Edition features SAPPHIRE’s new dual-extractor technology - Dual-X - a highly efficient multi-heatpipe cooler with dual fans providing quiet and very cool operation during normal operating conditions, and superb cooling performance even under extreme load. The HD 7970 from AMD is the most powerful single chip GPU ever built - it has a new internal structure with 32 compute units and a total of 2048 Stream processors. The SAPPHIRE HD 7970 OC Edition ships with a raised core clock speed of 950MHz, and 1425MHz for the memory. Its Dual BIOS switch allows users to select the higher performance settings of 1GHz core and 1450MHz memory, making the fastest card in its class. This setting also uses a more aggressive fan profile and raises the limits for maximum overclocking.

For enthusiasts wishing to maximise performance, a new version of the SAPPHIRE overclocking tool, TriXX is available free to download from the SAPPHIRE website. TriXX allows tuning of GPU voltage as well as core and memory clocks, whilst continuously displaying temperature. Manual control of fan speed is supported, as well as user created fan profiles and the ability to save up to four different performance settings.

The HD 7000 series is the third generation of DirectX 11 compatible solutions from the graphics division of AMD - formerly ATI. The SAPPHIRE HD 7970 is ready for DirectX 11.1 and the new Windows 8 operating system as well as delivering all the features of the current DirectX 11 such as DirectCompute11 and multi threaded communications with the CPU. Communication with the host PC is optimised with the implementation of the latest high speed PCI-Express Gen3.0 interface, and multiple cards can be used to further enhance performance in CrossFireX mode on a suitably specified mainboard.

HDMI specifications have also increased in the HD 7000 series. Fast HDMI 1.4a supports Stereoscopic 3D with enhanced frame rates of 60Hz per eye - 120Hz total. It is also ready for the next generation of 4K displays that can be driven from a single high speed input of 3GHz HDMI 1.4a or DisplayPort 1.2 HBR2.

Working or gaming with multiple monitors is becoming increasingly popular, and the SAPPHIRE HD 7970 supports this with AMD Eyefinity. With its DVI, HDMI and two mini-DisplayPort outputs the card can support configurations of up to 6 monitors. In addition, the SAPPHIRE HD 7970 is the first graphics card that can simultaneously output multiple, independent audio streams allowing the correct audio content to be associated with different applications on different screens.

The retail bundle for the SAPPHIRE HD 7970 OC is second to none. In addition to the standard bundle consisting of an Active mini-DP to single-link DVI adaptor for Eyefinity setup, CrossFire bridge cable, HDMI to DVI adaptor for dual DVI setup, DVI to VGA adaptor, 8 pin to 4 pin power adaptor and 6 pin to 4 pin power adaptor, SAPPHIRE also provides an extra mini-DP to DP adaptor and a 1.8 metre HDMI 1.4a cable.

Product picture: