AMD Radeon HD 7950 Video Card Review

How We Tested

During our benchmarking sessions, we used the configuration listed below. Between our benchmarking sessions, the only variable was the video card being tested.

Hardware Configuration

• • CPU: Core i7-3960X (3.3 GHz)
  • Motherboard: Intel DX79SI (0380 BIOS)

Memories: 16 GB DDR3-2133/PC3-1700, four G.Skill Ripjaws Z F3-17000CL9Q-16GBBZH memory modules

• Hard disk drive: Western Digital VelociRaptor WD3000GLFS (300 GB, SATA-300, 10,000 rpm, 16 MB cache)
• Video monitor: Samsung SyncMaster 305T (30” LCD, 2560×1600)
• Power Supply: Antec TruePower New 750 W
• CPU Cooler: Intel Liquid Cooling

Software Configuration

• Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit
• Video resolution: 2560×1600 @ 60 Hz

Driver Versions

• AMD video driver version (Radeon HD 6970): Catalyst 11.12
• AMD video driver version (Radeon HD 7950 and 7970): 8.921.2.0 RC11
• NVIDIA video driver version: 285.62
• Intel Inf driver version: 9.2.3.1022

Software Used

• 3DMark 11 Professional 1.0.3
• Aliens vs. Predator + Benchmark Tool
• Battlefield 3
• Deus Ex: Human Revolution
• DiRT3
• Far Cry 2 – Patch 1.03
• Media Espresso 6.5
• StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty – Patch 1.3.5

Error Margin

We adopted a 3% error margin. Thus, differences below 3% cannot be considered relevant. In other words, products with a performance difference below 3% should be considered as having similar performance.