ASUS HD7970-DC2-3GD5 Pro Reviews

We have mixed feelings about the ASUS HD 7970 DirectCU II. On one hand, it has one of the best cooling solutions that has been strapped to a graphics card in recent history and delivered a massive overclock, but it also delivered an issue by not being compatible with our review rig monitors and it seems to be overpriced and hard to find lately. Granted our displays are old models, but we haven't encountered this issue before with other cards. At the last observed price of $524.99, with only 2 in stock as of this writing, this video card represents a rather heavily priced and hard to find video card. Is the DirectCU II cooler worth the premium? It does keep the GPU cool, and it does allow a hefty overclock. However, compared to in-stock Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition video cards, those can be found for $75 cheaper. At that price, the ASUS video card is simply too high, and too scarce, to really compete. But all hope is not lost.

With AMD's 28nm Northern Islands-based HD 7970 having been out for about a year now, it has gone through several revisions including GHz Edition cards that touted 1000MHz base clock speeds on the core and an additional boost clock when thermals and power usage were within spec. For many, a reference-based video card will offer up the FPS needed for gaming, while keeping the card cool and adequately quiet enough for stock speeds. However when the chips are down and the thermal load is getting pumped up due to poor airflow in the chassis or overclocking, the same reference coolers' noise profile usually has an exorcist moment and turns into a screaming banshee intent on destroying your eardrums. We all know heat is the enemy of our graphics cards and we go to great lengths to keep them cool. This is where ASUS comes in with the HD 7970 DirectCU II and addresses all of the issues that conspire to shorten the life of the graphics card. Packed full of features that include a massive Direct Contact cooling solution which cools not only the GPU core, but the onboard components, ASUS's own Super Alloy Power DIGI+ VRM 12-phase power circuit, and the ability to handle a 6 panel Eyefinity setup. As a card that is built for the enthusiast, the ASUS HD 7970 comes with a very exclusive feature called VGA Hotwire that is used with specific ASUS ROG series motherboards to control the core, memory, and phase (PLL) voltages at a more precise hardware level.

The ASUS HD 7970 DirectCU II TOP edition card is amazingly powerful and also carries a very stout design. The card itself is extremely solid with the DirectCU II cooler and bracket tying directly to the backplate. The overall design makes for a solid card that should have little to no PCB issues when installed in the chassis. Its sturdy build ensures that it can stand up to punishment. The feature set of the HD 7970 DirectCU II Top is vast and very usable from the basic gamer to the extreme enthusiast. The DirectCU II cooler keeps temps nice and cool, ensuring a lot of headroom should you want to overclock the card. VGA Hotwire gives the power to you to hardware mod the card without the need for trimmers or finding a voltage mod point. The HD 7970 DirectCU II TOP edition card is a triple slot design, so multi-card installation could be problematic depending on the platform. The usage of dual cards should not be much of an issue but when installing 3 way or even 4 way CrossFire, you might going to need some sort of PCI-E flexible extenders as the triple slot cooler simply makes the card far too thick to fit with proper spacing. This kind of configuaration could be achieved by placing an LN2 pot on the card and removing the IO bracket, thereby eliminating the fitment issue entirely.

AMD fans if you are looking for a solid gaming or overclocking VGA card then the ASUS HD 7970 Direct CU II Tope Edition card is one of the absolutely highest end versions you can get your little mittens on. In the labs and in videos we have done testing using a pair of these cards in a CrossFireX configuration and they do scare well in games that support the technology. With its unique fane tuning if you just install the cards and go you may sometimes think you don’t even have a card installed as the fans run very slow and quiet when not needed. The ASUS HD 7970 Direct Cu II Top Edition is one of the best designed in its class, quiet when needed, but also has enough cooling headroom to ensure a solid overclocking experience to boot. A solid Editor’s Choice for fans of the Read and Black attack is to be had in this card, its got all you need and more for all many different genres of gamers.