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This is another amazing looking and performing card from XFX. They took the reference PCB and tacked on their own proprietary cooling solution. This cooling solution has performed better than one that we looked previously that was on their 7970 card. That one had an issue with producing a bit of a humming noise when the fan was ramped up. This one has no such humming noise and only produces a little more noise once the fan speed increases. It looks like XFX took the problems that they were having with the previous card and managed to solve it. This card also stayed incredibly cool throughout all of our testing. Our highest registered temperature was in the high 60s degree Celsius range. It never once hit 75 degrees and that’s really something for a card that is able to perform at this level.
XFX have really raised the bar in terms of both esthetics and cooling performance. Other vendors are going to very hard pressed to be able to produce a card that can compete with this one. There really isn’t any better choice right now for an overclocked version of this card. XFX build quality and selected materials are also top notch. This card is built for performance, but it’s also built to last. It’s true that they probably could have pushed the overclock on this card a little further, particularly when you look at the temperatures that we observed during our testing. Our testing was all done on an open-air test bench and therefore isn’t the most ideal way to keep a video card cool. In a tower with good air-flow though, this shouldn’t be a problem. Here at Motherboards.Org, this card is definitely worth of our Editor’s Choice Award. This card comes to market at about $470.00 US.
