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Club 3D HD 7970 XT2 '13Series reviewed

by on21 August 2013

Index

Club 3D launched two cards in its HD 7970 ‘13Series and if you’re after the faster one, the XT2 is your choice. The XT2 sports AMD’s GHz Edition Tahiti chip clocked at 1000MHz, but the card is factory overclocked to 1050MHz and the Boost clock is 1100MHz out of the box.

Both cards, as well as the cards from Club 3D’s PokerSeries are special for their dual-fan CoolStream coolers, which performed well in our tests. Club 3D produced an ace from its sleeve when it decided to strap the HD 7970 with special cooling, especially in the case of its overclocked HD 7970 royalAce/royalKing and XT2 ‘13Series cards. The cooler is much quieter than the reference cooler used on AMD HD 7970 GHz Edition cards.

AMD’s HD 7970 GHz Edition were originally designed to counter Nvidia’s GTX 680 cards, which were superseded by the GTX 770. The newer GTX 770 offers better performance per watt and its reference cooler is much quieter than AMD’s reference solution. Luckily the ’13Series features a CoolStream cooler and thanks to the 50MHz overclock it beats the GTX 770 in most games.

However, we should note that XT2 ‘13Series do not necessarily include a Never Settle voucher. The ‘13Series is supported by an aggressive price tag and it is mainly targeted at e-tailers who get the game vouchers directly from AMD or those who do system integration. Normally the price of '13 Series cards should be around 15 dollars / euro cheaper than PokerSeries cards. Because of recent price fluctuations and AMD’s sales program there is now a possibility that new stock will be offered at an even more aggressive price point. The card is currently listed for 335 euro and its price is constantly falling. It’s not exactly a bargain and we suggest you check whether your e-tailer/retailer offers the game bundle voucher before you pull the trigger.

In conclusion, the Club 3D HD 7970 XT2 ‘13Series is definitely a card that no gamer wouldn’t say no to. We are still looking at one of the fastest single GPU graphics cards on the market, with a factory overclock, special cooling and further overclocking headroom. However, although it is supposed to be cheaper than its siblings, some older GHz Edition cards are already selling for a bit less.

With a new generation just around the corner, prices will undoubtedly keep tumbling, so keep an eye out for some Tahiti bargains over the next few weeks.


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Last modified on 21 August 2013
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