Overclocking

XFX Radeon HD 7950 Black Edition is a factory overclocked graphics card. The GPU runs at 900MHz and the memory at 1375MHz (5500MHz effectively). Note that the standard HD 7950 card’s GPU runs at 800MHz and the memory at 1250MHz (5000MHz effectively). ATI Overdrive support GPU overclocking on the HD 7950 Black Edition card.

Thermals and noise

XFX fans are designed to use linear fan speed ramping controls so that fan speeds and temperatures are optimized to reduce excess noise. This helps by preventing sudden fan speed changes that tend to get loud. XFX decided to use a lower RPM profile that will run warmer, but quieter as well. However, the cooler is excellent and GPU temperature didn’t exceed 76°C. 

While it is not related to performance, we must say that the fans look really cool with the platinum frame. 

Power Consumption

Power consumption looks good. The consumption was slightly lower than on HD 6970 cards, but it’s the performance that sets XFX Black Edition apart here. Note that GTX 580 will consume about 50W more, despite the fact that it is slower.