Physique and Features
New Clashes Begin
AMD has welcomed 2012 with its all-new family of desktop GPUs known as Southern Islands. Succeeding the Northern Islands group of GPUs (Radeon HD 6000 series), the new lineup is more commercially-known as the Radeon HD 7000 series. While rumors about the Radeon HD 7000 have been circulating since Q4 of 2010, AMD just officially announced it last month. Coinciding with the announcement, several vendors have released their own graphics card incarnations, among which is TUL Corporation, the company behind the label PowerColor.
For the Radeon HD 7900 series, PowerColor’s lineup is currently composed of five models. While three graphics cards in the series follow AMD’s reference design, the PCS+ HD7950 3GB is customized just like the HD7970 3GB GDDR5 (V2). As its moniker suggests, the PCS+ HD7950 3GB makes use of PowerColor’s modified cooling solution equipped with two 92mm fans and heatpipes, each measuring 8mm in terms of diameter. Passing through an extensive network of aluminium fins, the heatpipes are connected to a copper block which has direct contact with the GPU.
Taking the PCS+ HD7950 3GB apart, the graphics card reveals its GPU which is surrounded by 12 memory chips. Codenamed as Tahiti, the Radeon HD 7950 GPU is manufactured based on the 28nm process, hence, its die size is smaller than its predecessor, the 40nm-based HD 6950. The HD 7950’s core clock is rated at 800MHz, whereas its memory is clocked at 1250MHz. Similar to previous PCS+-labeled cards from PowerColor, the PCS+ HD7950 3GB is factory overclocked as well. Its core clock is 80MHz faster than the reference design, although its memory still operates at 1250MHz speed.
Scroll down to see the PowerColor PCS+ HD7950 3GB graphics card more in details: