DIAMOND 7970PE53G Radeon HD 7970 3GB 384-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card

Pros: Seemed to work well while it lasted.

Cons: Died, started artifacting everywhere. Slow RMA process.

Other Thoughts: Sent it in to Diamond for RMA 2 weeks ago (they've had it for 10 days now) and haven't heard back. I would expect better support on such an expensive card. I've been trying to get an update through their ticketing system. No confirmation of receipt, no reply to my request for update. Very disappointed right now.

Pros: The card is able to handle two 1280x800 projector displays with no problems, although that isn't pushing the absolute limit of the card. It installs easily and is overclockable with CCC from the website. I usually leave the fan manually set to 50 or 55%, which keeps the card below 30 degrees celsius, but I will jack it up before gaming (see below).

Cons: When I start a graphics-intensive game, the temp on the card can climb over 45 degrees easily if I don't turn the fan up to 70-85%. That keeps the temp stable (35-45) and I don't like to go much above that without a headset on, because at 90%+, the fan on this thing sounds like an aircraft APU (loud and high pitched). I have to throw on a circumaural headset if I'm playing a graphically intensive game with the fan at or above 85% to block out the noise.

Other Thoughts: Totally satisfied. I usually play with a headset anyways, and for non-gaming applications I just dial the fan speed down so the noise is not an issue. This card is going to last me for many moons, it seems. System is TA890FXE MB, 955 BE OC 3.7Ghz, Zalman 110mm Fan, 16GB Ripjaws, HD 7970, Crucial M4 512GB SSD, Seagate 1TB HDD.

Pros: wow, it may take tweaking in the CCC software to get the most out f it, but its worth it, you should see this card run Bioshock Infinite... WOW! Love it!

Cons: gets hot at times...

Pros: Does not run that loud at 50% manual on the fan, and card stays nice and cool. Running games like Skyrim with about 50 extra mods or some, high res textures no frame chop whatsoever. Great card . 5 year warranty is sweet !

Cons: No cons so far

Pros: A proper reference card and one of the few true ones left, so finding a block to fit is simple. I had heard that Diamonds were renowned for clocking well and it holds true. With an ASIC rating of 82% it's nice to see and mine is clocked at 1125/1575 on stock volts. Benched at 1150/1600 and with a little voltage bump would probably be able to get 1200/1650 stable on air, waiting to put her on water and get up to 1300/1800 if manageable. It's no guarantee that the card you purchase will be a good clocker but every person i've come across on the forums that owns a Diamond has had nothing but good things to say. Also out of the manufacturers they have a pretty long warranty after registry, with five years. I'm coming from two faulty XFX 7970s so i was getting worried that maybe it was the 7970 that was defect because i had never had a problem with XFX or any other card. Also being that it's true reference it has a dual BIOS switch so if you don't feel the need or are new to overclocking and don't want to really dive into it, you can flash to Ghz BIOS and be done.

Cons: It's a shame Diamond doesn't make 7950s.

I wish i could hit 1200/1650 on stock volts and bench.

Other Thoughts: I'm not loyal to either camp by any means, i've only owned two ATI cards in my lifetime, this being my second. I have to say i really love the 7000 series the great overclockability of these cards is a huge selling point for me. At stock speeds the 7970 trades blows with the 680 and at Ghz speed is faster usually, factor in overclocking ability and it's just a great buy at 40-60$ cheaper than the 680s. That and the games are a plus they did factor into my decision.

AMD is very slowly making strides in the CPU department while they're doing very well in the GPU segment IMO. Their GCN architecture is still very young IMO and their driver team is making great strides especially securing triple A titles like Crysis, Bioshock, and Tomb Raider.

It's also to note that with the acquisition of consoles we may seem game development take a turn in favor of AMD somewhat. One thing for certain it's great to see the new consoles on an X86 platform so we, PC gamers technically shouldn't have to put up with ports anymore.

Pros: THIS REVIEW is a continuation of my first review. I gave a lot of information in my previous review about the card itself now have some more! This is my update in regards to crossfire! I hope this helps much! :D

-- Amazing crossfire performance as the title of my review says.

-- Card stays still very controlled in terms of temperature even if cards are positioned as close as they can be

-- Performance increase is so huge!

-- Totally worth the price if you love maximum performance!

-- Looks cool to have two cards inside your computer case!

Cons: I actually don't have any cons. Not even being reference cooled card is a con for me.

Other Thoughts: My graphics performance is actually too much for my poor little Phenom II X4 975 BE @ 3.8 GHz. The only reason any of my videogames lag anymore is because the processor load hits 100% in games like Crysis 3 and Assassin's Creed 3. Definitely not the graphics cards. I will be upgrading to an AMD FX-8350 to unlock the true powerful potential of these phenomenal cards!

Another note, I have in my Cooler Master HAF-X 942 case a cooler master turbine master fan in front of my two 7970s to provide additional cooling performance. The combo is extremely effective. It keeps everything nice and happy.

Diamond's customer support in my experiences regarding my 7970 have been absolutely wonderful! They answered my call very nicely and in a timely fashion, the staff that assisted me have been very friendly as well! Very informative in regards to tech support. My advice if you're having problems with the site is to just phone them, they're really on the ball! 5/5 stars, Diamond! :D I shall always be a returning customer.

Pros: NONE

Cons: i was asking a question via phone about the warranty (installing an aftermarket block on this card) and they answered it followed by a "most companys do not allow it because it can damage the card." i said no they dont. fxf safire just to name afew. before i could Finnish that statement they hung up on me. i dont know about you but i will never purchase something from a company that hangs up on a customer who is being very reasonable for this they lost a customer for life

Pros: Been using this card for a few days now, it was incredibly easy to install, push it in and screw. just dominates pretty much everything, I ran unigine heaven with everything maxed out at 720p (my monitor kind of sucks atm) and I got a decent 48 FPS result with everything maxed out, that was at stock clocks. Haven't really tried OC'ing yet, don't see the need.

Overall gives great performance and for the price? It comes with 2 great 2013 titles AND it's a beast GPU. I also like the sticker they have on it ;)

Cons: Runs hot... you're probably going to want to up the fan usage to about 42-50% when maxing out games on stock, even then you're going to get about 70 degrees Celsius, the fan will run loud at these speeds.

(MSI Afterburner is a good program for overclocking and fan adjustment)

Other Thoughts: Crysis 3 takes forever to download. ;)

Pros: This 7970 is a solid performer. It will play games maxed out @ 1080P & will handle just about any game @1440/1600P without AA enabled. It runs kind of hot, but with a good fan profile...this shouldn't be a problem. It's quiet & has no coil whine (Which most 7970's have) I bought two of these & they kill everything I throw @ them maxed out @1440P. They're 11 inches long so make sure you have enough room in your case. Another big up with these are... They're using a 384bit memory interface which is huge @ higher resolutions/demanding games. Nvidia 6 series cards use a 256bit. This is a voltage unlocked card also, just as all reference 7970's are. If you disable ULPS, you can get max OC on these cards with no problem & hardly any voltage increase.

Cons: You have to do an Unofficial/Official overclock method to get more than 1125 on the core & 1525 on the memory. If you know about over clocking & high end components, then you know what I mean..

They're heavy, may warp over time....

Other Thoughts: These cards are a steal for the price. Nothing comes close to these in the price rage. Two of these are about 20% faster than a Titan & a $150 cheaper. They will use more power however. Nothing less than a 500 watt PSU for one & 850 watt for two.

Pros: This card is high quality and high performance. The Diamond 7970 is by all means one of the best cards on the market today. I would highly recommend this card to anyone. A 5 year warranty means you don't have to worry about it breaking. I have played with the GTX 670 and the 7950 both cards pale in comparison to the Diamond 7970. You really get what you pay for.

Cons: It's a loud card. Theres no other way to put it. However the fans do keep it under 70C when playing games. I also wish it would play crysis 3 at a higher framerate. But it plays it at 29-30 fps and it's very playable at that rate.

Other Thoughts: It plays Crysis 3 with the following settings at very playable 29-30 fps.

Screen Res: 1920 x 1080
Anti Aliasing: SMAA MEDIUM (2TX)
Texture REsolution: Very High
V Sync: Yes
System Spec: Very High
Anisotropic Filtering: X16
Motion Blur: Medium
Lens Flare: Yes