How Much Does It Cost?
Yes, all of this will cost you an extra 10% over an MSRP card like the AMD reference of PowerColor Hellhound models, but I’m ok with that. Yes, I do wish the 7900 XTX as a whole was slightly cheaper, but as, even in this model, it comes in cheaper than the RTX 4080, it’s a decision that comes down to each individual as to if they are already looking to spend that kind of money, would you rather spend a little extra, and get something a little better.
Overview
So, the XFX 7900 XTX, it has definitely shown what’s capable with the new RDNA 3 architecture and harnessed the true potential of the GPU in a pretty slick package. I think it’s safe to say that I expected good things from the card from the offset due to its sheer size and weight of it and it definitely delivered on all fronts. Style-wise, the only gripe I have is the design on the fans, and the fact that the card is on the bigger end of the scale, but it shows that not all of that was a lost effort and actually does amount to remaining cool and quiet.
Cooling
The temperatures that the GPU delivered really showed that XFX have done a lot of behind-the-scenes work that again, had paid off including increasing the size and thickness of the backplate, implementing automatic fan sensors that adjust based on temperature, while still maintaining a fairly inaudible noise level.
Overclocking
In terms of overclocking, it’s still a bit of an unknown as to if there is a better sweet spot, more so than what I already found, but it does seem, at least to me, that there is a little room, but even like processors, undervolting may be the way forward to get that slight boost in performance in favour of just clocking things to the max.
A Worthy Upgrade
I’m not saying that the AMD reference card is bad because it’s not, but this just takes it one step further. I am still looking forward to seeing an XFX/EK lovechild that could take those boost figures and go crazy with them, especially with the news floating around of crazy boost speeds of 3200MHz and above. Is this likely what we’re going to see from a waterblock card? Hopefully we can get one in to look at and maybe we’ll make some content really going through the ups and downs of overclocking on RDNA 3 because it does at least seem to get to a point, and then start decreasing in performance as the temperature rise even higher. Again, it’s trying to get that balance, so let me know if that’s something you want to see.
For now, what do you think of the XFX card? Is it what you expected or have the cool and calm temperatures surprised you? It’s a big card, but it delivers in a big way, so that makes it ok in my book!
