The tests were performed in a controlled air conditioned room with temperatures maintained at a constant 24c – a comfortable environment for the majority of people reading this.
Idle temperatures were measured after sitting at the desktop for 30 minutes. Load measurements were acquired by playing Crysis Warhead for 30 minutes and measuring the peak temperature. We also have included Furmark results, recording maximum temperatures throughout a 30 minute stress test. All fan settings were left on automatic.
The AMD HD7970 GHZ Edition peaks at 64c under gaming load. This rises to 72c when loaded with the synthetic Furmark test. These temperatures have dropped quite a bit over the reference HD7970 card which hit 80c (gaming)/88c (Furmark) when we tested it in March this year.