VTX3D HD7990 Review (w/ GTX690 & 6GB HD7970 Toxic CF)

To test power consumption today we are using a Keithley Integra unit and we measure power consumption from the VGA card inputs, not the system wide drain. We measure results while gaming in Crysis Warhead and record the results.

In such an energy aware climate, AMD are making a big deal out of their new ‘ZeroCore Power’ technology. Many solutions today use power gating, clock gating and memory compression to reduce idle power requirements, but ZeroCore power technology can completely power down the core GPU while the rest of the system remains active.

The Sapphire HD7970 6GB Toxic Edition drains a lot of power at the socket, and when two are combined into a CrossfireX system, you will easily be sucking over 500Watts from the power supply under gaming load. The fastest configuration is also the most power hungry.

The VTX3D HD7990 demands just over 300 watts when gaming, rising to over 560 watts under a synthetic stress test. The Asus GTX690 takes our top position, a very efficient design which only demands 276 watts when gaming.

It would be fair to say that none of these solutions are a great choice to reduce your electricity footprint however!

Ideally you would want a quality 850watt+ power supply for the VTX3D HD7990.

Become a Patron!