New GPUs for New and Old Gamers

The most entertaining part of otherwise exceptionally solemn CeBIT is surely the pavilion intended for game enthusiasts. Tournaments are held on a daily basis here and visitors can have a go at most famous games, using modern-day hardware by Intel, AMD, Acer, Asus, Nvidia, MSI and others, mostly Asian manufacturers who have oriented their product offer towards the gaming community. The majority of hardware in question has been presented to users throughout the world in the past few weeks, but this is a rare opportunity for gamers to actually try it.

Some have timed their novelties for the Hannover show, like AMD and MSI – who have revealed their new graphic cards. AMD presented its mid-range graphic cards of the Radeon HD 7800 series, developed under the code name Pitcairn.
This series includes the HD 7850 and HD 7870 models and their recommended price is 350 and 250 dollars. As AMD has left design modifications to its partners from the word go, it can be expected that the prices of these cards will vary quite a lot, depending on the manufacturer who will be offering them on the market in various bundles.

Radeon HD 7870 has 1,280 stream processors clocked at 1 GHz and 2 GB of GDDR5 RAM clocked at 1.2 GHz. GPU memory is accessed via a quad-channel controller, i.e. a 256-bit bus. This card's maximum consumption is limited to 190 W software-wise, while typical consumption is around 175 W.
The cut down model has GPU of 1.024 stream processors running at 860 MHz. They have two GB of memory available running a 1.2 GHz clock and a 256-bit memory interface. This card's maximum consumption is limited to 150 W software-wise and AMD claims that typical consumption is around 130 W.

Initial tests claim that the new cards are 10 percent more powerful in average than their competing models from Nvidia's camp GeForce GTX 570 and GTX 560 Ti. Given that my experience with overclocking 28-nanometer Radeons, it can be expected that these new models are quite good.
MSI has brought its new graphic card to CeBIT – Radeon HD7970 Lightning Edition. This card includes a Custom PCB equipped with tougher power phases and a sexy Twin Frozr IV heatsink which ensures great performance to overclocking and hardware enthusiasts.

The R7970 Lightning makes use of Military Class III components (including Hi-c CAP, SFC, Solid CAPs) and a 14+2 Phase Digital Power, enabling massive overclocks. The Twin Frozr IV heatsink is the latest cooling design from MSI, featured on the card. Its great aluminum fin block is equipped with multiple heatpipes and dual fans. A Backplate is also located at the back side of the PCB.
The card features 2048 stream processors, A 3GB GDDR5 memory (384-bit wide) and is Eyefinity 6 ready. Display outputs include 4 x Mini Display and 2 x DVI ports. The card's price or release date are not yet familiar, but it is rumored that the card would feature a factory overclock.