We've barely finished putting the final touches to the AMD Radeon HD 7870 and HD 7850 review and ASUS has already stepped forward to detail its custom-cooled, overclocked versions of both cards.
First up is the Direct CU II TOP version of the HD 7870 2GB. AMD clocks in this £260 reference card at 1,000MHz core and 4,800MHz memory, though our in-house overclocking tests show that it can run significantly faster on both core and memory with a little tweaking. Taking this on board, ASUS fires up frequencies to 1,100MHz and 5,000MHz, respectively, which should boost real-world gaming performance by around five per cent.
On first glance it seems as if ASUS is using the reference PCB and slapping its four-heatpipe Direct Cu core-touching heatsink on top. This is a sensible move given what we know about the HD 7870's 175W TDP and the use of this cooler on 'last-generation' high-end cards. Pragmatically, this is a case of plonking a pre-existing cooler on top of a reference PCB, meaning plentiful stock should be in the channel when the product officially launches on March 19.
Meanwhile, it appears as if the Radeon HD 7850 TOP 2GB also uses the same cooler. The two Direct Cu II cards aren't identical, clearly, as the HD 7850 has a shorter PCB. Though we can't see it from this angle, it should also have a single six-pin PCIe connector - there are two on the faster model.
Speed-wise, this HD 7850 runs at 975MHz core and 5,000MHz memory, up from the 860/4,800MHz clocks mandated by AMD. Again, expect to see a five per cent performance improvement over stock-clocked cards. Further specifications can be found here.
As is always the way with announcements just after the launch of a particular GPU, pricing is unknown. We reckon the ASUS HD 7870 Direct Cu II will retail for around £300, while the HD 7850 version may appear at your favoured etailer for just over £200. Would those prices and the promise of reference-beating thermals, noise and acoustics tempt you to part with your hard-earned cash?
