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<p><p> While AMD’s official Radeon HD 7990 (New Zealand) continues to be missing in action, we’ve known for some time now that PowerColor has been working on their own custom dual-GPU Tahiti card. This week that card has finally received an official announcement and a name: the PowerColor Devil13 HD7990.</p> <p> At its most fundamental level, the Devil13 HD7990 is a single-card 7970CF solution, following in the grand tradition of exotic dual-GPU cards. These cards represent a step beyond AMD and NVIDIA’s official dual-GPU cards, which shy away from single-GPU flagship performance due to power, size, and noise reasons. With exotic cards PowerColor and other partners can disregard those concerns completely, instead focusing solely on performance and bragging rights.</p> <table align="center" border="1" bordercolor="#dddddd" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" width="570"> <tbody> <tr> <td align="center" bgcolor="#016a96" class="contentwhite" width="109">  </td> <td align="center" bgcolor="#016a96" class="contentwhite" width="85"> Radeon HD 7970</td> <td align="center" bgcolor="#016a96" class="contentwhite" width="85"> Devil13 HD7990</td> <td align="center" bgcolor="#016a96" class="contentwhite" width="85"> Devil13 HD7990 - Factory OC</td> </tr> <tr> <td align="left" bgcolor="#eeeeee"> <strong>Stream Processors</strong></td> <td align="center" bgcolor="#f7f7f7"> 2048</td> <td align="center" bgcolor="#f7f7f7"> 2 x 2048</td> <td align="center" bgcolor="#f7f7f7"> 2 x 2048</td> </tr> <tr> <td align="left" bgcolor="#eeeeee"> <strong>Texture Units</strong></td> <td align="center" bgcolor="#f7f7f7"> 128</td> <td align="center" bgcolor="#f7f7f7"> 2 x 128</td> <td align="center" bgcolor="#f7f7f7"> 2 x 128</td> </tr> <tr> <td align="left" bgcolor="#eeeeee"> <strong>ROPs</strong></td> <td align="center" bgcolor="#f7f7f7"> 32</td> <td align="center" bgcolor="#f7f7f7"> 2 x 32</td> <td align="center" bgcolor="#f7f7f7"> 2 x 32</td> </tr> <tr> <td align="left" bgcolor="#eeeeee"> <strong>Core Clock</strong></td> <td align="center" bgcolor="#f7f7f7"> 925MHz</td> <td align="center" bgcolor="#f7f7f7"> 925MHz</td> <td align="center" bgcolor="#f7f7f7"> 1000MHz</td> </tr> <tr> <td align="left" bgcolor="#eeeeee"> <strong>Memory Clock</strong></td> <td align="center" bgcolor="#f7f7f7"> 5.5GHz GDDR5</td> <td align="center" bgcolor="#f7f7f7"> 5.5GHz GDDR5</td> <td align="center" bgcolor="#f7f7f7"> 5.5GHz GDDR5</td> </tr> <tr> <td align="left" bgcolor="#eeeeee"> <strong>Memory Bus Width</strong></td> <td align="center" bgcolor="#f7f7f7"> 384-bit</td> <td align="center" bgcolor="#f7f7f7"> 2 x 384-bit</td> <td align="center" bgcolor="#f7f7f7"> 2 x 384-bit</td> </tr> <tr> <td align="left" bgcolor="#eeeeee"> <strong>VRAM</strong></td> <td align="center" bgcolor="#f7f7f7"> 3GB</td> <td align="center" bgcolor="#f7f7f7"> 2 x 3GB</td> <td align="center" bgcolor="#f7f7f7"> 2 x 3GB</td> </tr> <tr> <td align="left" bgcolor="#eeeeee"> <strong>TDP</strong></td> <td align="center" bgcolor="#f7f7f7"> 250W</td> <td align="center" bgcolor="#f7f7f7"> A Lot</td> <td align="center" bgcolor="#f7f7f7"> Even More</td> </tr> <tr> <td align="left" bgcolor="#eeeeee"> <strong>Transistor Count</strong></td> <td align="center" bgcolor="#f7f7f7"> 4.31B</td> <td align="center" bgcolor="#f7f7f7"> 2 x 4.31B</td> <td align="center" bgcolor="#f7f7f7"> 2 x 4.31B</td> </tr> <tr> <td align="left" bgcolor="#eeeeee"> <strong>Manufacturing Process</strong></td> <td align="center" bgcolor="#f7f7f7"> TSMC 28nm</td> <td align="center" bgcolor="#f7f7f7"> TSMC 28nm</td> <td align="center" bgcolor="#f7f7f7"> TSMC 28nm</td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <p> To that end, PowerColor has built a true behemoth in all respects. On the performance side of things the card is indeed a pair of 7970s on a single card, with two Tahiti GPUs mounted on a single PCB and clocked identically to the 7970 (925MHz), each with 3GB of GDDR clocked at 5.5GHz. As is typical for these exotic cards, the Devil13 also offers a further factory overclocked configuration that when activated pushes the GPUs to 1GHz each, some 75Mhz (8%) over the 7970. This in turn would push the performance of the card closer to that of the 7970GE in CrossFire, which has a similar 1GHz base clock.</p> <p align="center"> </p> <p> Of course that much performance requires quite a bit of power. PowerColor doesn’t specify a TDP, but the card is equipped with 3 8pin PCIe power sockets, which would allow it to stay within spec while pulling up to a massive 525W. That kind of heat dissipation requires an equally overpowered cooler, which PowerColor provides in the form of a very large triple-slot triple-fan cooler, hooked up to a hereto unknown heatpipe/heatsink assembly. We’ve seen similarly large coolers pull off some amazing feats before so there’s little question it’s up to the task, making it more a matter of just how quietly such a cooler can operate under the circumstances.</p> <p> But like all exotic cards, that kind of performance won’t come for cheap. PowerColor has not announced a price on the Devil13 HD7990, however in previous years we’ve seen similar cards go for $1200 or more. It goes without saying that once the Devil13 HD7990 does start shipping, it’s unquestionably going to be ultra-expensive and ultra-rare.</p> <p> Source: PowerColor</p> </p><div class='mf-viral'><table border='0'><tr><td valign='middle'></td><td valign='middle'></td></tr></table></div><br/><br/>

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Source: AnandTech
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