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ASUS AMD HD 7970 DirectCU II Video Card Review

Eric Garay
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GPU heat is the by-product of any awesome gaming experience and managing it is a never ending task. ASUS’ DirectCU II series video cards feature an impressive custom designed cooler for this reason. It is a flagship among ASUS video cards that sport hand picked GPUs, enhanced voltage regulation management (VRM), and are assembled with their own unique higher quality components. But the question is, do all these enhancements make a truly a better graphics card? Will it really live up to strict gamer standards for heat management and for overclocking? We literally took the ASUS AMD HD 7970 DirectCU II video card a part in order to find out.


Features and Specifications

The ASUS HD7970-DC2-3GD5 offers all the AMD Radeon HD 7970 GPU features which include AMD Eyefinity technology for updated stereo 3D support and the ability to drive up to six displays. PCI Express 3.0 up to quad CrossFire, AMD App Acceleration for faster folding and mining, HDMI 4K support for greater than 1080p resolutions, and Powertune technology designed to dynamically optimize performance by controlling frequencies and thermal output round out the top end feature set. These features also play a large part in the AMD GHz Edition where GPU Boost automatically increases frequencies when the task demands it.

The ASUS HD 7970 DirectCU II card has additional features on top of the already high end one set by AMD which include…

  • DirectCU II VGA cooler designed to operate 14dB quieter than the reference design and 20% cooler.
  • VGA Hotwire gives performance tuning enthusiasts the option of solder wires or simply use the points to monitor and control core, memory, and PLL voltages from ROG mainboards.
  • DIGI+ VRM with 12-phase precise digital power and durability during overclocking via the Super Alloy Power components also found on the ROG series. (Part of the elite SAP Initiative.)
  • GPU Tweak is ASUS’ latest program for overclocking video cards offering options for changing frequencies, voltages, load voltages, and tools for monitoring the GPU’s health.
  • Dual-Single DVI mini switch just adds a little greater display connectivity. It comes configured for dual link DVI. But if you want all six video out ports active, switch to single mode.

The DirectCU II version is shipped with a stock 925MHz engine clock, 5500MHz memory clock, and 3GB of GDDR5 memory with a 384-bit memory interface. If you want something factory overclocked, the DirectCU II  TOP edition comes with a 1000MHz engine clock and 5600MHz GDDR5 memory with the same DirectCU II cooler.

The ASUS HD 7970 DirectCU II card as tested can be found for $434.99 US. If you do require a bit more performance, we have found that the TOP edition for around $469.99 US.

What’s In The Box?

The card bundle is pretty slim probably to keep cost down. All the expense has been put in to engineering the card. Inside is a multi-language set up guide, software disc, CrossFire bridge, dual 6pin to 8pin adapter, VGA/DVI adapter, and a black heat sink for the VREG in case you strip down the card to attempt some record LN2 overclocking.

While it would be neat to get a new game title with these cards to sweeten the deal, it’s hard to satisfy all the fans out there with just a single title.

The ASUS HD 7970 DirectCU II Up Close

This card is impressive to look at especially if it matches a system design theme. It’s also heavier than many other cards due to the cooler’s extra thickness, full fan shroud, and the single black anodized brushed aluminum back plate to help prevent any flexing. That back plate actually came in handy preventing the card from making CPU cooler contact on some micro-ATX boards.

You no doubt noticed this card appears thicker than regular or reference cards. If you’re planning on running two of these cards in CrossFire mode, make sure your motherboard has at least two or more slots between PCIE slots. Despite size, the DirectCU II (DCUII) design continues to make ASUS’ cards one of the most highly coveted choices simply because it looks fast and beefy.

The DCUII consists of three major components all designed to dissipate heat and cool every aspect of the HD 7970 video card. The first level of attack is a thin black heat sink (with pink thermal pads) which covers the video memory, chokes, and MOSFETs. It’s connected to an aluminum-copper heat pipe combo heat sink. A small copper sub-plate that’s just slightly larger than the GPU itself transfers the heat to the heat pipes. One can’t help but wonder if a larger plate would help shave off a few degrees.

Finally, the black-red accented dual fan shroud finishes off the cooler. The dual 10cm fans are clear but do not light up during operation. These fans are designed to be 14dB quieter than reference fans and are probably rated to about 3000 RPMs suggesting it moves a considerable amount of air as well. The cooler is obviously designed to dissipate heat inside and outside the back at the same time. This should be a non-issue as long as you have decent air flow. If you don’t, you really need to check out our many case reviews.





Test System Configuration

A very similar system similar to the one used in the NVIDIA GTX 660 Ti launch round up was assembled. The only thing changed out was the PSU (an Antec HCP-1000 unit) and will not affect our results.

Screen resolutions are set at 1920 x 1080p on an ASUS VG27H 3D monitor. Benchmark resolutions are in the graph details in the benchmarks. Power consumption was monitored using a Seasonic Power Angel with a minimum of 1 hr observation time. Fan noise was recorded using an Extech sound meter which has a limited 30dB lowest noise level detection. Therefore, fan noise was measured from 2 feet away so we could hear SOME difference. The latest AMD8_921_5WHQL from ASUS was used at first but we discovered AMD’s 12-8 Catalyst drivers offered better performance so definitely use those for your own card.

Overclocking the ASUS AMD HD 7970 DirectCU II

The single digit frame gains found in our NVIDIA’s GTX 660 Ti cards just don’t seem worth the risk. However, high end cards like the DirectCU II are built to satisfy overclocking enthusiasts. That formation of Super Alloy Power chokes and capacitors creating a 12-phase digital VRM for the GPU, hint to the epic possibilities. Essentially, the DIGI+VRM can do more with 28 amps versus lesser VRM with 34 amps. That said, here’s what we got using ASUS GPU Tweak and the AMD ATI control panel to overclock the card.

 

In both cases, the card out ran the overclocking utilities operating perfectly stable at maximum settings. The overclock netted about 14 frames extra which was a lot more than I could coax out of the previously reviewed NVIDIA cards. While you can go completely insane hoping for another 75MHz core frequency and a bit more memory frequency, most users are going to be just fine with this overclock for useable double digit gains.

Either way, the DirectCU II cooler can keep up with the card’s thermal output far better than any we’ve seen in the lab. In a single word, impressive!

DirectCU II Noise and Temps

The DCUII cooler has a neat feature in auto mode. When the monitor goes in to standby and the GPU is inactive, the fans turn off. The fans create about 19dB noise when just working or browsing the web. It doesn’t get any quieter unless you manually turn down the fans. In-game noise really depends on how hard the GPU is working. Metro 2033 benchmarks resulted in 32dB where as something like Borderlands 2 created less. Finally, overclocking the card all but ensured 40dB running any game as the card is very aggressive about controlling temps. As far as high performance gaming cards go, the noise is completely expected and still very respectable.

Cooling performance is exemplary. Auto fan mode kept stock and overclocked temps under 65C which is awesome compared to the 80C reference cards. Manual mode at 75% was much louder and maybe only a degree or two cooler. This just proves that Auto mode on this card is a near perfect compromise. Overall, the DirectCU II cooler is more than up to the task.

Note: Keep in mind that decent computer cases with proper air flow will block up to 10dB of all that fan noise. In my lab scenario, the system inside an NZXT Switch 810 was up to 9dB quieter than the tech station. Some other cases with sound dampening properties like the Antec P183 will block even more. Good quality cases will help manage the potential noise and high end components will help to even mask it.

3D Benchmark Performance

Let’s get our 3D graphics on! With the exception of 3DMark11 using 720p Performance settings, the rest of the benchmarks (Heaven Demo 3.0, Metro 2033, Batman AC, Stalker CoP, Battlefield 3, and Aliens vs Predator) were all performed using 1920 x 1080p resolutions. Sample settings are noted in the graph header.

3DMark11

I’ve been told that 3DMark11 doesn’t always work properly on some AMD GPUs. I find it hard to believe that the score is indicative of its 3D performance. However, the score increases dramatically when the card is overclocked. Not sure it’s going to set any 3DMark11 records just yet. Still, one synthetic benchmark doesn’t mean you should sell the farm.

Heaven Demo 3.0

Here, performance is more along the lines of what we expect. It closes the gap on the very powerful GIGABYTE GTX 670 OC card. The ASUS driver was about 4 frames slower which isn’t much of a difference but we serious gamers demand the best results for our hard earned money.

Now let’s steer our attention towards real world gaming benchmarks and then our final thoughts.





Metro 2033

Metro has a knack for crippling some cards especially when it comes to using the sampling details. That said, I ran in to one random glitch in the benchmark’s DOF setting that affects performance varying from driver to driver.

AMD’s 12-8 Catalyst driver resulted in 44 average frames with DOF (depth of field) enabled. Disabling DOF resulted in 56 FPS falling only a couple behind the 670 OC. It’s very difficult to see the graphical differences between enabled and disabled. While I was hoping for better results, I do have to say that the DirectCU II beast renders some immaculate scenery throughout the benchmark especially compared to last generation GPU.

Batman Arkham City

There’s a big change in frame rates here. AMD GPUs have done well with the Unreal 3 engines which is why it does so well with Batman. Too bad more games don’t utilize the same or similar game engine technology. Batman AC looks down right vicious in the card’s renderings. And, the mapping details are very crisp.

Stalker Call of Pripyat

In this benchmark, the ASUS HD 7970 DirectCU II scores in between the GTX 660 Ti SC and GTX 670 OC. The graphics engine favors the NVIDIA cards just a bit more. Again, the picture quality is extremely detailed not to mention very contrast rich. I’m beginning to understand the massive appeal behind the Southern Islands HD 7000 series GPU.

Battlefield 3

It’s really nice to experience BF3 at 67 frames using ultra level settings . It’s bad enough that so many servers barely run the game, so extra frames to make it smooth will help save your kill-death ratio. It’s only a couple frames slower than the GTX 670 OC which is no big deal.

Aliens vs Predator

Again, the details in this benchmark simply look immaculate. The HD 7970 is perfect for the genre and atmosphere. The card offers up about 1 frame less than the GTX 670 OC. Additionally, if you overclock the card through GPU Tweak, the card can provide another expected 11 to 14 frames depending on the resolution.

Final Thoughts

One thing users will notice when gaming with the ASUS HD 7970 DirectCU II video card is how great looking the graphics are in all the different game environments. Granted, NVIDIA performance cards also look great but the HD 7970 just added a little something extra to the quality. We noticed this most in games like Batman Arkham City, Metro 2033, and Battlefield 3. While frame rates don’t quite top the similarly priced NVIDIA GTX 670, it still provides very smooth frame rates with great detail. It’s possible that AMD’s driver team can still increase performance.

The great stock clock and exemplary GPU Tweak overclocked performance was no match for the ASUS DirectCU II cooler. It kept the GPU in check managing 65C GPU temps at all times. This is a testament to the abilities of good cooling design. The impressive 12 phase DIGI+ VRM is an engineering work of art that all but guarantees double digit frame rate gains, which can easily last you another year of high end gaming.

The ASUS HD 7970 DirectCU II currently will cost you about $434.99 to $414.99 depending on some rebates which is only $20 more than a reference style card. With high quality components, top of the line AMD performance, exemplary DirectCU II cooling, great gaming experience, and a great end user experience that other HD 7970 cards just don’t provide, the ASUS HD 7970 DirectCU II exceeds expectations and easily earns our Editor’s Choice Award.

Pros

  • Great DirectCU II design
  • Exemplary cooling performance
  • Impressive 12-phase DIGI+ VRM overclocking
  • ASUS GPU Tweak overclocking software
  • Immaculate graphics quality
  • High quality SAP components
  • Supports six active displays
  • Fans turn off when the monitor sleeps

Cons

  • Three expansion slots may limit CrossfireX on older boards

Overall Rating: 9.5/10

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