Introduction

Like any launch of a product we find ourselves looking at offerings from lots of companies. We started off with the reference HD 7970 which we then followed up with by checking out the new XFX HD 7970 Black Edition Double Dissipation which really impressed us.

Today we're moving over to a HIS HD 7970 video card and since it follows the reference design and MSI have just released a new version of Afterburner that allows voltage adjustment on the new HD 7970, we figured it was time to see how the overclocking capabilities of the new card is.

Before we cover the overclocking ability, the first thing we need to do is take a closer look at the package HIS has going on before we move in closer to the card itself. Once that's done we'll check out the specifications and how we went with overclocking. Then as always we get into the testbed and of course check out the performance of the card.

The main thing we'll be looking at is the kind of performance we're able to get out of the card when compared to the reference clocked card.

The Package

Checking out the box we've got that typical HIS design going on with the main difference being that this one sits slightly larger. The front gives us the main information including the model and amount of memory while turning over expands on some of the main features that the card offers while also giving us a really good run down on the benefits those particular features offer.

Moving inside the box we've got a manual, driver CD, case sticker, CrossFire bridge and DVI to VGA connector to round out the typical inclusions. Along with that we've also got two convertors - one is a HDMI to DVI connector, while the other is an Active mini DisplayPort to DVI connector. What isn't included, though, is a mini DP to DP connector, again something we're seeing companies skip this time around.

Something extra in the bundle which we haven't seen before is the "Weight Lifter" that's designed to be installed in your case and assist in helping reduce the strain placed on your PCIe slot. It's kind of funky, but unless you're moving your PC around a lot, it's probably not something that you really need.