Introduction

Having already looked at the HD 5970, we know what to expect when it comes to performance of the model. If you want a fast graphics card, the chances are you're trying to get a hold of a HD 5800 or HD 5900 series card from ATI. I spoke recently about my theory behind the lack of supply, but it's beginning to look better now as word came through the other day that ATI partners have received their design kits.

Today we'll be looking at GIGABYTEs HD 5970 and straight off the bat we're going to say that with the stock cooler and stock clocks there's not going to be much of a surprise when it comes to the out of the box numbers. What we've done is spend a bit more time with the card and overclock the model hopefully higher than the previous HD 5970 we looked at.

What we'll do with those results is compare them against the card at stock along with comparing it to the HD 5870 in CrossFire which is a faster setup than the HD 5970 out of the box.

What we'll do first up is have a quick look at the package and have a closer look at the card. We'll then have a look at the stock clocks of the model while also taking the time to see what clocks we achieved when we spent a bit of time overclocking the model. From there, only one thing matters; we'll test the card in its stock and overclocked form and see what kind of performance we can get from the model.

Let's get stuck into the GIGABYTE HD 5970 and see what exactly we have going on here.