Sapphire Radeon HD 7790 Dual-X OC review

In comparison, the XFX R7770 Core Edition produced an average frame rate of 19.6fps at a resolution of 1,920×1,080 with 4x anti-aliasing and graphics options set to Ultra, and we had to reduce graphics quality to High to get an average frame rate above 40fps. This demonstrates that the HD 7790 is the budget card to buy if you want to play the latest games at high resolutions with graphics options either set to the maximum or approaching it.

Of course, you can always sacrifice a 1080p resolution for better detail levels or smoother frame rates. At a resolution of 1,280×720 with 4x anti-aliasing and quality options set to High, the card provided an average frame rate of 106fps in Dirt Showdown. Even better, reducing the resolution to 1,280×720 in Crysis 2 but keeping the graphics options at Ultra resulted in a very smooth 48.3fps.

The single power connector means this card should work in most PCs

SEEING TRIPLE
To take advantage of the Sapphire Radeon HD 7790 Dual-X OC’s outputs, we configured three monitors in Eyefinity mode and benchmarked the card with Dirt Showdown and Crysis 2 at a resolution of 5,760×1,080.

With graphics options set to Ultra and 4x anti-aliasing, the card provided a jerky frame rate of 26fps in Dirt Showdown, but slightly reducing graphics quality to high produced a smooth average frame rate of 45.3fps, which is entirely comfortable. With the XFX R7770 Core Edition, we had to reduce the graphics quality to Low to get an average frame rate above 45fps.

Sadly, we couldn’t get a smooth average frame rate in Crysis 2, with the average frame rate being just 18.7fps with graphics quality set to High. With Eyefinity setups being the preserve of the most hardcore gamers, we can’t see the HD 7790 finding its way into their PCs.

The AMD Radeon HD 7790 fits very neatly into the bracket it was apparently designed for (though given the work that went into the GPU we find it unlikely this was its initial purpose). This Sapphire HD 7790 Dual-X OC provides excellent gaming frame rates for a price that should tempt many people. You can buy Radeon HD 7770 cards such as the XFX R7770 Core Edition for less than £100, but it’s well worth paying a little more for the extra performance of the Sapphire HD 7790 Dual-X OC. It’s out new Best Buy card.