Jesper Berg
As an AMD-exclusive AIB (add-in board) partner, PowerColor normally offers several variations of each AMD GPU. This is also the case with AMD’s flagship GPU from 2022/2023, the Radeon RX 7900 XTX.
When sorted by level of factory overclocking (and usually price), PowerColor’s Radeon RX 7900 XTX Hellhound comes in below the Red Devil and Liquid Devil models but is still slightly overclocked compared to the reference MBA (Made by AMD) model. However, unlike some of the more expensive RX 7900 XTX variants, it only comes with the standard dual 8-pin power connectors.
Specifications
| Specifications | PowerColor RX 7900 XTX Hellhound | AMD RX 7900 XTX Reference Model |
|---|---|---|
| GPU | Navi 31 XTX | Navi 31 XTX |
| Shading Units | 6144 | 6144 |
| GPU Clock: Base/Game/Boost | 1855 MHz / 2330 MHz / 2525 MHz | 1855 MHz / 2300 MHz / 2499 MHz |
| FP32 Theoretical Performance | 62.05 TFLOPS | 61.42 TFLOPS |
| Dual BIOS | Yes | No |
| Memory Configuration | 24 GB GDDR6 | 24 GB GDDR6 |
| Memory Clock (Effective) | 2500 MHz (20 Gbps) | 2500 MHz (20 Gbps) |
| Memory Bandwidth (Bus Width) | 960 GB/s (384-bit) | 960 GB/s (384-bit) |
| Outputs | 1x HDMI 2.1a 3x DisplayPort 2.1 | 1x HDMI 2.1a 2x DisplayPort 2.1 1x USB Type-C |
| TDP | 355 Watt | 355 Watt |
| Recommended Power Supply | 800 Watt | 800 Watt |
| PCIe Power Connectors | 2x 8-pin | 2x 8-pin |
| Slots | 3-Slot | 2.5-Slot |
| Dimensions (Length/Width/Height) | 320 mm (12.6 in) 119 mm (4.7 in) 62 mm (2.4 in) | 287 mm (11.3 in) 110 mm (4.3 in) 51 mm (2 in) |
Aside from the cooler, the PowerColor Hellhound card does not differ a lot from the MBA/reference version of the Radeon RX 7900 XTX but it does offer 
slightly higher clock speeds. In OC mode, the card’s game clock, which is where you can expect it to be on average when gaming, is up from the MBA’s 2300 MHz to 2330 MHz, an increase of 1,3%. The boost clock (more of a theoretical maximum than anything else) is also marginally higher.
The PowerColor RX 7900 XTX Hellhound uses the default dual 8-pin power connectors instead of the triple 8-pin found on some direct competitors such as the MSI Gaming Trio Classic or ASRock’s Phantom Gaming RX 7900 XTX. This primarily means that will not be possible to increase the power draw far beyond the TDP specifications for advanced overclocking, but it will have no effect whatsoever on normal operation.
Since the clock speeds even with the OC setting do not exceed the reference design by large amounts, the power consumption should also remain fairly similar. Like many other high-end graphics cards, the Hellhound RX 7900 XTX ships with a dual BIOS feature. A physical switch lets you choose between an ‘OC BIOS’ with higher performance and fan RPM settings, or a ‘Silent BIOS’ focused on low noise and balanced performance.
Cooling Solution
The cooler on PowerColor’s Hellhound RX 7900 XTX is equipped with three fans, including two outer 100mm fans and a central 90mm fan that spins in the opposite direction to the others. This is intended to reduce the turbulence created between neighboring fans when drawing in air, which serves to lower the noise level without affecting the cooling performance.
According to PowerColor, the Hellhound’s new 9-blade fan design improves airflow at the same noise level, enabling GPU temperature reductions by more than 3℃ compared to previous generations. A ‘fan stop’ feature ensures that the fans only start running when the GPU is active while shutting down entirely below 50℃.
Under the fan shroud is a set of eight nickel-plated copper heat pipes running through a large heatsink that has direct contact with the GPU via a copper plate.
There isn’t much in the way of addressable RGB effects on the PowerColor Hellhound RX 7900 XTX but fan LEDs can be switched between blue or purple. You can also choose the color of the card itself to align with the rest of your build, as both black and white versions are available.
As for the physical dimensions of the cooler, it is a bit larger in all dimensions compared to the MBA reference design, but by no means massively oversized like the Sapphire Nitro+.
Reviews
… its larger cooling solution and unique design language make a big difference in managing temperatures and keeping the card very silent, even under load.
The PowerColor RX 7900 XTX Hellhound is one of the rare breed of components which has paid super-close attention to how the card looks as well as how it performs …
There are no reviews yet.