Board layout

The HD 7970 is similar to the HD 6970 in both the cooler design and size. All along the side you have a red strip with the Radeon logo formed into it. 

AMD upgraded the GPU fan with thicker fins, the difference is slight but you can see by looking close. 

Unlike the GTX 580 AMD stuck with an 8 pin connection and a 6 pin for power over the dual 8 pin that is becoming common. 

The PCI slot has a little higher flow ventalation than past models. For connections you only have a single DLI, one HDMI, and two Display Port connections. In the future you will be able to run up to four monitors per Display Port, but currently just one with a DP monitor or using the adapters provided. 

I was a little disapointed to see no backplate this time. The HD 6970 had a backplate, making the card stronger to prevernt sagging later on. 

Dual Crossfire connections mean up to four way crossfire