I've had like... 20 HD7950's in my time...
MOST of those were 1.25 based core voltages, some examples had a factory 1.19v, my brothers MSI TwinFrozR 880Mhz HD7950 had a 1.19v

This Asus HD7970 DCU2 TOP (has been flashed b4 I got it to 1000Mhz Ghz Edition vs the 925Mhz factory clock) and is also V-Locked right now.
I just got for $60AUD on Gumtree has a 1.17v Core voltage.
Will be throwing a comparable unlocked Bios on it this evening