AMD Radeon HD 6870 CrossFireX Performance Analysis
Trending
Samsung Galaxy S23 series push mobile experiences to new heights
Samsung Galaxy S23, S23+, S23 Ultra Singapore pricing and availability
Feature Articles
-
Page 1 of 4 — Radeon HD 6800 Series CrossFireX Performance AnalysisPage 2 of 4 — ResultsPage 3 of 4 — Results (contd.)Page 4 of 4 — Temperature, Power Consumption & Conclusion
Page 1 of 4 — Radeon HD 6800 Series CrossFireX Performance Analysis
- Next >
Double Trouble
After Evergreen comes Northern Islands, and just last week, AMD released their next generation graphics solution with the Radeon HD 6870 and HD 6850. The two new SKUs powered by the all-new Barts GPU has received high praise from for its compelling combination of performance and price (us included). In fact, the new cards even forced NVIDIA to cut prices of their cards — the GeForce GTX 470 can now be had for around US$259, while the 1GB variants of the GeForce GTX 460 is set to retail for around US$199.
However, the new cards are not perfect and one of the major criticisms leveled at the card was that architecturally, Northern Islands is not all that different from Evergreen, leading some to be dismayed that AMD failed to introduce a revolutionary architecture. Nevertheless, there’s no denying that the new Radeon HD 6800 series cards offer serious graphics firepower for their price, and we are sure that they’ll sell like hot cakes.
And in HardwareZone tradition, we are now following up on our Radeon HD 6800 series review with an analysis on how the Radeon HD 6870 will perform in CrossFireX. AMD claims that performance scaling has been improved and we are hoping to see some dramatic increases in performance.
Our original intention was to present both Radeon HD 6870 and HD 6850 CrossFireX results, but due to some compatibility issues, our two Radeon HD 6850 cards refused to work together. Hence, we’ll be looking at the results from the Radeon HD 6870 and update you in due time once we get the issue of our Radeon HD 6850 cards sorted.
Test Setup
To evaluate how the new Radeon HD 6800 series cards will perform in a 2-way CrossFireX configuration, we’ll be using our trusty X58 setup with the following specifications:
- Intel Core i7-975 (3.33GHz)
- Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD4P motherboard
- 3 x 1GB DDR3-1333 G.Skill memory in triple channel mode
- Seagate 7200.10 200GB SATA hard drive
- Windows 7 Ultimate
It goes without saying that the key battle here will be between the Radeon HD 6870 CrossFireX against the 1GB GeForce GTX 460 variant in SLI. Also, it’ll be interesting to see if the new Radeons in CrossFireX can beat a single dual-GPU Radeon HD 5970 and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 480.
The list of cards tested and driver version used:
- AMD Radeon HD 6870 2-way CrossFireX (Catalyst 10.10)
- AMD Radeon HD 6870 1GB GDDR5 (Catalyst 10.10)
- ASUS EAH6850 DirectCU 1GB GDDR5 (Catalyst 10.
10) - ATI Radeon HD 5970 2GB GDDR5 (Catalyst 10.9)
- NVIDIA GeForce GTX 480 1560MB GDDR5 (ForceWare 260.89)
- NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 2-way SLI (1GB version — ForceWare 258.80)
- NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 1GB GDDR5 (ForceWare 258.96)
- NVIDIA GeForce GTX 470 1280MB GDDR5 (ForceWare 258.96)
The list of benchmark used are as follows:
- Futuremark 3DMark Vantage
- Crysis Warhead
- Far Cry 2
- Warhammer: Dawn of War 2
- Battlefield Bad Company 2
- “Heaven» from Unigine v2.1
- S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat
-
Page 1 of 4 — Radeon HD 6800 Series CrossFireX Performance AnalysisPage 2 of 4 — ResultsPage 3 of 4 — Results (contd.)Page 4 of 4 — Temperature, Power Consumption & Conclusion
Page 1 of 4 — Radeon HD 6800 Series CrossFireX Performance Analysis
- Next >
Join HWZ’s Telegram channel here and catch all the latest tech news!
Our articles may contain affiliate links.
If you buy through these links, we may earn a small commission.
Sponsored Links
AMD Radeon HD 6870 & HD 6850 in CrossFireX – Techgage
At Techgage, we strive to make sure our results are as accurate as possible. Our testing is rigorous and time-consuming, but we feel the effort is worth it. In an attempt to leave no question unanswered, this page contains not only our testbed specifications, but also a detailed look at how we conduct our testing.
Test Machine
The below table lists our testing machine’s hardware, which remains unchanged throughout all GPU testing, minus the graphics card. Each card used for comparison is also listed here, along with the driver version used. Each one of the URLs in this table can be clicked to view the respective category on our site for that product.
| Processor |
Intel Core i7-975 Extreme Edition – Quad-Core @ 4. |
| Motherboard |
Gigabyte GA-EX58-EXTREME – F13j BIOS (08/02/2010) |
| Memory |
Corsair DOMINATOR – 12GB DDR3-1333 7-7-7-24-1T, 1.60v |
| ATI Graphics |
Radeon HD 6870 1GB (Reference CrossFireX) – Catalyst 10.10 Radeon HD 6850 1GB (Reference CrossFireX) – Catalyst 10.10 Radeon HD 6870 1GB (Reference) – Catalyst Oct 5, 2010 Beta Radeon HD 6850 1GB (Reference) – Catalyst Oct 5, 2010 Beta Radeon HD 5870 1GB (Sapphire) – Catalyst 10.8 Radeon HD 5850 1GB (ASUS) – Catalyst 10.8 Radeon HD 5830 1GB (Reference) – Catalyst 10.8 Radeon HD 5770 1GB (Reference) – Catalyst 10.8 Radeon HD 5750 1GB (Sapphire) – Catalyst 10.8 |
| NVIDIA Graphics |
GeForce GTX 480 1536MB (Reference) – GeForce 260.63 GeForce GTX 470 1280MB (EVGA) – GeForce 260.63 GeForce GTX 460 1GB (EVGA) – GeForce 260.  63GeForce GTX 450 1GB (Reference SLI) – GeForce 260.63 GeForce GTX 450 1GB (ASUS) – GeForce 260.63 |
| Audio |
ASUS Xonar D2X |
| Storage |
Seagate Barracuda 500GB 7200.11 |
| Power Supply |
Corsair HX1000W |
| Chassis |
Cooler Master HAF X Full-Tower |
| Display |
Gateway XHD3000 30″ |
| Cooling |
Corsair H50 Self-Contained Liquid Cooler |
| Et cetera |
Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit |
05GHz – 1.40vWhen preparing our testbeds for any type of performance testing, we follow these guidelines:
- General Guidelines
- No power-saving options are enabled in the motherboard’s BIOS.
- Internet is disabled.
- No virus scanner or firewall is installed.
- The OS is kept clean; no scrap files are left in between runs.
- Hard drives affected are defragged with Diskeeper 2010 prior to a fresh benchmarking run.
- Machine has proper airflow and the room temperature is 80°F (27°C) or less.
To aide with the goal of keeping accurate and repeatable results, we alter certain services in Windows 7 from starting up at boot. This is due to the fact that these services have the tendency to start up in the background without notice, potentially causing inaccurate test results. For example, disabling “Windows Search” turns off the OS’ indexing which can at times utilize the hard drive and memory more than we’d like.
The most important services we disable are:
- Diskeeper 2010
- Windows Defender
- Windows Error Reporting Service
- Windows Event Log
- Windows Firewall
- Windows Search
- Windows Update
The full list of Windows services we assure are disabled is large, but for those interested in perusing it, please look here.
Most of the services we disable are mild, but we go to such an extent to have the PC as highly optimized as possible.
Game Titles
At this time, we benchmark with three resolutions that represent three popular monitor sizes available today, 20″ (1680×1050), 24″ (1920×1080) and 30″ (2560×1600). Each of these resolutions offers enough of a variance in raw pixel output to warrant testing with it, and each properly represent a different market segment: mainstream, mid-range and high-end.
Because we value results generated by real-world testing, we don’t utilize timedemos. The possible exceptions might be Futuremark’s 3DMark Vantage and Unigine’s Heaven 2.1. Though neither of these are games, both act as robust timedemos. We choose to use them as they’re a standard where GPU reviews are concerned.
All of our results are captured with the help of Beepa’s FRAPS 3.2.3, while stress-testing and temperature-monitoring is handled by OCCT 3.1.0 and GPU-Z, respectively.
For those interested in the exact settings we use for each game, direct screenshots can be seen below:
Colin McRae: Dirt 2
Just Cause 2
Mafia II
Metro 2033
StarCraft II
Support our efforts! With ad revenue at an all-time low for written websites, we’re relying more than ever on reader support to help us continue putting so much effort into this type of content.
You can support us by becoming a Patron, or by using our Amazon shopping affiliate links listed through our articles. Thanks for your support!
AMD Radeon HD 6870, HD 6850 and CrossFireX: Testing on Sandy Bridge
- Intro
- Video cards
- Test bench
- Test Method
- Test results
- Conclusion
The overclockers.ru laboratory has repeatedly tested modern video cards from NVIDIA and AMD (ATI). But time does not stand still, many new computer games are released, their developers are constantly optimizing their creations with the release of patches and patches, vendors, in turn, release new versions of drivers for their products, which often leads to a significant increase in performance in one or another game. Therefore, the next testing of graphics accelerators on fresh «wood» and patched games is always interesting. nine0017
This article examines the performance of mid-range AMD models based on the Barts family of GPUs.
And although today there are “polished” and more productive “colleagues” on the market under the code name “Cayman”, that is, the Radeon HD 6950 and Radeon HD 6970, the 68×0 series still continues to be a favorite of the public, attracted by a good price-performance ratio. model data.
The review will involve video cards Radeon HD 6870 and Radeon HD 6850. In addition to the «single», we will study the performance of the CrossFireX mode — a bundle of two Radeon HD 6850s. Also, for comparison, one of the representatives of NVIDIA’s top line — GeForce GTX 570 ( past testing has shown it significantly outperforms AMD’s 68×0 series and is roughly comparable in speed to the Radeon HD 6970).
Test List:
- XFX Radeon HD 6870 Black Edition 1024 MB;
- XFX Radeon HD 6850 Black Edition 1024 MB;
- Sapphire Radeon HD 6850 Vapor-X Edition 1024MB;
- MSI GeForce GTX 570 OC 1280 MB.
First, let’s take a brief look at the participants.
The first on the list is the «older» AMD Radeon HD 6870, released by XFX in the «Black Edition» series, which many readers are probably familiar with.
recommendations
I got a «Black Edition» in the reference version for testing, although there is another version of this card using a non-reference and more efficient cooling system with two fans.
In my case, the model (HD-687A-ZNBC) differs only in the increased frequency of the GPU to 940 MHz, which is only 40 MHz higher than the «reference». In addition, her memory is also slightly overclocked — 4600 MHz instead of the standard 4200 MHz. The amount of video memory is 1024 MB. The accelerator is equipped with two DVI outputs, one HDMI and two DisplayPort-mini. In general, nothing cardinal — the reference Radeon HD 6870 with slightly increased frequencies. nine0017
Below in the table you can see the technical characteristics of the video card in more detail.
|
Video card name |
AMD Radeon HD 6870 |
| Manufacturer |
XFX |
| Model |
HD-687A-ZNBC |
| Series |
Black Edition |
| GPU |
Barts XT |
| Technological process, nm |
40 |
Core area, sq. mm |
255 |
| Number of transistors, mln. nine0053 |
~1700 |
| Number of universal stream processors, pcs. |
1120 |
| Number of texture units, pcs. |
56 |
| Number of rasterization units (ROP), pcs. |
32 |
| GPU operating frequency, MHz |
940 (900) |
| Shader domain frequency, MHz |
940 (900) |
| Video memory size, MB |
1024 |
| Video memory type |
GDDR5 SDRAM |
| Effective video memory frequency, MHz | |
| Bus width, bit |
256 |
| Tire type |
PCI-Express x16 (v2.  1) |
| Outlets |
2 x DVI, 1 x HDMI, 2 x DP mini |
| Power Connectors |
2 x 6-pin nine0039 |
| Energy consumption level, W |
151 |
| Recommended power supply W |
500 |
Next in line — AMD Radeon HD 6850 is released under the brand name of the same company and also belongs to the Black Edition series. This is a cheaper solution, and it has correspondingly lower performance. nine0017
The graphics core is still the same Barts, but a reduced number of universal stream processors, coupled with lower operating frequencies, sends the accelerator to the bottom of the middle price segment.
The model is also endowed with increased frequencies — 820 MHz for the core and 4400 MHz for memory, which is higher than the reference brother by 45 MHz and 400 MHz, respectively. The amount of installed video memory is 1024 MB.
Now a few words about the cooling system of this video card. Unlike the reference solution, where the CO is installed with a closed casing, the XFX Radeon HD 6850 Black Edition has a CO called Vapor Chamber. It seemed to me that it is significantly simplified compared to heat pipe designs — just a small round heatsink with a copper sole installed on the GPU. There are no heat pipes at all. The fan located in the center blows over the radiator fins and accelerates the heated air in different directions. What could be easier? nine0017
It’s good that the power system is cooled by a small radiator mounted on transistors — it’s better than nothing. Another disadvantage is the lack of cooling of memory chips, but, by the way, this is not so important — modern GDDR5 memory practically does not heat up.
In addition, the increased noise from the Vapor Chamber, even without load, feels pretty decent — this is the aspect that I did not like at all.
The card has four outputs: two DVI, one HDMI and one DisplayPort — no «mini». The presence of one 6-pin power connector can make it a little easier to connect wires to it from the power supply. Indeed, why does a 127W graphics card need two connectors? nine0017
Below in the table you can see the technical characteristics of the video card in more detail.
|
Video card name |
AMD Radeon HD 6850 |
| Manufacturer |
XFX |
| Model |
HD-685X-ZNBC |
| Series |
Black Edition |
| GPU |
Barts PRO |
| Technological process, nm |
40 |
Core area, sq. mm |
255 |
| Number of transistors, mln. nine0053 |
~1700 |
| Number of universal stream processors, pcs. |
960 |
| Number of texture units, pcs. |
48 |
| Number of rasterization units (ROP), pcs. |
32 |
| GPU operating frequency, MHz |
820 (775) |
| Shader domain frequency, MHz |
820 (775) |
| Video memory size, MB |
1024 |
| Video memory type |
GDDR5 SDRAM |
| Effective video memory frequency, MHz | |
| Bus width, bit |
256 |
| Tire type |
PCI-Express x16 (v2.  1) |
| Outlets |
2 x DVI, 1 x HDMI, 1 x DisplayPort |
| Power Connectors |
1 x 6-pin nine0039 |
| Energy consumption level, W |
127 |
| Recommended power supply W |
450 |
Finally, the third contender is AMD Sapphire Radeon HD 6850 Vapor-X Edition.
I really liked this accelerator. It is built using non-reference design — both PCB and cooling system. Another feature is ten power phases. Vapor-X Edition, like the previous cards discussed above, carries 1024 MB of video memory on its board and is factory overclocked — 800 MHz for the core and 4400 MHz for memory.
Overclocking is quite modest, but the main thing in the Sapphire product is something else — its cooling system. nine0017
It consists of a long radiator with three heat pipes, in the middle of which there is a fan, which, as in the case of the previous HD 6850, blows heated air in both directions. The main radiator also cools the memory chips — a clear plus. As expected, the transistors of the power system are cooled by an additional heat sink. Overall, the Vapor-X Edition’s cooling system is good, running much quieter than that of the XFX card and cooling more efficiently. But the cost of this graphics adapter is more. nine0017
The card has five outputs: two DVI, one HDMI and two DisplayPort-mini. Power connectors — 2 x 6-pin.
Below in the table you can see the technical characteristics of the video card in more detail.
|
Video card name |
AMD Radeon HD 6850 |
| Manufacturer |
Sapphire nine0039 |
| Model |
|
| Series |
Vapor X Edition |
| GPU |
Barts PRO |
| Technological process, nm |
40 |
Core area, sq. mm |
255 |
| Number of transistors, mln. |
~1700 |
| Number of universal stream processors, pcs. |
960 |
| Number of texture units, pcs. |
48 |
| Number of rasterization units (ROP), pcs. nine0053 |
32 |
| GPU operating frequency, MHz |
800 (775) |
| Shader domain frequency, MHz |
800 (775) |
| Video memory size, MB |
1024 |
| Video memory type |
nine0038 GDDR5 SDRAM |
| Effective video memory frequency, MHz |
4400 (4200) |
| Bus width, bit |
256 |
| Tire type |
PCI-Express x16 (v2.  1) |
| Power connectors |
2 x 6-pin nine0039 |
| Outlets |
2 x DVI, 1 x HDMI, 2 x DP mini |
| Energy consumption level, W |
127 |
| Recommended power supply W |
450 |
Now let’s get acquainted with the GeForce GTX 570, in this review — the only representative of NVIDIA. It received a completely reference design and was released by MSI. Compared to the reference GeForce GTX 570 boards, the manufacturer endowed his brainchild with increased frequencies — 786 MHz for the core and 4200 MHz for memory, that is, the «sample» in this case is an overclocked option (I remind you that the standard frequencies are 732 MHz for the core and 3800 MHz from memory).
The amount of installed video memory is 1280 MB, which is slightly more than that of the AMD solutions discussed above. The model name is N570GTX-M2D12D5/OC. nine0017
Below in the table you can see the technical characteristics of the video card in more detail.
|
Manufacturer |
MSI |
| Model |
N570GTX-M2D12D5/OC |
| Series |
OC |
| GPU |
GeForce GTX 570 (GF110) |
| Technological process, nm |
40 |
Core area, sq. mm |
520 |
| Number of transistors, mln. |
~3000 |
| GPU operating frequency, MHz |
786 |
| Shader domain frequency, MHz |
1572 |
| Video memory size, MB |
1280 |
| Video memory type |
GDDR5 SDRAM |
| Video memory frequency, MHz |
nine0038 4200 |
| Bus width, bit |
320 |
| Tire type |
PCI-Express x16 (v2.  0) |
| Number of CUDA processors, pcs. |
480 |
| Number of texture units, pcs. |
60 nine0039 |
| Number of rasterization units (ROP), pcs. |
40 |
| Outlets |
2 x DVI, 1 x HDMI mini |
| Power connectors |
2 x 6-pin |
| Recommended power supply W |
550 |
Subscribe to our channel in Yandex.Zen or telegram channel @overclockers_news — these are convenient ways to follow new materials on the site.
With pictures, extended descriptions and no ads.
AMD Radeon 6870 against all. Part 1
- Introduction
- AMD Radeon HD 6000
- AMD Radeon HD 6870
- Acceleration
- HD 6870 CrossFireX
- Competitors
- ATI Radeon HD 5870
- Point Of View GTX 460
nine0002
- 3DMark Vantage
- Aliens vs Predator 3
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
- Crysis Warhead
- Colin McRae: DiRT 2
- Race Driver: Grid
- Metro 2033
- Tom Clancy’s H.A.W.X. nine0004
- Tom Clancy’s H.A.W.X. 2
- S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat
- Grand Theft Auto IV EFLC
- Lost Planet 2 Benchmark
- Mafia II
A little over a month ago, the first article about the new line of AMD Radeon 6000 video cards appeared on our website.
It discussed their key features, and also studied one of the new products — AMD Radeon HD 6850.
Everything would have been fine if at that moment two new video cards had not been released at once, the second of which was the Radeon HD 6870. Unfortunately, at the time of the release, it was not possible to get the HD 6870. But this is not a reason to forget about him forever.
First, I will briefly describe the main characteristics of the 6800 line. Immediately after that, we will get acquainted with the Sapphire AMD Radeon HD 6870 that fell into my hands. Or rather, two.
The competitors will be: NVIDIA GTX 460 1 GB and ATI Radeon HD 5870 1 GB. Do not rush to get upset because of the small number of opponents. I remember that I promised on the forum to make the test as complete as possible. So, while you are reading this text, work is in full swing on the second part of the article, which will include: NVIDIA GTX 470, NVIDIA GTX 480, NVIDIA GTX 460 768 MB, ATI Radeon HD 5870 CrossFireX and so on.
It is very difficult to cram such a large number of cards into one article. It will no longer be packaging, but stuffing with tamping, and we are not playing winrar here. nine0017
Did everyone notice how all of a sudden video cards, which had been produced under the ATI label for so long, began to be produced under the AMD label? Moreover, everyone pretended that it was so. No, gentlemen. With full responsibility I declare to you that this was not the case. Your K.O.
It all started in July 2006, when the heads of AMD and ATI announced their merger. More precisely, AMD just bought ATI for $5.4 billion. However, at that time, AMD representatives said that they would not abandon the ATI brand, under which video cards were previously produced. But the market or someone’s desire dictate their own rules of the game. Nothing surprising. One way or another, on August 30 of this year, ATI quietly disappeared. There was no noise around this event, everything went very quietly. And really, why fan the fire? After all, many buyers may not like it.
And who knows how many units or thousands will refuse the company’s products due to the renaming. nine0017
recommendations
You and I understand that, in fact, only one picture has changed. But for most ordinary mortals, there were ATI cards, and they only bought processors from AMD.
Having figured out where the ATI label has gone, it’s time to move on to the hero of the article, AMD Radeon 6870.
The HD 6870 and HD 6850 graphics cards are based on a new GPU codenamed Barts. Sorry, not Homer. The main advantage of these video adapters, according to AMD, is that they took first place in the «performance per watt» category. To put it simply, the 6800 sub-series video cards are the fastest among all their competitors with a heat dissipation of no more than 150 watts. In fact, this is a very controversial advantage. nine0017
I understand that heat dissipation is a serious problem, often limiting overclocking capabilities. But all these calculations of the number of fps per 1 (one) watt and similar brain masturbations always made me smile.
After all, in fact, this is pure marketing. Most users don’t care how much heat a graphics card generates. She works? Yes. Toys slow down? No. Everything, nothing more is needed. Everyone remembers «Two cores. Two gigs. Gaming video card»? Imagine, for a huge number of people these words are enough to believe that a really good computer is being offered. How else? After all, the talking box said so, and he cannot lie!
What if you find a graphics card with 170 watts of heat dissipation, but it is already more powerful? In what category should it be assigned? So I scratched my turnip. As for me, it is only necessary to calculate the heat dissipation to units when assembling an HTPC, and the HD 6800 subseries is clearly not in this area. But you can’t call it a minus for sure, so let’s leave it as a plus.
But the new line of video cards is interesting not only due to heat dissipation. Because all this, of course, is great, but users need an increase in productivity. That is why the HD 69 sub-series appeared in the six thousandth line00, which will have two single-GPU video adapters.
Previously, only dual-processor specimens, like the Radeon HD 5970, were located in this subseries. Now, two more video cards have got into the “nine”, these are the HD 6950 and HD 6970. By all logic, they should raise the level of performance relative to the old Radeon HD 5800. So it or not, it will become clear after the official announcement, but for now I will focus on the Radeon HD 6870. Judging by the slide below, it is located somewhere between the HD 5870 and HD 5850.
The HD 6870 is contrasted with the HD 5850 in the screenshot with technical characteristics. It is noteworthy that the new product carries only 1120 processors, while the HD 5850 has as many as 1440, and the full-fledged HD 5870 has as much as 1600. But what about the name of the card? Can the HD 6870 at least compete on equal terms with the former flagship HD 5870, or castration does not benefit anyone? This will become clear a little later, but for now let’s get back to the technical specifications.
GPU clock speed 900 MHz. The number of ROPs is 32. The video card is equipped with one gigabyte of GDDR5 video memory. The clock frequency of the latter, unfortunately, is not indicated. Power consumption in the load should be 151 watts, as promised. The video card will «eat» electricity using two six-pin connectors.
The new version of the GPU-Z program is already very familiar with the new products, and therefore the data provided to it is correct. We fill in the gaps. The GPU is made according to the norms of 40 nm technological process. The code name for the Barts XT processor. Number of SIMD cores — 14 pcs. The clock frequency of the video memory is 1050 (4200) MHz. For the former flagship HD 5870, the video memory operated at a frequency of 1200 (4800) MHz. The memory bus did not increase and remained equal to 256 bits. Against the background of competitors from NVIDIA, these figures look very poor. Let’s hope that the decrease in the frequency of operation of the video memory will not affect performance too noticeably.
nine0017
Having familiarized yourself with the technical characteristics of the new video adapter, you can safely go directly to the printed circuit board and the cooling system.
Sapphire’s AMD Radeon HD 6870 graphics card comes in a medium-sized package with lots of promotional pictures on the front. It mentions a whole gigabyte of high-performance GDDR5 memory and the ability of the video card to work with 3D StereoScopic technology. I am silent about a bunch of small logos. nine0017
The back of the package is just as modest as the front. What is worth the exhibition of more than two and a half thousand awards of the company …
The scope of supply evokes a sense of respect for the manufacturer. It includes: two manuals, a driver disk, a CrossFireX bridge, two molex to 6-pin power adapters, a DVI to D-SUB adapter, a mini Display Port to Display Port adapter, and a cable for connecting a monitor using an HDMI connector.
There is everything you need for all occasions. nine0017
Externally, the video card is very similar to its predecessors from the 5000th series. The turbine is located on the right side. On the back of the video adapter, as usual, there is nothing interesting.
A set of video outputs pleases with its «breadth»: two DVI-I, two miniDisplay Port, HDMI. What else is needed for happiness? That’s right, slots for blowing heated air out of the system unit. So, they are here too. happy end.
nine0039
After removing the upper plastic cover, it is possible to remove the first part of the cooling system — the radiator. It consists of three heat pipes and thirty fins.
Under the radiator — the second and last cooling element. This is a metal plate that holds the turbine. Through thermal pads, it contacts with video memory chips.
In the very center is the heart (or brain) of the video card — the GPU die, which is again rotated 45 degrees relative to the substrate.
nine0017
The video processor was manufactured in Taiwan in the 38th week of this year. On both sides around it are eight video memory chips manufactured by Hynix marked T2C.
The maximum operating frequency for this memory is 5000 MHz. I have to admit that I have never come across a video card with video memory operating at such a high frequency.
Four-phase GPU power system. The brains of the voltage regulator, as in the case of the HD 6850 video card, is the Chil chl8214 chip. nine0017
With the help of this microcircuit, it is possible to softly regulate the voltage supplied to the GPU, as well as correct the possibility of overclocking the video processor.
I propose to compare it with the PCB from HD 6850.
The similarity, as they say, is obvious. The reference card from the Radeon HD 6870 is somewhat longer than from the Radeon HD 6850.
Unfortunately, at the time of the release of the HD 6850 video card, there were no programs that would work correctly with it in terms of overclocking.
But now the situation has changed, a new version of MSI Afterburner Beta 3 has appeared, and everything went like clockwork. nine0017
Let me remind you that the nominal clock frequencies are 900 MHz for the GPU and 1050 (4200) for the VRAM, respectively. The turbine operates in auto mode by default. For successful overclocking, you need to gain access to the voltage control supplied to the GPU. To do this, in the settings you need to put the appropriate checkmark.
After restart MSI Afterbutner:
The nominal voltage supplied to the GPU is 1.17 V. I must say, not so little. By moving the slider to the right until it stops, we hit the figure 1.28 V. Of course, you can delve into the program configuration file and get the opportunity to set large parameters, but I decided to stop there. nine0017
After that, it will be correct to switch to manual control of the turbine speed, which I did. Typically, the fan speed is increased to 100% to keep the card as cool as possible.
But this time the focus failed. The problem lies in the noise of the cooling system. I’ll be honest, I’ve never seen anything like it, or rather I’ve never heard of it. At 100% rpm, the noise level from a distance of 1 meter was 68 dB. It is unlikely that this can be taken. Even the loud music couldn’t drown it out. Therefore, it was decided to stop at 50%, which already «shouted» at 55 dB. For me personally, this is the limit, after which my head starts to hurt. nine0017
Having set the required voltage and selected the optimal power of the cooling system, it’s time to start overclocking. Previously, FurMark was used to test cards for stability. But over time, it turned out that the card, without “falling” in a donut, could fall into METRO 2033 or Crysis Warhead. Therefore, these two games are taken to test video cards for stability. And if the great and terrible Crysis did not freeze, and METRO 2033 did not sprinkle artifacts, then the overclocking is really stable. At least, I have not yet found a refutation of this.