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The HIS HD6870 Turbo is based around the reference AMD design and as such might not seem that exciting a proposition for many people, we are still waiting on custom cooled solutions which will reignite our excitement.
To be fair, the HIS Turbo Edition has proven to be the best HD6870 we have tested yet, not because of the relatively minor ‘out of the box' overclocks, but because we noticed a higher overclocking threshold, almost achieving 1ghz on the core. We aren't sure if HIS hand pick the Turbo cards from their production line, but clearly our review sample was better than the other five in our labs right now.
We are still impressed with the HD6870, especially in an overclocked state, because the levels of performance are close to the HD5870, which a year ago cost £100 more in the UK. There really has never been a better time to buy a video card as every sector is inundated with quality models.
Pricing for the HD6870 Turbo Edition a couple of days ago wasn't in such a healthy state, we noticed that UK stores were selling it for £40 more than the reference solution, which seemed over the odds for a card without a sexy cooler installed. After we flagged this to HIS directly however, the price dropped to £210 inc vat, which means you pay a £20 premium. We think this is fairly good value and while we can't verify that all Turbo Editions can hit 1ghz on the core it does appear that the overclocking thresholds are slightly better.
KitGuru says: HIS HD6870 Turbo is good bet if you want kick ass gaming performance at high resolutions.
Very nice overclocking. the 6870’s seem pretty close to their limits. I wonder will anyone be able to sell one at 1ghz core with a custom cooler down the line? I dont think so. might be 950mhz will be the limit for these retail.
Seems a good buy, but the 6850 would be my choice as they overclock so well. seem basically the same limits as the 6870s on the core anyway.
HIS are really good. I think their reputation is a little unwarranted. ive owned a few of their ATI (Amd?) boards in the past and never had an issue. I would wait on a custom cooled one though, these reference coolers are never wonderful. 80+c on these cards seems rather high, id like to see mid 70s. which a reference cooler wont deliver.
Very nice, but HD6850 is more in line with what I want. im buying one at christmas then another in the new year. should keep me going for years. I like the 1080p tests here. I cant afford a 30 inch screen and find those results hard for me to work out. maybe a lot of people own a 30 inch screen, lucky bastards 🙁
Good card, they all are though. not sure id pay £20 for a bios update, unless the card is a hand picked model then it seems worth it. sadly HIS dont mention this, so I would assume they are maybe just from a specific batch with good yield.
A problem I always have is with reviewer samples. If this card is £20 more for 20mhz core increase and its identical, then it seems a bit expensive. Granted the memory is much higher than reference, but I think most 6870s hit those speeds anyway.
Could very well be HIS hand pick reviewer samples. but its hard to know.
IM furious. and will lodge a complaint with OCUK. I bought this last week for £240. its down to £215 on their site now. fucking pissed off.
IM furious. and will lodge a complaint with OCUK. I bought this last week for £240. its down to £215 on their site now. fucking pissed off.
You know, this would have been great to test against a 580 if you used both HIS cards in Crossfire. Actually, where is your 580 review?
Real shame they didnt use a custom cooler on this 🙁 makes them all more attractive. Are AMD blocking custom designs still or has that not passed?