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For the review today we have built a strong system which we feel would fit in well with the audience purchasing these cards. We are using a Core i7 950 Quad Core CPU with 6GB of DDR3 memory. We have applied a moderate overclock to the processor because we know you guys never run anything at reference speeds!
We are also going to limit testing to 1920×1080 (1080) and 1920×1200 as less than 1% of the enthusiast user base reading this will have a 30 inch screen – this will address the widest possible audience.
Test System: Validation here.
HIS HD6870
Other cards:
eVGA GTX460 FTW (850/1000)
nVidia GTX460 Talon Attack (810/975)
AMD Reference HD6850 (775/1000)
AMD Reference HD5870 (850/1200)
AMD Reference HD5850 (725/1000)
AMD Reference HD5770 (850/1200)
nVidia Reference GTX460 (675/900)
eVGA GTX460 768MB SC (763/950)
nVidia Reference GTX 460 768MB (675/900)
XFX HD5830 XXX (840/1125)
nVidia Reference GTS 450 (850/1000)
XFX HD5750 XXX (740/1200)
AMD reference HD5750 (700/1150)
Other Hardware:
Processor: Intel Core i7 950 @ 3.6ghz
Cooler: Arctic Cooling Freezer 13
Motherboard: ASRock X58 Extreme 6
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Tracer 1600mhz 6GB (3x2GB)
Power Supply: Thermaltake 750W Toughpower Grand
Chassis: Cooler Master CM 690 II
Monitor: Dell Ultrasharp U2410 (A00)
Software:
Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit
Unigine Heaven Benchmark
3DMark Vantage
HQV Benchmark
Catalyst 10.10 Driver
Fraps Professional
Steam Client
FurMark
Forceware 260.99 WHQL
Technical Monitoring and Test Equipment:
Keithley Integra unit
Thermal Diodes
Raytek Laser Temp Gun 3i LSRC/MT4 Mini Temp
Extech digital sound level meter & SkyTronic DSL 2 Digital Sound Level Meter
Games:
Resident Evil 5
Lost Planet 2
Far Cry 2
Tom Clancy H.A.W.X.
Metro 2033
Alien V Predator
Mafia 2
All the latest BIOS updates and drivers are used during testing. We perform under real world conditions, meaning KitGuru tests all games across five closely matched runs and average out the results to get an accurate median figure.
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?