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Today we are using one of our Core i7 970 Intel systems, which is liquid cooled and overclocked to 4.33ghz.
Processor: Core i7 970 @ 4.3ghz
Cooling: Coolit Vantage
Motherboard: MSI X58A-GD65 (MS-7522)
Chassis: Thermaltake Level 10
Power Supply: Corsair Ax1200
Memory: 6GB GSkill Performance Gaming ram @ 902.9 MHz (2:10) @ 7-8-7-24
Storage: Kingston SSDNow V+ 512GB Gen 2 SSD (Storage) / Crucial RealSSD C300 256GB (OS boot)
Monitors: Dell U2410 UltraSharp, LaCie 730, Iiyama Prolite E2472HDD x2
Other graphics cards for comparisons:
nVidia GTX460 OC (740 core)
AMD HD6950
AMD HD5870
AMD HD6870
AMD HD6850
AMD HD5850
Software:
Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit
Unigine Heaven Benchmark
3DMark Vantage
3DMark 11
Catalyst 11.1
Forceware 263.58 WHQL
Fraps Professional
Steam Client
FurMark
TessMark
ShaderToy
HQV 2.0 Software
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:
Alien V Predator
Far Cry 2
Resident Evil 5
Tom Clancy HAWX 2
Mafia 2
Lost Planet 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.
I am not easily impressed, but this did it.
That is one hell of a mid range graphics card. Wish they would bring out a MARS or ARES style card. my money is on that it would be better than anything asus could do.
I love their frozr coolers. buddy of mine has one of their older boards and the cooling system is the best on the market.
I love their customised solutions, the high end modded stuff they bring out. this is f*cking brilliant.
With all the extras ill be stunned if this retails for only £20 more than reference
59c under gaming load. thats specatular. my 6850 runs 10-15c higher.
I never knew they made customised cards like this. its a complete overhaul. excellent. so im waiting on the 560 modded one now 🙂
man I love this site, I was waiting on this card and didnt expect a review so soon. ordering it when I can.
Great bit of engineering from MSI, these guys can deliver smoking hot hardware when they put their mind to it. they are just slow on releasing the hardware, but worth the wait.
Biggest issue I have is that with 20-30 more than a reference HD6870, you are starting to get into the 6950 zone.
Very elaborate design. A lot of work went into this card. Nice job.
I love the metal cooler, thats radical. bet it weighs a ton.
I love my MSI 5770 HAWK
can’t wait to get this R6870.. Better start saving money..
😀
exelente review!!!! en estos dias me llegaaa y estoy feliiz!!
I bought two of these cards on recommendation. Glad I did after reading this 😀 Would love crossfire-x support tho, then i would have got three 🙂
I got two and one is bad. Card its WAY too hot 90c when playing BF3 while my other card was nice and cool max temp 52c. Cost to ship and replace under RMA was $21 Fedex. MSI sent my card back from RMA after 4 weeks and its still at 90c on load. Its like they didn’t even touch it. I can’t recommend this card due to MSI RMA. Just do a quick search on hot twin frozer cards. Its a nightmare. Run from MSI.
Sorry to hear that, ill mention it to MSI.
If your Twin frozer is getting hot.
Remove the cooler and clean the GPU form to thick thermal paste.
Ad some Artic silver paste and voila a cooler card.
Well that fixed my hot issue.
i have a this card and i would like to know something that is not explained anywhere, not even the manual.
There is a few red leds on top of de video card and i don´t know what is their function (in my case are always on). Could anyone tell me? Thanks!