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MSI R6870 HAWK (Twin Frozr III Thermal Design) Review

Unigine provides an interesting way to test hardware. It can be easily adapted to various projects due to its elaborated software design and flexible toolset. A lot of their customers claim that they have never seen such extremely-effective code, which is so easy to understand.

Heaven Benchmark is a DirectX 11 GPU benchmark based on advanced Unigine engine from Unigine Corp. It reveals the enchanting magic of floating islands with a tiny village hidden in the cloudy skies. Interactive mode provides emerging experience of exploring the intricate world of steampunk.

Efficient and well-architected framework makes Unigine highly scalable:

  • Multiple API (DirectX 9 / DirectX 10 / DirectX 11 / OpenGL) render
  • Cross-platform: MS Windows (XP, Vista, Windows 7) / Linux
  • Full support of 32bit and 64bit systems
  • Multicore CPU support
  • Little / big endian support (ready for game consoles)
  • Powerful C++ API
  • Comprehensive performance profiling system
  • Flexible XML-based data structures

We test at 1080p so that all video cards can be compared throughout our reviews. Obviously driver updates might enhance performance slightly over time, but as a rule, its a useful way for us to present the findings.

The R6870 HAWK manages to push past the reference card by a single frame per second, almost in line with the HD5870 from the last generation. The minimum frames per second is noticeably higher however.

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20 comments

  1. I am not easily impressed, but this did it.

  2. 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.

  3. I love their frozr coolers. buddy of mine has one of their older boards and the cooling system is the best on the market.

  4. I love their customised solutions, the high end modded stuff they bring out. this is f*cking brilliant.

  5. With all the extras ill be stunned if this retails for only £20 more than reference

  6. 59c under gaming load. thats specatular. my 6850 runs 10-15c higher.

  7. I never knew they made customised cards like this. its a complete overhaul. excellent. so im waiting on the 560 modded one now 🙂

  8. man I love this site, I was waiting on this card and didnt expect a review so soon. ordering it when I can.

  9. 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.

  10. Biggest issue I have is that with 20-30 more than a reference HD6870, you are starting to get into the 6950 zone.

  11. Very elaborate design. A lot of work went into this card. Nice job.

  12. I love the metal cooler, thats radical. bet it weighs a ton.

  13. I love my MSI 5770 HAWK
    can’t wait to get this R6870.. Better start saving money..
    😀

  14. exelente review!!!! en estos dias me llegaaa y estoy feliiz!!

  15. 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 🙂

  16. 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.

  17. Sorry to hear that, ill mention it to MSI.

  18. 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.

  19. 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!