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The Powercolor HD6850 Single Slot Edition is undoubtedly a graphics card which will appeal to media center enthusiast users. If you are interested in building a new system in a small form factor case then one of these cards will certainly allow for a quality gaming experience. Today we reviewed two of the cards in CrossfireX and the tests have shown that even with high resolutions there is plenty of power on tap, even with demanding Direct X 11 game engines.
Two of these cards would be an ideal SFF buying decision thanks to the single slot cooler design and subsequent improvements with chassis airflow. With a power drain of around 200 watts when gaming a new system build won't eat into the electricity bill either.
Powercolor have been releasing some great video cards in recent months, right across the range and we like the fact they are trying to push out a wider array of custom PCB and cooler designs.
Single slot cards are great for physically compromised case designs, but as we have said before, there are some compromises to be made. The cards do operate at higher temperatures than others we have tested in recent months and the fans have to spin higher to compensate for rising heat. With two cards in a CrossfireX configuration, the noise is easily noticeable under load and it may become intrusive for some.
When all is considered however there is no doubt in my mind that the Powercolor HD6850 Single Slot Edition cards will appeal to a very specific audience. Specifically gamers who want a small system build in their living room to entertain friends and family in a social environment. Two of these cards will cost around £300 inc vat … they deliver similar performance to a GTX580, but with a £100 lower premium. The only problem is, they can get rather loud, and this is why they don't earn our top award.
Pros:
- single slot opens up new possiblities
- design is good
- excellent performance in CrossfireX, right up there with a GTX580
- power consumption is excellent
Cons:
- Louder than a single, high performance solution.
KitGuru says: High performance, good price and ideal for a small case. A single high end card such as the GTX580 is much quieter however.
I admire powercolor for all the cool designs recently. I think they are on the rise as more people are buying their hardware (but maybe im wrong?)
I bought one of these last month and have been very happy with it. I did notice that the thermal paste application was poor , and that by applying my own temperatures dropped a good 5 c
I like their hardware, ive owned a few cards and they have been fine. I know sapphier get all the applause, but nothing wrong with PC.
Id prefer two of these to a GTX580, Direct X performance is clearly much better
You guys forget about the driver reliance. AMD are still slow updating drivers to support games. id have most of the games beaten by the time id have the profile for it.
ill pass
Nice cards, but no need for single slot for my system, ive been looking to upgrade, but I might wait on 7 series, cant be that far ahead now. maybe end of year.
Whats their warranty in the UK?
THe power consumption is excellent. AMD really have that sorted with the latest cards.
I dont think a single card card lasts as long as a dual slot, they tend to run hotter all over and things ‘burn out’ over time. its a risk with this design, especially in a media center.
I admire powercolor for making so many cool designs, outside the reference AMD plans.
These particular cards arent for me, but I dig their overall progress in this market recently.
Yeah thats good value for money, but with the yoyotech GTX580 being sold for £330 (asus direct CU II!) it knocks this off the ‘great deal’ imo.