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The tests were performed in a controlled air conditioned room with temperatures maintained at a constant 25c – a comfortable environment for the majority of people reading this.
Idle temperatures were measured after sitting at the desktop for 30 minutes. Load measurements were acquired by playing Crysis Warhead for 30 minutes and measuring the peak temperature. We also have included Furmark results, recording maximum temperatures throughout a 30 minute stress test. All fan settings were left on automatic.
The Powercolor HD6870 PCS+ hits around 85c under Furmark load, with the fan speed raising to 39%. This is a moderately quiet fan setting, so the acoustic/noise balance has been set somewhere in the middle.
Return to ambient is a feature we have recently added to our reviews … we measure the time it takes for a solution to return to idle temperatures, immediately after full load. The faster the time, the better the cooler – for example a Noctua NH D14 cooler will return an Intel processor to idle temperatures much faster than a reference cooler. This is a good indication of how quickly a heatsink can dissipate heat.
The heatpipe design reduces the temperatures quickly from the peak (85c) to around 70c in 5 seconds. After this it takes a little longer, the next 20 degrees take 12 seconds as the automatic fan slowly spins down to reduce noise levels.
Excellent, but I just wonder are they starting to encroach into the price sector planned out for the 6970? I hear it will be around 300 inc vat, so this could very well only be 60 less. which means it might not be quite the deal !
Well I wasnt expecting powercolor to be out first 🙂 nice board indeed. very impressive.
This is very sexy, worth it for the cooler alone, im not that bothered about the overclocks out of the box.
Nice cooler but bring on the 6970
Fucking sweet man. if I had the money right now id be all over this. Might wait for the 6970 tho and save a few more months !
Powercolor are kicking ass and taking names lately. They still have a ways to go before they get the acclaim that sapphire do, but I really like the company. never let me down yet
Weill be good to see how this handles against the black edition from XFX.
10 more sounds like a bargain to me. any ideas when this is out, soon I hope?
Cooler looks brilliant. Nothing really that awesome mind you, much like their last generation cooler.
I dont for the love of god see why anyone needs a GTX580 with the performance levels one of these generates at half the price. even on a 24 inch screen, its pointless.
Awesome review KG.
Well, this just hits the spot. im an nvidia lover however so ill not move, but tis nice to see competition.
Hey, nothing wrong with powercolor. its just idiots on the net who keep saying sapphire are the only make they will buy.
I had a powercolor card years ago and it died, they didnt replace it, and I gave up and swore never again. I think their UK support is poor, unless it has improved recently. im afraid its XFX or sapphire for me.
You know Kitguru, your benchmarks would be much readable if you used black or dark background. It just needs more contrast. This way they’re not very easy on the eyes.
Love the product from powercolor, I hope to see XFX and sapphires models soon.
Since you received word from PowerColor directly, may I ask if you could ask them when are they going to release the Radeon HD 6970 with the PCS+ cooler? Thanks.
In fact, I was going to purchase this very same card, until I heard of the new models being released (I didn’t know they were ready for launch), so I decided to wait a little just for a review on the (future, hope) PowerColor PCS+ 6970. Thanks again!