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The Powercolor HD6950 PCS+ Vortex II is one hell of a graphics card and easily at the top of the pile when it comes to HD6950 models currently available on the market. Powercolor have taken the reference HD6950 solution and completely overhauled it in all key areas.
The Vortex II is a brilliant cooler and manages to hold the card in a sub 70c environment when gaming, even at overclocked settings. It doesn't emit much noise, and the dual fan concept ensures an even flow of air across the full length of the PCB. We really didn't notice any benefits from moving the fans up and down within the shroud, but in chassis with poor airflow it may very well make a small difference.
AMD's reference design HD6950 is a good value for money product but if were in the market for one ourselves, we would immediately shortlist this Powercolor product and possibly the Sapphire HD6950 Flex Edition, which also has 2GB of memory installed.
Overclocking is very much dependent on the individual card, and in this case we could only squeeze another 30mhz from the core. It may sound bad on paper, but the card is already supplied in a highly overclocked state, so we aren't negatively dwelling on our relatively modest manual improvements.
We do need to mention that the Vortex II adjustments between fan and heatsink really do make very little, if any difference to the cooling proficiency of the card. Powercolor claim noticeable differences, but we couldn't measure anything worthwhile at all. It is a nice idea and it certainly stands out in a crowded market, but it shouldn't be a primary factor when shortlisting a new discrete upgrade. Thankfully, the cooler is fantastic in other areas, so it ends up more of a side note than a deciding factor.
On a performance level, the card sits between a reference HD6950 and a HD6970 which is exactly what we would expect. It is a fast card, and offers great performance over a single, and three screens. In CrossfireX, the three screen performance would be noticeably increased and a total of 8 monitors could be supported.
Pricing in the UK is pretty scarce right now, but we hear the card will only have a £20 price premium and this means it should be right at the top of your shopping list.
Pros:
- very quiet
- overclocked to decent speeds out of the box
- 2GB of memory
- Support for voltage control
- good across multiple screens
Cons:
- Vortex II adjustment feature makes little difference
KitGuru says: A fantastic showpiece from Powercolor and one of our favourite HD 6950's.
thats a brilliant cooler idea ! shame the fan placement doesnt make much difference, looks like it might when you see the increase in height.
Like the look of this, awesome design from PC. I think 880core is fine for a 6950. I know the XFX did higher when I saw it here las month.
I like my PCS+, they are good cards. and people keep saying their customer support sucs but its not true, I got mine replaced by OCUK without a problem last year.
The cooler is a bit of a gimmick, i read the techpowerup review and they didnt notice any difference in temps either. I think powercolor are saying that it reduces ambient temperatures, but ive no idea what that means. seems like something they can word to make a claim of no difference to the core temps, but general ‘all round improvements in a chassis’.
Did you notice mobo temps going down or anythign else?
Hi Eric. No, no differences in the case at all. If the case had limited airflow it might, but I said that in the review.
That really has impressed me. not interested in the movement of the fans, but overall, thats a hell of deal. nice out of the box clocks too.
Cant find it anywhere. I wish you guys would stop reviewing stuff that isnt for sale. pisses me off.
@ Henneje. im a confused man here. you said they make great cards, but yours died and you needed it replaced? eh?
I still have a problem buying powercolor after I read a massive thread on anandtech about 5 series failures from them.
I didnt say they were great cause my card died. but I keep reading that people say they have no support when they actually do have good suppotr if you run into problems.
I probably got unlucky, but they looked after me. or OCUK did at the time, but id assume they got it replaced no problems.
good board, like it.
Hi
Nice comprehensive review. Did you try to unlock the shaders? Not talking about flashing a 6970 Bios, but just plain old shader unlock?
Hello, both mods worked on our sample. Just tried this morning.
Really attractive design, I like the ideas of the movable fans. Not sure it would mean anything as the fans are normally positioned close for a reason. Bit of a gimmick, but the rest of it is great.
I dont think reviewers often get retail samples, so the mods might be locked out on the ones in stores.
Sold out over here, been trying to get this card for 2 weeks now. another review really cheered me up 🙁
THey make some radical designs, and dont get half the credit they deserve.
A small point and one not really that relevant, so dont flame me please.
Why are they so fascinated with cars on the front of their boxes? why would anyone want a car which looks freezing and has two fans on top of it?
HD6950 is the best value card atm, but if they lock them out (and many are now) its not quite as sweet. this would be ideal for the full 6970 balls out mod as the cooler is very good.
I think you chaps reviewed another powercolor card with the same cooling system and it was just as pointless (being able to move it I mean).
I have been on the powercolor site and ive read about it. they say it helps reduce ‘ambient temperatures’ and I noticed you scanned their diagram for the review Z. It doesnt actually seem to work though which baffles me. I just read a review of the same cooler on techpowerup. they came to the same conclusion. no difference.
Powercolor seem to think its a talking/ selling point, but I dont think it really is. The rest of the card is so damn good, this is just takign away from the positive points.
“we would immediately shortlist this Powercolor product and possibly the Sapphire HD6950 Flex Edition”
I respect that you only recommend what you review, but two other cards that have been out for a while seem to be the best out there. The MSI R6950 Twin Frozr III Power Edition OC, and HIS 6950 IceQ Turbo 2GB. However your reviews are one of the best and I look forward to reading your take on them. 🙂
Hi, you are right, those are great cards. I actually think i reviewed both of them before…
You have reviewed the coolers, but on different chips; the Frozr III on the HD6970 and GTX 580, and the IceQ Turbo on the HD6870.
I’m torn between these two coolers, and now the Vortex 2, and a reference 6970 which can be found for $30 more. I’m planning a 5760×1200 eyefinity CFX setup on an Asus P8P67 Revolution board. The way things are going I’ll end up waiting for the 28nm HD79xx 3GB series. Maybe then a CF setup will do on a smaller board.