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Powercolor HD6970 Graphics Card Review

Today we are using our most powerful system, a Core i7 970 based configuration – liquid cooled at 4.33ghz, with a Corsair AX1200 power supply – all built into a sexy Thermaltake Level 10 chassis.

System validation available over here.

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
: Hazro Ultra Sharp HZ230Wi, Dell Ultrasharp U2410 Rev A00, Iiyama Prolite E2472HDD x2

Other graphics cards for comparisons:
nVidia GTX460 OC (715/900)
AMD HD6950
AMD HD6870
AMD HD6850
AMD HD5870
AMD HD5850

Software:
Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit

Unigine Heaven Benchmark
3DMark Vantage
3DMark 11
Catalyst 8.79.6.2RC2_Dec7
Forceware 263.09 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:
Resident Evil 5
Colin McRae Dirt 2
Lost Planet 2
Far Cry 2
Alien V Predator
Mafia 2
Tom Clancy HAWX 2
Battleforge
Medal Of Honor
Devil May Cry 4

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.

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13 comments

  1. Performance is really good , the price is going to mean these sell very well, especially for performance enthusiasts in crossfire!

  2. Powercolor bundle the mini dp cable thats a good extra. surprised more amd partners dont do it.

  3. I wondered why NO partners ever shipped mini DP cables. everyone needs them. competitors wake up! lets can the crappy games and include one of these with every card.

  4. Very impressive card, the price is much lower than I expected. good time to buy, but im waiting on cooler improvements

  5. The cards are really good to me. I dont like nvidia. but I am not sure on the cooler. seems the reference designs arent too good, again. not bad though.

  6. Powercolor are good. I like the bundle in this one, I cant find that mini DP converter in our local store, so this alone would make me buy one. I have three screens, not all the same size, one is displayport. I dont know why AMD dont bundle this converter with alll cards.

  7. power consumption is excellent, performance is good. nice.

  8. wow price wise and very good performance AMD you did it again

  9. 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 the PowerColor PCS+ 6870 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!

  10. Its going to be january.

  11. Who told you? Who are you?! Is this true?!

  12. Hi Andres, Powercolor are showing the card at CES, so it should be released shortly afterwards.

  13. Yay! Thank you very, very much! Remember to ask them to send you a sample to review. 😀