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For the review today we have built a strong system which we feel would fit in well with the audience purchasing these cards. We are using a Core i7 950 Quad Core CPU with 6GB of DDR3 memory. We have applied a moderate overclock to the processor because we know you guys never run anything at reference speeds!
We are also going to limit testing to 1920×1080 (1080) and 1920×1200 as less than 1% of the enthusiast user base reading this will have a 30 inch screen – this will address the widest possible audience.
Sapphire HD6850 Toxic Edition
Other cards:
nVidia GTX460 Talon Attack (1000/1000 & 810/975)
AMD Reference HD6850 (775/1000)
AMD Reference HD5850 (725/1000)
AMD Reference HD5770 (850/1200)
nVidia Reference GTX460 (675/900)
eVGA GTX460 768MB SC (763/950)
nVidia Reference GTX 460 768MB (675/900)
Other Hardware:
Processor: Intel Core i7 950 @ 3.6ghz
Cooler: Arctic Cooling Freezer 13
Motherboard: ASRock X58 Extreme 6
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Tracer 1600mhz 6GB (3x2GB)
Power Supply: Thermaltake 750W Toughpower Grand
Chassis: Cooler Master CM 690 II
Monitor: Dell Ultrasharp U2410 (A00)
Software:
Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit
Unigine Heaven Benchmark
3DMark Vantage
HQV Benchmark
Catalyst 10.10 Driver
Fraps Professional
Steam Client
FurMark
Forceware 260.99
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
Lost Planet 2
Far Cry 2
Tom Clancy H.A.W.X.
Alien V Predator
Mafia 2
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.
excellent, another good HD6850 ! spoilt for choice in this sector lately. Still not sure whether to get a GTX460 or one of these around 170 quid.
I agree, that manually these can be adjusted easy enough, but I like sapphires take on this, to keep the noise down and fan lower than others. while relying on the cooler to keep the temps around 70c. interesting to see the picture of the fan only at 36% when furmark loaded. around 50-60% that would drop 10c. two different ideas from XFX and Sapphire, both work.
Sapphire and XFX really are in a head to head right now. I think the XFX looks nicer and I like their fan also. Either would do me, but ill probably get a HIS HD5870 Turbo.
Interesting to see they have opted for the full sized cooler to expell air out the back of the case. sometimes i dislike thes models as they dont do that,. I dont want hot air in my case.
Been waiting on this a while, will be curious to see if the price meets your expectations howver as I think it will be more than 20 more.
love these mid range boards. still not sure they are better than some of the GTX460’s you review here. like the evga GTX460 FTW or the MSI talon attack. but good regardless.
Excellent overclocking capabilities on these boards. I need a new monitor however. thankfully 1080p models are cheaper now.
Ideal really for 1080p gaming. if the price is right.
when is it for sale? any ideas?
urghhh not another product not listed anywhere for sale 🙁
I like Sapphire products, always built well and they have good cover for support which is important. always why I never buy powercolor or one of the far eastern makes,
Dont like this as much as the XFX board, the styling isnt as good. XFX board looks sexy.
My brother wants to buy two 6850s for the new year. wonder how much moer expensive these will be compared to reference design.
Great finding this site today, what a wealth of fantastic reviews! im a GTX460 man however, as I hate AMD drivers and support. nice product tho.
@Larry you can pick them up from RebelGadgets as they have them available on their site 😉