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Today we are using an overclocked Core i7 970 system which is running at 4.33ghz.
Processor: Core i7 970 @ 4.33ghz
Cooling: Coolit Vantage
Motherboard: MSI X58A-GD65
Chassis: Thermaltake Level 10 GT
Power Supply: Corsair AX1200
Memory: 6GB ADATA @ 2133mhz 9-10-9-32
Storage: Kingston SSDNow V+ 512GB Gen 2 SSD (Storage) / Crucial RealSSD C300 256GB (OS boot)
Monitors: Dell U2410 x3. LaCie 730.
Comparison cards:
AMD HD6950
AMD HD6870
AMD HD6850
Software:
Windows 7 Enterprise 64 bit
Catalyst 10.9
Unigine Heaven Benchmark
3DMark Vantage
3DMark 11
Fraps Professional
Steam Client
FurMark
Technical Monitoring and Test Equipment:
Nikon D3X with R1C1 kit
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:
Total War: Shogun 2
Alien V Predator
Tom Clancy: HAWX 2
Resident Evil 5
Lost Planet 2
F1 2011
Far Cry 2
Deus Ex: Human Revolution
Battlefield 3
All the latest BIOS updates and drivers are used during testing. We perform generally under real world conditions, meaning KitGuru tests games across five closely matched runs and then average out the results to get an accurate median figure. If we use scripted benchmarks, they are mentioned on the relevant page.
Some game descriptions are edited from Wikipedia.
THe price is pretty good, but some of the GTX580s have dropped in price recently too, £380 ish. Nice to see them working out a deal for BF3.
Is battlefield 3 any good? havent played it yet.
Cant see it anywhere for sale yet. is this a preorder on any store im missing?
Love the vapor X cooler, got one on my GFX too 🙂
If you were buying one today, would you get this or the twin fan XFX ?
Battlefield is £30 for PC. This is a very good price.
Nice, good temps and cooler
No one is stocking it, or evenon preorder
I like sapphire cards, i want their 6990 but cant get one anywhere
Great. Good luck to all wo entered the comp. Hope i win!
Love it! Cant wait to play bf3. They make good hardware
Why buy one of these. New cards will be out in a few months
Vapor x rocks. Dual bios switch is a good idea. Any ideas when we might be able to get it? Ive held off buying bf3 for this now
6970 is a great card, but i bought the 6959 and modded it to 6970 cost me 210
Last month
@Billy …and why buy those cards coming out in a few months when new cards will come out a few months after those? lol
I agree you gotta jump in sometime. Seems like as good a time as any now
Nice. I rexoomend 6970 for 1080p. Has extra bandwidth for more aa than 6950
Really dumb question bby someone who knows nothing of graphics cards, just because its supports the 3 screen setup it will still work fine with just 1 screen ? Also the switch to change the modes is that a physical switch on the card or a something you can change on the computer on the fly?
Hi Dan, Yes, the card works fine with 1 screen. I just tested Battlefield 3 with eyefinity. All other games are using one screen.
There is a physical switch on the card for the enhanced core speed mode. Switch it while the system is off and restart. There is a picture of it, earlier in the review.
Ok awesome thanks for the speedy response. Does that switch poke out the back or would i have to take the case of my computer each time i wanted to change it?
I would just leave it on the higher setting all the time.
The bios switch is on the card itself, you would need to take the door off the case to get at it.
So you review an special/overclocked edition with BF3 and you do not bench it with BF3, just with these freaky triple display that only people with $5000 rigs uses… cool.
Three 1080p screens in uk can cost as little as £500. And we used this sapphire review card to test battlefield 3 with those screens. Not sure how you work out 5000 dollars just for that.
An eyefinity setup is not expensive at all actually. i5 2500k, 4gb of ram, £80 motherboard easily used as a basis for an ef rig.
pretty good………………nice