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There is no doubt that the VTX3D HD6870 X2 is an impressive piece of engineering. If you asked me months ago if this was practical with a ‘standard air cooler', I would have said no. After testing the card I am left with both positive and negative feelings.
Lets get straight to the point, the card is clearly a hell of a performer. It can easily keep up with the GTX580, frequently outperforming it with specific game engines. Using 3DMark 11 as a guideline for Direct X 11 capabilities, it scores 2,000 points more than the GTX580, with a final score over 8,000 points. Sure, you can't play 3Dmark, but the results are mirrored with some of our real world game analysis. Negatively, we noticed some slight micro-stuttering with some game engines, which we hope can be dialed out with driver updates over the coming months. On a more positive note the bundle includes the excellent Dirt 3, which immediately earns a bonus point.
The card is relatively quiet when it is idle, but the fans spin up quite fast to keep the temperatures in check. Under full load, it is easily heard, even within a enthusiast case with multiple fans spinning.
My biggest concern is the thermal situation. On paper, and in the pictures, the cooler looks fantastic, and there is no doubt it is. The problem is that the HD6870's are hot running GPU cores, which can cause a problem for many cooling solutions, even in single configuration. We can see that TUL Corporation, the parent company of both Powercolor and VTX3D have spent a lot of time researching and enhancing the cooler to cope. In theory it does, but we don't often have to quit Furmark for fear of possible damage. Generally if I see 100C in Furmark I have concerns, even if it isn't a ‘real world' indication of how a game will load the card.
When gaming, the card ticks along between 80c and 86c, which is acceptable and certainly not dangerous, but I have a niggling doubt in my mind that the cooler may have problems in specific environments, especially in a warm climate and in a case with limited airflow. It is worth bearing in mind that we were testing in almost perfect conditions, within an air conditioned room.
Pricing has yet to be confirmed but we would assume that the card will retail in the UK somewhere between £300 and £350 (US price is around $450). This means it will be less expensive than the GTX580, while having the performance edge. Personally, im not sure I would be happy living with this card 24/7 due to some thermal concerns, long term. If however you want one of the fastest video cards on the market, at a respectable price, then this should be on your shortlist.
UPDATE: Price is confirmed at £345 inc vat @ OCUK.
Pros:
- Extremely fast
- fantastic looking cooler
- Dirt 3 is a good inclusion in the bundle.
- will be priced less than GTX580, and is faster
Cons:
- Can get hot
- Far from silent
- some micro stuttering in a few of the games we tested
Kitguru says: A great piece of engineering, but the cooling required is phenomenal.
VTX3D, never heard of them ! nicely designed card, but yeah bit hot for my tastes my own 6850 hits 80c in furmark..
I like the fact they are trying to break the reference designs, thats normally left for Sapphire. my concern however is that this cooler isn’t adequate. I read another review of the powercolor card and they found the same thing, I think one of the systems actually SHUT down in some testing. Did you experience any hard locking Zardon?
This is not for me, but yeah its cool to see X2’s again.
Id rather get the GTX580 as it runs much cooler.
No stability problems when gaming no.
Good idea, but there are so many cards now for every price range, its sure to confuse people
I think this will be closer to 400 sterling due to vat and current crap economy here
Interesting concept idea from Powercolor. certainly got them some headlines lately
Compared to the GTX580, this seems a much better deal IMO. faster, cheaper. etc.
Seems like it is a problem to get it cooled adequately. Many enthusiast users want sub 80c temps under load. 80-90c+ isn’t really that good a selling point, even if it is massively difficult considering the power on hand.
I like it, however why not just get two 6870s, which will run cooler? I understand not everyone will have a crossfire capable board, but stil…..
biggest heatpipes ever on a video card? we should hold a vote to find out
Maybe this is why the 580 has dropped to £339?
isnt it 6 core? (12 threads) in cpu =)
Hi Pelle, it is indeed. 6 physical, 6 logical. 12 threads.