Home / Tech News / Announcements / XFX HD 6790 Review (dual fan)

XFX HD 6790 Review (dual fan)

The tests were performed in a controlled air conditioned room with temperatures maintained at a constant 25c – a comfortable environment for the majority of people reading this.

Idle temperatures were measured after sitting at the desktop for 30 minutes. Load measurements were acquired by playing Crysis Warhead for 30 minutes and measuring the peak temperature. We also have included Furmark results, recording maximum temperatures throughout a 30 minute stress test. All fan settings were left on automatic.

This cooler is significantly better than the reference design, and even better than the Sapphire HD6790 cooler, which peaked at 72c under Furmark load. The fan idles at only 18 percent and under load peaks at 30 percent.

Return to Idle is a feature we have recently added to our reviews … we measure the time it takes for a solution to return to idle temperatures, immediately after full load. The faster the time, the better the cooler – for example a Noctua NH D14 cooler will return an Intel processor to idle temperatures much faster than a reference cooler. This is a good indication of how quickly a heatsink can dissipate heat.

The dual fans helps disperse the heat faster, and even though the fan speeds are low, the card returns to idle in around 20 seconds.

Become a Patron!

Check Also

PlayStation 5 Pro PS4

Sony reveals Project Amethyst, AMD co-developed next-gen AI-enhanced hardware

In a video presentation featuring Mark Cerny, the lead system architect for the PlayStation 5 …

10 comments

  1. Thats a nice looking card for the price. like the cooler a lot. dual fans on a card with a modest power delivery is always going to work well.

    Interesting to see they have opted for direct contact heatpipes. seems to work a treat.

    Might be a better deal than the £105 HD5850 from sapphire, close call though.

  2. I still think Sapphire have crapped on the 6 series mid range party with the HD5850 at that price, its a better card overall, and costs less. unless you want multiple screens or something, id still opt for it at the reduced price.

  3. Very nice. THese are the cards people buy, not HD6990’s. i could insure my car for a year for that.

  4. Good card, but, and its a BIG BIG but. The HD5850 which sapphire brought out again with awesome cooler.

    Surely this is THE buy of the moment? or am I missing something

  5. Big fan of dual fan cards myself, bought an ASUS Direct CU recently and its so much quieter than my last card

  6. CFx is really good, but for £230 you could almost get a 6970.

  7. Great looking board for the price, its 15 euros cheaper than sapphires here.

  8. Dual fan coolers always work well and thankfully the companies know not to cut costs by using crappy fans that make a lot of noise. I think this one is a winner for XFX. price is good too, I was expecting it to be 130.

  9. I want to aim higher, but im having problems getting the funds I need. this might do me and I can upgrade with another later in the year.

  10. Just remember that when you are moving to CrossfireX that it is very driver based. if a new game is out it is a good chance you will have it beaten by the time AMD sort out the profile. it sucks from that point of view.