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The XFX HD6950 XXX arrives in a fantastic looking box, instantly recognisable as an XFX product from the futuristic artwork. It is an illustration depicting the dual fan configuration.
The bundle is fairly spartan, with literature on the product, software discs, a ‘do not disturb' sign for a door, and information on the XFX power supply range. They bundle a handy crossfire connector.
This is not the first time we have seen this XFX dual fan cooler design and we were very surprised not to see it make an appearance on the XFX HD6970 Black Edition. Our previous experience with this cooler on the HD6850 was very positive, so we hope XFX can manage to repeat the results, even on the hotter running HD6950.
XFX are the only company we are aware of who are placing ‘warranty invalid if removed' stickers on the back of the PCB. This means if you remove the cooler (to apply your own thermal paste on the core for example), you are in fact losing the warranty. While these stickers are commonplace with power supplies, it does seem a little strict with a graphics card.
The cooler is an attractive heat pipe design, with a sturdy black plastic shell surrounding the PCB – this is vented at the side for enhanced airflow. The dual fan benefits are two fold, firstly XFX can set up a less aggressive bios profile to move the same amount of air as a single fan and secondly the airflow is directed across the full length of the PCB for complete cooling proficiency.
The card is CrossfireX capable in 2/3 and 4 way configurations and it requires two 6 pin power connectors to operate correctly.
The card has support for Displayport (1.2), HDMI 1.4a, and 2 DL-DVI and SL-DVI connectors.
Removing the cooler is a straightforward process. XFX have opted for a dual heatpipe design which is filed flat to a perfect finish. The two heatpipes enter into the aluminum base and pass out heat to a set of fins on either side of the core area. This is a great design which has proven to work well on a video card.
A GPUz overview of the HD 6950 XXX Edition. As we discussed earlier, both core and memory clocks are enhanced. It is built around the Cayman core and has 1GB of GDDR5 via a 256 bit memory interface.
This is more like it. good overclocks too. I need an upgrade in the next few months, but I might opt for the GTX560
Seems like a good card, depending on the price point they achieve. they seem to have another XXX out with a single fan design.
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-194-XF&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1752
Dual fans are always the way to go. anyone ever released a card with three fans ?
mmm so it will be over £200 then? its right into the 560 price zone, tough call
DOnt think any company has released a mainstream card with a three fan design, although I know arctic cooling had the exteme cooler on sale, was reviewed here. it had three fans.
I really like that return to idle bit in the cooling section. sometimes the crap coolers ive noticed can take well over a minute to sort the temps out.
I thought XFX had lost the plot after reading that Black Edition review at the weekend. no more like a black edition that my kettle. this is a lot better.
Its either this or the 560……. ill probably opt for nvidia. prefer the drivers
Im still getting over that 6970 card from Asus, everything pales in comparison. 🙂
my mate garry pointed me to this today, if they can get it under £200 quid id jump all over it, but I cant see that happening
Well I just bought the hD6870 flex, and have two screens coming soon, all for £600 🙂 really excited, but this card looks good too.
great looking card, love the dual fan setup. wish AMD would adopt that idea, we have to wait months after the release to see them. sucks for early adopters
This range doesnt impress me to be perfectly honest. they are good cards but I expected so much more from AMD when they were released. prefer nvidia all round.
Very nice, but ive entered the 460 competition, would prefer it !