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When KitGuru reviewed Sapphire's HD5770 Flex Edition last year, it walked away with our top award. It was not only an amazing productivity board, but in a CrossfireX configuration it was capable of reasonable frame rates across three screens. Today we are looking at the new Sapphire HD6870 Flex Edition, a more powerful update in the FleX series. We will not only be testing this across three screens, but across four screens at 7680×1080 resolution in a CrossfireX configuration.
Later in the review we show some 7680×1080 engines in high definition video action.
But first, what exactly is a ‘FleX' board?
Generally when you purchase an AMD Eyefinity capable graphics card, you only have two DVI output signals, meaning that you need to purchase a higher cost DisplayPort supported monitor. The FleX boards can support three DVI monitors, out of the box, without the need for a DisplayPort monitor or active adapters. The first two monitors are connected to the DVI outputs, just like normal. The third DVI monitor is then connected to the HDMI output with the passive adapter which is supplied.
When you consider that three high quality, 24 inch DVI monitors can be bought in the UK for a total of £450 inc vat, this is the cheapest and most effective way to enter into high performance multi screen gaming.
If you are feeling flush, then two more monitors can be connected, up to a total of five, however these have to be DisplayPort capable.
The Sapphire HD 6870 FleX Edition has 1120 Stream processors and 1GB of GDDR5 memory running at 1050mhz (4.2Ghz effective) with the core clock set to 900mhz. Sapphire have not only designed a custom PCB for this product, but they also have a high performance cooler attached with three thick 8mm heatpipes. The FleX card also utilises sealed dust resisting bearings to keep the card cool, and running quietly under load.
Bloody nora. that is immense. great vids ! Id buy two cause I want 10 monitors !
Damnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn Zardon you get the sexy goods man.
I almost wet my pants. im not sure I like the line down the middle of the two center screens, but I could live with it, send me the system over for some ‘testing’ ? Dead Space 2 is incredible at that res.
I said it in the forums and ill say it again, its leg-end ….. wait for it……. dary..!
It will probably cost as much as a 6950, but worth it really if you want multi screen gaming. those DP panels are costly.
Well done, excellent coverage of all the important areas, and fascinating to see those games running at 7680 resolution,. where will it end.
I only found this site this week and its already my home page, some of the best reviews ive read, without a doubt. stunning work.
I was impressed, those cards are only normally under 200 quid, even with a bit extra, id love this myself.
card (guess 230 quid), three screens 150 each. thats really not a lot of money for this kind of setup. (if you already have the computer obviously).
I read your review of the HD5770 Flex last year and bought one, time for an upgrade. im first in the queue for one of these.
They make such brilliant products. if Nvidia ever poached Sapphire AMD would be screwed.
6870 are awesome cards, great value.
I gotta get a setup like this when I dump the woman. the time is coming she is doing my head in 😉
Yeah, this is rather nice, I have to admit, but I cant deal with AMDs crappy drivers.
the drivers arent crappy anymore, CCC v2 is great too.
This certainly deserves my attention, I already have two screens, I fancy another asus screen to match the two I have,. and this would be ideal as none of them are displayport
Have you all huge desks or something? this would never fit on my living room table never mind my computer desk !
Its great tho.
When is three screens not enough? when you review for kitguru..
kudos for the insanity of it all, and a bonus point for the fact it works at all 🙂
As much as I like nvidia cards (and I do a lot), they are eons behind AMD in this department. two DVI screens and my GTX570 is spent out. its rubbish really for 2011.
Why no 5 screen testing?
yeah, im kidding………. nice one !”
Its a nice idea, and typical of sapphire to come up with something this cool. I love it personally, but I thought my two monitors was nice. I feel inadequate.
Well I sure as hell wasnt expecting this when I came here this afternoon. Enjoyed the article very much. I think this should sell well. the cooler is good this time too, hd5770 wasnt that special (the flex).
4 screens would rock my world, not for gaming, but for work related things, like photoshop and rendering. ive only one 22 inch 🙁 but im a poor student.
Well ive just came here to say good review and that ill probably get a sapphire card this month, probably not this one, but maybe the toxic edition. ive been a life long nvidia lover, but ive had 3 nvidfia boards fail in a year on me. last one was a disaster and evga can suck my personal bits.
I have been offline for a month, what a change on the site since I was here, had to spend all night catching up on reviews. great job 🙂 thumbs up.
well I had to laugh at the captcha text to post here ‘diarrhea’. thats lovely !
Anyway, read this tonight and while I dont normally post comments, very well done.
I cant ever see myself wanting more than one monitor, but this is a great idea, displayport screens seem to cost a fortune.
I am happy with my sapphire HD6850. great product range.
I have been waiting on a review of this since sapphire announced it a short while ago. I like their HD5770 fleX but it wasnt powerful enough to game, and although I dont game a lot, my weekends are enjoyable. I shall order this when its available. any ideas on a time frame? this month?
have to agree with bloke earlier. AMD drivers are so messy. I couldnt get my 1080p scaling to even work with the last drivers I used. its why I moved to GTX460 and ill never move back. single screen is more than enough.
Their new coolers are really great, that blade design is tasty.
does WOW work over three screens? ive already got three screens, and one isnt used, cause I cant’/ this would be a perfect upgrade if WOW supports 5760 res. ?
Great easy to read and the product is very impressive. I doubt it will be under 200 quid unfortunately and ive only a limit of that, if I want a new screen too.
This really is spectacular. I didnt want it b efore I read the review and now I do after it.
This is easily worth the same price as a standard 6950
The design of sapphires new cards is great, from the ground up. that cooler looks brilliant. The overclocking capabilities seem impressive also on both the flex and the toxic.
It really makes me wonder if I need to get a new system with 3 panels. 4 is just too much for my desk. 3 is pushing it. but id love this for gaming, much better than a single 30 incher.
One thing this brings to light, is the ridiculous bloody cost of 30 inch screens right now. you can buy 3 24 inch screens for under £500 and a single 30 inch is still 1,200?
Seriously, the manufacturers need a fucking reality check.
Kudos to sapphire for bending AMD’s stupid rules , yet again. this time with a good gaming card too.
Dead Space 2. I need to get it now. thats awesome looking.
Is this ‘flex’ technology patented by sapphire?
They need to do this for the 6970 as well. but maybe the market isnt big enough.
Bookmarked the site, loved the alienwarwe review too. so much delcious hardware reviewed here.
I had three sapphires fail on me over the years and I moved to nvidia and I bought a 570, which I love. but sometimes I regret the decision. especially as I would need another for this kind of screen setup.
I think people would really need two of these for the best performance across 3 screens, even though it seems ok now. might not be t hat good down the line.
I know the middle two screens have a line obviously in the middle, but this impresses me more than 3 screens, something more realistic about the width to the eye.
Its great to see these cards can handle such high resolutions. the good thing also is that if you needed a little extra horsepower that the flex can actually match this toxic for improved frame rates at the 7680 res
Now that is more impressive to me than 150 fps from a 580
Great, I have been waiting on a review of this since I saw the press release on sapphires site. ive just preordered one and a HD6870 for CFx. Just ordered three samsung LED screens, im excited.
I will be building a new system and setting up 3 screens soon myself, I think I might opt for 6970 however for more futureproofing, even if I have to spend extra on displayport screens.
What a brilliant review, it sure sold the product for me. even though im an nvidia lover.
I have always bought sapphire cards and none of them have failed on me, just noticed some people said they havent had much luck with sapphire.
Cant agree there, and this is a great idea from them. I dont know why AMD arent more proactive with their hardware at times, they seem to make the basic boards then just fail to market them right , every time. their marketing team is abysmal.
I got the press release from the sapphire select club weeks ago, and this is such a great idea. I would love one for work, but 6870 seems overkill
I have my self A Eyefinity setup of three 27″, and have to say i will never want to go back.
Screen dump WoW > http://tweakers.net/ext/f/Y8fXr00Gbf9JtUcD0nxGXFWi/full.jpg
But i would advice anyone considering this setup to get a 1920×1200 monitors instead of a 1080p monitors, my brother got basically the same computer (same i7 920 and 2x 5870), however he got cheap and saved 150 euro and got three 1920×1080 panels.
I am really glad i did not, and he now regrets not getting a 16:10 type of panel like me.
I am considering going back to the 3600×1920 setup i dried out, but that would interfere whit my normal use.
I think if they ware there, the best screens for Eyefinty would be 1920×1440 4:3 panels as you would then get best of both worlds.
I would not even mind 1920×1600 if i could get them 3 ore 5 of those jummy 😀
Its just a darn shame that those 30″ panels don’t drop in price, its just that 3~4000 euro is a bid mouths for 3 of those.
http://www.kitguru.net/peripherals/monitors/jules/70-of-enthusiasts-would-choose-a-30-tft-under-500/
And btw you don’t need 3th Display Port monitor as you can get a adapter for $30
http://www.dvhardware.net/article45012.html