XFX Radeon HD 6870 Black Edition Video Card Review @ [H]

FrgMstr

FrgMstr

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XFX Radeon HD 6870 Black Edition Video Card Review - A brand new XFX Radeon HD 6870 Black Edition is on our test bench today, it offers a boosted core and memory frequency. We compare it to a GeForce GTX 470 and see how well it does in Lost Planet 2, F1 2010, Civilization V, Mafia II, and Battlefield: Bad Company 2 along with overclocking results.
 
Almost identical framerates in BC2 against 470 which has 25% more OC headroom. I don't understand why these things go for so much $.
 
Costum cooled gtx 470 like TwinFrozr has almost 40% OC headroom. 20 to 30% performance gratis, but it needs more CPU power than q9650 at least in some games. It is little funy when compare GPU clocks 607 vs 940mhz
 
@Brent

Image on Civ V page shows Nvidia 470 having 25X16 rather than 19x12
 
A 940MHz GTX470? How many volts does it need?
I also bought a GTX470 over the 6870 for the extra OC'ing headroom. It's running at 780MHz/2030MHz at the moment. The reference cooler is restricting it, I think.
 
Why would anybody buy an Nvidia card atm? you need two for more than two monitors. 500$ + vs 260$ for surround video? My single 5870 runs @6028x1200 max settings with most games (except metro 2033, and dirt 2) so far.
A 940MHz GTX470? How many volts does it need?
I also bought a GTX470 over the 6870 for the extra OC'ing headroom. It's running at 780MHz/2030MHz at the moment. The reference cooler is restricting it, I think.
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I've always had problems with Nvidia cards running hot, even more than enough airflow. I used to be an Nvidia fanboy btw :p
 
BIG$pender said:
Why would anybody buy an Nvidia card atm? you need two for more than two monitors. 500$ + vs 260$ for surround video? My single 5870 runs @6028x1200 max settings with most games (except metro 2033, and dirt 2) so far.

I've always had problems with Nvidia cards running hot, even more than enough airflow. I used to be an Nvidia fanboy btw :p
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Why would anybody not by an Nvidia card these days? You can't really go wrong with any purchase these days. Just figure out what your uses are, what's important and pick a card. Green or Black.
 
TheBlueChanell said:
Why would anybody not by an Nvidia card these days? You can't really go wrong with any purchase these days. Just figure out what your uses are, what's important and pick a card. Green or Black.
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Perhaps a fear that the manufacturer will fold? Aren't the latest cards by nV their last gasp?
 
LeninGHOLA said:
Um.

Anyway, seems like a decent card.
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I've a couple buds that bought 6870's over 470's. One went for the superior monitor support, while the other's decision alludes me.

roki977 said:
Costum cooled gtx 470 like TwinFrozr has almost 40% OC headroom.
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That's a very nice looking card too.

TheBlueChanell said:
Why would anybody not by an Nvidia card these days?
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An overclocked 1GB 460 goes toe to toe w/ an overclocked 6870 for almost $80 less. Unless you need specific ATI features, it's a great choice.
 
ritchan said:
Haha, you've probably been reading too much Charlie Demerjian.
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LOL, well put.
Hmm, why would I buy a 6870 over a 470? I wouldn't, but I'd buy a 6850 or a 6950, and not the 470.
Apart from being faster on average than the 470, the 6870 uses 150W not the 270W the 470 uses, it runs almost silently at 80C rather than blisteringly loud at 95C. I still firmly believe all the GTX400s will be toast after two years from those ridiculous temperatures.

Despite supporting AMD here, nvidia are not going broke, nowhere near it. Look at all the people that still buy the GTX470 despite its blatant inferiority. The nvidia brand image is more powerful than its products will ever be.
 
ICOM said:
Perhaps a fear that the manufacturer will fold? Aren't the latest cards by nV their last gasp?
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are you kidding? someone's been drinking the cool aid


samuelmorris said:
LOL, well put.
Hmm, why would I buy a 6870 over a 470? I wouldn't, but I'd buy a 6850 or a 6950, and not the 470.
Apart from being faster on average than the 470, the 6870 uses 150W not the 270W the 470 uses, it runs almost silently at 80C rather than blisteringly loud at 95C. I still firmly believe all the GTX400s will be toast after two years from those ridiculous temperatures.

Despite supporting AMD here, nvidia are not going broke, nowhere near it. Look at all the people that still buy the GTX470 despite its blatant inferiority. The nvidia brand image is more powerful than its products will ever be.
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lol, wut? i have a highly overclocked 460GTX 1Gb that will run close to those 470's and do it a lot cooler...80C? what is that? im seeing 30C idle and 50C loaded (MSI Twin Frozr)......honestly, i dont see why most people who buy a 470 dont get a high end 460, it's pretty much impossible to beat in it's current price category
 
BIG$pender said:
Why would anybody buy an Nvidia card atm? you need two for more than two monitors.
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The vast majority of people have 1 monitor, and an even more vast majority has less than 3. As cool as the whole eyefinity thing is, I would have to blow my entire yearly computer hardware budget on the monitors (after which I couldn't buy the video card for them..), and wouldn't have room for them anyway. Plus theres the bezels, extra power consumption, and I'd have to position my BX5as in stupid way.

Eyefinity on the AMD side and PhysX/GPGPU on the Nvidia side are both irrelevant to me, so I bought my card based on gaming performance and price. There wasn't much to choose between the two camps really, it really came down to what I could find the best deal on.
 
Waiting to see how the 560 pans out myself.

I expect to see some stiff competition.
 
Hi.

page 5, paragraph 4, "testing sweet " should be "testing suite"?

Keep up the great reviews! I like the apples to apples right on the same page.
 
How the FUCK do you people turn the discussion for a video card's review into a Green vs. Green discussion?

I wanted to voice my opinion about this review. I appreciate it, but I think it would have been much more informative had you guys reviewed the 6850 BE. It has a non-reference vapor-chamber cooler, and has higher overclocks relative to reference speeds.

Not only that, the 6870 you guys reviewed had a reference cooler, and you didn't even bother calling up the customer support for the exclusive BE club to see how well they respond to user troubles compared to the regular customer support. The readers only gained a fraction of what they could have gained had you reviewed the 6850 BE, or called the VIP customer support.

Thanks anyway though.
 
I see you chose to use the 10.10e drivers, mentioning they are the latest for the 68xx series. I thought the official 10.12 (not the 10.12a) were the most recent drivers released for the 68xx series. I'[m using the 10.10e's myself, but was surprised to hear those are still the best 68xx drivers :(
 
Wow, good review. This "black edition" kind of disappoints me though in that I would have definately expected to see upgraded cooling on anything that commands a price premium or the "black edition" label. If I was in the market for a $259 video card, I think spending some more for a $300 6950 would have been a much better bargain considering that you pick up a significant performance boost, and an extra gig of VRAM. On top of that, you have increased potential in case you decided to go CFX in the future as dual 6950's would blow the pants off of a 1 gig dual 6870 setup.
 
Informative review! Being on the [H]ard review team one would think you would have access to a newer test rig? Kyle when your done testing the new i7's send this guy a upgrade!
 
You mean like waiting months for a fix with bc2's issues with Fermi? No worries, I fixed it by upgrading my entire platform. :(
 
Gpu usage hovers around 50~70% using Fermi with most cpus aside from the i5/7 quads. I personally dealt with this running a Q9550 and a 460/470. Popped in a 760 and now I get 95~99% usage.
 
As long as you avoid onboard Realtek sound, then BFBC2 should work great. Just got a Galaxy GTX 470 last week and have been loving it. Got sick of waiting for ATI card prices to get to at least MSRP levels ... I HATE PRICE GOUGING! Yeah I'm looking at all retailers carrying the HD 6850! MSRP of $179 PPLLLEEEAAASSSEEE!!!!
 
Why isnt he 5870 mentioned in this review ? Isnt the 5870 faster then this card and now available for a lower/similar pricepoint in stores?
 
Michaelius said:
Maybe they like drivers that actually work without instaling 3rd hotfix for catalyst 11.6.5e driver?
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This I will agree with. I currently run a 6970 in eyefinity and have issues daily because of crap software on CCC's end. My friend who also just got the 6970 and is running it in eyefinity is having issues with CCC. I have never used Nvidia so I am unsure of there drivers.

Friends issue:

http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1574842
 
What was the point of this review exactly? It could have been summed up as:

"hey kids, look! an overclocked HD6870! you'd save some $$ if you just did that yourself at home.."
 
theone1989 said:
What was the point of this review exactly? It could have been summed up as:

"hey kids, look! an overclocked HD6870! you'd save some $$ if you just did that yourself at home.."
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I agree. They didn't explore all the possibilities that this GPU offers either.

Another criticism of this review that I forgot, is that you neglected to test applying new thermal paste to the GPU to test for temperatures. XFX allows you to remove the heatsink and still have the warranty, and it is completely within the realm of possibility for an enthusiast spending $230 on a GPU to reapply the thermal paste. That should have been done too, besides calling VIP customer support.
 
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