discussion HD 6870 Roundup: Diamond, PowerColor, MSI, Sapphire & XFX

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DiRT 2 (DX11)

DiRT 2 (DX11)

Being one of the newest games on the market, DiRT 2 cuts an imposing figure in terms of image quality and effects fidelity. We find that to benchmark this game the in-game tool is by far the best option. However, due to small variances from one race to another, three benchmark runs are done instead of the normal two. It should also be mentioned that the demo version of the game was NOT used since after careful testing, the performance of the demo is not representative of the final product. DX11 was forced through the game’s config file. In addition, you will see that these scores do not line up with our older benchmarks at all. This is due to the fact that a patch was recently rolled out for the game which included performance optimizations in addition to new graphics options.

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F1 2010 (DX11)

F1 2010 (DX11)

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Just Cause 2 (DX10)

Just Cause 2 (DX10)

Just Cause 2 has quickly become known as one of the best-looking games on the market and while it doesn’t include DX11 support, it uses the full stable of DX10 features to deliver a truly awe-inspiring visual experience. For this benchmark we used the car chase scene directly following the Casino Assault level. This scene includes perfectly scripted events, some of the most GPU-strenuous effects and lasts a little less than four minutes. We chose to not use the in-game benchmarking tool due to its inaccuracy when it comes to depicting actual gameplay performance.


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Lost Planet 2 (DX11)

Lost Planet 2 (DX11)

Lost Planet is a game that was originally released on consoles but in its port over to the PC, it gained some highly impressive DX11 features. For this benchmark, we forgo the two built-in tools and instead use a 2 minute gameplay sequence from the second level in the first chapter. The reason we use this level is because it makes use of three elements that are seen throughout the game world: jungles, water and open terrain.


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Metro 2033 (DX11)

Metro 2033 (DX11)

There has been a lot of buzz about Metro 2033 which has mostly centered on its amazing graphics coupled with absolutely brutal framerates on even the best GPUs on the market. For this test we use a walkthrough and combat scene from The Bridge level which starts at the beginning of the level and lasts for about 3 minutes of walking, running and combat. Famerates are measured with FRAPS and Advanced PhysX is turned off.


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Unigine: Heaven v2.0 (DX11)

Unigine: Heaven v2.0 (DX11)

Unigine’s Heaven benchmark is currently the de-facto standard when it comes to simple, straightforward DX11 performance estimates. While it is considered a synthetic benchmark by many, it is important to remember that no less than four games based on this engine will be released within the next year or so. In this test we will be using a standard benchmark run with and without tessellation enabled at three resolutions,


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8xMSAA Testing

8xMSAA Testing

In this section we take a number of games we have tested previously in this review and bring things to the next level by pushing the in-game MSAA up to 8x. All other methodologies remain the same.

BattleField: Bad Company 2 (DX11)
Note that 8x MSAA is enabled via the game’s config file for the NVIDIA cards since it is not a selectable option within the game menu

Dirt 2 (DX11)

F1 2010 (DX11)

Just Cause 2 (DX10)

 

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Temperatures & Acoustical Testing / Power Consumption

Core Temperatures

For all temperature testing, the cards were placed on an open test bench with a single 120mm 1200RPM fan placed ~8” away from the heatsink. The ambient temperature was kept at a constant 22°C (+/- 0.5°C). If the ambient temperatures rose above 23°C at any time throughout the test, all benchmarking was stopped. For this test we use the 3DMark Batch Size test at it highest triangle count with 4xAA and 16xAF enabled and looped it for one hour to determine the peak load temperature as measured by GPU-Z.

For Idle tests, we let the system idle at the Windows 7 desktop for 15 minutes and recorded the peak temperature.

Core temperatures on all of these cards are all very good with even the reference-based Diamond XOC getting in on the action with lower than stock results. Even though the XFX Black Edition displayed 70 degree temperatures, this only tells half of the story as we will see below. Finally, the MSI, Sapphire and PowerColor cards show amazingly low temperatures which befits their respective heatsink designs.

Acoustical Testing

Yes, we have finally added decibel testing to our repertoire and this section will expand in future reviews. What you see below are the baseline idle dB(A) results attained for a relatively quiet open-case system (specs are in the Methodology section) sans GPU along with the attained results for each individual card in idle and load scenarios. The meter we use has been calibrated and is placed at seated ear-level exactly 12” away from the GPU’s fan. For the load scenarios, a loop of Unigine Heave 2.5 is used in order to generate a constant load on the GPU(s) over the course of 20 minutes. For Idle results, the average was taken over the course of 5 minutes.

The Average results you see are based on a log taken once every 30 seconds throughout the Load and Idle tests.

Low temperatures one thing but if they are achieved by sacrificing acoustics, they won’t mean much. Unfortunately, the PowerColor card falls into this trap since it makes far too much noise to achieve a cooler GPU core. The MSI and Sapphire cards on the other hand feature an excellent balance of acoustics and temperatures with the MSI Hawk coming out the clear winner.

The XFX Black Edition seems to sacrifice temperatures for an almost abnormally low noise profile while PowerColor’s card is slightly louder than the reference version but does sport reduced heat.

System Power Consumption

For this test we hooked up our power supply to a UPM power meter that will log the power consumption of the whole system twice every second. In order to stress the GPU as much as possible we once again use the Batch Render test in 3DMark06 and let it run for 30 minutes to determine the peak power consumption while letting the card sit at a stable Windows desktop for 30 minutes to determine the peak idle power consumption. We have also included several other tests as well.

Please note that after extensive testing, we have found that simply plugging in a power meter to a wall outlet or UPS will NOT give you accurate power consumption numbers due to slight changes in the input voltage. Thus we use a Tripp-Lite 1800W line conditioner between the 120V outlet and the power meter.

All in all, these results are what we would have expected. However, the PowerColor card did for some reason display higher power consumption than some other, higher clocked versions. On the flip side of the coin, we see the MSI card’s higher end components come into play by allowing for reduced power consumption over the reference design.

 

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Overclocking Results

Overclocking Results

Overclocking these cards was sometimes a frustrating process since most of their warranties do not cover voltage increases. This meant we left the core voltage of the Diamond, PowerColor and yes, even XFX's Black Edition cards at reference values. Meanwhile, MSI and Sapphire both ship with software which allows users to up the core voltage (AfterBurner and Trixx) while MSI takes things a step further by allowing for memory voltage increases as well. Both pieces of software are covered by their respective manufacturer's warranties but we didn't increase the core voltage above 1.31V.


Diamond HD 6870 XOC

Core Clock: 977Mhz
Memory Clock: 4636Mhz (QDR)


MSI HD 6870 Hawk

Core Clock: 1022Mhz
Memory Clock: 4844Mhz (QDR)


PowerColor HD 6870 PCS+

Core Clock: 962Mhz
Memory Clock: 4620Mhz (QDR)


Sapphire HD 6870 Toxic

Core Clock: 1001Mhz
Memory Clock: 4688Mhz (QDR)


XFX HD 6870 Black Edition

Core Clock: 998Mhz
Memory Clock: 4756Mhz (QDR)

 

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Conclusions

Conclusions

When the HD 6870 was first released, we thought it was a good product which was held back by a $240 price. Since then the reference clocked version has become a decent sub-$199 performer and can be found for a downright great price once rebates are factored into the equation. Unfortunately in a market that’s rife with $220 GTX 560 Ti and HD 6950 1GB cards, pre-overclocked HD 6870s are in for a tough fight. Nonetheless, some of the products in this roundup still hold their own regardless of the fact that most of them won’t offer a significant gaming improvement over the reference clocked card.


Diamond HD 6870 XOC

Diamond is the only manufacturer in this roundup that decided to use the reference design for their overclocked HD 6870 but this acted as a doubled edged sword. On one hand, we know the components used are of good quality but temperatures are on the high side and its acoustic profile isn’t all that great.

The real issues with this particular card follow two main paths though: a price which puts it up against faster, better cooled competitors and very limited availability. A 2-year warranty also puts it near the rear of the pack. So while the XOC is seems like a good choice at first glance, there are other HD 6870 cards that provide much better value.



MSI HD 6870 Hawk

If we had to pick an overall winner in this roundup it would be the Hawk. It may not come with high clock speeds –truth be told they’re within spitting distance of reference spec- but this card is near silent, will overclock to some incredible speeds, boasts a laundry list of features, includes every possible adaptor and can easily be found for less than $199.

While we can rave all day about MSI’s Afterburner software with its ability to increase multiple voltages or the Hawk’s 3 year warranty, the real star of this show is the Twin Frozr III heatsink. MSI has designed this thing to offer an extremely quiet gaming experience without sacrificing temperatures. To us, this is a noteworthy achievement and as such the Hawk receives our Dam Innovative Award alongside the Dam Good Award.

PowerColor HD 6870 PCS+

We had some high expectations for the PowerColor PCS+ since it sports one of the lowest prices in this roundup and its large fan gave all the indications of a low noise, high performance cooling solution. Unfortunately, this wasn’t meant to be. For some reason PowerColor saddled the fan with an aggressive speed profile which resulted in an acoustical footprint that was far too high at both idle and load. We would have much rather seen a few degrees added to the temperatures if it meant lowering the decibel levels to under 50.

Other than the questionable amount of noise the PCS+ produces, it is actually a very good choice for budget friendly gaming. Its clock speeds allow for a reasonable performance increase and there is still some gas left in the tank for overclocking if the need arises.



Sapphire HD 6870 Toxic

Sapphire ended up being a bit of a dark horse in the roundup since previous Toxic cards didn’t really push things as far as we had hoped. The HD 6870 version on the other hand has all the hallmarks of an excellent graphics card which boasts high enough clocks to make a somewhat noticeable difference over the reference version. Other than the XFX Black Edition, the Toxic is the only card in this roundup with the necessary core and memory speeds to actually “feel” faster in games.

Like other Vapor-X equipped Sapphire products, this particular HD 6870 displays extremely good temperatures and is noticeably quieter than the reference version. When compared to cards in the same pre-rebate price range, the Toxic doesn’t fare all that well but it is currently going for $220 after rebates. To us, that makes it a reasonable value for the time being. Once the rebates expire though, a HD 6950 1GB or GTX 560 Ti will provide better bang for your buck.



XFX HD 6870 Black Edition

There is something about XFX’s Black Edition which makes it easy to like. It’s clock speeds are just a step back from those of the Sapphire card and as such, many of the Toxic’s in-game performance benefits are seen here as well. But what really sets this product apart from the competition is its double lifetime warranty and ultra low noise envelope.

Where the PowerColor’s fan attacks heat with wild abandon, the Black Edition’s dual fan setup takes a much more leisurely approach. It registers near-silent decibel levels at both idle and load but temperatures did tend to creep up into the lower 70s which may be high in comparison to other custom cooled HD 6870 cards but is still lower than the reference version.

A combination of high clock speeds, low noise and a Double Lifetime warranty doesn’t come cheap though. So while this may be a Dam Good card, it isn’t necessarily a great value until mail in rebates are taken into account.

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