discussion Sapphire Radeon HD 6970 2GB Dual Fan Review

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Taking Image Quality to the Next Level

Taking Image Quality to the Next Level

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 settings to the highest possible level. All other methodologies remain the same.

Crysis 2

Dirt 3

Metro 2033

Shogun 2: Total War

The Witcher 2

 

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Temperature & Acoustics / Power Consumption

Temperature Analysis

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 its 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.

The Dual Fan heatsink on Sappire’s card allows it to reach some very impressive temperature levels, even the core is overclocked and voltages are increased. Naturally, the higher clock speeds result in elevated temperatures but they are still nowhere near those posted by the reference card.

Acoustical Testing

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.

In addition to a cool-running core, the amount of noise Sapphire’s Dual Fan puts out is minimal, so much so that when not overclocked it is one of the quietest cards we have tested to date.

When clock speeds are pushed and the custom voltage profile is enabled, the Dual Fan still remains well behaved though there is a significant –yet not overly noticeable- jump in fan speeds. To be honest with you, this is currently one of the best options out there if you are looking for a quiet, high performance graphics card with plenty of overclocking headroom.

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.

This is where things start to go astray. At stock speeds, the low core temperatures and upgraded components increase the Dual Fan’s efficiency when compared to a reference product. That’s the good news. The bad news is that higher voltage, increased clock speeds and the associated jump in temperatures result in a massive power consumption jump.

Granted, if you are looking for the best possible in-game performance efficiency is usually a secondary concern but its best to be aware that pushing a HD 6970 will result in GTX 580-beating power consumption.

 

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Conclusion

Conclusion

When taken at face value Sapphire’s Dual Fan edition is just another reference clocked HD 6970 with a fancy looking cooler that was released very late in the Cayman’s marketable life. And yet, after testing we believe this is one of the best options around for anyone looking at new graphics card, regardless of the long shadow cast by the HD 7970.

The reasoning behind our affection for this card stems from its impressive mix of high performance, an amazing cooling system and a good amount of overclocking headroom. Normally, we wouldn’t be as vocal about a card whose features can be distilled down to nothing more than a souped up reference design but Sapphire has priced the Dual Fan in line with other manufacturer’s basic models. That means you can find it for $350 or less depending on where you look and once paired up with the numerous rebates being offered on Cayman-based cards, Sapphire’s version is priced to move.

The clock speeds being offered here will likely come as a disappointment for many but what defines the Dual Fan from the competition is its heatsink design. While the excellent vapor chamber technology pioneered by Sapphire hasn’t been included, It allows this HD 6970 to post some of the best cooling and acoustical results we’ve seen while still offering enough overhead for some eye opening feats of overclocking. Even when clock speeds are pushed, this heatsink is still able to maintain relatively quiet and well mannered.

At this point quite a few board partners are making an attempt to clear out some remaining stock of Cayman cores before they get replaced by a more efficient 28nm part in the next few months. But seriously, who really cares about assumptions and possibilities? We care about in game framerates and the HD 6970 still offers a ton of performance in today’s hottest titles whole coming in at a highly affordable price. With a BIOS that promotes overclocking and a well designed cooling solution, Sapphire has allowed their Dual Fan edition to stand out from the competition and give the HD 6970 a bit more relevance in a quickly changing market. We really couldn’t have asked for more than that.