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Review: XFX Radeon HD 6870 1GB DD XXX

by Tarinder Sandhu on 3 November 2011, 08:54 4.0

Tags: XFX (HKG:1079)

Quick Link: HEXUS.net/qa7v4

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How we test

GPU comparisons

Graphics card Approx.
pricing
GPU clock
(MHz)
Stream
processors
Shader clock
(MHz)
Memory clock
(MHz)
Memory bus
(bits)
Graphics driver
Sapphire Radeon HD 6990 (4,096MB) £530 830 3,072 830 5,000 256 x 2 Catalyst 11.7
2x HIS Radeon HD 6970 in CrossFire (4,096MB) £520 880 3,072 880 5,500 256 x 2 Catalyst 11.4
2x Sapphire Radeon HD 6950 in CrossFire (4,096MB) £400 800 2,816 800 5,000 256 x 2 Catalyst 11.4
2x Sapphire Radeon HD 6870 in CrossFire (2,048MB) £280 900 2,240 900 4,200 256 x 2 Catalyst 11.4
PowerColor HD 6870 X2 (2,048MB) £315 900 2,240 900 4,200 256 x 2 Catalyst 11.6
HIS Radeon HD 6970 (2,048MB) £260 880 1,536 880 5,500 256 Catalyst 11.4
Sapphire Radeon HD 6950 TOXIC (2,048MB) £235 880 1,408 880 5,200 256 Catalyst 11.8
XFX Radeon HD 6950 DD (2,048MB) £230 830 1,408 830 5,200 256 Catalyst 11.8
Sapphire Radeon HD 6950 (2,048MB) £200 800 1,408 800 5,000 256 Catalyst 11.4
XFX Radeon HD 6870 DD (1,024MB) £150 925 1,120 925 4,200 256 Catalyst 11.4
Sapphire Radeon HD 6870 (1,024MB) £140 900 1,120 900 4,200 256 Catalyst 11.4
ASUS ROG MARS II (3,072MB) £1,149 782 1,024 1,564 4,008 384 x 2 ForceWare 280.26
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 590 (3,072MB) £600 607 1,024 1,214 3,414 384 x 2 ForceWare 280.26
2x ASUS GeForce GTX 580 in SLI (3,072MB) £700 772 1,024 1,544 4,008 384 x 2 ForceWare 266.58
2x ASUS GeForce GTX 570 in SLI (2,560MB) £500 732 960 1,464 3,600 320 x 2 ForceWare 266.58
ASUS GeForce GTX 580 (1,536MB) £350 772 512 1,544 4,008 384 ForceWare 266.58
ASUS GeForce GTX 570 (1,280MB) £250 732 480 1,464 3,800 320 ForceWare 275.33
Point of View GeForce GTX 560 Ti (1,024MB) £160 822 384 1,645 4,008 256 ForceWare 270.61

Test bench

CPU Intel Core i7 980X (3.33GHz, 12MB L3 cache, six-core, LGA1366)
Motherboard ASUS P6X58D-E (0502 BIOS)
Memory 6GB Corsair Dominator (9-9-9-24-2T @ 1,600MHz)
Power Supply Corsair HX1000W
Monitor Dell 30in 3007WFP
Disk drive(s) Crucial RealSSD C300 (256GB)
Chassis Corsair Obsidian Series 700D
Operating system Windows 7, SP1, 64-bit

Benchmarks

3DMark 11 Extreme preset, overall score and combined test results recorded.
Aliens vs. Predator DX11, 1,920x1,080 resolution, 4xAA, 16xAF, very high quality.
Call of Duty: Black Ops DX9, 1,920x1,080 resolution, 8xAA, ultra quality, FRAPS-recorded benchmark.
F1 2010 DX11, 1,920x1,080 resolution, 8xAA, ultra quality, Monaco circuit.
Just Cause 2 DX10, 1,920x1,080 resolution, 4xAA, 16xAF, very high quality, Dark Tower benchmark.
Metro 2033 DX11, 1,920x1,080 resolution, 4xAA, 16xAF, very high quality.
StarCraft II DX9, 1,920x1,080 resolution, 4xAA, ultra quality.
Power consumption To emulate real-world usage scenarios, we record mains power draw both when idle and whilst playing Just Cause 2.
Temperature To emulate real-world usage scenarios, we record GPU core temperature both when idle and whilst playing Just Cause 2.
Noise A PCE-318 noise level meter is placed at front of a Corsair 700D chassis with side panel on.

Notes

We're including 1080p numbers from our range of games. They'll be updated soon enough to take advantage of newer titles such as Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, Battlefield 3 and Batman: Arkham City, and this may well be the last time you see these benchmarks on a mid-range card.