AMD Radeon HD 6870 & 6850 Graphics Cards Debut
XFX, Asus Radeon HD 6870 and 6850
A number of AMD’s board partners were at the ready with Radeon HD 6800 series products in time for this launch, so we gobbled up as many retail-ready products as we could to compliment the AMD reference cards we had for testing. For the purpose of this launch article, we acquired cards from Asus, Sapphire, HIS, and XFX.;)
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Asus EAH6870
First up, we have the Asus EAH6870. As its name suggests, this is Asus’ Radeon HD 6870 offering, and like the other 6870 cards featured here, it mostly adheres to AMD’s reference design. Asus differentiates the EAH6870 by offering voltage adjustments that should allow for higher peak overclocks, but due to time constraints we weren’t able to test this feature. Of course, Asus also affixes a custom decal to the fan shroud, which clearly designates this card comes from Asus. In addition, there is an aluminum front cover to the shroud, which aids in heat dissipation.
Asus bundles their 6870 with a driver / digital user’s manual CD, a CrossFire bridge connector, a single power adapter, and a VGA-to-DVI adapter. No games or other goodies were to be found and the output configuration and frame buffer are identical to the reference models. As for the clocks, the card has a 915MHz GPU and 1GB of memory operating at 1.05GHz.
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XFX Radeon HD 6870
Next up we have the XFX Radeon HD 6870. Like Asus’ card, XFX's 6870 is virtually identical to the reference design. The XFX Radeon HD 6870 is set apart by its elaborate fan shroud decal and by a custom case bracket. Whereas the other 6870 cards featured here have basic lined vents cut into the bracket for exhausting hot air from a system, XFX’s offering sports a vent with the letters ‘XFX’ cut in. Looks pretty cool if you ask us.
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XFX Radeon HD 6850
XFX’s Radeon HD 6850, pictured above, is a complete departure from AMD’s reference design. The XFX Radeon HD 6850 sports a custom cooler and is built upon a PCB that slightly shorter than the reference design. In terms of its features and specifications, however, the XFX Radeon HD 6850 adheres to AMD’s specs, which is to say its GPU is clocked at 775MHz and its 1GB of GDDR5 memory is clocked at 1GHz. Like its higher-end counterpart, the XFX Radeon HD 6850 features a custom case bracket with ‘XFX’ vents, but this card had red DVI outputs and a funky shroud with vents all around.
XFX bundles their Radeon HD 6800 series cards with a quick install guide, warranty information, driver install guide, an XFX PSU brochure, a CrossFire bridge connector, and a cool “XFX Play Hard: Do Not Disturb—I’m Gaming!” placard.
