ATI Radeon HD 5870 Overclocked Round-up
Gigabyte Radeon HD 5870 Super Overclock
The first HD 5870 is from Taiwan based hardware manufacturer, Gigabyte Technology. Well known for their motherboards, Gigabyte has expanded their product line up to include cases, coolers, power supplies, notebooks, and peripherals as well as graphics cards. During the past couple of years, we have seen a steady stream of reference and overclocked versions of videocards from both ATI and NVIDIA featuring Gigabyte logos. And here we get our hands on the latest release from the Super Overclock line.
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Gigabyte HD 5870 Super Overclock Graphics Card
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| Model GV-R587SO-1GD Core Clock 950 MHz Memory Clock / Size 1250 MHz / 1 GB Ports Two DVI One HDMI One DisplayPort |
Accessories OC Guru Overclocking Utility User Manual Crossfire Bridge DVI to VGA Adapter Two Molex to 6-pin PCIe Power Adapters Warranty 3 years based on serial number Price $500 |
Gigabyte offers three different models based on the HD 5870, the fastest being the Super Overclock model. This card holds the title of being the fastest HD 5870 in production. It achieves this milestone by raising GPU core clock frequency to a blazing 950 MHz, with memory at 1250 MHz. With respect to GPU speed, the Super Overclock is 50 MHz faster than the other two cards in this round up. We fully expect it to take the pole position in the benchmarks for this reason alone.
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The Super Overclock HD 5870 features a dual slot cooler with two fans angled away from one another. Gigabyte claims this design aids in heat dissipation and provides a quieter environment. In addition, four copper heat pipes carry heat from the center of the heatsink to other areas. Like the reference design, this card requires two 6-pin PCI Express connections from the power supply.
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We are pleased to find an overclocking utility with the Gigabyte card. Called OC Guru, the software program provides three profiles for quick configuration: Gaming, Standard, and Power Saving Mode. In addition, you are allowed to modify core clock, memory clock, GPU voltage, memory voltage, and fan speeds independently, along with the ability to save up to two profiles. OC Guru also displays GPU temperature and allows for OSD adjustments.
