Roundup: Four Radeon HD 6850 1 GB Cards Compared

[Crashman]

Improvements to performance, acoustics, and bundles can add big value once a reference graphics card is modified by third-party vendors. We compare four modified Radeon HD 6850 1 GB boards to find out which company's additions best suit your gaming needs.

Roundup: Four Radeon HD 6850 1 GB Cards Compared : Read more

 

[Guest]

It would be nice to see overclocking results. I know the whole "results will vary" malarkey but still, it would be interesting to see things like the benefit (if any) to having two pci-e power connectors on the Sapphire card or how high you could take the ASUS card using the software that came with it. Oh, and also, can you use Afterburner with the Powercolor and Sapphire cards?

 

[Scanlia]

[citation][nom]Oh, and also, can you use Afterburner with the Powercolor and Sapphire cards?[/citation]

I use afterburner with a Gigabyte Card, (Flashed to ASUS). Works fine.

 

[Crashman]

[citation][nom]BillehBawb[/nom]Oh, and also, can you use Afterburner with the Powercolor and Sapphire cards?[/citation]Yes

 

[tomskent]

last line of the article...
"Now, here did I put that Christmas list?"
here = where

 

[scrumworks]

Why are you using catalyst 10.6 (drivers from june) instead of latest, quite long already available 10.11 or 10.10-beta with HD6800 support?

 

[sudeshc]

love this card looking to buy it for my new build and would go for ASUS as i already own the game.

 

[karma831]

No OCing?

 

[iam2thecrowe]

so, wheres the comparison between these cards and rival cards from nvidia??? using recent drivers?? and OC???!this doesnt really tell us anything except the performance is so close you may as well get the cheapest of the lot.

 

[Guest]

ATI driver support is a complete debacle. That's why this article uses stone age drivers (10.6)

 

[Crashman]

[citation][nom]karma831[/nom]No OCing?[/citation][citation][nom]iam2thecrowe[/nom]so, wheres the comparison between these cards and rival cards from nvidia??? using recent drivers?? and OC???!this doesnt really tell us anything except the performance is so close you may as well get the cheapest of the lot.[/citation]Er dude...
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-hd-6870-radeon-hd-6850-barts,2776.html
The previous article, which answered all your questions a month ago, was linked numerous times in this article.

 

[painis]

So, it seems it can run Crysis!

 

[compton]

I always appreciate more information, but shouldn't an exploration of the top options in the $200 range be more appropriate given it's the Christmas hardware giving season? The 6850 is a great card, but a more focused value study across many makes and models might be more useful. All the same, I'll take what I can get. I'd just like to point out that the new Radeons are getting more expensive while nVidia's 460s are getting much cheaper.

Just my two cents, but that would seem like a much more interesting article. We already know the 6850 is mostly quiet and pretty efficient, but GTX470s are going for only a few dollars more in some cases. Bring the throwdown.

 

[K2N hater]

Excellent conclusion, Thomas. Explores different uses.

 

[fubitz]

You can use Sapphire Trixx to overclock and unlock the voltage for the new Radeon 6800 series cards if Afterburner doesn't work.

 

[-Fran-]

I would have loved to see the Sapphires being OC'd and then XFire'd. Will there be any love for that? 8)

Great article also, thanks Mr. Thomas!

Cheers!

 

[bildo123]

[citation][nom]tomskent[/nom]last line of the article..."Now, here did I put that Christmas list?"here = where[/citation]

Thanks, I don't think I could have ever figured that one out...

 

[tom thumb]

Those dirt2 benches kinda make me regret getting the 6870. Oh well...

What I like about the 6800s is that AA does not detract that much from framerate.

 

[thechief73]

A nice review and round-up of the 6850, Thanks Tom. I have to say I was am still am very interested in the 6850-70 model GPU's and I am glad to see some comparisons of the 6850's. Although right now these cards exceed my spending limit, I am glad to say I picked up a 5830 for $130 after MIR(pricing mistake?), I think thats a good trade off of price/performance for now.

 

[luke904]

this article was pointless

overclocked cards perform better and use more power.. we all know this

 

[iam2thecrowe]

[citation][nom]Crashman[/nom]Er dude...http://www.tomshardware.com/review [...] ,2776.htmlThe previous article, which answered all your questions a month ago, was linked numerous times in this article.[/citation]
dooode....that is not OC of the new cards with new coolers. Also performance may be different with new drivers. Dont link me to old articles that I have read and have little to do with what i am asking!

 

[f-14]

anybody else look at the ads on the side of this article and see a gtx480 advertised at $80.86? i clicked on it to buy and it comes up with some msi am2 board

 

[tpi2007]

Thomas (Crashman), one question:

1. Why didn't Gigabyte send one of their HD6850 Windforce cards (they have a regular and a mildly overclocked one) ?

It's an interesting question because there is a forum thread over at AMD Game (which I started) and several users are having problems with games (hard crashes!), mainly with Gigabyte cards plus Win 7 64 - bit and Gigabyte Motherboards - which incidentally you use as the test platform (there are one or two exceptions in that forum though - one person has a Sapphire card+Gigabyte MB, and another has a Gigabyte Radeon + Abit MB, but all others have Gigabyte MB's and Gigabyte HD6850's + Win 7 64-bit - some tested it with Win XP and there is no problem, so it could be a driver problem related to specific hardware configurations, but nobody knows for sure).

 

[Crashman]

[citation][nom]luke904[/nom]overclocked cards perform better and use more power.. we all know this[/citation]And now you know how much.[citation][nom]tpi2007[/nom]Thomas (Crashman), one question:1. Why didn't Gigabyte send one of their HD6850 Windforce cards.[/citation]Only Gigabyte knows the answer to that, the delivery deadline was only a couple weeks before the article was published...

 

[gmarsack]

Love my 6850! 3 screens, 1 game!