| VisionTek 900338 Radeon HD 6870 Video Card |
| Reviews - Featured Reviews: Video Cards | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Written by Olin Coles | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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VisionTek Radeon HD 6870 Video Card ReviewFeaturing a reconfigured Cypress GPU, the Barts architecture delivers AMD's HD3D technology with better performance and price.Sometimes a product is so good, there's no reason to change a solid working design. VisionTek accepts this practice, and offers consumers the most affordable video cards sold on the market. In this article Benchmark Reviews tests the VisionTek Radeon HD 6870 video card, a $240 DirectX-11 graphics solution that performs better than the more expensive Radeon HD 5850. The most notable new feature is Bart's 3rd-generation Unified Video Decoder with added support for DisplayPort 1.2. AMD's UVD3 accelerates multimedia playback and transcoding, while introducing AMD HD3D stereoscopic technology with multi-view CODEC (MVC) support for playing 3D Blu-ray over HDMI 1.4a. Graphical frame rate performance is tested using the most demanding PC video game titles and benchmark software available. DirectX-10 favorites such as Crysis Warhead and PCMark Vantage are all included, in addition to DX11 titles such as Aliens vs Predator, Battlefield: Bad Company 2, BattleForge, Lost Planet 2, Mafia II, Metro 2033, and the Unigine Heaven 2.1 benchmark. Built to deliver improved performance to the value-hungry mainstream gaming market, the VisionTek 900338 Radeon HD 6870 video card delivers top-end performance at a value-added price point.
According to information presented at the AMD Editor's Day event in Los Angeles on October 14th, approximately 33% of all AMD graphics solutions are sold for the desktop platform, with over 25-million Radeon DirectX-11 compatible products shipped to date. In many ways this data reinforces my position in the recent Desktop Platform article series, but it could also mean that manufacturers are listening ever more intently to the changing needs of their remaining consumer base. This doesn't always leave room for innovation, but AMD manages to introduce emerging technologies nevertheless. For those who have been patiently waiting for news on ATI Stream technology, it's been re-tasked as AMD Accelerated Parallel Processing, or APP technology. AMD Eye-Definition represents their commitment to PC gamers, PC game developers, and the PC gaming industry. Through Eye-Definition AMD delivers their "Gamers Manifesto", which they assert will enable the best experience possible regardless of hardware manufacturer. Visitors have proven they're impatient and want everything up front and in small doses. Keeping in that spirit, I'll reveal that VisionTek's Radeon HD 6870 video card offers improved PC gaming performance while also including innovative new technologies at an affordable price point. This has become the repetitive central thesis with each new graphics card launch, running opposite the excitement manufacturers often build up. Marketing departments do their best to tout these fresh changes, all the while knowing that the more things change the more they remain the same. And so it begins once again: consumers are given more for less, and the VisionTek Radeon HD 6870 affords them this opportunity. Thankfully, it's the glory of these details that makes a new product launch much more interesting. Benchmark Reviews has previously gone to great lengths to provide comprehensive details within each of the video card project we've published, however these overly verbose articles are going to be modified the modern online audience. In each review, we test a large selection of comparison products and provide more than twenty pages of introspective details. We enjoy doing it, mostly, and feel that our more experienced readers deserve the added illustration to fully explore newly revealed technology. Beginning with this project, the topic is delivered in three separate portions: this video card review, a separate editorial piece on AMD HD3D stereocopic technology, along with AMD's own whitepaper documents on their new display and video technologies (Adobe PDF). Now everyone should be happy, and the world can be a better place.
Manufacturer: VisionTek Full Disclosure: The product sample used in this article has been provided by VisionTek. VisionTek 6870 Closer LookThe VisionTek 900338 Radeon HD 6870 video card is very similar to the reference design by AMD. In fact, it could be argued that VisionTek's design is even more basic and subdued than the original reference. This translates into a more-affordable sales price, but at the expense of a rather dull looking product.
AMD's Radeon HD 6800-series video cards already look very similar to the previous generation of 5800-series products. In fact, the only discernable difference appears on the connection header panel, which can add an additional DisplayPort monitor output (if the vendor implements this feature), and the closed rear section. VisionTek implements dual mini-DisplayPort 1.2 outputs on their 6870, unlike the Sapphire version we recently tested which used a single DP connection. While there are still two digital DVI ports available on the VisionTek Radeon HD 6870, only one of them is dual-link to support AMD HD3D while the other is reduced to single-link. AMD's HD3D technology currently supports only one 3D display, with plans for multi-monitor 3D available in the future.
Identical to the reference design, VisionTek's Radeon HD 6870 measures 9.75" inches long, by 1.25" tall and 3.75" wide. This is slightly longer than the Radeon HD 5850 model, which also occupied two expansion bay slots, but 1.25" shorter than the Radeon HD 5870. For reference, the Radeon HD 6850 measures 9.0" inches long, by 1.25" tall and 3.75" wide.
One particular item I've been hoping for and have failed to discover on the 6000-series is a focused blower fan orientation. This design angles the blower fan slightly downward to improve the forward force of air and creates a small separation between adjacent video cards. CrossFire configurations could benefit by such a design, as the competition has done to tame their much warmer products for several generations now.
The VisionTek Radeon HD 6870 requires two 6-pin PCI-Express power connections for normal operation. AMD suggests that the TDP power demands are less than 151 watts for the Barts GPU, but we confirm this with our own power testing (discussed later in this article).
As a result of using AMD's reference design, the VisionTek Radeon HD 6870 lack intake vents at the end of the video card behind the blower fan. Some readers might recall the 'Bat mobile' appearance of the last generation, which has been replaced with a less-exciting look. Additionally, there's a small outlet (shown above) which allows a small portion of the heated exhaust to be expelled back inside the computer case. Radeon Features
AMD Barts GPU Details
6850/6870 Specifications
VGA Testing MethodologyThe Microsoft DirectX-11 graphics API is native to the Microsoft Windows 7 Operating System, and will be the primary O/S for our test platform. DX11 is also available as a Microsoft Update for the Windows Vista O/S, so our test results apply to both versions of the Operating System. The majority of benchmark tests used in this article are comparative to DX11 performance, however some high-demand DX10 tests have also been included. According to the Steam Hardware Survey published for the month ending September 2010, the most popular gaming resolution is 1280x1024 (17-19" standard LCD monitors). However, because this 1.31MP resolution is considered 'low' by most standards, our benchmark performance tests concentrate on higher-demand resolutions: 1.76MP 1680x1050 (22-24" widescreen LCD) and 2.30MP 1920x1200 (24-28" widescreen LCD monitors). These resolutions are more likely to be used by high-end graphics solutions, such as those tested in this article. In each benchmark test there is one 'cache run' that is conducted, followed by five recorded test runs. Results are collected at each setting with the highest and lowest results discarded. The remaining three results are averaged, and displayed in the performance charts on the following pages. A combination of synthetic and video game benchmark tests have been used in this article to illustrate relative performance among graphics solutions. Our benchmark frame rate results are not intended to represent real-world graphics performance, as this experience would change based on supporting hardware and the perception of individuals playing the video game. Cost to Performance Ratio
For this article Benchmark Reviews has included cost per FPS for graphics performance results. An average of the five least expensive product prices are calculated, which do not consider tax, freight, promotional offers, or rebates into the cost. All prices reflect product series components, and do not represent any specific manufacturer, model, or brand. The median retail prices for each product were obtained from NewEgg.com and current as of 25-October-2010:
Intel X58-Express Test System
DirectX-10 Benchmark Applications
DirectX-11 Benchmark Applications
Video Card Test Products
DX10: 3DMark Vantage3DMark Vantage is a PC benchmark suite designed to test the DirectX10 graphics card performance. FutureMark 3DMark Vantage is the latest addition the 3DMark benchmark series built by FutureMark corporation. Although 3DMark Vantage requires NVIDIA PhysX to be installed for program operation, only the CPU/Physics test relies on this technology. 3DMark Vantage offers benchmark tests focusing on GPU, CPU, and Physics performance. Benchmark Reviews uses the two GPU-specific tests for grading video card performance: Jane Nash and New Calico. These tests isolate graphical performance, and remove processor dependence from the benchmark results.
3DMark Vantage GPU Test: Jane NashOf the two GPU tests 3DMark Vantage offers, the Jane Nash performance benchmark is slightly less demanding. In a short video scene the special agent escapes a secret lair by water, nearly losing her shirt in the process. Benchmark Reviews tests this DirectX-10 scene at 1680x1050 and 1920x1200 resolutions, and uses Extreme quality settings with 8x anti-aliasing and 16x anisotropic filtering. The 1:2 scale is utilized, and is the highest this test allows. By maximizing the processing levels of this test, the scene creates the highest level of graphical demand possible and sorts the strong from the weak.
Jane Nash Extreme Quality SettingsCost Analysis: Jane Nash (1680x1050)
3DMark Vantage GPU Test: New CalicoNew Calico is the second GPU test in the 3DMark Vantage test suite. Of the two GPU tests, New Calico is the most demanding. In a short video scene featuring a galactic battleground, there is a massive display of busy objects across the screen. Benchmark Reviews tests this DirectX-10 scene at 1680x1050 and 1920x1200 resolutions, and uses Extreme quality settings with 8x anti-aliasing and 16x anisotropic filtering. The 1:2 scale is utilized, and is the highest this test allows. Using the highest graphics processing level available allows our test products to separate themselves and stand out (if possible).
New Calico Extreme Quality SettingsCost Analysis: New Calico (1680x1050)
Test Summary: Based on 3dMark Vantage's Jane Nash and Calico performance tests, it appears that the Radeon HD 6850 competes with the 768MB GeForce GTX 460, while the Radeon HD 6870 fits in somewhere between the 1GB GeForce GTX 460 and GeForce GTX 470 video cards. Based on price though, the Radeon HD 6850 fails to match value with a 768MB GeForce GTX 460 but the Radeon HD 6870 fits well within its space. Compared with a similarly priced EVGA GeForce GTX 460 FTW video card ($260), there's a substantial performance lead over the Radeon HD 6870. While NVIDIA doesn't offer a reference model to compete with the Radeon HD 6870, there's a factory-overclocked product that does. On AMD's side, the Radeon HD 6870 appears to nearly reach Radeon HD 5850 performance levels, albeit for about $25 less.
DX10: Crysis WarheadCrysis Warhead is an expansion pack based on the original Crysis video game. Crysis Warhead is based in the future, where an ancient alien spacecraft has been discovered beneath the Earth on an island east of the Philippines. Crysis Warhead uses a refined version of the CryENGINE2 graphics engine. Like Crysis, Warhead uses the Microsoft Direct3D 10 (DirectX-10) API for graphics rendering. Benchmark Reviews uses the HOC Crysis Warhead benchmark tool to test and measure graphic performance using the Airfield 1 demo scene. This short test places a high amount of stress on a graphics card because of detailed terrain and textures, but also for the test settings used. Using the DirectX-10 test with Very High Quality settings, the Airfield 1 demo scene receives 4x anti-aliasing and 16x anisotropic filtering to create maximum graphic load and separate the products according to their performance. Using the highest quality DirectX-10 settings with 4x AA and 16x AF, only the most powerful graphics cards are expected to perform well in our Crysis Warhead benchmark tests. DirectX-11 extensions are not supported in Crysis: Warhead, and SSAO is not an available option.
Crysis Warhead Extreme Quality SettingsCost Analysis: Crysis Warhead (1680x1050)
Test Summary: The CryENGINE2 graphics engine used in Crysis Warhead allows the AMD Radeon HD 6850 to match up with the 1GB GeForce GTX 460, and seriously outperform its price point ($6.92 vs $8.46). Surprisingly, the Radeon HD 6870 soars past the Radeon HD 5850, and even catches up to the EVGA GeForce GTX 460 FTW in terms of performance and value in Crysis.
DX11: Aliens vs PredatorAliens vs. Predator is a science fiction first-person shooter video game, developed by Rebellion, and published by Sega for Microsoft Windows, Sony PlayStation 3, and Microsoft Xbox 360. Aliens vs. Predator utilizes Rebellion's proprietary Asura game engine, which had previously found its way into Call of Duty: World at War and Rogue Warrior. The self-contained benchmark tool is used for our DirectX-11 tests, which push the Asura game engine to its limit. In our benchmark tests, Aliens vs. Predator was configured to use the highest quality settings with 4x AA and 16x AF. DirectX-11 features such as Screen Space Ambient Occlusion (SSAO) and tessellation have also been included, along with advanced shadows.
Aliens vs Predator Extreme Quality SettingsCost Analysis: Aliens vs Predator (1680x1050)
Test Summary: Aliens vs Predator may use the well-known Asura game engine, but DirectX-11 extensions push the graphical demand on this game to levels eclipsed only by Mafia-II or Metro 2033 (and possibly equivalent to DX10 Crysis). With an unbiased appetite for raw DirectX-11 graphics performance, Aliens vs Predator accepts AMD and NVIDIA products as equal contenders. When high-strain SSAO is called into action, the AMD Radeon HD 6850 compares to the 1GB GeForce GTX 460 at stock speeds, while the VisionTek Radeon HD 6870 performs identically to the more expensive Radeon HD 5850 and also matches up to the EVGA GeForce GTX 460 FTW video card.
DX11: Battlefield Bad Company 2The Battlefield franchise has been known to demand a lot from PC graphics hardware. DICE (Digital Illusions CE) has incorporated their Frostbite-1.5 game engine with Destruction-2.0 feature set with Battlefield: Bad Company 2. Battlefield: Bad Company 2 features destructible environments using Frostbit Destruction-2.0, and adds gravitational bullet drop effects for projectiles shot from weapons at a long distance. The Frostbite-1.5 game engine used on Battlefield: Bad Company 2 consists of DirectX-10 primary graphics, with improved performance and softened dynamic shadows added for DirectX-11 users. At the time Battlefield: Bad Company 2 was published, DICE was also working on the Frostbite-2.0 game engine. This upcoming engine will include native support for DirectX-10.1 and DirectX-11, as well as parallelized processing support for 2-8 parallel threads. This will improve performance for users with an Intel Core-i7 processor. Unfortunately, the Extreme Edition Intel Core i7-980X six-core CPU with twelve threads will not see full utilization. In our benchmark tests of Battlefield: Bad Company 2, the first three minutes of action in the single-player raft night scene are captured with FRAPS. Relative to the online multiplayer action, these frame rate results are nearly identical to daytime maps with the same video settings. The Frostbite-1.5 game engine in Battlefield: Bad Company 2 appears to equalize our test set of video cards, and despite AMD's sponsorship of the game it still plays well using any brand of graphics card.
Battlefield Bad Company 2 Extreme Quality SettingsCost Analysis: Battlefield: Bad Company 2 (1680x1050)
Test Summary: Our extreme-quality tests use maximum settings for Battlefield: Bad Company 2, and so users who dial down the anti-aliasing or use a lower resolution will have much better frame rate performance. All of these video cards produced playable frame rates up to 1920x1200, where the AMD Radeon HD 6850 really began to pull ahead of both the 768MB and 1GB GeForce GTX 460 video cards. The similarly priced EVGA GeForce GTX 460 FTW outperforms the Radeon HD 6870 in both frame rate and value (also matches GTX 470), but then the VisionTek 6870 clears past the Radeon HD 5850 without much trouble.
DX11: BattleForgeBattleForge is free Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game (MMORPG) developed by EA Phenomic with DirectX-11 graphics capability. Combining strategic cooperative battles, the community of MMO games, and trading card gameplay, BattleForge players are free to put their creatures, spells and buildings into combination's they see fit. These units are represented in the form of digital cards from which you build your own unique army. With minimal resources and a custom tech tree to manage, the gameplay is unbelievably accessible and action-packed. Benchmark Reviews uses the built-in graphics benchmark to measure performance in BattleForge, using Very High quality settings (detail) and 8x anti-aliasing with auto multi-threading enabled. BattleForge is one of the first titles to take advantage of DirectX-11 in Windows 7, and offers a very robust color range throughout the busy battleground landscape. The charted results illustrate how performance measures-up between video cards when Screen Space Ambient Occlusion (SSAO) is enabled.
BattleForge Extreme Quality SettingsCost Analysis: BattleForge (1680x1050)
Test Summary: With BattleForge graphics settings turned to their highest quality, the AMD Radeon HD 6850 is reduced to competing with the less-expensive 768MB GeForce GTX 460 and loses the cost per frame value. Alternatively, the Radeon HD 6870 share a relatively similar cost per frame value with the 1GB EVGA GeForce GTX 460 FTW, but gets trampled in terms of frame rate performance. Compared with the more-expensive Radeon HD 5850, the VisionTek 6870 performs about the same and offers a much better value.
DX9+SSAO: Mafia IIMafia II is a single-player third-person action shooter developed by 2K Czech for 2K Games, and is the sequel to Mafia: The City of Lost Heaven released in 2002. Players assume the life of World War II veteran Vito Scaletta, the son of small Sicilian family who immigrates to Empire Bay. Growing up in the slums of Empire Bay teaches Vito about crime, and he's forced to join the Army in lieu of jail time. After sustaining wounds in the war, Vito returns home and quickly finds trouble as he again partners with his childhood friend and accomplice Joe Barbaro. Vito and Joe combine their passion for fame and riches to take on the city, and work their way to the top in Mafia II. Mafia II is a DirectX-9/10/11 compatible PC video game built on 2K Czech's proprietary Illusion game engine, which succeeds the LS3D game engine used in Mafia: The City of Lost Heaven. In our Mafia-II Video Game Performance article, Benchmark Reviews explored characters and gameplay while illustrating how well this game delivers APEX PhysX features on both AMD and NVIDIA products. Thanks to DirectX-11 APEX PhysX extensions that can be processed by the system's CPU, Mafia II offers gamers is equal access to high-detail physics regardless of video card manufacturer.
Mafia II Extreme Quality SettingsCost Analysis: Mafia II (1680x1050)
Test Summary: Of all the video games presently available for DirectX-11 platforms, Mafia II is by far one of the most detailed and feature-rich. The AMD Radeon HD 6850 outperforms both the 768MB and 1GB versions of the GeForce GTX 460, and offers the best value of the entire group. The VisionTek Radeon HD 6870 also performs extremely well on Mafia II, and surpasses both the EVGA GeForce GTX 460 FTW and Radeon HD 5850 video cards in both performance and value. It seems that Mafia II performs extremely well for AMD Barts GPUs when APEX PhysX effects are disabled, however these effects really help make the game more realistic.
DX11: Metro 2033Metro 2033 is an action-oriented video game with a combination of survival horror, and first-person shooter elements. The game is based on the novel Metro 2033 by Russian author Dmitry Glukhovsky. It was developed by 4A Games in Ukraine and released in March 2010 for Microsoft Windows. Metro 2033 uses the 4A game engine, developed by 4A Games. The 4A Engine supports DirectX-9, 10, and 11, along with NVIDIA PhysX and GeForce 3D Vision. The 4A engine is multi-threaded in such that only PhysX had a dedicated thread, and uses a task-model without any pre-conditioning or pre/post-synchronizing, allowing tasks to be done in parallel. The 4A game engine can utilize a deferred shading pipeline, and uses tessellation for greater performance, and also has HDR (complete with blue shift), real-time reflections, color correction, film grain and noise, and the engine also supports multi-core rendering. Metro 2033 featured superior volumetric fog, double PhysX precision, object blur, sub-surface scattering for skin shaders, parallax mapping on all surfaces and greater geometric detail with a less aggressive LODs. Using PhysX, the engine uses many features such as destructible environments, and cloth and water simulations, and particles that can be fully affected by environmental factors. NVIDIA has been diligently working to promote Metro 2033, and for good reason: it is the most demanding PC video game we've ever tested. When their flagship GeForce GTX 480 struggles to produce 27 FPS with DirectX-11 anti-aliasing turned two to its lowest setting, you know that only the strongest graphics processors will generate playable frame rates. All of our tests enable Advanced Depth of Field and Tessellation effects, but disable advanced PhysX options.
Metro 2033 Extreme Quality SettingsCost Analysis: Metro 2033 (1680x1050)
Test Summary: There's no way to ignore the graphical demands of Metro 2033, and only the most powerful GPUs will deliver a decent visual experience unless you're willing to seriously tone-down the settings. Even when these settings are turned down, Metro 2033 is a power-hungry video game that crushes frame rates. Although Metro 2033 offers advanced PhysX options, these settings are available only to NVIDIA GeForce video cards and disabled for our tests. As demonstrated in Mafia II, the AMD Barts GPU truly thrives on the newest DirectX-11 video games - so long as PhysX is disabled. With all settings being equal, the Radeon HD 6850 outperforms both the 768MB and 1GB versions of the GeForce GTX 460 as well as the Radeon HD 5850 that's been competing with the 6870. As for the VisionTek Radeon HD 6870, it surpassed the factory-overclocked EVGA GeForce GTX 460 FTW video card as well as the much more expensive GeForce GTX 470.
DX11: Unigine Heaven 2.1The Unigine "Heaven 2.1" benchmark is a free publicly available tool that grants the power to unleash the graphics capabilities in DirectX-11 for Windows 7 or updated Vista Operating Systems. It reveals the enchanting magic of floating islands with a tiny village hidden in the cloudy skies. With the interactive mode, emerging experience of exploring the intricate world is within reach. Through its advanced renderer, Unigine is one of the first to set precedence in showcasing the art assets with tessellation, bringing compelling visual finesse, utilizing the technology to the full extend and exhibiting the possibilities of enriching 3D gaming. The distinguishing feature in the Unigine Heaven benchmark is a hardware tessellation that is a scalable technology aimed for automatic subdivision of polygons into smaller and finer pieces, so that developers can gain a more detailed look of their games almost free of charge in terms of performance. Thanks to this procedure, the elaboration of the rendered image finally approaches the boundary of veridical visual perception: the virtual reality transcends conjured by your hand. Although Heaven-2.1 was recently released and used for our DirectX-11 tests, the benchmark results were extremely close to those obtained with Heaven-1.0 testing. Since only DX11-compliant video cards will properly test on the Heaven benchmark, only those products that meet the requirements have been included.
Heaven 2.1 Extreme Quality SettingsCost Analysis: Unigine Heaven (1680x1050)
Test Summary: Reviewers like to say "Nobody plays a benchmark", but it seems evident that we can expect to see great things come from a graphics tool this detailed. For now though, those details only come by way of DirectX-11 video cards. Our 'extreme' test results with the Unigine Heaven benchmark tool appear to deliver fair comparisons of DirectX-11 graphics cards when set to higher quality levels. Heaven 2.1 is a very demanding benchmark tool, which is why tessellation is set to normal levels and antialiasing is reduced to 4x. Unigine's Heaven 2.1 benchmark delivered performance results similar to 3dMark Vantage, Aliens vs Predator, and BattleForge. Using Heaven 2.1, the Radeon HD 6850 trails behind the 768MB GeForce GTX 460 and really fails to match the value. The VisionTek Radeon HD 6870 surpasses the 1GB GeForce GTX 460 by a small margin, costing it more the value rating, but outperforms the older Radeon HD 5850 and offers a much better value. In this test, the GeForce GTX 470 was actually outmatched by the less-expensive EVGA GeForce GTX 460 FTW video card.
AMD Barts GPU OverclockingAMD's Cypress GPU was well-known for accepting massively overclocked speeds. The new Barts GPU is based on Cypress, and should in theory yield a similar overclock. This presumes that AMD hasn't already stretched the Radeon HD 6850 and 6870 as far as they could go. For this project, we used MSI's free Afterburner program to overclock the video cards. The MSI Afterburner "Graphics Card Performance Booster" application offers several adjustable variables to reach the desired overclock. Afterburner allows for voltage changes (increase/decrease), but this project aimed to stretch the AMD Barts GPU as far as it could go without any extra power applied. Beginning with the maximum stable GPU clock speed, I slowly increased the settings until I began to see tearing or the driver crashed. Once I reached the most stable speeds for both GPU and GDDR5, I put the video card back into action with high-demand video games for additional benchmark tests. Here are the results: AMD Radeon HD 6850 Overclocking Results
AMD Radeon HD 6870 Overclocking Results
Radeon HD 6870 TemperaturesBenchmark tests are always nice, so long as you care about comparing one product to another. But when you're an overclocker, gamer, or merely a PC hardware enthusiast who likes to tweak things on occasion, there's no substitute for good information. Benchmark Reviews has a very popular guide written on Overclocking Video Cards, which gives detailed instruction on how to tweak a graphics cards for better performance. Of course, not every video card has overclocking head room. Some products run so hot that they can't suffer any higher temperatures than they already do. This is why we measure the operating temperature of the video card products we test. To begin my testing, I use GPU-Z to measure the temperature at idle as reported by the GPU. Next I use FurMark's "Torture Test" to generate maximum thermal load and record GPU temperatures at high-power 3D mode. The ambient room temperature remained at a stable 20°C throughout testing, while the inner-case temperature hovered around 37°C. FurMark does two things extremely well: drive the thermal output of any graphics processor higher than applications of video games realistically could, and it does so with consistency every time. Furmark works great for testing the stability of a GPU as the temperature rises to the highest possible output. The temperatures discussed below are absolute maximum values, and not representative of real-world performance.
VGA Power ConsumptionLife is not as affordable as it used to be, and items such as gasoline, natural gas, and electricity all top the list of resources which have exploded in price over the past few years. Add to this the limit of non-renewable resources compared to current demands, and you can see that the prices are only going to get worse. Planet Earth is needs our help, and needs it badly. With forests becoming barren of vegetation and snow capped poles quickly turning brown, the technology industry has a new attitude towards turning "green". I'll spare you the powerful marketing hype that gets sent from various manufacturers every day, and get right to the point: your computer hasn't been doing much to help save energy... at least up until now. For power consumption tests, Benchmark Reviews utilizes the 80-PLUS GOLD certified OCZ Z-Series Gold 850W PSU, model OCZZ850. This power supply unit has been tested to provide over 90% typical efficiency by Chroma System Solutions. To measure isolated video card power consumption, Benchmark Reviews uses the Kill-A-Watt EZ (model P4460) power meter made by P3 International. A baseline test is taken without a video card installed inside our test computer system, which is allowed to boot into Windows-7 and rest idle at the login screen before power consumption is recorded. Once the baseline reading has been taken, the graphics card is installed and the system is again booted into Windows and left idle at the login screen. Our final loaded power consumption reading is taken with the video card running a stress test using FurMark. Below is a chart with the isolated video card power consumption (not system total) displayed in Watts for each specified test product:
* Results are accurate to within +/- 5W.
The VisionTek Radeon HD 6870 requires two six-pin PCI-E power connection for proper operation. Resting at idle with no GPU load, the VisionTek Radeon HD 6870 consumed 20W by our measure. Compensating for a small margin of error, this falls roughly in-line with AMD's 19W expected power draw. Once 3D-applications begin to demand power from the GPU, electrical power consumption climbed to full-throttle. Measured with 3D 'torture' load using FurMark, the Radeon HD 6870 now required 162W. AMD's stated max TDP is 151W, and when factored with efficiency rating this is also within the margin of error. Loaded power draw matches the ATI Radeon HD 5850 and older ATI Radeon HD 4870. On the NVIDIA side, these figure compare to the GeForce GTX 460. VisionTek 900338 ConclusionIMPORTANT: Although the rating and final score mentioned in this conclusion are made to be as objective as possible, please be advised that every author perceives these factors differently at various points in time. While we each do our best to ensure that all aspects of the product are considered, there are often times unforeseen market conditions and manufacturer changes which occur after publication that could render our rating obsolete. Please do not base any purchase solely on our conclusion, as it represents our product rating specifically for the product tested which may differ from future versions. Benchmark Reviews begins our conclusion with a short summary for each of the areas that we rate. Beginning with frame rate performance, the VisionTek 900338 Radeon HD 6870 competes at a level slightly better than the older and more expensive Radeon HD 5850 video card, but based on performance and price it doesn't find a true NVIDIA GeForce target. This concurs with AMD's own results, placing the Radeon HD 6870 between the 5850 and 5870 in their product lineup. There were a few tests that matched the VisionTek Radeon HD 6870 with the GeForce GTX 470, and then there were tests that pegged it against the 1GB GeForce GTX 460. Most times it required a heavily overclocked GTX 460 to find similar competition, especially because NVIDIA's GTX 465 was retired only a month after it first launched. We didn't test AMD HD3D technology, or the impact it has on video game frame rates, primarily because the middleware was not made available and there are only two monitors that currently exist to support it: the Zalman Trimon 3D and iZ3D H220z1. At the time of launch Viewsonic had announced their 120Hz Fuhzion 3D monitor, but the product had not yet shipped. AMD HD3D technology presently supports one display, using either DL-DVI and DP monitors or HDMI 1.4 3D HDTV, so 3D movie playback on one of the few compatible 3D TVs is a more likely application of this feature.
Appearance is a more subjective matter since the rating doesn't have benchmark scores to fall back on. Partners traditionally offer their own unique twist on the design, with improved cooling solutions and colorful fan shroud designs. This wasn't the case with VisionTek, and AMD's design was reused to deliver function ahead of any and all fashion. The reference design allows nearly all of the heated air to externally exhaust outside of the computer case, which could be critically important to overclockers wanting the best possible environment for their computer hardware. This also preserves the Barts GPU, since the transition to 32nm wasn't achieved with Northern Islands and the heat output with standard clock speeds is still considered moderately high. I personally consider the constant move towards a smaller die process rather insignificant in the grand scheme of things, as NVIDIA once proved when their GeForce GTX 280 successfully launched at 65nm instead of 55nm. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) is already building 32nm processors for other clientele, and AMD has noted that Moore's Law still applies - just not in regard to the Barts GPU. They claim that as a die processes become smaller, it also becomes much more costly to develop and produce. There are six PLX display channel bridges on the Radeon HD 6870 video card, which opens up the functionality. Two are dedicated to the only dual-link DVI port available on this video card, while the other DVI port remains single-link and consumes another. HDMI 1.4a uses one channel, and two mini-DisplayPort outputs each use a channel. The real innovation comes with DP 1.2, which can use a Multi-Stream Transport Hub to drive multiple displays at different resolutions, refresh rates, and color depth in Eyefinity. Value is a fast moving target, and please believe me when I say that it changes by the minute in this industry. Delivering better performance and additional features at a lower cost to consumers has been the cornerstone of AMD's business philosophy for more than a decade, and they've repeatedly demonstrated this resolve in each of their many battles with Intel CPUs and NVIDIA GPUs. AMD's latest Radeon continues the tradition of more for less, allowing VisionTek to offer hardware enthusiasts their Radeon HD 6870 for $239.99. Using the manufacturer suggested pricing in conjunction with NewEgg's average product pricing (on 25 October 2010), the price segments reveal a gap. The 1GB GeForce GTX 460 sells for $220, followed by the GTX 470 at $395. This leaves a significant hole in their product lineup, but we've managed to fill it with a $260 factory-overclocked EVGA GeForce GTX 460 FTW for this review. On AMD's side, the Radeon HD 5850 is about $2 more than the Radeon HD 6870, and then there 's a hole between $180 and $240. We've illustrated the cost per frame performance in the charts below:
In conclusion, the VisionTek Radeon HD 6870 introduces more flexibility for display devices, especially where Eyefinity is used, plus it enables stereoscopic 3D gaming and Blu-ray or 3D DVD playback for the first time. The reconfigured Cypress-turned-Barts GPU offers gaming performance that rivals the older Radeon HD 5850, occasionally competes with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 470, and easily outperforms the 1GB GTX 460. At the $240 price point there aren't many options, unless you want a less-impressive GPU that's been factory overclocked, or an older GPU that lacks HD3D and UVD3 support. Overall I consider the VisionTek Radeon HD 6870 to be a good PC gaming product, stereoscopic 3D or otherwise, however overclockers could be disappointed with the lack of headroom. I'm not convinced the Radeon HD 6870 is going to impress consumers with improved Eyefinity support or added stereoscopic 3D functionality until these technologies become more mature, but thankfully the Radeon HD 6870 shines as a solid gaming product. What do you think of the VisionTek Radeon HD 6870 video card? Leave comments below, or ask questions in our Forum. Pros:
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Comments
Thanks for the Review.
Is the CUDA and Phys-X features enough to shoot these down?
Gonna have to wait to see what develops. Can only afford an VERY occasional buy, so I want to get the best bang for the buck when I do.
Keep in mind that you can buy two 1GB GTX 460's for around $340, while two Radeon HD 6870's will costs $480. This doesn't exactly put them in the same price segment, so cost becomes a major factor.
and where do you get 1G 460 for $170?
You can buy 1GB GeForce GTX 460's at NewEgg for $170, although some now also offer rebates.
I am looking to put this into my case, and need specs.
Sorry, I can't find specs anywhere online.
Height: 115 mm
Length: 245 mm
Width: 35 mm (Dual-slot)