[Overclockers.com]

AMD 6870 Video Card Review
by Jeremy Vaughan (hokiealumnus)

Ahh, new generations of video cards. Gamers and overclockers eagerly await their arrival every time a new one comes around. This one was met with a bit of controversy when rumors circulated that AMD was changing the numbering scheme. That they did, but is the relatively inexpensive 6870 a stout contender - especially for the price? Let's find out.

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[ratbuddy]

I'm not sure I'd call ~15% OC even overvolted a 'darn good OCer'

[hokiealumnus]

Video cards are not CPUs, obviously. That's a pretty good overclock for a video card. Consider the last video card I reviewed - the Matrix 5870 Platinum. With its voltage maxed out, it wouldn't even pass Vantage past 1000 MHz.

The 470 loaned by EarthDog is a very good overclocker as 470's go and thanks to its lower starting clock, the ~150 MHz it gained was a higher percentage at ~23%. That's a very good overclock. Clock-for-clock, that's only 15 MHz more than the 6870 got over its stock speed.

Sorry, I guess we'll have to agree to disagree on what is and isn't a good overclock.

[ratbuddy]

Originally Posted by hokiealumnus

Video cards are not CPUs, obviously. That's a pretty good overclock for a video card. Consider the last video card I reviewed - the Matrix 5870 Platinum. With its voltage maxed out, it wouldn't even pass Vantage past 1000 MHz.

The 470 loaned by EarthDog is a very good overclocker as 470's go and thanks to its lower starting clock, the ~150 MHz it gained was a higher percentage at ~23%. That's a very good overclock. Clock-for-clock, that's only 15 MHz more than the 6870 got over its stock speed.

Sorry, I guess we'll have to agree to disagree on what is and isn't a good overclock.

I'm just a little bummed there was no 460 1GB included. They clock up 25% on average with no voltage increase, and 30% is easy to hit on most of them, placing performance alongside the 470 and 6870.. At $240 vs $190 ($160 AMIR) it's a comparison I think is worth making.

[hokiealumnus]

I agree, it's definitely a comparison worth making. Unfortunately, there isn't one here to test. We test with the cards we have, not the cards we wish we had.

[OnDborder]

Can you use the Trixx with other brands or do you have to flash to Sapphire?

[hokiealumnus]

I assume other brands. Mine is reference straight from AMD and I didn't modify its BIOS at all.

[OnDborder]

Gave Trixx a couple of tries and I got bsod with my Asus cards.

Now what to use to get over 1000 core??

[hokiealumnus]

Huh, very odd. I've got no idea. Is ASUS' software limited at 1000?

[OnDborder]

Yep. Limited at 1000.
What paste did you use on the core?
Did you happen to get a pic of the ceramique on the mosets? Does it make good contact?
All I did was replace the tim on the core.

[hokiealumnus]

I used Ceramique on the core & the MOSFETs. Bought a giant tube of it a while ago and just use it for anything. Didn't take a pic, but I did check the contact to make sure it was good and everything looked fine. Sorry about the limitation on the core; that's rough on these cards considering they can go farther pretty easily. Hope they're working on an updated version for you. Did you try afterburner?

[OnDborder]

Afterburner taps out at 1000 too.
Hopefully someone will come out with a registry tweak for this.
Tried amd gpu tool but it wouldn't cooperate with the Vista64.
Ya, I think it's got more mhz'z in it.
Only thing else is to try a flash to Sapphire bios but I'm kind of wondering if it's got to do with the board itself? http://www.sapphiretech.com/ssc/TriXX/

[Brolloks]

Originally Posted by OnDborder

Can you use the Trixx with other brands or do you have to flash to Sapphire?

Trixx works on both my Sapphire and MSI 6870's, no problem

Great review Jeremy

[hokiealumnus]

Thank you kind sir!

[OnDborder]

Hey hey,, I got the Trixx working..
After some researching, I found that to disable the "EnableUlps" in the registry.
Maybe I should have done that anyway for my bench'n setup..

[Parad0x420]

Any idea if the Trixx software will work on my XFX HD6870? I was able to get to 950/1150 just through CCC, but wouldn't mind trying to get above 1000 on the core.

[hokiealumnus]

If it has a BIOS similar to the reference BIOS, chances are it would. Might want to check the registry like OnDborder did too.

[OnDborder]

Run>Regedit>HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet00 1\Control\Class\{4D36E 968-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}

You will have 0000 folder, 0001, 0002... Disable ULPS in all folders that have it.
Only the 0003 and 0004 had the option in mine.

From what I understand, is that this is for crossfire. The "EnableUlps" is a power saving control. When not in use or demand, the second card goes into a power saving mode with this "enabled"..