HIS HD 6870 Turbo 1GB Video Card Review

The tests were performed in a controlled air conditioned room with temperatures maintained at a constant 25c – a comfortable environment for the majority of people reading this.

Idle temperatures were measured after sitting at the desktop for 30 minutes. Load measurements were acquired by playing Crysis Warhead for 30 minutes and measuring the peak temperature. We also have included Furmark results, recording maximum temperatures throughout a 30 minute stress test. All fan settings were left on automatic.

The HD6870 is a reference design (with the standard AMD cooler) and as such we don’t expect wonderful results. The load results aren't bad, but we would expect this to drop when customised cooling solutions make their entrance onto the market.

Return to ambient is a feature we have recently added to our reviews … we measure the time it takes for a solution to return to idle temperatures, immediately after full load. The faster the time, the better the cooler – for example a Noctua NH D14 cooler will return an Intel processor to idle temperatures much faster than a reference cooler. This is a good indication of how quickly a heatsink can dissipate heat.

The HIS card is reasonably quiet, with their techs having focused on generating a reasonable cooling profile without causing much noise. The return to idle time is what we would expect with a reference cooler.

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