Powercolor HD6870 PCS++ 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.

When we started Furmark the temperatures would rise at 104c after 30 seconds and cause the system to shut down. We removed the cooler and applied our own high grade thermal paste and assembled again, checking for adequate mounting pressure.

The results above are what we achieved with the card after applying new thermal paste. 99c under Furmark load and around 90c when gaming. These are not great results and we aren't sure if there is a problem with this particular board, we may have received a faulty sample. You can also see that the fan is spinning at 100% which explains why it was so loud with our acoustics testing on the previous page. VDDC current is showing an intake around 79A which seems high to us.

We chatted with Powercolor before going live, delaying the review for several days while they had time to investigate and they said that it was not common for these cards to run so hot. We would therefore assume that this particular sample is slightly faulty.

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