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XFX. Those three letters immediately conjure visions of video gaming excellence – especially when you delve into their high end product range. Without doubt, along with Sapphire, XFX have been producing some of the finest graphics cards on the market over the last decade.
Today we have the chance to look at something rather special from them – their latest high end card, the HD 5870 Black Edition. Now when you say HD5870, XFX and Black Edition together you can be assured that the product in your hands is going to happily devour the frame rate of any game you throw at it. The card is a 1GB model with a 900mhz Core clock and the GDDR5 memory runs at 5Gbps.
Let's keep ramping the tension because the card on test today is not only massively overclocked, but it features a new cooling and fan system which aims to not only reduce temperatures, but also to lower noise.
We put the card through its paces today and as we all like a quieter, cooler gaming experience we focus on the proprietary cooler system. If you already have a HD 5870 we also look at the benefits over a reference card.
As A Black Edition Member – XFX customers receive the following benefits:
- Priority Technical Support – 5 Star Black – Actual live support in realtime, with dedicated XFX staff.
- Invitations to members only events
- Members only Product Offers (The 5870 Black will be offered exclusively to Black Edition members first)
- Exclusive XFX Premium Gift
- Exclusive Information on XFX (Hear it first)
- Exclusive competitions
The XFX HD5870 Black Edition is supplied in a sexy black and red futuristically decorated box.
XFX use an outer sleeve for their artwork and when it is removed you are presented with a subtlety branded internal box. This box is pretty tough and should ensure against damage with rough handling.
The bundle contains power cables, Crossfire connector, metal XFX branded ‘Black Edition' case badge (adhesive), various install guides, a driver disc as well as XFX branded stickers and a code for Aliens V Predator.
Once you get the card installed in your system you can then hang an XFX specific “do not disturb” warning over your door handle. A comprehensive package from XFX and I particularly liked the stickers – I can see these adorning the desks and walls of many gamers.
As we all know the reference HD5870 is a substantial video card and the Black Edition is no smaller.
As you can see from the image above XFX have a larger fan present and they have moved it into a centralised position – exactly as Sapphire did with their Toxic addition a while ago.
Even though this card has broken the ATI reference design, it still only takes two six pin power connections – sometimes with overclocked cards they can require a slightly higher power draw for stability. 1x6pin and 1x8pin for instance.
The rear of the card is home to two DVI, Displayport and HDMI connectors. The card can support 3 displays with resolutions up to 2560×1600.
The XFX HD5870 Black Edition features numerous enhancements over the reference design and the image below shows the differences between the cards with a more substantial cooling heatsink placed in a centralised position.
There are also larger heatpipes and thankfully XFX have realised that the fan design needed improving – the larger fan positioning will also help with airflow dramatically across the physical area.
As the diagram above shows – the horizontal plane receives significantly more cooling from the larger fan. XFX have also added a heatsink/Dr. Mos which offers further stability improvements and lower temperatures.
XFX have been very keen to point out that this design also incorporates a solid capacitor overhaul which leads to a longer life time span with increased stability and improved reliability as well as ensuring no capacitors will ‘explode'. Additional benefits include higher levels of overclocking capability.
Last but not least they are using Samsung high speed memory on the board which ensures stable overclocked performance levels during even the most intense gaming sessions.
The card runs at a 900mhz Core clock with memory running at 5Gbps. It comes supplied with 1GB of GDDR5. Underneath the cooler we have ATIs 40nm Cypress core which has 32 ROPS and 1600 Unified Shaders. The card uses a 256-bit memory bus with 1GB of GDDR5 and like all 5870s it is compatible with PCI-Express 2.1. All standard ATI 5000 series features are present including support for DirectX 11, Shader Model 5, Direct Compute, HDMI 1.3a (DTS Master Audio/Dolby True-HD) and Blu-Ray acceleration.
When testing the HD 5870 Black Edition we ensured the partnering equipment was as closely matched to the relevant target audience as possible. As we don't like to see CPU limiting on the high end graphics card results we used one of the fastest processors on the market – Intel's 980X. Asus were also kind enough to let us use their stunning Rampage III Extreme motherboard and if you missed our previous review check it out over here.
Test System:
XFX HD 5870 Black Edition
Radeon HD 5870 1GB
Intel Core i7 980x
6GB Corsair Dominator GT
Coolit ECO A.L.C. (Review)
Enermax 1250W Revolution PSU
160GB Intel SSD
LaCie 730 30 Inch Display (max supported 2560×1600)
Thermal Diodes
Digital Sound Level Noise Decibel Meter Style 2
Raytek Laser Temp Gun 3i LSRC/MT4 Mini Temp
Windows 7 64bit Ultimate Edition – all latest patches/updates
Catalyst 10.4a Driver
Fraps Professional
Aliens V Predator
Metro 2033
Grand Theft Auto 4: Episodes from Liberty City
Dirt 2
Napoleon: Total War
Far Cry 2
The system was built from scratch and all drivers updated – all our results are gathered from five individual runs to analyze and remove any possible result abnormalities.
Aliens V Predator has proved to be a big seller since the release and Sega have taken the franchise into new territory after taking it from Sierra. AVP is a Direct X 11 supported title and delivers not only advanced shadow rendering but high quality tessellation for the cards on test today.
The game was tested at 1920×1200 and 2560×1600 which are the resolutions which the high end target audience will utilise. All in game settings were maximised – which is exactly how high end gamers will want their HD5870 gaming experience to be.
The results show that the HD5870 Black Edition outperforms the reference card throughout testing and at 2560×1600 with 2AA and 16AF this actually translates into smoother real life performance when the action starts to heat up. While a differential of 3fps between minimum frame rates doesn't sound like much, this actually does make a noticeable difference.
When we analyse the all important minimum frame rate figures (for a worst case scenario result) we can ascertain that only once over the course of our gaming testing did the performance drop below 25fps. The 30fps mark is seen by many as ‘the sweet spot' so we have it marked in green for easy reference. This is a great set of results for the XFX Black Edition, especially at such demanding settings in a DX11 title.
Metro 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 the Xbox 360 and Microsoft Windows. In March 2009, 4A Games announced a partnership with Glukhovsky to collaborate on the game. The game was announced a few months later at the 2009 Games Convention in Leipzig;a first trailer came along with the announcement.
The game is founded around the 4A Engine which features complex artificial intelligence as well as enhanced lighting and environmental algorithms. The game also supports DX11 with Tessellation.
Testing was performed with maximum settings (all enabled including full volumetric texturing and soft particles) as well as triple AAA antialiasing and 16x texture filtering for the ultimate experience. This game is extremely demanding so higher resolutions are possible, however with the reduction of image quality – which the target audience will not be happy with.
The overclocked card shows a considerable frame rate improvement and the differences actually make the game playable on the Black Edition and not on the reference board. Settings would need to be lowered to compensate for sub 20fps.
Our worst case scenario shows that for a short while in a specific outdoors location the XFX board had a little difficulty keeping the FPS above the critical 25fps axis however this really wasn't that noticeable and the reference card was actually below 20fps at the same instances. A great set of results for XFX everything considered and a significant improvement when compared with the reference solution.
Grand Theft Auto: Episodes From Liberty City is a standalone compilation of the DLC episodes for Grand Theft Auto IV, containing both The Lost and Damned and The Ballad of Gay Tony on one disc. It was released alongside the DLC release of The Ballad of Gay Tony on 29 October 2009 for the Xbox 360 and released on 13 April 2010 for Microsoft Windows and PlayStation 3. It does not require a copy of Grand Theft Auto IV to play, nor is an Xbox Live or PSN account necessary (except for multiplayer). The content is also played straight from the disc, and does not need to be downloaded to a hard drive to play, like various other disc-based expansions for other Xbox 360 games that have been released in the past.
The engine is still extremely demanding for this game – even months later for the newest hardware. The latest version changes some of the rendering calls and is used partially within the latest Max Payne engine.
Once again the XFX overclocked Black Edition shines and shows noticeable improvements when compared with the reference design card. While the reference card keeps minimum frame rates at 25fps the XFX has a noticeable edge. What does this mean in the real world? Well some sections which could be noticeably ‘juddery' on the reference card were smoother. We are all for that.
This is a rare occasion for us – seeing Grand Theft Auto 4 at such high settings barely dropping under the 30fps mark at all – which is even more impressive when you realise the card only has 1GB of memory onboard. The Black Edition makes for a great GTA4 gaming experience.
Colin McRae: Dirt 2 (known as Dirt 2 outside Europe and stylised, DiRT) is a racing game released in September 2009, and is the sequel to Colin McRae: Dirt. This is the first game in the McRae series since McRae's death in 2007. It was announced on 19 November 2008 and features Ken Block, Travis Pastrana, Tanner Foust, and Dave Mirra. The game includes many new race-events, including stadium events. Along with the player, an RV travels from one event to another, and serves as ‘headquarters' for the player. It features a roster of contemporary off-road events, taking players to diverse and challenging real-world environments. The game takes place across four continents: Asia, Europe, Africa and North America. The game includes five different event types: Rally, Rallycross, ‘Trailblazer,' ‘Land Rush' and ‘Raid.' The World Tour mode sees players competing in multi-car and solo races at new locations, and also includes a new multiplayer mode.
This engine support DX11 and was one of the integral releases for ATI when they launched the 5xxx series cards a while ago. Hardware tessellation is used on the crowd, as well as water and cloth objects. DirectCompute 11 accelerated high definition ambient occulsion is also integrated with full floating point high dynamic range lighting.
We enabled maximum settings, including hardware tessellated animated crowds and dynamic water via ULTRA settings.
The HD5870 has been well optimised for Dirt 2 on a driver level and it shows by the extremely small differential between average and minimum frame rates. Both cards make this a wonderful gaming experience and the Black Edition obviously pushes the performance a little higher.
It would be fair to say that playing Colin McRae Dirt 2 on the XFX Black Edition is about as good an experience at it can get. The game is buttery smooth throughout and thanks to the refined Catalyst Drivers the overall Image Quality is second to none.
Napoleon: Total War is a turn-based strategy and real-time tactics video game released for the PC, developed by The Creative Assembly and published by Sega. Napoleon was released in North America on 23 February 2010, and in Europe on 26 February. The game is the sixth stand-alone installment in the Total War series, and focuses on the politics and major military campaigns at the beginning of the 19th century. Players assume the role of Napoleon Bonaparte, or one of his major rivals, on a turn-based campaign map and engage in the subsequent battles in real-time. As with its predecessor, Empire: Total War, which included a special United States storyline, Napoleon features a separate campaign that follows the general's early career.
The game features several significant improvements compared to previous titles in the franchise. There is improved multi core support which helps improve overall performance and there is a new unit rendering algorithm in place which offers a wider range of individual personas. Particle effects also get a makeover with a 500% increase and post processing is taken to the next level in regards to weather effects.
Creative Assembly have also added features such as camera vignette to the lighting models and recoded some aspects of their SSAO which now can be used as a light attenuator as well as a full screen implementation device. Parallax mapped high terrain detail and heat haze are featuresets also recently added.
We performed testing with settings maxed at 1920×1200 with 2aa and 16 texture filtered applied.
Napoleon Total War is a game which brings even the most powerful gaming systems to their knees, especially at 2560×1600 with eye candy enabled. Surprisingly the XFX board is able to maintain positive framerates – in excess of 27fps, just above the danger zone. We will analyse this next.
There are a few times the XFX Black Edition card drops under 30fps but for the most part it maintains a positive figure over 30fps. More crucially however it never drops below the 25fps zone and is smooth throughout.
Far Cry 2 (commonly abbreviated as “FC2 or “fc2”) is an open-ended first-person shooter developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft. It was released on October 21, 2008 in North America and on October 23, 2008 in Europe and Australia. It was made available on Steam on October 22, 2008. Crytek, the developers of the original game, were not involved in the development of Far Cry 2.
Ubisoft has marketed Far Cry 2 as the true sequel to Far Cry, though the sequel has very few noticeable similarities to the original game. Instead, it features completely new characters and setting, as well as a new style of gameplay that allows the player greater freedom to explore different African landscapes such as deserts, jungles, and savannas. The game takes place in a modern-day East African nation in a state of anarchy and civil war. The player takes control of a mercenary on a lengthy journey to locate and assassinate “The Jackal,” a notorious arms dealer.
Far Cry 2 is still a popular game and the open world environment can be taxing on even the latest hardware available today. We set the game to 8xAA and 16 texture filtering and maxed all the other settings in game.
The results prove that the overclocked card manages to wrangle a few extra frames per second which goes some way to smoothen up the experience during the more taxing moments. We are using some of the most intensive sections of gameplay to give a thoroughly worst case scenario result.
Analysing the minimum frame rates we can see that in a good section of our game testing the XFX Black Edition manages to keep frame rates above the magic 30fps zone with some dips below, just above 25fps. While this doesn't seem like much, we found this game played better than the reference card, especially in heavy firefight situations.
XFX have undertaken a new cooler design with their Black Edition and it would be remiss of us not to thoroughly analyse the benefits the consumer will experience if they opted for the more expensive, faster model. After all none of us want a slightly faster gaming experience with more heat and noise – If you have missed our look at the Black Edition cooling system then please backtrack to page 4 of this review. We measure noise from around 12 inches from the chassis.
XFX claims of a significantly improved cooler certainly have merit and we can see the benefits reaped by the enhanced model they have implemented on the Black Edition HD5870 card. Under full load it is noticeable and we are impressed with the end result.
The cooler is also showing significant improvements when compared to the reference design, we measured temperatures 10c cooler than the ATI reference design. After taking the card apart we had a good idea this would be the case, but it is nice to see it affirmed throughout stress testing.
For some people XFX's settings will not be enough so we manually pushed the card as far as possible and settled on results of 985 core and 1340 memory – which is a sizable increase. Overclocking to this level added 5c to the load temperatures and another 3db as the cooler compensated – which is STILL less than the reference design at the reference clocks. Extremely impressive set of results all round for the Black Edition card.
The results today reaffirm my initial feelings that XFX, along with Sapphire are leading the way with their ATI graphics card designs. XFX have released an overclocked card which not only considerably outperforms the reference design but which also runs cooler and quieter … an intoxicating mixture for an enthusiast gamer.
XFX have not yet released this card to the masses and they are initially offering it to existing customers via a rather cool reward style system. It is nice to know if you buy an XFX product then you get ‘first pickings' on the new models when they are released. Pricing has yet to be confirmed but I was told by XFX that a figure of £370 inc VAT when it hits sale in the United Kingdom will be close to the mark.
So who should buy this card? If you currently have an older card and want to move into the highest performance category then we can completely recommend the XFX Black Edition HD 5870. The design is considerably better than the reference HD 5870 and the price doesn't look to be bank breaking either as the standard XFX model is £330 in retail right now. This means you pay around £40 more for a cherry picked, overclocked card with a completely revised cooling system which omits less noise. Seems like a pretty sweet deal to me.
Normally I could find fault in some area, perhaps with the bundle – but once again XFX excel and they have not only a top quality DX11 game (Alien V Predator), but they have included power cables, crossfire connectors and a plethora of other deal sweeteners such as metal Black Edition case badge and custom stickers.
This is one of the most impressive HD5870's on the market right now and if you want to push it even further with manual overclocking we found a lot of headroom with our own, although as always results will vary from card to card. XFX has released an overclocked Radeon HD 5870 card that not only outperforms ATI's original reference by a significant amount, it is also much cooler and lot quieter… an intoxicating mixture for an enthusiast gamer and a serious challenge for Fermi.
KitGuru says: XFX, yet again release another “Xtremely F**king Xcellent” video card.
UPDATE: XFX have offered us 10 copies of Alien V Predator to give away soon – this competition will be announced shortly!
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