Powercolor HD6950 PCS+ 2GB Review (Vortex II Edition)

The Powercolor HD6950 PCS+ Vortex II is one hell of a graphics card and easily at the top of the pile when it comes to HD6950 models currently available on the market. Powercolor have taken the reference HD6950 solution and completely overhauled it in all key areas.

The Vortex II is a brilliant cooler and manages to hold the card in a sub 70c environment when gaming, even at overclocked settings. It doesn't emit much noise, and the dual fan concept ensures an even flow of air across the full length of the PCB. We really didn't notice any benefits from moving the fans up and down within the shroud, but in chassis with poor airflow it may very well make a small difference.

AMD's reference design HD6950 is a good value for money product but if were in the market for one ourselves, we would immediately shortlist this Powercolor product and possibly the Sapphire HD6950 Flex Edition, which also has 2GB of memory installed.

Overclocking is very much dependent on the individual card, and in this case we could only squeeze another 30mhz from the core. It may sound bad on paper, but the card is already supplied in a highly overclocked state, so we aren't negatively dwelling on our relatively modest manual improvements.

We do need to mention that the Vortex II adjustments between fan and heatsink really do make very little, if any difference to the cooling proficiency of the card. Powercolor claim noticeable differences, but we couldn't measure anything worthwhile at all. It is a nice idea and it certainly stands out in a crowded market, but it shouldn't be a primary factor when shortlisting a new discrete upgrade. Thankfully, the cooler is fantastic in other areas, so it ends up more of a side note than a deciding factor.

On a performance level, the card sits between a reference HD6950 and a HD6970 which is exactly what we would expect. It is a fast card, and offers great performance over a single, and three screens. In CrossfireX, the three screen performance would be noticeably increased and a total of 8 monitors could be supported.

Pricing in the UK is pretty scarce right now, but we hear the card will only have a £20 price premium and this means it should be right at the top of your shopping list.

Pros:

• very quiet
• overclocked to decent speeds out of the box
• 2GB of memory
• Support for voltage control
• good across multiple screens

Cons:

• Vortex II adjustment feature makes little difference

KitGuru says: A fantastic showpiece from Powercolor and one of our favourite HD 6950's.

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