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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 Powercolor card is only around 3c degrees cooler than the reference card, however the fans are only spinning at a maximum of 39%, which generates significantly less noise (more on this on the next page).
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 fan profile settings are not aggressive at all, which means that the temperatures take 27 seconds to return to ambient. It isn't a problem of the cooler in this situation, but merely Powercolor opting for the lowest possible noise.
At idle, the fans spin at 20%, very relaxed settings.
Some very nice hardware this week Zardon. thanks man.
Great pictures of the board, great looking card that, very hefty
I always like their PCS+ cards, but I never know what their UK warranty is like, so I buy sapphire everytime.
That is fucking killer looking ! those heatpipes are wicked. Are yoyotech going to stock it?
Dual fans always works for me, better coverage and slower speeds. makes sense to everyone.
Apart from AMD.
As much as I love Sapphire and XFX, I think PC get ignored a lot and its not really fair, some of their designs are just as radical as sapphire. I think this card is brilliant, those noise levels are class leading
The cooler is awesome, really works well. I think their balance might be a bit in favour of noise though, but I suppose you could set up a manual profile for a little more noise for slightly lower temps
Its all good. apart from the free game. seriously, its over a year old now, can none of these manufacturers clear stock? how about Dead space 2 or something people really want?
WHats the price? dont see it anywhere 🙁
I dont think its out yet man. probably £20-30 more, as usual. worth it. I might sell my 6850 cf setup and get one of these, to lower the noise levels, as my system is quite bad atm
Seems its quite near the core limit. wonder why they went with such a relaxed memory timing, clearly that hynix is way capable of more. that OC was very good indeed.
Hmmm, looking at the cooler taken out from the video card. I am wondering what is cooling the memory chips and other components?
@rickshaw – the dual fans are. Clearly indicated by the huge oc potential on the memory.
Nice~~~ Powercolor has done it again, cant wait to get one of those
Wow, just wow, ultra heavy wow! After my comment on the PCS+ 6870, this was exactly what I was expecting, and that’s why I asked you to ask them for a sample to review.
I’m going to buy it right now. Enough said!