Sapphire HD6870 Dual Fan Overclock Edition Review (with Dirt 3)

The HD6870 Dual Fan Overclock Edition is another well designed discrete graphics card by Sapphire. By moving to a larger dual 90mm fan design, noise emissions are greatly reduced while maintaining very impressive temperature dynamics under load.

The Sapphire card is actually one of the quietest performance oriented cards we have tested this year, and even when loaded is basically inaudible. Sapphire look to have adjusted the power delivery when compared against other overclocked HD6870's, because when idle this card is demanding only 17 watts.

When paired up with the excellent TriXX tool and increasing the voltage a little, we managed to achieve a 1000mhz final core clock, which is a class leading result. This extra overclock increased 3DMark 11 scores by around 400 points, and gave benefits in the real world, when playing games. We can't guarantee every Sapphire dual fan card will achieve the same overclocked figures, but it is clear there is plenty of additional headroom.

The bundle also deserves a mention, because Sapphire are not only giving away the excellent Dirt 3, but they have included a plethora of power and adapter cables, as well a quality HDMI cable for connection to a high definition television or monitor.

Pricing has yet to be confirmed, but we would expect only a minor premium over their previous card – hopefully in the £150-£160 region.

Pros:

• Dual fan cooler is class leading.
• Very quiet.
• Runs cool.
• Performance is great for the price.
• plenty of extra overclocking headroom.
• good power optimisations in place.

Cons:

• None.

Kitguru says: A well balanced, quiet and high performing card at a good price.

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