Sapphire HD6870 FleX Edition CrossfireX Review – Quad screen 7680×1080 testing

For our review today we are using one of KitGuru's strongest systems, featuring an Intel Core i7 980x processor clocked to 4.3ghz with a Noctua NH D14 Cooler.

Our testing will take place across various sections. Firstly with a single screen then 3 screens and finally 4 screens. All of these screens are powered from the single HD6870 FleX Edition card, and when we get to 4 screen testing later in the review, we are using the Sapphire HD6870 Toxic Edition in a CrossfireX configuration. At a resolution of 7680×1080 a single HD6870 struggles to power any modern game engine, so the extra horsepower is needed.

It is worth bearing in mind that the Toxic Edition will downclock to the FleX speeds, so unless you plan on running both cards in an overclocked state, then money can be saved by purchasing a simple HD6870 reference board. We would recommend you spend a little extra on a HD6870 with a third party cooler however, to keep noise to a minimum.

System Validation available here

Sapphire HD6870 Flex Edition
Featuring: Sapphire HD6870 Toxic Edition – CrossfireX .

Hardware Test System:
Processor: Intel Core i7 980x @ 4.12ghz (temps 63c load)
Cooler: Noctua NH D14 (with extra 140mm Noctua fan)
Motherboard: Sapphire Pure Black X58
Memory: 6GB Kingston DDR3 2133mhz @ 2060mhz 9-10-9-28
Power Supply: Corsair AX1200
Thermal Paste: Noctua NT-H1
Chassis: Silverstone Raven 02

Camera: Nikon D300S and R1C1 Kit

Monitors: Dell Ultrasharp U2410 (A00)
Iiyama ProLite E2472HDD x2
Iiyama Prolite B2712HDS

Other Video Cards (single screen game comparisons)
AMD HD6850
AMD HD5850
AMD HD5770
nVidia GTX460

Software:
Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit

Unigine Heaven Benchmark
3DMark Vantage
3DMark 11
HQV Benchmark
Catalyst 11.1 Driver (latest 11.1 Cap1)
Fraps Professional
Steam Client
FurMark
Cyberlink PowerDVD 10 Ultra
Cyberlink Media Espresso
Forceware 266.58 WHQL

Technical Monitoring and Test Equipment:
Keithley Integra unit
Thermal Diodes
Raytek Laser Temp Gun 3i LSRC/MT4 Mini Temp
Extech digital sound level meter & SkyTronic DSL 2 Digital Sound Level Meter

Games:
Alien V Predator
Metro 2033
Tom Clancy HAWX 2
Call Of Duty Modern Warfare 2
Colin McRae Dirt 2
F1 2010
Dead Space 2
Just Cause 2
Mafia 2
Assassins Creed 2

All the latest BIOS updates and drivers are used during testing. We perform under real world conditions, meaning KitGuru tests all games across five closely matched runs and average out the results to get an accurate median figure.

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