XFX HD6850 CrossFireX review

XFX has another winner on its hands with this custom-cooled Radeon HD 6850. The product looks fantastic and the performance levels for such a modest asking price are astounding. Initially we had been informed of a price close to £155 inc vat, but – just before we went to publication – XFX informed us that Scan in the UK will be offering this card for £135 inc vat.

The attractive XFX cooler, with large offset fan, is a very capable design delivering responsive return to idle times while remaining quiet, even under extended load.

On a performance level the XFX HD6850 is closely matched to a reference clocked GTX460, losing in some games and winning in others … but always competitive.

When we got around to overclocking we were astounded to see that using Sapphire's beta TriXX overclocking software, we managed to push the core to 950MHz, the same speed as the Sapphire HD6850 we tested. While these overclocks could be lower when future yields hit retail, we would assume that 900MHz is a realistic figure when taking tolerances into consideration. Once this card is overclocked, the performance goes into a whole new playing field. Holding its own against a card costing about £40 more is some feat.

We can think of no reason not to buy the XFX HD6850 – the custom cooler is excellent, the performance is great ‘out of the box' and amazing if you spend time with voltage and clock increases, its just a shame XFX don't supply a tool similar to Sapphire's TriXX.

KitGuru says: If you've ever wanted to own a supercar for the price of a family saloon – then the Radeon HD 6850 is the answer. It's great straight out of the box. The turbo charger kicks in when you overclock it and it's nothing short of stunning in CrossFireX formation. No wonder nVidia has been dropping the price of the Fermi cards in response: Against the Radeon HD6850, discounting seems to be the only reaction possible.

Become a Patron!