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Stylish boxes have always been a strength of XFX and this one proves no different. An excellent, futuristic design.
It is not often a company bundles a flyer for their PSU range (in conjunction with Seasonic) with a graphics card, but XFX are keen to make customers aware of their Pro Series range, which we have reviewed in the past on KitGuru. Read the testing here: XFX PRO 650W, Pro 750W and Pro 850W.
We received one of the first XFX HD6850's off the production line so there are no games bundled, however XFX told us that they are supplying Alien V Predator with this bundle. Our bundle was all literature based, with a ‘Do Not Disturb' sign to hang over your door.
The XFX card is finished in a striking black design with a bright pink fan. I have always been a sucker for a black PCB.
The fan is a 9 blade design and is larger than the AMD reference model, which is always good to see. Interestingly, while we are used to seeing ‘warranty void' stickers on power supply screws to stop people tampering, this is the first time we have spotted them on the backplate of a GFX cooler (above left).
The shroud on the card is attractively designed with the name and branding of the product on the sides. This cover has holes all around it which certainly makes the product stand out.
The XFX HD6850 adheres to the AMD reference design with support for 2x mini DP (1.2), HDMI 1.4a, and 2x DL-DVI and SL-DVI connectors. It requires a single 6 pin power connector to operate. We like the fact that this card will expel hot air out the back of the chassis. Also good to notice little touches, such as the XFX name ‘cut' into the backplate, and cooling vents next to the power socket.
The cooler itself is a circular design, a copper and aluminum hybrid design to ensure good cooling characteristics. It reminded us of a Zalman design, although we aren't sure who made it for XFX.
Above, the naked card and a close up of the core and memory chips. These are Hynix H5GQ1H24AFR and we have seen them on many AMD cards in the past.
Above, the XFX HD6850 specifications, which are reference clocks at 775mhz core and 1000mhz (4000mhz effective) on the memory. The image on the right shows two of them running in Crossfire X.
