XFX HD6950 XXX Edition Review – dual fan overclocked

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 dual fan configuration really helps with the cooling performance, when gaming, the temperatures never rise above 76c. Furmark pushes this a little further, to 83c under full load. The fan never exceeds 55 percent, although we have no way to measure the rpm as the card doesn't support a reading from both fans.

At idle, the fan rests around 24 percent. We will measure the noise 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 dual fan cooler is significantly better than the reference AMD design, returning the card to idle resting temperatures within 25 seconds. The fans do spin down quickly after Furmark load, with the focus on acoustic performance, as well as cooling proficiency. Great results.

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