by: Sahil Mannick
A year on from the release of the Cypress based HD5870 and HD5850, AMD are looking at refreshing their line-up of cards with some new offerings. Any graphics card release is met by a certain level of hype and following the huge success of the HD5XXX series, consumers have every right to expect more great things from AMD. However, in a confusing turn of events, today’s release is aimed at targeting the mid-range market as opposed to the traditional method of releasing the high end cards first to create a halo effect. More confusing is AMD’s bold choice of renaming their new series of cards to reflect an entirely refreshed product range, as opposed to intuitively carrying the moniker we’ve been accustomed to seeing since the HD3870 launched a few years back. Typically, the X870 naming convention has been reserved for ATI’s high end offerings, but under the new AMD logo rebrand, they have decided that the moniker will now symbolise their mid-range segment. The confusion arises in the fact that consumers accustomed to the old naming scheme will confuse this new card as the replacement to the Cypress based HD5870, when in fact it will replace the Juniper based HD5770.
Naming scheme aside, it is the price/performance ratio that we are most interested in and readers should hold their prejudice until this becomes clearer later in the review. At £200, AMD are targeting Nvidia’s highly popular GTX460 with their HD5870/6850. Comparing them to their rightful Juniper predecessor, the Barts core has undergone a number of architectural tweaks to provide much better performance. Firstly, the number of shader processors has increased from 720/800 to 960/1120 and a wider 256bit bus will no doubt alleviate the low memory bandwidth of the old mid-range cards. Furthermore, AMD are claiming significantly improved tessellation performance, an issue that had plagued the 5 series in comparison to Nvidia’s outstanding performance in this department. With the promise of high performance at a low price point and low power consumption, AMD’s new cards will no doubt prove to be a success.
The card we have received from MSI is the more expensive of the two Barts based graphics card, the HD6870. It follows the reference design and comes clocked at a very healthy 900/4200MHz. In true MSI fashion, they have included a number of features to differentiate their products from the competition, such as bundling the highly useful MSI Afterburner utility.
The HD6870
With that covered, let’s check out the card.
Specifications
The Barts core is aimed at the upper mid-range market and I have to emphasise again at this point that both the HD6870 and HD6850 are replacements to the old Juniper core, with a substantial enough boost and tweaking to make them compete with the older generation high end HD5850. Naming scheme aside, it’s exactly what we should have expected for a refreshed mid-range card. It’s akin to the position of the HD5770 lying between the previous high end HD4850 and HD4870, when it came out last year. The confusion comes with AMD’s choice of nomenclature but consumers should focus on the price/performance ratio rather than the implied performance based on the graphics card name. In my opinion, it’s an Nvidia-esque move and will certainly not prove popular at first but if we look at this new generation of card on its own, it does make sense. Caymen and Antilles will represent the high end HD69XX series next month on their release. These cores make up the Northern Island GPUs that AMD have been touting for a while now. It could be deemed strange that AMD didn’t release their high end cards first followed by the mid-range offerings for a halo effect but in reality, AMD needed a product that would be more competitive with Nvidia’s GTX460 hence the introduction of Barts to compete for the upcoming holiday season.
So what does this new core actually bring to the table? There are two variations of the core, Barts Pro and Barts XT, the former sporting 960 stream processors and the latter having 1120 of them. These do not match the configuration on the Cypress core but they are derivatives with various tweaks to improve efficiency. Sporting 1.7 billion transistors on a 255mm squared die size, the Barts core is significantly smaller than Cypress but a major improvement on Juniper. A welcoming feature is the 256bit bus and 1GB of on-board memory for much higher memory bandwidth than previously found on AMD’s mid-range offerings.
Architecturally, Barts builds on the same VLIW5 design found in previous DX11 cards. The core uses a number of SIMD clusters, each sporting 80 stream processors and 4 texture units. The different configurations produce the two Barts variant. The number of ROPs on both cards remains at 32.
HD6850: 12 SIMD clusters, 48 texture units, 960 stream processors.
HD6870: 14 SIMD clusters, 56 texture units, 1120 stream processors.
Compared to Nvidia, AMD has been lacking in tessellation performance but with the Northern Island GPUs, they have tried to address the issue with a more robust tessellation engine. Clearly AMD’s aim has been to bring a large fraction of Cypress’s performance on a much smaller die size. The results later will cover whether they have achieved this goal.
The main aspects where the Barts core lose out are texture fill rate and shader operation due to the much lower stream processors. The clock speed boost isn’t enough to compensate for those but again we have to remember that their market segment is at a lower end. On the plus side, they do contribute to higher pixel fill rates. Comparing them to the GTX460, AMD’s offerings appear more favourable. The HD6870 looks to be significantly faster whilst the HD6850 shares some similar figures. More interestingly is Barts’s impressively low power consumption, 127W for the HD6850 and 151W for the HD6870.
Product Specifications
Graphics Engine: AMD HD6870
Model: MSI R6870-2PM2D1GD5
Bus Standard: PCI Express x16 2.1 (Compatible with 1.1)
Memory Size(MB): 1024 GDDR5
Memory Interface: 256-bits
Core Clock Speed (MHz): 900
Stream Processors: 1120
Shader Clock (MHz): 900
Memory Clock Speed (MHz): 4200
3D API: Direct X 11 & OpenGL 4.0
DVI Output: 2 (1 Single-Link DVI & 1 Dual-Link DVI)
HDMI: 1 (HDMI 1.4a w/audio (8 channel LPCM & bitstream))
DisplayPort: 2 mini DPs 1.2 (1 DP-to-mini DP adapter supplied)
VGA: Supported using DVI-to-VGA adapter
Display Output (Max Resolution): 2560 x 1600
Crossfire Support: Yes
Card Dimension (mm): 245 x 115 x 35
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Features
DisplayPort 1.2 and HDMI 1.4a output
-Blu-ray 3D Stereo transmission format support
-Supports both Deep Colour and 7.1 High Bitrate Audio transmission
AMD Eyefinity Multi-Display Technology
Enjoy an incredibly immersive HD gaming/computing experience with AMD Eyefinity Technology. This revolutionary multi-display technology allows you to expand your visual real estate across up to three displays with innovative “wrap around” capabilities to maximize your field of view with incredible sharpness and clarity.
-AMD Eyefinity Technology supports maximum 4 displays with 2 DisplayPorts
Microsoft DirectX 11
The first fully Microsoft DirectX® 11-compatible GPUs in their class, the AMD Radeon™ HD 6000 Series are designed to deliver unbelievable HD gaming performance for the latest games and DirectX® 11 applications so you can dominate the competition.
MSI Afterburner overclocking utility
MSI Afterburner, a powerful overclocking/monitoring VGA utility, is co-developed by MSI & Rivatuner. It supports both Nvidia & ATI-based graphics cards from MSI and has a friendly user interface, helping users overclock and monitor their graphics cards easily. MSI Afterburner includes some unique features: Over Voltage function of GPU, support SLI and CrossfireX mode, Customized profiles for 2D and 3D modes, advanced fan speed control.
-Supports advanced fan speed control
-Supports burn-in stability test
All Solid Capacitors
MSI Graphics Card products utilises high quality solid capacitor. For the gamers and high-end users, this feature not only means that product has better quality components within, but also provide much stronger support while users want to engage in hard-core tuning.
- 10 years ultra-long lifetime (under full load).
- Lower temperature and higher efficiency.
- Aluminium core, no the risk of explosion.
MSI Live Update 4
MSI Live Update 4 is a single utility software that automatically checks BIOS, driver and utility updates and installs for you, which can save your time for searching and lower the risk while updating.
Blu-ray & HD-DVD Support
Both support the latest specifications of Blu-ray and HD DVD(High Definition DVD). It comes with the latest GPU and DDRIII superior processing performance in which users can easily enjoy the high-definition video of 1920x1080(1080p/i).
HDMI Support
MSI graphics cards offer the HDMI functionality to provide access to premium digital content. HDMI enables gaming enthusiasts to seamlessly connect to their LCD monitor to bring the ultimate multimedia experience. (Only 1 single HDMI cable is required while streaming audio/video data to flat-panel display devices, such as Plasma/LCD TVs, or projector.)
Enhanced Unified Video Decoder 3 (UVD 3)
Accelerated Video Transcoding
AMD PowerPlay™ Technology 4
Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio Support
Packaging and Content
The front of the box
MSI have opted for a traditional cardboard box to house their HD6870. Their choice of colour makes for a simple and clean look that boasts a sense of quality. The graphics card model is printed in bold across the top whilst some of the AMD specific features are illustrated below. MSI have tried to differentiate their own card by bundling in the Afterburner program and using all Solid Capacitors to maximise its lifespan. The graphics art on the front depicts a futuristic spaceship engine to honour Afterburner’s legacy of boosting GPU performance. It also has to be noted that the card is now branded under the “AMD Radeon” logo as opposed to ATI.
The back of the box
Turning to the back, the box is crammed full of information, listing all the specifications, features and minimum system requirements. On the right, a small list of features is printed in 30 languages! Despite the load of writing, MSI have made it visually appealing through use of colours and illustrations.
Looking at the features
Looking closer at the feature boxes, we can see that they have bundled their Afterburner utility. However, there is no mention of voltage tweaking on this particular board. MSI have always advertised their usage of high quality components and this time they are claiming the use of solid capacitors with an ultra-durable aluminium core. I imagine that most reference boards will make use of the same components but at least we can expect similar quality from all brands. A list of features that encompass all HD6870 cards are listed below.
Opening the box
Upon opening the box, we are greeted with the graphics card neatly packaged in an anti-static bag and enclosed in foam cut-out to protect it during transit. The white box on the side holds all the additional accessories and the rest of the documentations lie at the bottom of the box. A plastic cover provides further security.
The bundle
The bundle is fairly standard but there are some interesting extras we have not come across before. Included are:
- 2 Dual MOLEX-to-6-pin PCIe power cables
- 1 Crossfire Bridge
- 1 x DVI-to-VGA adaptor
- 1 x Mini DisplayPort-to-DisplayPort adapter
- User manual
-Quick installation guide
-Driver disc
The DisplayPort adapter is in light of the two Mini-DP connectors on the back of the HD6870. To ensure compatibility with regular DisplayPort cables, the adapter was provided although a second one would have been handy.
The HD6870
And finally we have the card itself. The MSI R6870 follows AMD’s reference design and can be easily recognised from the standard blower type cooler and ribbed shroud design that will become clear later on. At the edge of the PCB near the PCIe insert, the AMD logo can be seen, symbolising the company’s full integration of the ATI brand into the parent branding. No longer will we be seeing the ATI name being thrown around, except maybe in obituaries… The card is 24.5 cm in length, 2.3cm shorter than the XFX HD5870, which was shorter than the reference HD5870 itself, making the HD6870 a relatively short card and thus compatible in nearly all cases. For comparison, a GTX460 is 21cm in length. MSI have chosen to incorporate the same design that’s present on the front of the box onto their cooler shroud, making for a very attractive and sleek finish.
Closer Look
The back of the card
The back of the card reveals the use of a black PCB, an appealing choice that works well with the red bands and conveniently matched the Rampage III Extreme it is being installed in. There is no metal back plate for additional cooling but there is little in the way of components to justify the extra cost. The plastic shroud on top is screwed on using 8 screws at the back and two more from the I/O plate. The heatsink itself is kept in place thanks to the metal bracket and spring loaded screws. Removing the shroud is a fairly easy task should users want to eventually buy a custom cooler.
The single Crossfire connector
On the side of the card is a single Crossfire connector, similarly to the GTX460. It means that the HD6870 is limited to a dual Crossfire configuration.
The I/O panel
The rear I/O panel has a wide selection of connectors, more so than on previous reference cards. On the right are two traditional Dual Link DVI-I connectors and for those still using VGA outputs, an adapter is provided. Furthermore, a single HDMI 1.4a port is built in and two mini DisplayPort supporting the latest 1.2 standard. The ports are an example of AMD’s evolution on their display and video decoding features over the HD5XXX series. The main advantage of the new DisplayPort standard is the double bandwidth over the previous 1.1 ports, taking it from 10.8Gbps to 21.6Gbps. In real world applications, it means that a single port can support up to 2 2560x1600 monitors and 4 1920x1200 monitors through daisy chaining or by using an MST hub. The hub means that the card itself no longer has to sport up to 6 individual ports as was found on the Eyefinity6 special edition cards. As such, the two provided ports can easily drive 6 monitors at 1920x1200. If a hub isn’t available and daisy chaining not feasible, the 5 ports can still support up to 4 displays in Eyefinity as illustrated on the front of the box. The higher bandwidth of the DP is also relied on for AMD’s new 3D stereoscopy initiative.
The side of the card
On the side of the shroud, AMD show that their design cues are not reserved to their GPU architecture but also their aesthetics. The 3 ribbed lines add an additional touch to the card making it stand out from regular blank looking shrouds. The open side vents helps in dissipating some heat although the cooler is designed to extract most of the heat through the I/O panel.
The two 6-pin PCIe power connectors
At the other end, the graphics card has 2 6-pin PCIe connectors. These are conveniently situated on the side rather than at the end to ensure that the cables do not get in the way of HDD cages or other components. Two dual Molex-to-6 pin adapters are bundled for good measure so even older power supplies will be compatible although MSI recommend a 500W power supply.
The fan
The fan is typical to most reference designed AMD card with the multiple vertical fins acting as a blower fan pushing air towards the rear of the case. It also has PWM functionality and MSI have incorporated an automated fan profile. This will be covered in greater depth in the temperature and overclocking section.
Removing the cooler
Removing the cooler and shroud reveals the PCB and the layout of the individual components. Unlike most other cards I have tested, the VRM circuitry is towards the I/O panel side of the PCB leaving the other end less cluttered with plenty of empty space. The GPU area is set in the middle and surrounded by 8 memory modules. Since it’s been built as a mid-range card, the emphasis on better VRM circuitry isn’t as important but that’s also down to the greater efficiency of the core itself.
The 255mm squared Barts die
The Barts core seen here has a die size of 255mm squared, smaller than the 334mm squared of the Cypress core but significantly higher than the 166mm squared of the Juniper core it is replacing. The fabrication is still on the 40nm process due to the lack of readily available 32nm or 28nm manufacturing.
The Hynix H5GQ 1H24AFRT2C030A memory module
The memory modules used here, although not very visible, are GDDR5 chips sourced from Hynix rather than Samsung. AMD have opted for a different memory controller codenamed Redwood, significantly smaller and less complex than on Cypress to improve efficiency. The down side is that lower memory speeds are supported, hence the default memory clock speed of 4.2GHz. The “T2” in the module code denotes the rated speed of 5GHz, so plenty of headroom remains. Altogether, the eight modules give 1GB of VRAM. For more information on Hynix’s naming convention, check
here.
The power circuitry
The VRM circuitry is powered by a 4 phase PWM design as suggested by the number of ferrite chokes, adequate for powering the Barts core. The capacitors use an aluminium core to increase efficiency, lower ESR and temperature, and improve lifespan. Thermal padding has been use to cool the MOSFETs.
The cooler
The cooler and shroud is quite hefty when removed. The heatsink uses an aluminium construction with three copper heat pipes and a large copper base. Adjacent thermal pads help cool the memory modules. The fan uses a small 4 pin connector for PWM functionality.
The heatsink and back vent
The heatsink sports a total of 30 aluminium fins to maximise surface area and they are all oriented vertically so heat can be directed towards the back. The curved red clip and side black notch help to direct the heat through the small exhaust vent on the I/O panel. Increased pressure should help the hot air get extracted faster.
Test Setup
CPU - Intel Core i7 920
RAM - 6GB (3x2GB) OCZ platinum DDR3 1333mhz
Motherboard - ASUS Rampage III Extreme
Power Supply - Enermax Revolution 85+ 850W
Hard Drive - OCZ Vertex 2E 120GB
Samsung F3 1TB
Samsung F1 320GB
Cooler - Noctua NH-D14
Graphics Cards:
MSI R6870 2PM2D1GD5 1024MB - ATI Catalyst 10.10
ASUS EAH6850 DirectCU 1024MB - ATI Catalyst 10.10
ZOTAC GeForce GTX460 1024MB - ForceWare 258.96
ASUS EAH5850 TOP 1024MB - ATI Catalyst 10.5
XFX HD5870 1024MB - ATI Catalyst 10.9
Benchmark Suite
MSI Afterburner & Kombustor
GPU-z
Crysis Warhead using the FRAMEBUFFER Crysis benchmark tool
Far Cry 2
Resident Evil 5
Street Fighter IV
Unreal Tournament 3 using the HOC Bench tool
Colin McRae DIRT 2
Batman: Arkham Asylum
Battlefield Bad Company 2
Mafia II Demo
Colin McRae DIRT 2
Alien VS Predator
3DMark 06
3DMark Vantage
Unigine V2.1 DX 11 Benchmark
Note
The new AMD cards have been bundled with the latest 10.10 Catalyst drivers. Unfortunately, those were unreleased prior to receiving the cards so the HD5870 results are based on last month's 10.9 drivers. You might also notice that the HD5850 was tested using Catalyst 10.5 drivers. Based on my own tests and collected, there was little to no difference going from the 10.5 drivers to the 10.9 ones except in Street Fighter IV. The change will be marked later in the review.
Software Bundle
The bundled DVD contains a range of utilities as well the as drivers. Along the top are icons depicting each window and relevant software. The drivers are the latest Catalyst 10.10 drivers so users won’t have to worry about downloading the latest ones just yet.
The next tab contains the famed MSI Afterburner application and Kombustor add-on. It is one of MSI's most notable applications and in recent times has been the overclocking utility of choice for enthusiasts and gamers alike. For those who have previously used the popular Rivatuner overclocking tool, Afterburner will be very familiar, the former providing the foundation for the software. One key difference is its ability to adjust voltages on compatible cards without any hardware modifications. For the latest released version, check out
MSI's website.
The DVD also includes a number of free trials such as Norton Internet Security, Cyberlink media player and TMPGEnc encoding software. Another playful feature is AIWI, a cleverly named game that brings Nintendo Wii controller like functionality to Apple iPhones.
MSI Live Update 4 is a unique tool that allows users to view their installed components and update their motherboard or video card BIOS. Unfortunately, the former wasn't functional due to an ASUS motherboard being used.
The Live Update tab searches for the most up to date BIOS, drivers and utilities online and presents users the opportunity to painlessly update their systems without having to trawl the internet themselves.
The MSI Afterburner application is heavily based on the Rivatuner engine developed by Unwinder from Guru3d. The major difference is the intuitive GUI that makes it easy to overclock, and its voltage control ability, although this does not apply to all graphics cards. The main screen gives users the ability to alter core clock speeds, memory clock speeds and the shader clock speeds for those cards that have the shader clock unlinked to the core clock. The fan speed can also be controlled manually but if left on auto, it will follow a fan profile. The latter can be adjusted in the settings with regards to temperature thanks to the HD6870's PWM fan. The greatest feature of the Afterburner application is the core voltage tweak. Unfortunately, the R6870 strangely doesn’t support it.
On the right, different aspects of the card can be monitored including the temperature. Users can select which options to be displayed in the hardware monitor window. After all the settings have been applied, overclocks can be saved as profiles to be loaded up whenever the user wants. There is even a hotkey application to quickly load profiles.
Going into the application properties reveals even more options for users to delve into. Here, the application can be configured to suit the user's needs.
MSI Kombustor is akin to the Furmark video card stress test utility and is a recent addition to the MSI application suite. There are two ways to run the program, either by using the executable or by simply pressing the ‘K’ button on MSI Afterburner. The executable will open the above window which gives users a range of options to configure their stress tests.
Running the program reveals a furry, spinning MSI logo that stressed graphics card to the fullest. Its aim is ensure that overclocks are stable and that temperatures are well within limits when fully stressed. It has to be noted that on occasion, overclocked settings may be stable in Kombustor but not in-game.
Temperature & Overclocking
It wouldn’t be a complete review if the graphics card on test here wasn’t overclocked. After all, it’s often the first thing enthusiasts do with the latest hardware in their hands. The MSI HD6870 is already clocked at a colossal 900MHz but the card should still have a lot of headroom left thanks to a mature 40nm process and tweaked core. Whilst we can speculate that the high clock speed is to alleviate the shader processor deficiency of the Cypress core, it is still a welcomed move, making it the highest clocked core in GPU history. To overclock, I relied on MSI’s own Afterburner application for a painless experience. As mentioned, the R6870 comes clocked at
900/4200MHz running at 1.172V under load. At idle, the card clocks down to
300/4200MHz at 0.945V, ensuring very cool operation and subsequently a quieter experience.
Overclocking was very easy on the card. The maximum core clock speed limit was 1GHz on both MSI Afterburner and ATI CCC Overdrive but unfortunately, the MSI card didn’t quite manage to reach the golden clock speed. Instead I had to settle on
1000/4600MHz, which is still an impressive feat considering the stock voltages. Should a voltage tweak model be released with a high upper core clock limit and a better cooler, the HD6870 will make for a potent overclocker. The clocks were fully stable under both Kombustor stress test and gaming.
Stock
Overclocked
Looking at the benefits of overclocking, the 10% increase in core clock speed is mirrored by the same boost in texture fill rate, shader operation and pixel fill rate. Likewise, the 400MHz increase in memory speed results in a 9.5% boost in bandwidth. There are not enough to match the stock HD5870 but based on price point, it makes the card a suitable replacement to the HD5850 despite the 320 missing shader processors.
In real world situations, the 10% core increase and 9.5% memory clock boost resulted in an average performance rise of 8.5%, almost a linear trend. This will become clearer from the following games’ benchmarks.
Temperature
The temperature of the HD6870 was regulated by the PWM fan and an automatic fan controller. At stock speed, the fan operated quietly at 26% yielding an idle temperature delta of 35C. Under load, the temperature was quite high but will within acceptable limits. The fan speed at that point was 40%, somewhat audible but not intrusively so, especially when gaming. The fan only became audible at 30% but for raw cooling performance, it still held very large headroom further overclocking should the core and voltages allow it.
When overclocked, the idle temperature rose to a delta value of 40C and a fan speed of 27%. Under full load, it did have to ramp up further to 47% to keep the temperature delta at a stable 67C. Noise was definitely becoming an issue, but nothing that a good gaming session can’t drown out.
Crysis Warhead
The HD6870 gets off to an interesting start with Crysis Warhead. Immediately, we notice that at stock speed, it marginally beats the slightly pre-overclocked HD5850. The 1FPS difference translates to a 2-4% performance lead on AMD’s new card. Once the HD6870 is overclocked, the performance is more akin to a stock HD5870. The overclocked HD5850 has a slight advantage thanks to extra voltage tuning. Given the price difference however, it’s impressive to see AMD’s new mid-range card matching their previous high end offering.
Shifting our focus to the HD6850, its performance is around 82% of its sibling’s. Overclocked, it gets close to matching the HD6870. We have to remember that this particular HD6850 has voltage tweak capability, hence the large overclock over stock speed. The HD6850 is around 5-9% faster than the Nvidia GTX460, its key rival in this market segment. With both overclocked, the difference is around 8%.
The new AMD cards get off to an impressive start in Far Cry 2. The HD6870 pulls ahead of the HD5870 marginally at stock speed, especially with AA applied. This ranges from 1% to 10% at 8xAA. A similar pattern can be seen with the two cards overclocked.
The HD6850 also impresses by closely matching or even outperforming the HD5850 at stock speed with 8xAA. At the lower settings however, it falls behind. It suggests that improvements in the core favour AA more than the previous architecture despite less stream processors present. The GTX460 still manages to retain its crown throughout, marking Nvidia as the champion in Far Cry 2.
Again the HD6870 takes a middle ground between the HD5850 and HD5870 at stock speed, albeit slightly more inclined towards the HD5850. Overclocked, it’s on par with the overclocked HD5850. Relative to the GTX460, the HD6870 holds a healthy 20-30% lead. This reduces to 10-18% with both overclocked.
With 4xAA, the HD6850 is on par with the GTX460 but the AMD card manages to pull ahead by 5-12% with 8xAA applied. The story remains the same with both overclocked.
Street Fighter IV
Street Fighter is back in its 4th iteration and its bigger and better than ever. Combining fluid, fast based sparring with stunning artistic visuals, the game delivers tremendous game play. Be reacquainted with some of the most popular characters in video game history while you battle your way to the top, be it with Ryu or the mighty Bison. The game might be frustratingly hard in some cases but there's nothing like the satisfaction of K.O'ing your opponent with a well stringed death bringing combo.
Performance between the HD6870 and HD5870 is very close here, with the latter holding an average lead of 7%. Overclocking is more beneficial to the HD6870 which manages to close the gap to 3%. I mentioned earlier that the transition from Catalyst 10.5 to 10.9 yielded some interested results in Street Fighter and we can finally see that the low performance at the lower resolution is finally fixed on the AMD cards. Since the HD5850 results are based on the older drivers, performance is significantly lower at that setting.
Moving on to the HD6850, it falls behind the GTX460 by up to 10% but applying AA works in its favour to reduce the difference. The relative difference between the two cards is similar at both stock and overclocked speeds.
Unreal Tournament 3 Built around the unreal 3 engine, Unreal Tournament is all about mindless fast paced shooting, decapitation with a plethora of game modes to so in. Not much else can be said really except that it promises hours of enjoyment on multiplier whether it be against bots, your friends at a LAN or online. It was one of the more popular games out there to adopt PhysX in the form of partially destructible maps, tornadoes and hail.
In Unreal Tournament 3, there is again very little difference between the HD6870 and the HD5870, the latter leading by around 3% at stock and 2% when overclocked.
The GTX460 leads the Unreal Tournament 3 chart with excellent performance. It beats the HD6850 by around 10-15% at both clock speeds although the difference is lower at the higher resolution. Between the two Barts cards, the HD6870 is clearly the better solution, with a lead of 20% at stock speeds. Since the HD6850 has been overclocked relatively more, the difference falls to around 8% at the higher clock speeds.
Batman: Arkham Asylum The Dark Knight takes on his greatest challenge yet when he becomes trapped with all of his most dangerous villains inside the insane asylum of Gotham City - Arkham Asylum. The game exposes you to a unique, dark and atmospheric adventure that takes you to the depths of Arkham Asylum, Gotham's psychiatric hospital for the criminally insane.
Batman follows the same trends we’ve seen before. The new HD6870 cannot match up to the sheer performance of the HD5870 with a 9 % performance deficit both at stock and overclocked. Similarly the HD6850 lags behind the GTX460 by around the same percentage.
The difference between the HD6870 and its smaller sibling is quite remarkable with the latter losing out by up to 30% at stock speed and 20% when overclocked.
DIRT 2 is a game that has previously favoured Nvidia’s cards with their superior tessellation engine. This can be seen from its lead, especially when overclocked. As such the HD6850 drops behind by up to 15% at stock and up to 18% at overclocked speeds. The gap does reduce to around 10% at higher AA settings.
The HD5870 still retains a slight lead over the HD6870, ranging from 5-9%. Overclocked, it becomes a very marginal 0-5%. Comparing the HD6870 to the HD6850, the former holds an advantage of 15-20% at stock speed and 5-8% under the overclocked conditions.
Battlefield Bad Company 2
Battlefield Bad Company 2 is the new rendition of the widely successful Battlefield series of game. Having more in common with the console release of Bad Company, the sequel hopes to inject the DNA of the timeless Battlefield 2 online experience with the witty action packed single player shooting adventure of the original. As Private Preston Marlowe, your goal as a member of Bad Company is to once again save the world by securing a scalar weapon device.
The margin between the HD5870 and HD6870 widens in this game, suggesting that the raw shader power of the former gives the card an advantage. The difference here is around 15% and falls to 13% when overclocked, favouring the HD5870 still.
Between the GTX460 and the lower Barts variant, the AMD comes out on top with a 4-8% performance lead at stock and 5-9% lead when overclocked. The HD6870 commands a healthy 20-25% FPS advantage over the HD6850 although this reduces to around 11% thanks to the HD6850’s higher relative overclock.
The HD5870 leads the HD6870 by an average of 12% at both stock and overclocked speeds. Strangely at 1920x1200 and AA applied the HD6870 sees a significant drop in performance which is reflected by the 30% deficit compared to the HD5870. Over the HD6850, it holds a 20% lead at stock which turns down to 9% when overclocked.
The HD6850 proves to be the winner when pitted against Nvidia’s GTX460, commanding an advantage of around 10% on average and up to 20% at the highest resolution and settings.
Alien VS Predator
Spawned from the popular Alien and Predator franchises, Rebellion have collaborated to bring the legendary war to us through the medium of a first-person shooter. The game forces you to hunt, prey and most importantly survive in the swamp colony of Freya's prospect as either a Predator, Alien or Marine. The stunning visuals add to the sense of dread and terror that we have become so accustomed to seeing with the series.
The HD6870 gets off to a good start at the lower resolution, beating the HD5870 by up to 10% thanks to its superior tessellation performance. However, it soon loses its lead at 1920x1200.
The difference between the HD6870 and HD6850 is similarly to previous observations, 20% at stock speed and around 10% when overclocked.
3DMark 06 & Vantage
3DMark 06
Futuremark has been the testing ground for enthusiasts ever since their first release in 1999! While 2006 is long gone, it's still very popular amongst benchers.
3DMark06 highlights just how CPU dependent it has become over the years. Nonetheless, we can still see the difference between the cards. The HD6870 falls between HD5850 and HD5870 performance and manages to take the lead when overclocked.
The HD6850 is a bit more disappointing in that regards, being unable to match Nvidia’s GTX460 and likewise when both are overclocked.
3DMark Vantage
This latest benchmark suite from Futuremark introduces DX 10 & PhysX support. Despite being on the verge of DX 11 games arriving, Vantage is still the chosen benchmark amongst enthusiasts these days.
The latest Futuremark benchmark tool is more adept at differentiating the cards. The HD6870 closely mirrors the HD5850 results and far exceeds the GTX460 performance. Unfortunately, the gains aren’t significant enough when overclocked to match an overclocked HD5850 or a stock HD5870. The HD6870 has a clear 15-20% performance lead over the GTX460 at stock speed but this reduces to around 9% under overclocked speeds.
The HD6850 trades blows with the GTX460 in the performance pre-set at both stock and overclocked speeds. In the extreme pre-set however, it falls short of the HD6850 by 9% at stock speed and 7.5% with both overclocked.
Unigine V2.1 Benchmark
Unigine's benchmark is to showcase the benefits of DX 11 and the use of tessellation as opposed to normal rendering techniques. The demo has impressive visuals that gives an insight into what we can expect from gaming in the future.
The benchmark is a good indicator of the positioning of the cards performance wise. The HD6870 is right between the HD5850 and HD5870 at stock speed whilst the HD6850 outperforms the HTX460 but cannot quite touch the HD5850.
This is where we see a marked improvement in AMD’s new Bart’s architecture. Looking at the DX11 tessellation performance, the HD6870 outshines the HD5870 by 20% and even the HD6850 matches latter. As such, AMD has become more competitive with Nvidia’s offerings. The HD6870 outperforms the GTX460 by 6% but conversely, the HD6850 fall 7% behind the Nvidia card. Overclocked, the higher relative overclock on the GTX460 allows it to gain back the crown from the HD6870.
Tessellation
DX 10
DX 11 Tessellation off
DX 11 Tessellation off - wireframe mode
DX 11 Tessellation on
DX 11 Tessellation on - wireframe mode
Let's focus on a few characteristics of tessellation in the first image. Firstly, when we compare the wireframe mode, it is clear that tessellation, triangular in this case, is adding a lot more features and details, which may at first not be recognisable. The surfaces are divided in many more triangles, allowing the objects to replicate more complex structures. The ground for example is one of the features that benefits from it. To make it as efficient as possible, tessellation becomes a function of distance, generating more polygons closer to the viewer.
Now let's look at the application of this. If we gaze at the rock pillar closest to us, we can immediately notice that with tessellation, they are not just mere square blocks but instead have irregular surfaces, more representative of a natural rock. Now, let's move on to the stairs, which again is a notable improvement on past rendering methods. Rather than being flat, they have depth, giving the impression of real steps as opposed to a slide. The same applies to the cobbled road although the compressed/downsized pictures make it hard to judge. The last thing I'll point out are the tiled roofs. With tessellation, the individual tiles form a more complex/realistic shape instead of appearing flat with repeated textures. You'll have to take my word for it if you don't notice them or try the demo for yourself!
Power Consumption
Where the Barts core really shines is in power consumption. Despite the 40nm process still being used, the core packs 1.7 billion transistors on it 255mm squared die, around 450 million less than the Cypress core. The result is much lower power consumption. At stock the HD6870 draws a mere 321.8W of power and overclocking only increases the maximum load by a small 15W. The HD6850 only sports one single PCIe connector already suggesting lower power draw. The results reflect this very well with a lowly consumption of under 300W. The load power draw is slightly higher the HD6870 when overclocked due to voltage tweaking on the HD6850. Nvidia’s GF104 based GTX460 just cannot compete in this department.
Conclusion
At the risk of sounding like a broken record, we have to look at the HD6870 with the realisation that it was never meant to compete with the HD5870 and yet this is likely to be what a lot of readers will most be interested in seeing. So I’ll start by summarising those two cards first. Looking at the results, the HD5870 has a lead throughout most of the games by an average of 8%. And when both cards are overclocked to the maximum I could attain, the end results favoured the HD6870 slightly more, reducing the HD5870’s lead to a mere 5.5% For a card that has 25% lower texture fill rate and shader operations, the HD6870 proves to be very impressive in keeping up with its bigger and older brother. Furthermore, it even manages to outpace the latter in Far Cry 2 by 2-6% on average and tessellation performance is in a league above AMD’s previous offerings. In that sense, AMD have success in their hands, having achieved the efficiency they were aiming for originally. At £200, it is also currently 25% cheaper than the cheapest HD5870 I could find. Based on the paper performance, the pricing seems about right but when we realise that the performance difference is in fact only around 5-8%, the HD6870 becomes a bargain. Best of all is the much lower power consumption at 90W less, highlighting the efficiency of the Barts core.
When I reviewed the HD5850, I concluded that it was around 10% slower than the HD5870. Based on the results and the prior conclusion, it’s fair to say that the HD6870 is the better option of the two, performing marginally better when both are at stock speed and being on par with each other fully overclocked. It has to be noted that the HD5850 we tested was pre-overclocked and had the advantage of voltage tuning for a higher than average overclock. Again, the efficiency of the Barts core becomes very apparent and its lower power consumption differentiates it to be the card of choice at the same price point as the HD5850.
It’s also important that we look at the relative performance to the GTX460 which is the HD6870’s primary target. At stock speed, the HD6870 rarely loses out and on average holds a healthy 17% lead although that does range from 5%-35% based on games. The ones that favour Nvidia include Far Cry 2, Unreal Tournament 3 and Dirt 2. Overclocked, the performance gap reduces by a large amount thanks to the GTX460’s excellent overclocking ability and headroom. On average the HD6870 still leads by 10% but in the three above mentioned game, the GTX460 takes a 5% lead. Most notably is tessellation performance where again, the HD6870 takes the crown at stock speed but loses it overclocked. The winner of the two comes down to pricing. The cheapest GTX460 1GB can be found at around £150, 25% less than the HD6870, making it tremendous value for money and actually better in terms of performance/price than the HD6870. The low pricing is no doubt Nvidia’s response to AMD’s new card release but no matter the situation, it is the consumers that win. One advantage that AMD holds is the HD6870’s lower power consumption. On that basis, it is quite hard to choose between the two cards; on the one hand the GTX460 is marginally better value for money but on the other hand, power consumption favours AMD. My advice would be based to choose the card with the feature set that most suits the user’s needs.
MSI have done an excellent job with the HD6870. It may be a reference card but it overclocks like a dream, appeals aesthetically and bundles the Afterburner utility. I would have liked to see the voltage tweak feature functioning but we can’t have it all.
Pros
+Excellent performance
+Very Efficient and low power consumption
+Very cool and quiet operation
+Eyefinity support
+Stable and high overclocking headroom
+Excellent & intuitive bundled software
+Aesthetically pleasing
+Well priced
+Excellent tessellation performance
Cons
-Naming scheme
-Nvidia’s GTX460 1GB offers slightly better value for money
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The MSI HD6870 thoroughly deserves the coveted Vortez Gold Award. Well done AMD!
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