AMD Radeon HD 6850 Overclocking Roundup: Asus, XFX, & MSI
by Ryan Smith on November 8, 2010 12:40 AM ESTMeet The Asus EAH6850
Our second card today is Asus’s first Radeon HD 6850, the EAH6850.The EAH6850 is the latest member in Asus’s Voltage Tweak subseries of cards, offering official voltage modification capabilities for overclocking through Asus’s SmartDoctor utility. It’s also the first overclocked card in today’s roundup, featuring a stock speed of 790MHz core and 1000MHz memory, a mere 15MHz over the 6850’s standard clocks. As a result the overclock is a token overclock at best - it’ll edge out stock-clocked cards in testing, but the difference is nothing to write home about.
In terms of design Asus has more or less completely thrown out the 6850 reference design for their own design. Starting with the PCB, Asus has gone with a custom PCB that runs a half-inch longer than the reference PCB, giving the EAH6850 a final length of 9.5”. With this extension Asus has moved the 6pin PCIe power socket to the top of the card, removing the need for additional clearance behind the card and in the process making the power socket much more accessible. Notably there’s a spot for a second power socket, and given the longer length of the card we wouldn’t be surprised if Asus ultimately released a 6870 using this PCB.
Meanwhile the component selection on the card is the usual mix of solid state capacitors and chokes. We haven’t been able to identify the VRM components in use, but we believe Asus is using a different VRM arrangement than on the reference 6850. The card also features a metal spine running down most the length of the card, providing the extra rigidity that a longer card requires and preventing it from significantly flexing.
Attached to the top of the card is the now customary Asus DirectCU cooler, Asus’s highly effective cooler which we have seen on a number of Asus cards in the past. This open-ended cooler uses a pair of aluminum heatpipes attached to a copper baseplate to transfer heat to the card’s aluminum heatsink, which runs roughly 2/3rds the length of the card. Embedded in the middle of the heatsink is the 70mm “dustproof” fan, and a partial shroud keeps airflow directed out the front and the rear of the card. Meanwhile the MOSFETs serving as part of the VRM circuitry have their own heatsink attached through springloaded clips, with airflow coming off of the fan keeping this second heatsink cool.
As is the case with the other partner cards in today’s roundup, Asus has ditched AMD’s 6800 series Eyefinity port configuration in favor of the 5800 series Eyefinity port configuration. This means the card has two DVI ports and the HDMI port along with one full-size DisplayPort, allowing the card to drive up to 5 monitors through a DP hub.
Because this is a Voltage Tweak card, Asus’s software plays an important role here by providing control for the card’s voltage modification capabilities. SmartDoctor has not changed since the last time we’ve seen it, providing a functionally competent but ultimately second-rate overclocking experience, as SmartDoctor lacks meaningful monitoring capabilities. Truth be told, the latest betas of MSI’s Afterburner software are able to program the EAH6850’s VRM controller, meaning there’s no practical reason to use SmartDoctor as the superior Afterburner is available.
As for pack-in items, Asus includes their usual collection for an AMD card: a quick-start manual, driver/utility CD, molex-to-PCIe power adaptor, short CrossFire bridge, a pleather CD binder, and a DVI-to-VGA dongle. Which on that note we had a chance to talk to Asus’s video card product manager last week and asked about the VGA dongle – it turns out that while VGA is largely dead & buried in North America, it’s alive and well in the Asia-Pacific region. Asus is simply packing their cards the same way in all regions, which means they all come with the VGA dongle.
Finally, the EAH6850 comes with Asus’s standard 3 year video card warranty. EAH6850 can be found for around $185, putting it at a $5 premium over AMD’s MSRP.
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CeriseCogburn - Thursday, August 23, 2012 - link
The "new policy" purportedly made from "abundantly clear emails" is a self serving policy and will leave us with less information more of the time.Anandtech will include only the OC model of the currently being tested card, and thus - they will get a happy pat on the head for the review article from their minders who sent them the test card(s).
Oh look it's soooo fast...
"why thank you"
"your welcome"
"see you guys at the island party where we can discuss the industry"
"why thanksfor the tickets and invite !"
"you're welcome keep up the good promo work!"
"we will ! "
"I like how you said it's your viewers desire! Man the spin is awesome !"
7Enigma - Monday, November 8, 2010 - link
I can't say I read all 55 pages (last time I checked), but if you weeded out the fanboys on both sides you got very similar to what the OP is saying here (and I'm sure the comments to follow will reiterate):Comparing stock-clocked cards from a LAUNCH article of a new series to OC variants is questionable (again the key word being launch), but I believe that few of us were asking to not have any factory OC cards included (especially when this review focuses solely ON factory OC cards).
Just keep the comparisons consistent; that's all most of us readers without an agenda are advocating.
mm2587 - Monday, November 8, 2010 - link
Thank you. I admit my first post was a bit over the top but really so was the conclusion to this article.Here's an article about the extremes of the 6850. A perfect place to mention the extremes of its closest competitor the gtx460 (yes the ftw cost more, but lets face it most 460's are able to clock within 5% of the ftw)
Instead we're treated with another round of OC'd cards vs. reference cards. The very issue that created the uproar previously.
I have no agenda here. I'm pretty sure I've switched manufacturers every time I've updated my card. I just want the most bang for my buck regardless of what color the card is. Right now Anandtech's articles are not doing a good job of showing me how to get that.
I've used and trusted this site for years. Like 7enigma, all I'm asking for is consistency, something that I always thought this site delivered.
khimera2000 - Monday, November 8, 2010 - link
I have to agree i was surprised that the FTW card was not included since this was roundup of the 6850 OC cards. But i can understand there hesitation. When they caved to Nvidia they lost alot of respect from alot of there reviewers since no matter how you spin it, and no matter what there intentions everyone who looks at the sight will see it as AT selling out.AT now have to be even more carefull not to include anything that might be seen as biyest. and now has to do alot of work to prove that its loyalties rest with its readers and not lining there pockets (good luck)
If it was found that the FTW card killed the OC 6850 then im pritty sure they would have another flaim fest.
Its not a perfect approach but I see it as a step in the right direction to patching up there relation with there customer base. Id say a good approach is do a review off all the cards individualy so you can do see there marrets and flaws, then post one big comparison review of the OC 400 series vs the OC 6000 series. then note that you intend to do this comparison at the releas of every OC card.
MeanBruce - Wednesday, November 10, 2010 - link
Oh my God, you might have to start thinking on your own, what a disaster. Remember who is in charge here, Anand, not you...krumme - Monday, November 8, 2010 - link
Excellent Ryan.Thank you for listening.
flipmode - Monday, November 8, 2010 - link
Well, Ryan - give the people what they want, right? So you're giving in to the Radeon fanboys and opting to limit the products that you show. I don't know what to say. Sometimes you have to stand up to fanboys and stupidity, not give in. Anandtech just got an F for the day today.You're simply not supposed to let fanboys dictate policy for you.
mapesdhs - Monday, November 8, 2010 - link
Hey, wait a minute Ryan, *plenty* of us said we _did_ agree with including
the FTW, that it was the right thing to do. You're seriously bowing to the moaners?
That's effectively admitting your original rationale for including the card was
wrong, which makes no sense to me.
As I pointed out, people who objected are much more likely to say so than
people who didn't mind. So once again we have to pander to the lowest
common denominator of opinion?
You should do a particular thing because it is the _right_ thing to do, not
because the majority say so. An opinion without a rationale is no opinion
at all. Your reasons for including the FTW were sound; it should have been
included in this review precisely to offer the comparison which all those
same moaners said was missing in the earlier article. It's whatt hey wanted
afterall.
What a sad day... another win for the those who shout loudest. :\
Ian.
medi01 - Monday, November 8, 2010 - link
Right thing to do was exactly NOT including cherrypickedhardtofindoverclocked card. They realize it themselves.SlyNine - Monday, November 8, 2010 - link
Wait wait. Can we please respect the opinions of others instead of having an "my opinion is the only valid one" Now I agreed with their decision to include the FTW. But it's no big deal that they don't.Otho I agree, It sucks that those who whine loudest get their gears greased first. But if it's not a big deal, who gives a rats @$$.