Legit Video Card Reviews

XFX Radeon HD 6850 Black Edition Video Card Review

Manufacturer: XFX
Product: XFX Radeon HD 6850 Black Edition Video Card
Date: Tue, Feb 22, 2011 - 12:00 AM
Written By: Brian Giacoletti -
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Temperature Testing


Since video card temperatures and the heat generated by next-generation cards have become an area of concern among enthusiasts and gamers, we want to take a closer look at how the graphics cards do at idle and under a full load.

XFX Radeon HD 6850 1GB Video Card Idle Temperature At 820 Mhz:

XFX Radeon HD 6850 Video Card Idle Temp 820

XFX Radeon HD 6850 1GB Video Card Load Temperature At 820 Mhz:

XFX Radeon HD 6850 Video Card Load Temp 820

XFX Radeon HD 6850 1GB Video Card Idle Temperature At 775 Mhz:

XFX Radeon HD 6850 Video Card Idle Temp 775

XFX Radeon HD 6850 1GB Video Card Load Temperature At 775 Mhz:

XFX Radeon HD 6850 Video Card Load Temp 820

As you can see from the screen shots above, the idle state of the XFX Radeon HD 6800 series drops the GPU core clock frequency down to 300MHz and the memory clock down to 300MHz to help conserve power and lower temperatures. At idle in the NZXT Phantom the XFX Radeon HD 6850 video card temperature was observed at 36C at 820 MHz and at 775 MHz it was at 34C.

We fired up FurMark and ran the stability at 640x480, which was enough to put the GPU core at 100% load in order to get the highest load temperature possible. This application also charts the temperature results so you can see how the temperature rises and levels off, which is very nice. The fans on the video cards were left on auto during temperature testing. When we hit the space bar to stop the rendering the temperature dropped.

XFX Radeon HD 6850 1GB Video Card Load Temperature At 820 Mhz:

XFX Radeon HD 6850 Video Card Load Temp 820

XFX Radeon HD 6850 1GB Video Card Load Temperature At 775 Mhz:

XFX Radeon HD 6850 Video Card Load Temp 775

XFX Radeon HD 6850 Video Card Temp Chart

What was impressive here is the fact that at both clock speeds the card was able to stay well below 70C; I think this is mostly due to the fact that the fan on the XFX Radeon HD 6850 is placed right on top of the core and not to the rear of the card like some manufacturers are doing. This makes for efficient heat transfer away from the core and away from the card and it results in lower temps all around.

Next Page - Overclocking


Review Index
Page 1 - XFX Radeon HD 6850 Video Card
Page 2 - XFX Radeon HD 6850 Video Card Packaging
Page 3 - A Closer Look At The XFX Radeon HD 6850
Page 4 - The Test System
Page 5 - Batman Arkham Asylum
Page 6 - Metro 2033
Page 7 - Alien vs. Predator
Page 8 - Left 4 Dead 2
Page 9 - S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Call of Pripyat
Page 10 - Battlefield: Bad Company 2
Page 11 - 3DMark 11
Page 12 - Furmark 1.8.2
Page 13 - Unigine Heaven
Page 14 - Temperature Testing
Page 15 - Overclocking
Page 16 - My thoughts on the XFX Radeon HD 6850