ASUS EAH6870 DC/2DI2S/1GD5 Pro Reviews

The two HD 6800 cards are now pretty long in the tooth, but they perform very well for the respective pricepoints. These cards somewhat fit right between where the HD 7770 is and what we expect the HD 7850 to be. They are still very good buys even in the face of new products coming down the pipeline. Buying one of these at this point in time is not a bad idea at all. The new 7000 series will not add much in terms of features. About the only thing that the HD 7770 has over the HD 6850 is power consumption, but that turns into a few tens of watts at load. The only thing I would really change would be to make the EAH6870 into a DirectCU II based product. I think it would have been a lot better with the larger heatsink and twin fans. While it works perfectly fine as is, I did find the extra noise to be slightly bothersome. The HD 6900 series is a bit tougher to take on at this time. While Asus does a very nice job with the design and build of these cards, there is still that triple slot requirement. Not only that, but it does appear that the new HD 7800 series of cards will essentially displace the HD 6900s. If a user can get a hold of these cards on sale, then I think the investment will be worth it. Still, the HD 6970 has been my favorite overall card for this generation due to a combination of price, power consumption, and performance as compared to the competing high end cards from NVIDIA. If a user is sitting on the fence between buying one of these cards now, and waiting some time for the HD 7800 series… I would tend to just buy one of the 6900 series right now and enjoy it for some time to come.

In conclusion, we have a card that easily holds its own in terms of overall performance. Asus have taken that product and turned into something that really shines. Their heat-sink and shroud are not only great looking but perform really well at keeping this card running nice and cool. The other thing is that this card produces very little noise as well. When these cards were first released the stock offerings became quite noisy once they were put under normal stress. This card however remains very quiet even under the stresses that we put it through on our test bench. Taking all of these things into consideration this card has come out as one of the top performing cards for its price.

A good card at a good price. Not only does it perform killer, it looks killer. So if performance and looks are equally important to you, you will really like the ASUS Radeon HD 6870.

The ASUS EAH6870 DirectCU does not have a humungous factory boost on the GPU or the memory. Don’t expect to pop it in your case and experience a better than reference 6870 performance Instead, the ASUS EAH6870 DirectCU is an enthusiast’s video card. It is meant for someone that wants to do the overclocking themselves and have enough wiggle room to make the most out of it. That is just what the ASUS EAH6870 DirectCU provides with its Super Alloy Power (read improved power circuitry), Voltage Tweak, and DirectCU cooling solution. In short it lets you crank up the power while still being able to dissipate the heat. At its current price of $219.99 after MIR the ASUS EAH6870 DirectCU represents a spectacular value and if you are interested in overclocking you would be foolish to overlook it.

Boasting the highest overclocked core speed in the charts while not sounding like a jumbo jet/Hoover vacuum crossbreed is a great combination! Along with all of the additions that ASUS made, this is a strong choice for anyone looking at getting a 6870. The cooling performance was surprising as I figured it would do decent but didn't think it would fight its way to the top. Stellar performance but hopefully not at a stellar cost. That would make this card a complete winner!