Sapphire HD 6950 Dirt3 Edition Pro Reviews

The Sapphire HD 6950 2GB GDDR5 DiRT 3 Special Edition has a functional custom cooling solution, and also gives you the ability to change the GPU voltage. These are two things that, especially when paired together, any overclocker will appreciate when trying to get the most out their video card. Sapphire has included a coupon for the full version of DiRT 3, free for you to play. This improves the value of the bundle, and is welcome to see. In terms of value, at $249.99 after mail-in rebate the Sapphire HD 6950 2GB GDDR5 DiRT 3 Special Edition is a good value. This video card is one of the cheaper 2GB HD 6950 models you can buy, and it comes with a full version game free in the bundle! Take into account the custom heatsink and GPU voltage tweaking, and the fact that this is one of the cheaper cards you can buy adds up to value. GeForce GTX 560 Ti's are cheaper, there is currently at least one GeForce GTX 560 Ti for only $209.99 after mail-in rebate. This may be the odd one out since most other start at about $220. But while the GTX 560 Ti may be cheaper, the HD 6950 certainly holds the performance crown over the GTX 560 Ti, especially when you can overclock it like the Sapphire HD 6950. As for whether to choose the Sapphire HD 6950 2GB DDR5 DiRT 3 Special Edition or one of the countless other ones that currently are selling for $249.99 after mail-in rebate. Well we feel that with the custom heatsink, GPU voltage tweaking, a great GPU tweaking program, and full version game bundle, the Sapphire HD 6950 is where it's at. Given all the above, with a competitive price tag, we feel that the Sapphire HD 6950 2GB DDR5 DiRT 3 Special Edition deserves a HardOCP Editor's Choice Gold Award.

Sapphire HD6950 2GB DiRT3 Toxic Edition: great cooler, great overclocks, great performance. There's nothing less to it! An absolutely potent card for the price that can be had for a nice chunk cheaper than the HD6970 at almost the same, matched, or even better performance.

Regarding the Sapphire Radeon HD 6950 DIRT 3 graphics card, its current retail price is $270 USD. This DIRT 3 version is at a $30 premium over Sapphire's standard Radeon HD 6950 model with the cost difference just getting you a copy of the DIRT 3 video game and a larger heatsink. Unless you're a Windows user (or using Wine under Linux, the DIRT 3 edition isn't of much value with the game and the stock heatsink cooler for the HD 6950 should work just fine since there isn't much value to pushing the graphics card harder under Linux. Regardless, Sapphire Technology remains a trusted AMD AIB partner and one of the brands we recommend at Phoronix due to their very good reputation, competitive pricing, and being one of the vendors kinds towards Linux.

If you are a fan of the DiRT series of games and are in the market for getting a new graphics card, the Sapphire HD6950 2GB DiRT3 Edition is a no-brainer. I would suggest this card to anyone who is looking to get into the Eyefinity scene or is needing an upgrade to their current graphics solution.

If you look at this Radeon HD 6950 Dirt 3 Edition with an open mind, and no thought to the shader-unlocking loving, then you wont be disappointed. It's one of the best stock HD 6950s out there, and one of the coolest too.