Asus took us by surprise when they launched their GTS 450 Direct CU edition graphics card for a stellar price. Not only was it the fastest card for less than 10K, it excelled in other areas as well by keeping the temperatures in check no matter how far we pushed the card. The AMD HD 6850 that's up for review features the very same magic cooler and comes at a very competitive price.
The Asus EAH6850 is factory overclocked, but not by much. The only change as compared to the reference card is the core speed, which has been bumped to 790MHz from 775MHz. The memory is left untouched. I guess Asus has left some room for the user to try his hand at overclocking using their SmartDoctor utility. The dual slot card has an open back design, which means the hot air isn't channeled out of the case directly but is dumped inside the case itself.
As long as you have one exhaust fan in your case, this should be a non-issue. While the MRP is somewhere around 14K, you can find this particular model in stores for close to 12K. This puts it straight up against the GTX 460 1GB, as currently there isn't any other DX11 card at this price point. So instead of giving you a laundry list of graphics card scores, let's pit them against each other and see which card makes a better buy in this segment.
The Asus EAH6850 is factory overclocked, but not by much. The only change as compared to the reference card is the core speed, which has been bumped to 790MHz from 775MHz. The memory is left untouched. I guess Asus has left some room for the user to try his hand at overclocking using their SmartDoctor utility. The dual slot card has an open back design, which means the hot air isn't channeled out of the case directly but is dumped inside the case itself.
As long as you have one exhaust fan in your case, this should be a non-issue. While the MRP is somewhere around 14K, you can find this particular model in stores for close to 12K. This puts it straight up against the GTX 460 1GB, as currently there isn't any other DX11 card at this price point. So instead of giving you a laundry list of graphics card scores, let's pit them against each other and see which card makes a better buy in this segment.
Bundle
- Instruction booklet
- Driver and Utility disks
- CrossFire bridge
- 2x PCIE to Molex power cable
- DVI to VGA adapter
- CD wallet
Design and Build
The card looks exactly like the GTS 450, the only difference being the red stripes on the HD6850 instead of the green.
There are plenty of connectivity options such as dual DVI connectors, HDMI and DP.
Unlike the GTX 460, the HD 6850 requires just a single PCIE power connector.
The cooler is quite chunky with a full aluminum heatsink and two large copper pipes sticking out from the top.
Testbench
CPU: Intel Corei7 940 (Bloomfield) @ 2.93 GHz with Intel Turbo Boost Enabled
Motherboard: ECS X58B-A2
RAM: 3 x 1GB DDR3 1600 MHz Kingston HyperX
HDD: Hitachi 500GB SATA II (7200 rpm)
PSU: CoolerMaster 1000W
Monitor: Viewsonic G90fB monitor (19-inch, Max Res. 1920 x 1440)
OS: Windows 7 Ultimate
VGA Driver: Catalyst 11.2
CPU: Intel Corei7 940 (Bloomfield) @ 2.93 GHz with Intel Turbo Boost Enabled
Motherboard: ECS X58B-A2
RAM: 3 x 1GB DDR3 1600 MHz Kingston HyperX
HDD: Hitachi 500GB SATA II (7200 rpm)
PSU: CoolerMaster 1000W
Monitor: Viewsonic G90fB monitor (19-inch, Max Res. 1920 x 1440)
OS: Windows 7 Ultimate
VGA Driver: Catalyst 11.2
Performance
3DMark 06
3DMark 06
3DMark Vantage
FarCry2 (DX 10)
We used the FarCry 2 benchmark tool 1.0.0.1. Everything was set to High in Overall Quality with Direct3D 10, and the game was looped three times before a final average score was obtained. Filtering and AA were set as Application Controlled in the drivers.
We used the FarCry 2 benchmark tool 1.0.0.1. Everything was set to High in Overall Quality with Direct3D 10, and the game was looped three times before a final average score was obtained. Filtering and AA were set as Application Controlled in the drivers.
- Ranch Medium
- Render Quality - Very High
- Performance - High
Crysis Warhead (DX 10)
For this benchmark we used the Avalanche stage to record our benchmark. We used the following settings;
For this benchmark we used the Avalanche stage to record our benchmark. We used the following settings;
- Enthusiast Preset
- DX 10
H.A.W.X (DX 10)
This is the latest aerial combat game from Tom Clancy called H.A.X.W. All the settings were set to their maximum with DX10.1 enabled for ATI cards. Anti-Aliasing was kept at 4x, since 8x was too much for any card with 512MB of RAM. However, for graphics cards with 1GB and more memory, we have used 8x AA.
This is the latest aerial combat game from Tom Clancy called H.A.X.W. All the settings were set to their maximum with DX10.1 enabled for ATI cards. Anti-Aliasing was kept at 4x, since 8x was too much for any card with 512MB of RAM. However, for graphics cards with 1GB and more memory, we have used 8x AA.
DIRT 2 (DX 10)
DIRT 2, which is the first game to support DX11, is the perfect candidate for the new generation cards. For this test we turned all settings to High and took three readings. One without AA, one with 4x AA and the third with 4xAA and Post Processing set to High, which is only available on DX11 cards. We ran this game on three popular resolutions and this is what we got.
DIRT 2, which is the first game to support DX11, is the perfect candidate for the new generation cards. For this test we turned all settings to High and took three readings. One without AA, one with 4x AA and the third with 4xAA and Post Processing set to High, which is only available on DX11 cards. We ran this game on three popular resolutions and this is what we got.
S.T.A.L.K.E.R : Call of Prypiat (DX 11)
Call of Prypiat is the latest S.T.A.L.K.E.R game released in Feb 2010 that features a new game engine that uses DX 11's most popular feature, Tessellation. We ran the benchmark with the 'High' preset, Full Dynamic Lighting (DX11), SSAO-Default, SSAO Quality High and with and without AA for three resolutions. Out of the three scores that we got (Day, Night, Rain and Sunshafts) we've compared the Average score of the 'Day Time' FPS only.
Call of Prypiat is the latest S.T.A.L.K.E.R game released in Feb 2010 that features a new game engine that uses DX 11's most popular feature, Tessellation. We ran the benchmark with the 'High' preset, Full Dynamic Lighting (DX11), SSAO-Default, SSAO Quality High and with and without AA for three resolutions. Out of the three scores that we got (Day, Night, Rain and Sunshafts) we've compared the Average score of the 'Day Time' FPS only.
Metro 2033 (DX 11)
Touted as the Crysis of 2010, this is one game that brings the fastest cards down to their knees. Metro 2033 makes use of many DX11 features like advanced Depth of Field effects as well as Full Tessellation on character models.
For this we tried to max out the settings to see what these cards are made off. These are the settings we used;
Touted as the Crysis of 2010, this is one game that brings the fastest cards down to their knees. Metro 2033 makes use of many DX11 features like advanced Depth of Field effects as well as Full Tessellation on character models.
For this we tried to max out the settings to see what these cards are made off. These are the settings we used;
- Very High Preset
- 4X AF
- Advanced PhysX -Off
- DX 11
Unigine Heaven 2.0 Benchmark (DX 11)
Unigine recently updated their Heaven benchmark to ver 2.0 just before the launch of Fermi which now features an Extreme Tessellation mode. Here we tested the cards in two resolutions, one with Normal Tessellation and Extreme Tessellation. This gives us a rough idea of how these cards will perform in future games once they start making wider use of Tessellation throughout the map.
Unigine recently updated their Heaven benchmark to ver 2.0 just before the launch of Fermi which now features an Extreme Tessellation mode. Here we tested the cards in two resolutions, one with Normal Tessellation and Extreme Tessellation. This gives us a rough idea of how these cards will perform in future games once they start making wider use of Tessellation throughout the map.
Analysis
On average (except for Dirt2), the Asus HD 6850 is about 10-15% faster than the GTX 460 1GB. In games like STALKER and Crysis Warhead, it gets to stretch its legs and leaves the GTX 460 behind especially at higher resolution with lots of AA. Next, let's have a look at the power consumption and temperature readings.
Power Consumption
On average (except for Dirt2), the Asus HD 6850 is about 10-15% faster than the GTX 460 1GB. In games like STALKER and Crysis Warhead, it gets to stretch its legs and leaves the GTX 460 behind especially at higher resolution with lots of AA. Next, let's have a look at the power consumption and temperature readings.
Power Consumption
On idle, it's a lot lower than the GTX 460 1GB and even on load, it's still lower than the GTX 460.
Temperatures
The card idles at a low 40C and when stressed using FurMark goes all the way up to just 64C, which shows the Direct CU cooler is really working overtime.
ricing and Verdict
The Asus EAH6850 can be found in stores for as little as Rs. 12,500. While this is still a bit higher than a stock GTX 460 1GB, it does perform better as well. MSI's HD 6850 can be found for a bit cheaper at 11K, so if you are on a very tight budget, that would make a good buy.
All said and done, we still wouldn't ignore the Asus card simply because it has a lot going for it. The cooler used here does wonders for the temperature. Not only that, the Smart Doctor utility offers you plenty of options to tweak the speeds including the core voltage. Between this and the GTX 460 1GB, the HD 6850 does have an upper hand in most games which makes it a better choice. Remember, this is the overclocked version of the HD 6850 so the standard edition should be closer to the GTX 460 1GB in terms of performance. If you're picking up the standard version then either Nvidia or AMD would be a good buy.
