In order to set their products apart, third-party vendors take reference GPUs from AMD and Nvidia, then make their own tweaks to layout, cooling, and performance. We're comparing a tuned-up card from MSI to AMD's reference Radeon HD 5870 to measure value.
When it comes to setting the clock rates on non-reference graphics cards, third-party vendors take different routes. Some overclocked cards employ higher GPU clocks, but they don’t always alter memory data rates. Typically, the GPU speed can be modified afterward through software tools (incidentally, most reference cards can also be tweaked fairly easily). These tools typically allow users to also adjust memory clock speeds, which is a critical warranty item. Experience shows that memory is more sensitive to overclocking. In addition, overclocking often alters 2D clocks as well, causing your card to use more power and requiring more cooling when it sitting there idle.
If you manually overclock a graphics card, you cannot know without some testing if the target settings remain effective, or if throttling in 2D mode is still possible. We've seen plenty of instances where an overclocked card ends up running at its maximum clocks, even on the Windows desktop. That defeats the purpose of throttling entirely, generating a lot of unnecessary heat your cooling subsystem is forced to deal with.
Factory-overclocked cards, however, correctly implement modified speed settings, meaning that they run the tweaked clock speeds in 3D mode and still throttle clock speeds and power consumption in 2D mode, making them more efficient, at least, without any aftermarket tweaking needed.
In this article, we’ll compare a reference ATI Radeon HD 5870 card and the factory-overclocked MSI R5870 Lightning TwinFrozr II, analyzing real-world differences between the two. We'll also run the reference card at overclocked settings as well, because we wanted to see if the pricier aftermarket solution can deliver more value than a reference board tuned to run faster.
- GPU Overclocking Is Half Of The Story
- Graphics Cards And Configurations Compared
- Differences: Reference Versus Aftermarket
- 2D Temperature, Noise, Power Consumption
- 3D Temperature, Noise, Power Consumption
- Overclocking
- Cross-Check
- Benchmarks: Alien Vs. Predator
- Benchmarks: Avatar
- Benchmarks: Battlefield Bad Company 2
- Benchmarks: Dragon Age: Origins
- Benchmarks: Left 4 Dead 2
- Benchmarks: Mass Effect 2
- Benchmarks: Supreme Commander 2
- Benchmarks: 3DMark06
- Overall Performance
- Power, Noise, And Temperature
- 3D Performance, Ordered By Resolution And AA
- Conclusion

There are references to how much the reference card is overclocked by, but there is no clear section about it, you started off with some of the summary charts, instead of putting them after the initial tests and you kept switching what cards you were comparing, with less warning than I would like..
Plus there's that 2GB 5850. Is that really a 2GB 5850, or is it actually 2GB 5830, because it kept getting beaten by the 1GB 5850..
I'm guessing they meant "In order to SET their products apart..."
Seriously, it's the first sentence in the article. Does no one proof read anything here? Isn't that like the first thing you learn when you want to become a writer? Sorry, rant over.
The reference 5870 has a vent on its side so, it doesn't completely remove the hot air from the case but recirculates a part of the hot air back into the case
The amount of ram doesn't really matter at these resolutions.
Try this, put together a really really really premium card component wise, and then don't put any cooling on it. Let me decide what I am going to do for cooling and companies can save on packaging, shipping etc due to no cooler.
If your really aiming at the OC crowd and not just playing a game of marketing, then you know the first thing someone does is to rip off your factory cooler to replace it or at the very least put quality thermal compound on it.
Best suggestion, wait for the manufacture to slap on some after market cooling and pay the extra for something useful. It wasn't like this in the past, but now-a-days they like putting on HSF setups that do a relatively poor job.
Edit: ...fan of Red OR Green...
Its funny because mine will do the exact speed as the factory "superclocked" card's settings at the press of a button - all under lifetime warranty.
My card before this one was a Radeon, I'm a total unloyal customer. I'm sure they have some similar deals, but EVGA has definetely earned my business when it comes to Nvidia stuff...
Yes, some of us DO prefer ATI cards over nVidia. So what? For the last two years nVidia has done little more than offer up old cards with new model numbers on them trying to convince us that they were still a competitor, while ATI pushed the envelope in performance, price, and power efficiency. Even now, when nVidia has finally gotten their new chipset out the door and is finally offering a competitive performing card they are still too expensive for what you get and use enough juice to heat a small home.
If nVidia spins your wheels, then that is fine with me. Personally, I have had more than enough of their crappy drivers and overheating cards to last me a life time.
more to the point, who the hell in their right mind buys/uses a 32-bit OS anyways?
What kind of person thinks it would make a difference?
Wow, you must be off your meds. Tom's just posted an article about the awesome SLI scaling of the 460, although it was a week late. I also believe that the lastest graphics card chart came before the GTX 460, although the other GF400s are on the chart.
As far as the 480 and the 470, I don't think they use that much more power than previous generation cards, or create that much more heat either. I'd say that EVERY review site under rates the higher end Fermi cards. No one seems to get that besides gaming, they are absolute folding MONSTERS. If I folded, I wouldn't use anything less than a 470. To bad nVidia doesn't have an AMD chipset that was in my price range when I was buying a motherboard.