MSI R6850 PM2D1GD5
A quick look at the package reveals that our test unit is the OC Edition of MSI’s R6850 PM2D1GD5, separated from MSI’s reference-speed R6850 PM2D1GD5 only by clock rate.
The difficulties we had trying to set this article up at the end of October are bluntly revealed in this board. The OC Edition was initially listed on MSI’s Web site, only to disappear later. AMD’s Radeon HD 6850 graphics processor has little room to overclock at or near stock core voltage, and MSI cancelled its OC Edition card rather than risk instability.
Several factors caused us to keep MSI in the running for this roundup. First is that all our reference-clocked cards are dispersed across other test labs around the country, and including one as a reference point in this story is a useful way to show how much better overclocked samples perform.
Second is that the OC Edition card uses the same hardware as MSI’s standard-edition R6850 PM2D1GD5, so that underclocking allows the faster card to represent the performance level of its reference-clocked sibling.
The R6850 PM2D1GD5 uses the same 8.5”-long circuit board design as the HIS model from our launch article, with three of its four voltage regulators enabled. While the cooler extends the card’s overall length, the 8.6” distance from the card’s face to the end of its PCIe power connector will be more important to those who plan to use a small case.
Related Stories :
- PowerColor's SCS3 HD6850: Radeon HD 6850 Goes Fanless
- Roundup: Four Radeon HD 6850 1 GB Cards Compared
- AMD Radeon HD 6870 And 6850: Is Barts A Step Forward?
- Quick Take: PowerColor's Passively-Cooled Radeon HD 7850 SCS3
- AMD Releases Radeon HD 8970M Mobile GPU
- HIS Rolls Out Radeon HD 7850 IceQ X² Graphics Card
- AMD Radeon HD 9970 Specifications Speculations
- Sapphire Launches the Radeon HD 7790 SimCity Edition
- MSI Radeon HD 7730 Surfaces in China
- MSI GX60 Review: Radeon HD 7970M In A $1,200 Notebook!
It would be nice to see overclocking results. I know the whole "results will vary" malarkey but still, it would be interesting to see things like the benefit (if any) to having two pci-e power connectors on the Sapphire card or how high you could take the ASUS card using the software that came with it. Oh, and also, can you use Afterburner with the Powercolor and Sapphire cards?
[citation][nom]Oh, and also, can you use Afterburner with the Powercolor and Sapphire cards?[/citation]
I use afterburner with a Gigabyte Card, (Flashed to ASUS). Works fine.
Oh, and also, can you use Afterburner with the Powercolor and Sapphire cards?
Yes
last line of the article...
"Now, here did I put that Christmas list?"
here = where
Why are you using catalyst 10.6 (drivers from june) instead of latest, quite long already available 10.11 or 10.10-beta with HD6800 support?
love this card looking to buy it for my new build and would go for ASUS as i already own the game.
No OCing?
so, wheres the comparison between these cards and rival cards from nvidia??? using recent drivers?? and OC???!this doesnt really tell us anything except the performance is so close you may as well get the cheapest of the lot.
ATI driver support is a complete debacle. That's why this article uses stone age drivers (10.6)
No OCing?
so, wheres the comparison between these cards and rival cards from nvidia??? using recent drivers?? and OC???!this doesnt really tell us anything except the performance is so close you may as well get the cheapest of the lot.
Er dude...
http://www.tomshardware.com/review [...] ,2776.html
The previous article, which answered all your questions a month ago, was linked numerous times in this article.
So, it seems it can run Crysis!
I always appreciate more information, but shouldn't an exploration of the top options in the $200 range be more appropriate given it's the Christmas hardware giving season? The 6850 is a great card, but a more focused value study across many makes and models might be more useful. All the same, I'll take what I can get. I'd just like to point out that the new Radeons are getting more expensive while nVidia's 460s are getting much cheaper.
Just my two cents, but that would seem like a much more interesting article. We already know the 6850 is mostly quiet and pretty efficient, but GTX470s are going for only a few dollars more in some cases. Bring the throwdown.
Excellent conclusion, Thomas. Explores different uses.
You can use Sapphire Trixx to overclock and unlock the voltage for the new Radeon 6800 series cards if Afterburner doesn't work.
I would have loved to see the Sapphires being OC'd and then XFire'd. Will there be any love for that? 8)
Great article also, thanks Mr. Thomas!
Cheers!
last line of the article..."Now, here did I put that Christmas list?"here = where
Thanks, I don't think I could have ever figured that one out...
Those dirt2 benches kinda make me regret getting the 6870. Oh well...
What I like about the 6800s is that AA does not detract that much from framerate.
A nice review and round-up of the 6850, Thanks Tom. I have to say I was am still am very interested in the 6850-70 model GPU's and I am glad to see some comparisons of the 6850's. Although right now these cards exceed my spending limit, I am glad to say I picked up a 5830 for $130 after MIR(pricing mistake?), I think thats a good trade off of price/performance for now.
this article was pointless
overclocked cards perform better and use more power.. we all know this