AMD's Radeon HD 6870 1 GB
The size of the reference Radeon HD 6870 is very similar to the reference Radeon HD 5850 (the card in the middle). Both models are about 10 ¼ inches long. The Radeon HD 6870 is slightly longer, but it appears even more so because the Radeon HD 5850’s cooler is tapered off at the end. The Radeon HD 6870 weighs in at 1 lb., 16 oz.--two ounces more than the reference 5850.
The Radeon HD 6870 requires the same two 6-pin auxiliary power cables, but the placement is much more appropriate (on the top of the card, instead of the rear). Note that the Radeon HD 6870 only has a single CrossFire bridge, limiting the card to two-way configurations. The Radeon HD 5850 reference card had two of these bridges, enabling triple- and quadruple-card setups.
AMD arms its Radeon HD 6870 reference card with two DVI, one HDMI, and two mini-DisplayPort outputs. As we’ve mentioned, the DVI output beside the exhaust port is a single-link output, while the other is dual-link-capable.
MSI’s take on the Radeon HD 6870 is closely based on AMD's reference design. It comes bundled with two Molex-to-PCIe power adapters, a mini-DisplayPort-to-DisplayPort adapter, a DVI-to-VGA adapter, a manual, the user guide, a driver/utility CD, and a CrossFire bridge. The card is clocked at the reference rates and is equipped with a gigabyte of GDDR5 memory.
The HIS Radeon HD 6870 comes equipped with a CrossFire bridge, dual Molex-to-PCIe power adapters, a DVI-to-VGA adapter, and a CD folder that includes a manual, driver/utility CD, and a HIS sticker. Like all of the vanguard Radeon HD 6870 cards, it is set to reference specs with a 1 GB of memory.
