HD 6870 non reference cards

[onethreehill]

MSI R6870 Twin Frozr II
http://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/sh...1#post50411171

PowerColor HD 6870 PCS+
http://powercolor.com/us/News.asp?id=1064

[zanzabar]

and the march to worse than stock and hunting model number begins again.

[andos]

The Twin Frozr II still uses a reference PCB, though.
I believe the PCB design from PowerColor is just a reference clone.

[Chrono Detector]

The MSI one looks nice, and the Powercolor one ain't too bad either.

[oohms]

and the march to worse than stock and hunting model number begins again.

So true.. I would have bought a 6850 for this HTPC/gaming rig if the reference cooled version was made available to us.. the other coolers are unsuitable for a lot of situations

[Pantsu]

The stock 6850 cooler ran way hot, AMD probably didn't spend a lot of effort in it because all the models sold are custom.

Powercolor has skimped on the vrm control chip, PCS+ has a good cooler but you can't voltage OC, which sucks.

MSI Twin Frozr II on the other hand seems great.

[onethreehill]

MSI R6870 TwinFrozr II Tested
http://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/sh....php?t=2995673

[crash5s]

So true.. I would have bought a 6850 for this HTPC/gaming rig if the reference cooled version was made available to us.. the other coolers are unsuitable for a lot of situations

What's wrong with having a choice

Granted, these custom coolers are hit or miss, but several of them are great and you can almost always find a reference one if you want it.

I'm a fine of the MSI solutions, they tend to work well and are rather good.

[Razrback16]

I'm just anxious for the 6890s and the X2 cards to come out. That should help me decide whether to get a second 5870 or upgrade to 6000 series.