PowerColor Radeon HD 6850 PCS+ Review - PAGE 1

The HD 6850 was released alongside the HD 6870 just over a month ago and was part of the first wave of Northern Islands-based graphics cards to hit the market. Both of these new products used the Barts graphics processing unit, and for the most part included the same built-in architecture. The HD 6870 is built on the Barts XT core, which includes 1120 Stream processors and has a core clock speed of 900MHz. The HD 6870 was the more high-end of the two models launched, as the HD 6850 has a reduced amount of Stream processors, is clocked 775MHz and uses the Barts Pro GPU. The HD 6870 generated more excitement at launch, because in this industry the buzz tends to be built up around the most powerful product available. However, shortly after the HD 6800 series entered our labs, we found the HD 6850 was capable of reaching clock speeds in excess of the HD 6870, and due to the increased frequencies was able to greatly narrow the performance gap.

The latest HD 6850 to show up at the Neoseeker lab is the PowerColor HD 6850 PCS+. This model includes all of the features and specifications of the Barts Pro graphics processor, but since it is part of the PCS+ line it also includes improved cooling and a factory set overclock. The default speed for a reference HD 6850 is 775MHz, whereas the PowerColor model comes with a core clock of 820MHz. The memory speed has also been increased to 1100MHz, 100MHz faster than reference models. Both of these settings will improve the overall performance of the card, and should yield impressive results across multiple games and benchmarks.

Along with the improved frequencies and cooling, PowerColor has also included a free copy of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. There is a slight price increase for all that's included with this card, but with improved performance, cooling and a free game, the premium is to be expected.