Sapphire Radeon HD 6970 2GB Dual Fan Review - PAGE 19

AMD's Radeon HD 6970 is already one of the best graphics cards on the market. However, the reference design can get loud, not to mention lacking in thermal performance. For these reasons, and to better compete in an aggressive market, manufacturers are always tweaking their designs to improve the aesthetics, thermal performance, rendering power and acoustics. The Sapphire HD 6970 Dual-Fan Edition proved to be one such model, and even while it sticks with the reference specifications, this HD 6970 ended up being one of the best Cayman XT based graphics solutions we have seen on the market.

First and foremost, it uses a highly efficient thermal solution that includes dual 90mm fans with an improved propeller design. This allows the fans to produce exceptional airflow at low RPM, thus reducing the noise output of the graphics card. Additionally, the large aluminum heatsink improves the thermal efficiency over the reference design; by our reckoning it proved up to 25% more efficient than the reference cooler.

When it came to overclocking, the Sapphire card again scored high marks. With the dual BIOS toggle switch, this card already has the ideal settings for extreme overclocking by increasing the fan speed, PowerTune rating and core voltage (up to 1.2V). With BIOS switch active, we were able to push the core up to 1014MHz, which is an increase of 15%. Overclocking gave the graphics card an extra boost in performance, which yielded higher frame rates across the board.

When it comes to aftermarket graphics cards, Sapphire always hit all the right marks, and continues to do so with this model . It is extremely power efficient and is quiet to boot. Since Sapphire has kept the price point at the same level as the reference design, the Dual-Fan HD 6970 is a bargain.