ASUS EAH6850/EAH6870 Video Cards Overclock And Over-Cool AMD's New Radeons

AMD's latest Radeon HD 6870 and 6850 GPUs are official, and ASUS has wasted no time slapping them into a couple of new video cards.  However, they've also taken a few liberties and made some tweaks of their own; the ASUS EAH6850 DirectCU/2DIS/1GD5 and EAH6870/2DI2S/1GD5 cards are each overclocked out of the box, to 790MHz and 913MHz respectively, and they each get the company's Voltage Tweak tech which promises up to 50-percent performance boost over the AMD reference design.

They've also tweaked the cooling systems, replacing the plastic cover with an aluminum one; good for a 14-degree C drop in surface temperatures, apparently.  They've also installed a custom-flattened, all-copper heat pipe system that drops running temperatures by 20-percent and makes for a quieter card, too.

Up to six simultaneous displays can be supported, and there are HDMI, Mini DisplayPort, DVI and D-Sub connections to choose from.  Each has 1GB of memory.  No word of official pricing at this stage, but a quick Google pulls up numbers in the region of $215 for the EAH6850 and $240 for the EAH6870.

Press Release:

ASUS Releases New EAH6800 Series Graphics Cards

The latest generation cards from AMD are enhanced by ASUS for more engaged gaming

Featuring even more processing power than the successful EAH5000 Series of graphics cards, the new ASUS EAH6800 Series continues to serve PC enthusiasts with cutting-edge technology and a range of exclusive performance-boosting improvements to the AMD reference design.

Both the EAH6850 DirectCU/2DIS/1GD5 and EAH6870/2DI2S/1GD5 cards feature AMD Eyefinity multi-display technology, AMD HD3D technology and DirectX® 11 support. In addition, exclusive Voltage Tweak overclocking technology offers a 50%* performance boost over the reference design. The EAH6850 DirectCU and EAH6870 also ship with factory overclocked cores set to 790MHz and 913MHz..

The ASUS EAH6850 DirectCU also incorporates exclusive DirectCU cooling that uses custom-flattened, all-copper heat pipes in direct contact with the GPU core. This improves cooling by 20%* compared to the reference design and offers quiet operation when the card is idle. The ASUS EAH6870 is equipped with an aluminum fan cover that improves cooling efficiency and reduces surface temperatures by 14 degrees Celsius, compared to the reference design's plastic cover.

Product Highlights

Exclusive ASUS Voltage Tweak technology offers real-time voltage adjustment of various GPU components, including the core and video memory, making ASUS EAH6800 Series graphics cards 50%* faster than the reference design.

The EAH6850 DirectCU is factory overclocked to perform at 790MHz. This is 15MHz higher than stock performance, resulting in higher frame rates in games.

ASUS proprietary cooling technology, DirectCU, puts copper heat pipes in direct contact with the GPU core. This results in the EAH6850 DirectCU running 20%* cooler than the reference design.

The EAH6870 features a stylish aluminum fan cover that dissipates heat more efficiently. This lowers surface temperatures by 14 degrees Celsius, compared to the reference design's plastic cover.

Proprietary AMD Eyefinity technology supports up to six** displays for a fully immersive viewing experience.

AMD HD3D technology for stereoscopic 3D gaming and movie watching.

* Subject to system configuration and usage. Results may vary.

** DisplayPort 1.2 compatible monitors required for six-screen AMD Eyefinity output. Please visit www.amd.com/Eyefinity for more information.

Availability

ASUS EAH6800 Series graphics cards are expected to ship October 22, 2010 and will be available from authorized ASUS resellers.