Introduction:
It wouldn't be out of line to say that EA's
Battlefield 3,
released only a couple of weeks ago, was one of the most eagerly
anticipated games of the whole year. Almost everyone who has played it,
including myself, has fallen in love and has since forgotten about all
the other games that they used to play up until its release. I must say
that the multiplayer gameplay is phenomenal and offers infinite
incentives to keep playing — especially with a good group of teammates.
However, that's not the focus of this review; it is merely a small part
of it. On the day that Battlefield 3 launched came Sapphire's HD 6970
FleX Battlefield 3 Edition. Now, the only thing that makes it the
Battlefield 3 Edition is that retail copies of the card come with a
registration key for the game. Of course, the cost of the game is going
to be a part of the package, but it still offers incentive to those
looking for a new card and were going to purchase the game anyways.
As I've stated in my recent reviews of Sapphire cards, these cards
are not anything new at the base/hardware level. Sure, they may come
with different coolers, clock speeds, port availabilities, etc., but at
the core they are the same. Sapphire has been keeping the market busy
with many different varieties of the HD series cards, mainly in the 6800
and 6900 flavors. The HD 6970 is a very powerful card and I thoroughly
enjoy my own. I am looking forward to seeing how this card compares to
other HD 6970s and seeing how far I can overclock it! In this review, I
will provide a thorough evaluation of Sapphire's HD 6970 FleX
Battlefield 3 Edition, including its unboxing, exterior and interior
evaluation, specifications and features, and OCC's intense testing and
benchmarking suite that will put it up against the latest of games and
highest of stress levels.
Closer Look:
Covering the package from top to bottom is
Battlefield 3 artwork. The front of the box features the same image as everywhere else
Battlefield 3 is advertised;
an armored soldier walking toward the field of view with a tank and
other buildings behind him. All the individual features that the card
offers and other specifications are displayed on the front of the box as
well. There is an "Overclocked" stamp indicating that it runs at
slightly higher speeds than reference clocks, a Dual-Bios icon, and more
at the bottom that are general features, such as DX11, HDMI and
DisplayPort support, and other AMD features like Eyefinity and
CrossFire. The top, bottom, and sides all say "Radeon HD6970 FleX
Edition", with the graphics from the front wrapping onto them. The rear
of the box mainly goes into detail about the individual features that
are listed in icon form on the lower-front of the box, some of which I
listed above. Inside of the outer, decorated "sheath" is a plain
cardboard box that houses the card and the accessory contents.
The card itself is protected inside of a taped-shut, anti-static bag
and arrived in good condition. Underneath the recycled cardboard housing
for the video card is another cardboard box that contains the
accessories. These accessories include: CrossFire bridge, HDMI to DVI
adapter, mini DisplayPort to DisplayPort adapter, 6' HDMI cable, driver
CD, users manuals, and of course, a
Battlefield 3 voucher.
Closer Look:
As with the other special edition Sapphire cards, there is generally
no reference to the game/etc that the card represents on the card
itself, possibly to protect the zeitgeist of the card and not leave it
stuck at a potential date/landmark in time or make it appear gimmicky.
As such, the Sapphire HD 6970 FleX Battlefield 3 edition does not have
any
Battlefield 3 logo or propaganda attached to it physically —
it's the fact that it is packaged with the game itself. Anyways, on the
top/front of the card we see the AMD logo to the left of the text
"Radeon HD 6970" to identify the card. On the other side of the fan is
the text "FleX edition", reminding the user of the card's capability to
use a combination of three monitors using the two DVI ports and the HDMI
port. On non-FleX cards, you cannot use the HDMI port and Single Link
DVI port independently. The cooling shroud is composed of black plastic,
and offers a neat, rugged look due to its shape, textures, and pattern.
Taking a look at the back side of the card will expose the signature
blue Sapphire PCB. Nothing particular stands out from the back side,
other than the visibility of the PCI slot contacts and the two CrossFire
notches at the top. Having two CrossFire notches means that the card is
capable of running a triple-card setup.
On the mounting bracket side of the card you will find the two DVI
ports (Dual Link and Single Link), one HDMI port, and the two
DisplayPort jacks. In total, this card is capable of driving five
monitors, more than most other cards can handle (at least those without a
separate clock generator on the HDMI port). With the amount of ports
taking up the majority of the space on the backplate, little room is
left for the exhaust vents. Most cards are limited in this way, but do
not have any issues with cooling. Peering at the opposite side of the
card under the cooling shroud, you can see some of the capacitors on the
board, the outside of the power ports (one 2x2-pin plug and one 2x3-pin
plug is required), the fan header on the PCB, and some small heatsinks
toward the edge of the PCB. You can also see some of the fins on the
outside of the heatsink. Rotating to the front side of the card, a good
look at the location of the power plugs can be made on the right side,
along with the CrossFire plugs on the far left of the card. Similar to
other Sapphire offerings in the HD 69x0 line, there is a dual-BIOS
switch to the right of the CrossFire area that allows users to switch
between different BIOS images, if they require. This is particularly
handy because if a BIOS flash goes bad, a user can jump over to the
redundant version to resolve the problem.
