MSI hawk 6870 question

[galadial]

I've run unigine and got a score of 1065 @ 1650x1050.

Is this about right for this card/setup?

I've read there's a performance and silent mode switch on the card. Is this set in software somewhere or can do I need to do something on the card?

Finally, I have the afterburner software but was wondering what would be a safe overclock?

cheers

Pete

 

[robbieshanks]

I've just got the same card - not sure about your unigine score to be honest - there's a unigine benchmarking thread in here somewhere and I'm pretty sure the highest score for a 6870 at 1650 x 1050 is in the 900s - however, that has 4xAA enabled - you'd need to check what options you selected but it sounds like you're on the right track!

There is a physical switch on the card that swaps between BIOS's for silent fan vs. performance fans. I forgot to switch mine to silent before I installed but I could hardly hear it compared to my old HD 4850 anyway so not sure if it makes too much difference.

I've heard that with upping voltages using MSI Afterburner you can aim for up to 1GHz core and 1250 MHz memory. I'm personally going to aim for 975MHz core and 1200 MHz memory and see what that gives me first. The card is designed to be OC'ed with lots of protection built in so I think it's reasonable "safe" to push the card quite hard.

 

[DennisMenace]

I'd like to know how you guys get on OC'ing this card, as I am looking to get one soon for my Z68/2500K system - mainly for its quiet/cool running (using <20W in idle), but with enough power for most games - and with some "overclockability" in reserve.

 

[galadial]

I'm at 975 core/1050 Mhz as my first mild o/c. Temp at 60C which seems very reasonable to me using unigine heaven 2.5

 

[robbieshanks]

I went straight for 975 core / 1150 memory with stock voltages. Again, temps not exceeding 60 degrees and virtually silent when running benchmarks. Got a great score on unigine heaven (946) which has outscored some 6950s and all 5850s.

Running furmark caused the fan to go up to about 60% which was audible but kept temps around 60 degrees. Fan doesn't seem to spin up at all during gaming so very quiet card.

I have to say, given I haven't even looked at the voltages yet this is a highly overclockable and cool card. I recommend it if you can get it at the right price. For better performance you'd need a 5870 / 6950 or GTX 560TI. All of those are more pricey and I believe run hotter.

 

[DennisMenace]

I recommend it if you can get it at the right price.

I was gutted when I missed the "Today Only" offer (elsewhere) for £126. It's now ~£150 (on pre-order), so getting quite close to a 560Ti.

It could still be a contender though, as I can't find anything of similar power that runs as cool/quiet - the OC is just a bonus. I'm only using a single monitor set-up, so this card should handle any games for a few years to come - famous last words...

 

[robbieshanks]

Be patient and keep an eye out. You can also consider the XFX 6870 black edition. Doesn't run quite as cool as the MSI Hawk but still gets really good reviews (I think Hardwarecanucks did a roundup and these two were the winners).

The XFXs were on a cheap daily deal on here a few days ago so may come up again. The other retailer you mentioned also seems to be regularly discounting 6870s so maybe just need to bide your time...