From a technical standpoint, the HD 6850 is a slightly cut-down version of the 6870.
#AMD RADEON HD 6850 SERIES#
The improvements brought to the table by the new Barts core in the HD 6000 series has been covered in our Radeon HD 6870 review. While a little extra room is required for accessories, unless there is a second card in there, the packaging does not need to be this excessive. The reference HD 6850 came as a bare card only, while the EAH6850 DirectCU was shipped to us in a larger than necessary retail box.
#AMD RADEON HD 6850 FREE#
The GPU core voltage can be easily changed by overclockers looking for a free performance boast. Not only does it have an interesting heatsink, the card is factory overclocked, and has the potential to be 50% faster according to Asus, thanks to the “Voltage Tweak” ability printed on the card’s packaging and literature. The latter name comes from its cooler, which uses direct-touch heatpipes composed of copper (CU is copper’s symbol on the periodic table of elements). We have two of them, a reference model from AMD, and the Asus EAH6850 DirectCU. We’ve already taken a look at the HD 6870, and now it’s the HD 6850’s turn. The aim was to offer competitive alternatives to the GTX 460 and fill in some of AMD’s gaps in the juicy center of the market.
When it came time to debut the HD 6000 series, AMD didn’t rush out a high-end model instead they released two midrange cards. GPUs like the US$500+ GeForce GTX 580 make for big headlines, but it’s blue-collar grunts like the GeForce GTX 460 that have more of an impact on the overall market. It is fun to see just how high and far technology has come, but we reserve much of our praise for the more reasonable, affordable chips and boards, the ones that deliver great value, not ultimate performance. While great for publicity, the fastest and most expensive graphics card can only be afforded by a few, and actually purchased by even fewer. Nvidia and AMD are always dueling for graphics supremacy, but like Intel and AMD, the one with the fastest chip - regardless of the rest of the product lineup - is usually crowned the king by the media.
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