£135 inc VAT * uk.msi.com • tinyurl.com/3mj662b
Although ATI has simplified its numerical naming system with its latest generation of graphics chips, the Radeon HD 6870 is not the natural successor to the 5870. This card is slightly less powerful, and sits in the middle of the group for price and performance. MSI has added features and improved some key specifications in its Hawk rendition of the HD 6870. It's fitted a custom 'Propeller Blade' cooler, which delivers more air to the graphics-processing unit (GPU). MSI has also tweaked the clock speeds for better gaming performance. The Hawk is therefore in a better position to rival the GeForce GTX 560 Ti (page 66), itself an improved version of the standard GTX 560. This MSI R6870 has 1,120 stream processors and a core clock frequency of 930MHz (up from 900MHz). The card's 1GB of memory runs at the standard 1,050MHz (4.2GHz DDR effective), resulting in a memory bandwidth of 134Gbps. The custom cooler will aid further tweaking, with MSI allowing the memory and phase-locked loop (PLL) to be adjusted for more stable and precise overclocking via its bundled software. The Radeon HD 6870 performed well in our tests, and delivered smooth framerates in Stalker: Call of Pripyat and Battlefield: Bad Company 2. It managed 87fps in Stalker at 1280x1024 pixels, and 58fps at 1920x1080 pixels. In Battlefield, the MSI achieved 90fps and 71fps at the same resolutions. This graphics card also demonstrated good skills in Crysis: it scored 52fps at 1280x1024 pixels, and was still pushing out 35fps at 1920x1080. At around £135 online, the MSI R6870 Hawk is reasonably priced for an upgrade that can significantly improve graphics performance on both older and low-end PCs. It can capably handle games at their highest detail settings, even at a full-HD (1920x1080-pixel) screen resolution. However, this card has little extra power behind the scenes to take on the increased demands of future 3D games. VERDICT: A good-value upgrade for a low-end gaming PC, the MSI copes admirably with today's 3D games at their highest detail settings. However, future titles may see this card begin to struggle
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