Northern (power) exposure with the Radeon HD 6970 DirectCU II
It was only a short while ago that we had an unboxing and overclocking of the new GTX 580 DirectCU II card from ASUS, and now it’s time for the AMD side of things to receive the cool treatment. Take a look at the HD 6970 DirectCU II, which comes with the same upgraded cooling technology ASUS also used on the NVIDIA-derived powerhouse.
The main thing of note is the deviation from the reference cooler. The second-generation ASUS DirectCU II combines direct-contact of the copper heatpipes with the GPU core, and twin, 100mm sound-dampened fans that can push up to 600% more air than the stock cooler. ASUS has shown this design as capable of 20% lower temps versus reference on average, which of course means more stable and longer-lasting performance as well as increased overclocking potential.
ASUS Radeon HD 6970 DirectCU II
The extra cooling should come in handy, because just like the aforementioned GeForce GTX 580, this HD Radeon 6970 is the current cream of the AMD crop. The Radeon HD 6970 GPU core represents the elite of the current ‘Northern Islands’ graphics processor group. Tailored for DirectX 11 and Windows 7 multimedia and gaming, this juggernaut sports a whopping 1,536 stream processors and a massive 2GB of GDDR5 video memory on a 256-bit interface, with the memory clocked to 5.5GHz actual. ASUS offers its Radeon HD 6970 Direct CU II with a small factory overclock, setting it to 890MHz on the core instead of the vanilla 880MHz rating, although take this as just the first stepping stone to extra performance.
As befits a truly powerful graphics card, the new Radeon HD 6970 DirectCU II ships with a raft of performance-enhancing features and extras. Key among these is the Super Alloy Power technology, an ASUS exclusive that’s also found on a few other top-end models from the company. Super Alloy Power infuses critical power delivery components such as capacitors, chokes and MOSFETS with a specially-developed fine metal mixture that helps stave off the ill-effects of intense use, by simply not generating as much heat and stress graphics cards routinely experience under load. ASUS says its Super Alloy Power results in a product that lives up to 2.5 times longer, runs up to a staggering 35°C cooler, and works 15% better in terms of processing power; all compared to the reference design.
Making the most of AMD Eyefinity technology, the Radeon HD 6970 Direct CU II has the muscle needed to drive up to six screens through one card, with no extra cable splitter required. That’s why it comes with twin DVI outs and a whopping four DisplayPort connectors.
There’s no doubt then, if you want to make the most of the latest AMD graphics technology, this is the card to beat. Keep in mind this model replaces the still capable Radeon HD 5870 1GB, offering greater performance with better-tuned, more efficient hardware.
Check out some photos of the new HD 6970:
Unboxed: ASUS Radeon HD 6970 DirectCU II
The might of the knight – the stalwart returns with the orange colour scheme familiar from other ASUS AMD-based cards.
Triple slot DirectCU II cooler akin to the GeForce GTX 580 variant
This is a full length 12 inch card – like the GeForce GTX 580 DirectCU II, you should check your case is large enough before you buy. Also, reflecting the design of the GeForce GTX 580 DirectCU II, this card is a ’2.5-slot’ model, so make sure you have the expansion clearance needed – in actual terms, you need three slots to spare from your main PCI-Express 16x slot downwards.
Two 8-pin power connectors are required.
Two 8-pin PCI-E power plugs are required, and ASUS recommends a 600W power supply minimum. Depending on the quality of your PSU, you should consider more if you want to do aggressive overclocking (on CPU and GPU) or CrossFire.
Four DisplayPorts and two DVI outputs: 6 displays!
Dual DVI and four DisplayPort outs for up to six screens at once via AMD Eyefinity.
We’ll fire it up for some overclocking soon! But in the mean time, let us know your thoughts in the comments below.