Review Gigabyte GV-R685D5-1GD: A Cooler Alternative to the Standard HD 6850

The Radeon HD 6870 and HD 6850 are two of AMD’s latest offerings. Intended for the mainstream market, each of these cards comes with a friendlier price tag compared to higher-end products. Radeon HD 6870 currently sells for around US$ 239, while its little brother, HD 6850, is being offered for around US$ 179.

Budget conscious buyers might be more interested in the lower -priced HD 6850. To increase overall value, some manufacturers have come up with customized HD 6850 cards, including Gigabyte with the GV-R685D5-1GD right here. The card is outfitted with Gigabyte’s unique, Windforce 2X HSF. Aside from that, they also use a non-reference PCB design as well.

Specification

	AMD Radeon HD 6870	AMD Radeon HD 6850	Gigabyte GV-R685D5-1GD
Codename	Barts XT	Barts Pro	Barts Pro
Fabrication Process	40 nm	40 nm	40 nm
Transistors	1.7 Billion	1.7 Billion	1.7 Billion
Die Size	225 mm2	225 mm2	225 mm2
Core Clock	900 MHz	775 MHz	775 MHz
Stream Processors	1120	960	960
Texture Units	56	48	48
ROPs	32	32	32
Memory Type	GDDR5	GDDR5	GDDR5
Memory Size	1024 MB	1024 MB	1024 MB
Memory Clock (effective)	4200 MHz	4000 MHz	4000 MHz
Memory Interface	256-bit	256-bit	256-bit
DirectX Version	11	11	11
Shader Model	5	5	5
Power Connectors	2x 6-pin	6-pin	6-pin
Min Recommended Power Supply	500 Watt	500 Watt	500 Watt
Bus Support	PCIe 2.1 x16	PCIe 2.1 x16	PCIe 2.1 x16

Seen from the above table, it appears that there is no notable difference between the GV-R685D5-1GD and the standard HD 6850. Too bad Gigabyte did not apply any factory overclock, but at least this card should be able to perform as good as a standard HD 6850. Don’t lose your appetite just yet, the added value of this card lies not in its technical specification, but rather in its non-reference cooler.