# ASUS Radeon HD 6850 Direct CU 1 GB



## W1zzard (Oct 21, 2010)

The new ASUS Radeon HD 6850 Direct CU aims to be the king of the sub-$200 segment. It offers plenty of performance for the latest DirectX 11 titles, overclocks very well and comes with improvements to the display output configuration. Instead of an AMD reference heatsink the card uses an ASUS Direct Touch heatpipe solution.

*Show full review*


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## [Ion] (Oct 22, 2010)

This is absolutely amazing!  Great price, as fast or faster than a GTX460, low power usage, quiet enough, just wow!

Could totally be the midrange card to beat!!


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## Delta6326 (Oct 22, 2010)

WOW i would just buy this card oc1ghz and you got your self a free 6870!


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## jasper1605 (Oct 22, 2010)

holy smokes is that good!  I wonder if the vapor-x will have the same OC headroom


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## Wyverex (Oct 22, 2010)

Awesome review and awesome card!
LOVING the perf/power graphs! 

But, what's up with:


			
				Review said:
			
		

> CCC Overdrive limits might be too low


Even with higher voltage you barely went over the CCC limit for GPU clock and memory limit was not reached


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## bear jesus (Oct 22, 2010)

The overvolted overclocking on this card looks great, although the throttling makes me think a better stock cooler or an aftermarket cooler is called for. saying that though i have to wonder if the 6850's blower syle cooler would help keep the temps down better than the direct cu cooler.

Will TPU be getting a 6850 with the blower style cooler?


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## W1zzard (Oct 22, 2010)

Wyverex said:


> Even with higher voltage you barely went over the CCC limit for GPU clock and memory limit was not reached



that's because this single card clearly sucked for overclocking. check the other reviews to see how far the other cards went
sorry i thought this was the HIS 6850 review


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## Wyverex (Oct 22, 2010)

W1zzard said:


> that's because this single card clearly sucked for overclocking. check the other reviews to see how far the other cards went


From what I can see, this card had the best overclocking out of all tested cards.

Am I blind? 

Asus HD 6850 Direct CU 1 GB (the card we're commenting here) OCed like a beast, yet still barely touched the CCC limits (and that was with additional voltage)
HIS HD 6850 didn't even get to 950 MHz (with additional voltage)

So, I really fail to see your argument (in context of HD 6850)


Edit: that is, if the CCC limits are as you say in the review - 1000 MHz core and 1250 MHz memory
So, I'd say that either there's a typo/wrong copy-paste in the review or the conclusion page lists a copy/pasted "negative"

Edit2: beat me to it with your edit


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## W1zzard (Oct 22, 2010)

Wyverex said:


> From what I can see, this card had the best overclocking out of all tested cards.
> 
> Am I blind?
> 
> ...



sorry, i had 4 hours of sleep  
i think we all agree that the overdrive limits are a POS and there shouldnt be any limits for overclocking. so the only good limits are ones that are high enough that you will never encounter them. and with better asics, better cooling, more voltage, higher fan speed you will run into the 1 ghz limit and ask yourself "how much more?". check the other reviews on the web they hit 1 ghz and i'm sure they weren't happy about it


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## Wyverex (Oct 22, 2010)

W1zzard said:


> sorry, i had 4 hours of sleep
> i think we all agree that the overdrive limits are a POS and there shouldn't be any limits for overclocking. so the only good limits are ones that are high enough that you will never encounter them. and with better asics, better cooling, more voltage, higher fan speed you will run into the 1 ghz limit and ask yourself "how much more?". check the other reviews on the web they hit 1 ghz and i'm sure they weren't happy about it


Then get some sleep now (if you're not at work )

You did a fantastic job with your reviews, as always.
And yes, I'd very much like to see CCC limits gone too


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## bear jesus (Oct 22, 2010)

Wyverex said:


> Even with higher voltage you barely went over the CCC limit for GPU clock and memory limit was not reached



But is the CCC limit really anything to judge by as it changes it's limits depending on card/bios. My 4870's CCC limit was 790mhz so i had to flash the bios to get past there and my htpc's CCC max is 500mhz (ati 4350), i just don't think it is a good idea to compare the oc to the CCC limit thats all.

*edit*
so many edits, im struggling to keep up with them but i have been beaten to my point..... i think


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## W1zzard (Oct 22, 2010)

Wyverex said:


> Then get some sleep now (if you're not at work )



i just woke up  but will take an early nap


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## HalfAHertz (Oct 22, 2010)

I kind of feel as if AMD should have been a bit more aggressive with the 6850 and make the default core clock to 800MHz. That way you'd have a more balanced showing compared to the gtx460 768mb


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## R_1 (Oct 22, 2010)

> Overclock out of the box very small


155Mhz overclock out of the box is a decent margin. It is 22% over AMD reference clock for HD6850.


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## Completely Bonkers (Oct 22, 2010)

WiZ, you've done a great job getting all of these reviews out so quickly,
BUT can I refer you to the news post: http://techpowerup.com/132963/NVIDIA-Releases-GeForce-260.89-WHQL-Driver-Suite.html

Given the vast performance improvement with the 260 drivers, it would have been a good idea to update your GTX performance comparatives, because today, the GTX460 and the 6850 are probably neck-and-neck in performance rather than the review which is shwoing GTX460 5-10% slower but on old drivers.


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## punani (Oct 22, 2010)

Great card and review! 

Very tempted to abandon my GTX 260 for this 

Only bad thing about this card is the name. Pity the guys thinkin' they are upgrading overall performance from a 5850...


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## bear jesus (Oct 22, 2010)

Completely Bonkers said:


> WiZ, you've done a great job getting all of these reviews out so quickly,
> BUT can I refer you to the news post: http://techpowerup.com/132963/NVIDIA-Releases-GeForce-260.89-WHQL-Driver-Suite.html
> 
> Given the vast performance improvement with the 260 drivers, it would have been a good idea to update your GTX performance comparatives, because today, the GTX460 and the 6850 are probably neck-and-neck in performance rather than the review which is shwoing GTX460 5-10% slower but on old drivers.



*thinks back to the end of march and the 480 review comments thread*


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## Completely Bonkers (Oct 22, 2010)

bear jesus said:


> *thinks back to the end of march and the 480 review comments thread*



No idea what those comments were. So long ago, not sure I was even born yet._ But I'm guessing:_ the shoe was on the other foot and Wiz was using old ATI drivers? 

Yes, significant driver changes are a PITA for reviewers. But if another site _does_ use current drivers for all cards, then arguably, they will have a better review and their results are a better basis for making a purchase decision. What! Heresy! Another site... we don't want that


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## bear jesus (Oct 22, 2010)

Completely Bonkers said:


> No idea what those comments were. So long ago, not sure I was even born yet._ But I'm guessing:_ the shoe was on the other foot and Wiz was using old ATI drivers?



Yeah that's about right, it lead to the epic early april fools about w1zzard leaving TPU.



Completely Bonkers said:


> Yes, significant driver changes are a PITA for reviewers. But if another site _does_ use current drivers for all cards, then arguably, they will have a better review and their results are a better basis for making a purchase decision. What! Heresy! Another site... we don't want that



This is true but i think the major problem is when they new drivers come out a few days before the review NDA ends and i would assume by that point a lot of the benchmarking has already been done.


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## Completely Bonkers (Oct 22, 2010)

LOL, 6 months later and it is probably time for the drama-w1z to resign again! LOL! My-o-my, 6 months have passed quickly.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGnfKnfY6EM


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## bear jesus (Oct 22, 2010)

Completely Bonkers said:


> My-o-my, 6 months have passed quickly.



Not for me  i was waiting for the 480 back then hoping it could be the perfect card to stop me buying a 5870 but by the time i found out fermi could not suit my needs i though i may as well wait for the ATI refresh.... 6 months later and i'm still waiting for the 6970 to come out  I just hope the 6970 can do what i want as no matter what the day the NDA ends on it i'm buying a graphics card or even 2 from whoever can give me what i need at that time.


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## OneCool (Oct 22, 2010)

R_1 said:


> 155Mhz overclock out of the box is a decent margin. It is 22% over AMD reference clock for HD6850.




I believe W1z is referring to the "factory" overclock.

In this case they stuck with AMDs reference clocks.


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## Blacklash (Oct 22, 2010)

Solid card for the price. I'd love to see more tests with that thing @ 945 on the core.


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## wolf (Oct 23, 2010)

Blacklash said:


> Solid card for the price. I'd love to see more tests with that thing @ 945 on the core.



same, it would be nice to see maybe 3 titles tested at OC'd settings, COD4 is/was a great indicator of GPU horsepower, but it is getting outdated given the horsepower availiable.

I'd like to see COD4, BC2 and Unigine Heaven at OC'd settings.


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## Hayder_Master (Oct 23, 2010)

good work w1z


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## Wrigleyvillain (Oct 23, 2010)

Thanks for another good one


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## Deleted member 67555 (Oct 25, 2010)

Between the 5830 and the 5850 for the price of the 5770's and these are the mid grade cards?
and I'm sure the price will either stay the same or fall by November,26...
Yes! hehe!


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## Ray_Rogers2109 (Feb 13, 2011)

So I just signed up and was wondering if this GPU would be good with the following components:


Case
Power SUPPLIES!
Mother Board
CPU
RAM
HDD
Blu-ray DEESC Burner
With Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit but some other place actually cheaper compared to NewEgg. I'll also be playing WOLFENSTEIN, GTA IV with the ENB mod, 007 - BLOOD STONE, Riddickulous: Assault on Dark Athena, MORROWIND/OBRIVION/SKYRIM/FALLOUT 3/NEW VEGAS with a ton of very high resolution textural and mesh mods, All of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. with S.o.C. Complete 2009, METRO 2033, TRON: Evolution and some other more current games I own on 360 which has a PC counterpart.
Oh I'll also be re-installing The Lord of the Rings Online on with the new one. What would the maximum settings with good framerate would it be? Or more of the tier comparison by resolution and AA would be helpful.


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## erocker (Feb 13, 2011)

Ray_Rogers2109 said:


> So I just signed up and was wondering if this GPU would be good with the following components:
> 
> 
> Case
> ...



Yes, absolutely. 

If you need help with your rig along the way, I suggest starting a thread in this section: System Builder's Advice


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## Ray_Rogers2109 (Feb 13, 2011)

erocker said:


> Yes, absolutely.
> 
> If you need help with your rig along the way, I suggest starting a thread in this section: System Builder's Advice



FUCK YES thank you! What should I do about the GeForce 8400 GS in my current tower when I finally have my new PC built? I mean it has an integrated video card which another housemate could use. Was even considering getting a SATA enclosure for the 500GB HDD, transfer all game saves, modding files, porn, posters and more to the 1TB. Then completely reformatting it for use as a secondary HDD. No idea how I'd go completely reformatting it since it's tied with the computer.


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## HossHuge (Feb 13, 2011)

Ray_Rogers2109 said:


> What should I do about the GeForce 8400 GS in my current tower when I finally have my new PC built?



Try it out as a physx card?


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## Ray_Rogers2109 (Feb 13, 2011)

HossHuge said:


> Try it out as a physx card?



But I could just use the Radeon right or are only the nVidia capable of physx?


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## HossHuge (Feb 13, 2011)

Ray_Rogers2109 said:


> But I could just use the Radeon right or are only the nVidia capable of physx?



You have to use a Nvidia card for physx for example a 8400.

Read Erockers physx thread.

 The Dedicated PhysX card FAQ - Read this before a...


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## pantherx12 (Feb 13, 2011)

Don't bother with 8400 as phsyx card, 8600s are t slow for phsyx.
Want a 8800 or 9600 gt minimum really IMO.


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## Ray_Rogers2109 (Feb 13, 2011)

pantherx12 said:


> Don't bother with 8400 as phsyx card, 8600s are t slow for phsyx.
> Want a 8800 or 9600 gt minimum really IMO.



But I already would have the 8400 GS from the current tower I'm using for the future tower.


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## pantherx12 (Feb 13, 2011)

Ray_Rogers2109 said:


> But I already would have the 8400 GS from the current tower I'm using for the future tower.



Sell it


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