# PowerColor HD 6850 SCS3 1 GB



## W1zzard (Jun 17, 2011)

PowerColor's Radeon HD 6850 SCS3 is the first completely passive cooled Radeon HD 6850. This makes it the fastest zero-noise graphics card available today. Instead of the fairly compact heatsink of the reference design, PowerColor is using a massive triple slot cooler which provides the cooling required for the HD 6850 SCS3.

*Show full review*


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## mlee49 (Jun 17, 2011)

Just curious was the card inside a case for the temps or on a tech bench?


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## W1zzard (Jun 17, 2011)

case


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## mlee49 (Jun 17, 2011)

Might be relavent to the Passive review. 

Specific case too. Good one, bad one, home made.


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## damric (Jun 17, 2011)

Just give me the cooler off of this thing and I'll put it on my 6850 and strap a fan to it.


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## Over_Lord (Jun 18, 2011)

A bit too hot @ 99C ain't it?

And it consumes 30W more than stock? Don't understand why. Higher stock voltages? But why oh why? Shouldn't they be lowered for passive card of this power?


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## techie81 (Jun 18, 2011)

That temp is much too high for any extended gaming sessions. I just wouldn't feel comfortable with that.


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## W1zzard (Jun 18, 2011)

thunderising said:


> And it consumes 30W more than stock



in furmark, look at the other numbers which are for realistic gaming.
higher temp = higher power draw


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## Vancha (Jun 18, 2011)

I'd be interested to see how much the temp would drop in a case cooled by more than just the PSU.


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## meran (Jun 18, 2011)

if it stays @100c it will die in 6 months of regular gaming just like my friends 9800gt did


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## W1zzard (Jun 18, 2011)

meran said:


> if it stays @100c it will die in 6 months of regular gaming just like my friends 9800gt did
> 
> 
> 
> http://www.iraqup.com/up/20110618/rv2D1-Tm7L_104319691.JPG



uh .. that looks like heavy physical abuse. 

so far i haven't seen any conclusive evidence of high operating temperature damaging a cpu or gpu


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## RejZoR (Jun 18, 2011)

I don't understand why they always have to go from one extreme to the other. Either they stick a small and loud cooler on it or they use a big one and make it passive. Or they use a big one yet they still make it loud like my former HD4870 was and later HD6870. Makes no sense.

How hard could it be to use such cooler and stick a i don't know decent sized 500 RPM fan on it?
It would still be dead silent, yet it would push some air through, helping temps A LOT. You don't need much, just to accelerate air movement a bit.


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## AphexDreamer (Jun 18, 2011)

RejZoR said:


> How hard could it be to use such cooler and stick a i don't know decent sized 500 RPM fan on it?
> It would still be dead silent, yet it would push some air through, helping temps A LOT. You don't need much, just to accelerate air movement a bit.



Because then it wouldn't be passive


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## W1zzard (Jun 18, 2011)

RejZoR said:


> I don't understand why they always have to go from one extreme to the other. Either they stick a small and loud cooler on it or they use a big one and make it passive. Or they use a big one yet they still make it loud like my former HD4870 was and later HD6870. Makes no sense.
> 
> How hard could it be to use such cooler and stick a i don't know decent sized 500 RPM fan on it?
> It would still be dead silent, yet it would push some air through, helping temps A LOT. You don't need much, just to accelerate air movement a bit.



there are a few cards that have quiet low speed fans, but it's not easy explaining this concept to asian engineers .. i have been doing it for a couple of manufacturers for years and they're slowly picking this up now. look at asus gtx 580 direct cu II for example


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## Jonap_1st (Jun 18, 2011)

meran said:


> if it stays @100c it will die in 6 months of regular gaming just like my friends 9800gt did
> 
> 
> 
> http://www.iraqup.com/up/20110618/rv2D1-Tm7L_104319691.JPG





W1zzard said:


> uh .. that looks like heavy physical abuse.
> 
> so far i haven't seen any conclusive evidence of high operating temperature damaging a cpu or gpu



i believe it will not make any damage as long as it runs on recommended clock speed, 
but if it keeps on very high temp for such a long time it probably only shorten component's life.
IMO


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## meran (Jun 18, 2011)

W1zzard said:


> uh .. that looks like heavy physical abuse.
> 
> so far i haven't seen any conclusive evidence of high operating temperature damaging a cpu or gpu



looks like its memory failed because it was booting in 640x480 with 256 colors  tried every thing even baking in oven ,but it didnt post after that and i had to get the gpu to make a medal  but i forced it too much and broke


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## blibba (Jun 18, 2011)

You can always buy this card and then strap on a 120mm low-RPM fan. It'll be quad slot, but most people do have four slots free in a low noise ATX build.


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## Jonap_1st (Jun 18, 2011)

blibba said:


> You can always buy this card and then strap on a 120mm low-RPM fan. It'll be quad slot, but most people do have four slots free in a low noise ATX build.



dont need to strap it and make it quad slot, most of cases have side panel holes for optional fan, so it will be sufficient. 
but, triple slot passive cooler still little too much..


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## Rowsol (Jun 18, 2011)

The 6850 cyclone is very quiet and since you need case airflow anyway I think this cooler is a waste of time.


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## Athlonite (Jun 20, 2011)

put a nice low speed Scyth slim fan on it and it'd be a winner


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## MikeMurphy (Jun 23, 2011)

Friendly suggestion for future passive cards:

Strap on a simple fan to the cooler and compare the results.  Its a $5 upgrade which improves the temps significantly.  Some of us look for passive cards to throw fans on because in that combination they offer the best cooling on the market.


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## Jonap_1st (Jun 23, 2011)

MikeMurphy said:


> Friendly suggestion for future passive cards:
> 
> Strap on a simple fan to the cooler and compare the results.  Its a $5 upgrade which improves the temps significantly.  Some of us look for passive cards to throw fans on because in that combination they offer the best cooling on the market.



yes, it will improve the temps, but there also a downside. 
first it will a waste another space / slot. second that simple fan will probably run on full speed no matter the gpu in idle or full load, so it will tend to get noisy..

passive cards only good if it running on HTPC, since it noiseless and not produces much heat. if you want better solution, just strap those fan on side panel case, right on the side of your card..


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## ssjakie (Jul 10, 2011)

*i think it will be perfect if:*

it will be perfect if: you have a side fan in your case 

And if you have 2 in crossfire with an 800-1200 RPM scythe (side) fan you'll love it  i think.....

I'm buying one to test and come back when done.

If ok i'll launch a new rig on my site www.zeelandict.nl


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