A Closer Look

PowerColor's thermal solution uses a large copper base with three fat heatpipes to ensure optimum heat transfer.


The backplate is made out of metal and helps in protecting the card against accidental damage during handling or installation. It serves no cooling purpose.


A small metal heatsink has been added over the voltage regulation circuitry to keep it cool.


The card requires two 6-pin PCI-Express power connectors. This configuration is good for up to 225 W of power draw.


You find a connector for "TurboTimer", an addon device by PowerColor that lets you run the fans for a while after shutting down the computer, near the back of the card.


The images above were provided by PowerColor to describe the TurboTimer product. I didn't receive a sample for testing, so I can't say how well it works. The concept seems simple enough.


An International Rectifier IR3567B functions as the voltage controller. It supports voltage control and monitoring via I2C.


The GDDR5 memory chips are made by Elpida and carry the model number W2032BBBG-6A-F. They are specified to run at 1500 MHz (6000 MHz GDDR5 effective).


AMD's Pitcairn graphics processor uses the GCN shader architecture. It is produced on a 28 nm process at TSMC. The transistor count is 2.8 billion.