GIGABYTE Radeon HD 6850 GV-R685OC-1GD

Written by Servando Silva

Tuesday, 18 January 2011

Table of Contents: Page Index
GIGABYTE Radeon HD 6850 GV-R685OC-1GD
AMD Radeon HD 6850 GPU Features
Closer Look: GIGABYTE Radeon HD 6850
GIGABYTE HD 6850 Detailed Features
Video Card Testing Methodology
DX10: 3DMark Vantage
DX10: Crysis Warhead
DX11: Aliens vs. Predator
DX10: Just Cause 2
DX11: Lost Planet 2
DX11: Metro 2033
DX11: Unigine Heaven 2.1
Overclocking
VGA Power Consumption
AMD Radeon HD 6850 Final Thoughts
GIGABYTE HD 6850 Conclusion

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AMD Radeon HD 6850 GPU Features

The AMD Radeon HD 6850 GPU contained in the GIGABYTE GV-R685OC-1GD card has all of the major technologies that the Radeon 5xxx cards have had since last September. AMD has added several new features, however. The most important ones are: the new Morphological Anti-aliasing, the two DisplayPort 1.2 connections that support four monitors between them, 3rd generation UVD video acceleration, and AMD HD3D technology. In case you are just starting your research for a new graphics card, here is the complete list of GPU features, as supplied by AMD:

AMD Radeon HD 6850 GPU Feature Summary:

775MHz Engine Clock

1GB GDDR5 Memory

1000MHz Memory Clock (GDDR5)

128 Gbps memory bandwidth (maximum)

1.5 TFLOPs compute power

Double slot form factor

TeraScale 2 Unified Processing Architecture

960 Stream Processors

48 Texture Units

128 Z/Stencil ROP Units

32 Color ROP Units

PCI Express 2.1 x16 bus interface

"Eye-Definition" graphics

DirectX 11 support

Shader Model 5.0

DirectCompute 11

Programmable hardware tessellation unit

Accelerated multi-threading

HDR texture compression

Order-independent transparency

OpenGL 4.1 support

Image quality enhancement technology

Up to 24x multi-sample and super-sample anti-aliasing modes

Adaptive anti-aliasing

Morphological anti-aliasing (MLAA)

16x angle independent anisotropic texture filtering

128-bit floating point HDR rendering

AMD Eyefinity multi-display technology¹

Independent resolutions, refresh rates, color controls, and video overlays

Display grouping

Combine multiple displays to behave like a single large display

AMD EyeSpeed visual acceleration²

AMD Accelerated Parallel Processing (APP) technology^3,4

OpenCL 1.1

DirectCompute 11

Accelerated video encoding, transcoding, and upscaling

UVD 3 dedicated video playback accelerator

MPEG-4 AVC/H.264

VC-1

MPEG-2 (SD & HD)

Multi-View Codec (MVC)

MPEG-4 part 2 (DivX, Xvid)

Adobe Flash

Enhanced Video Quality features

Advanced post-processing and scaling

Dynamic contrast enhancement and color correction

Brighter whites processing (Blue Stretch)

Independent video gamma control

Dynamic video range control

Dual-stream HD (1080p) playback support

DXVA 1.0 & 2.0 support

AMD HD3D technology⁵

Stereoscopic 3D display/glasses support

Blu-ray 3D support

Stereoscopic 3D gaming

3^rd party Stereoscopic 3D middleware software support

AMD CrossFireX^TM multi-GPU technology⁶

Dual GPU scaling

Cutting-edge integrated display support

DisplayPort 1.2

Max resolution: 2560x1600 per display

Multi-Stream Transport

21.6 Gbps bandwidth

High bit-rate audio

HDMI 1.4a with Stereoscopic 3D Frame Packing Format, Deep Color, xvYCC wide gamut support, and high bit-rate audio

Max resolution: 1920x1200

Dual-link DVI with HDCP

Max resolution: 2560x1600

VGA

Max resolution: 2048x1536

Integrated HD audio controller

Output protected high bit rate 7.1 channel surround sound over HDMI or DisplayPort with no additional cables required

Supports AC-3, AAC, Dolby TrueHD and DTS Master Audio formats

AMD PowerPlay^TM power management technology⁴

Dynamic power management with low power idle state

Ultra-low power state support for multi-GPU configurations

AMD Catalyst^TM graphics and HD video configuration software

Unified graphics display drivers

Certified for Windows 7, Windows Vista, and Windows XP

AMD Catalyst Control Center^TM

Software application and user interface for setup, configuration, and accessing special features of AMD Radeon products

AMD Radeon HD 6850 GPU Detail Specifications

GPU Engine Specs:

Fabrication Process: TSMC 40nm Bulk CMOS
Die Size: 255mm²
No. of Transistors: 1.7 Billion
SIMD Engines: 14
Stream Processors: 960
Texture Units: 48

ROP Units: 32
Engine Clock Speed: 775 MHz
Texel Fill Rate (bilinear filtered): 37.2 Gigatexels/sec
Pixel Fill Rate: 24.8 Gigapixels/sec
Maximum board power: 127 Watts
Minimum board power: 19 Watts

Memory Specs:

Memory Clock: 1000 MHz - DDR
Memory Configurations: 1 GB GDDR5
Memory Interface Width: 256-bit
Memory Data Rate: 4.0 Gbps
Memory Bandwidth: 128.0 GB/sec

Display Support:

Maximum DVI Resolution: 2560x1600
Maximum VGA Resolution: 2048x1536
Maximum Display Output: 4x - 1920x1200
Standard Display Connectors:

One Dual-Link DVI
One Single-Link DVI
One Mini HDMI v1.4a
Two Mini Display Port v1.2

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Comments

# Uhh what? — Cody 2011-01-20 22:07

I'm an owner of the 775 model version, I have the card running stable at 950 Core clock / 1200 Memory with the standard voltage. Bumping the voltage to 1200 in Trixx results in a stable 1000 GPU core clock. You need to update Trixx to the latest version.

##hardwarecanucks.com/forum/overclocking-tweaking-benchmarking/39957-gigabyte-6850-3-decent-ocr-seems.html

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# RE: Uhh what? — Servando Silva 2011-01-20 22:31

I used the latest version of TriXX, it just wouldn't go above 860-870MHz (Core) without getting artifacts. Anyway, you've got the non-OC version with different ICs, which is one of my key-points in my article.

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# RE: GIGABYTE Radeon HD 6850 GV-R685OC-1GD — Cody 2011-01-21 08:26

I have experience with the OC version as well, it can hit 1GHz @ 1250 (Voltage setting in Trixx) and run stable however it runs a bit hot after a while in Furmark. Currently I have his OC'd to 950 / 1150 without artifacts at the stock voltage with the fan speed at 1175.

Perhaps you just got unlucky?. Either way I liked your review.

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# RE: RE: GIGABYTE Radeon HD 6850 GV-R685OC-1GD — Servando Silva 2011-01-21 11:10

Really? Everywhere I read about a person getting the OC version just complains about not supporting voltage changes and trying to change it for the non-OC version. There are some threads at Xtreme Systems about volt-modding as that's the only way to do it. Just to add, you're using TriXX 3.0.2 BETA, right? That's the latest version announced at Sapphire's homepage.
Glad you liked the review.

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# RE: RE: RE: GIGABYTE Radeon HD 6850 GV-R685OC-1GD — Cody 2011-01-21 18:51

Yes 3.0.2, the slider just slides over. I was at my buddies house looking at the card to make sure it was the OC version and it allowed the voltage to be modified. He however bought it Openbox (which I didn't know) so perhaps the person who sold it to him already unlocked the voltage.

That or maybe it's not actually adjusting the voltage.

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# RE: RE: RE: RE: GIGABYTE Radeon HD 6850 GV-R685OC-1GD — Servando Silva 2011-01-21 21:41

It's not that the voltage is locked, problem is that this specific version includes a different GPU Core voltage controller, which has no software support (yet), not even with TriXX or MSI AF. Since the controller they used isn't very common, I doubt we'll see something avalable soon.

Anyway, if you can re-check and try to modify voltage, that would be great, because that could mean GIGABYTE is making a different version (revision) with another GPU controller.

Thanks.

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# black screen no signal ! — Agassizi 2011-01-30 15:36

Unfortunatelly is a lot os problems with this (GigabyteHD6850)vide ocards.There ara many users who reported when he playing games after a short period of time the monitor instantly turn off and apear the NO SIGNAL labell, and nothings help just a restart.Can I ask which BIOS version are you used when you make this rewiew? Because in the last 3 months arived 3 BIOS versions.The last BIOS changed the card specification. IDLE 40% cooler, and the GPU RAM ferequency was modyfied to 775/1005.(the original was 25%cooler speed and 775/1000.
Another strange thing, the factory original bios set the coolers to run at 73% and ofcourse the sound level was realy anoying.

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# RE: black screen no signal ! — Servando Silva 2011-01-30 18:54

I didn't have any of the problems mentioned. I used the BIOS shipped with this sample, which is displayed at the testing methodology section. Another thing is that this is the OCed version, which means it's got 820 MHz/ 1050MHz instead of 775MHz.
GIGABYTE doesn't display any BIOS update for this model, but I've checked and there's a BIOS update for the non-OC model.

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# BS no signal error — Agassizi 2011-01-31 10:29

Hi,
Yes on the Gigabyte webpage ,is a new BIOS for "basic" Gigabyte HD 6850 cards (775/1000).This arrived at 14 january 2011 .As I mentioned in my previous post the Vram clock and the cooler speed was changed (Vram from 1000 to 1005 and cooler from 25% to 40%).Unfortunatelly doesent solve the black screen problems for everybody.Some users reported the BS with this bios version to.

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# RE: BS no signal error — Servando Silva 2011-01-31 21:09

I'm sorry to hear that.
Well, I'm still using this little puppy and it's not giving me any problems. Could you tell us what are the conditions or signals before going to black screen? Perhaps I could try.

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# RE: GIGABYTE Radeon HD 6850 GV-R685OC-1GD — Agassizi 2011-02-01 05:46

win 7 64bit genuine, PSU enermax 600W 87+,HD Gigabyte HD 6850 BIOS F3_B , Catalyst 10.12(but the new 11.1 give the same BS problem)
The problem I meet undert FarCry2 benchmark ultra high settings full hd dirX10, Crysis- paradise lost level ,GTA4 and NFSShift
(all games full HD aa8x vsync on)
The GPU temperature never exceed 68C.
Far Cry2 bench ~ 55C , Crysis 67 C, GTA IV 68C.The RAM temperature I dont know because I dont know any software which can mesure this.There is some rummors which say the memory are faulty , but I dont want comment this because until today I dont see any official evidence as the Hynix memory cause this problem.
I check my card temperRATURE with ccc OVERDRIVE, aida64 and MSI AFTERBURNER all programs show me the same temperature so resulting the heat level is ok.
The F3_C bios fom 14 january seems to resolve the BS problem to me but I am not calm at all because I know a couple of users which card
is faulty with this BIOS version to.I atach a couple of videos what I find to youtube.My system (and my buddys sitem ) behaviour is 100% the same.
None of us overclocked her card! every card working on factory clocked level 775/1000 1,5 V.
Many serbian, hungarian, romanian (but not only this country) forums is full with users who have exact the same problem.Most error was reported with have
gigabyte cards , but is other vendors card which have this BS NO Signal problem too. Asus,Saphire,MSI ,etc

I will atach a couple of youtube videos to see what I takling about

##youtube.com/watch?v=r53or6LNwBc&feature=player_embedded

##youtube.com/watch?v=cRUWC15lsQQ

##youtube.com/watch?v=ilD2649KNF8

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# Gigabyte BS No signal error — Agassizi 2011-02-01 06:09

I forgot to tell one thing, last year in november -december when the it was not aviable the F3C(fixed?) Bios on the Gigabyte page , a couple of users trying different "tricks? and a couple of person report , if downclock her cards memoryclock at 900 the problem disapear.( 775/900 )MHZ)_. Anyway in my opinion this is not a correct sollution.NObody spending her money to be forced to downclocked her card.

Here is the link with the new BIOS.If somebody have the same problem he can try it maybe will help but not 100%.And once again! the cooler rotaion will become 40% (original os 25%)and the memory frequencies will rising from 1000 to 1005 Mhz.This BIOS is only for GV-R685D5-1GD cards. I dont dont know why was necessary this modification but to be honest I like att all,especially after saw a couple of the same cards ,which working perfect with original BIOS(775/1000, 1,5V ) and doesent make Black screen error.

##gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=3614#bios

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# BS + FREEZING HD 6850 — rdizzle 2011-02-16 08:33

I recently had the same issue with my HD 6850.
Mine has been OC'd to 950/1200 on stock voltages.
Ran OCCT for an hour with no errors detected.
Did a memtest for a whole night with no errors.

My problem is after playing CS:Source for more than an hour..my computer screen turns black and shows "No Signal" and at the same time my computer freezes and the sound just keeps repeating the last thing that was heard.

I can't do anything but do a hard reset..and now I notice when I boot up Windows there's an extra black screen with a messed up windows logo right before Windows actually loads up.

CS:Source FPS average around 299

Specs:
Intel i5 760
Motherboard: Sabertooth 55i
Graphics Card: Gigabyte HD6850
Memory: Ripjaws (2x4)8GB PC3-10666
Hard Drive: WD Black 1TB
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-S243D
Power Supply: Corsair TX750W
Display: Acer p244w 24" 1920 x 1080
Operating System: Win7 64bit
Speeds
CPU
Stock: 2.8
Memory
Stock: 1333
Memory - Timings
Stock: 9-9-9-24 1.5V
Graphics Card - Core
Stock: 775
Overclocked: 950
Graphics Card - Memory
Stock: 1000
Overclocked: 1200

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# Msi Afterburner beta 7 — rdizzle 2011-02-16 08:43

I also forgot to mention that I recently updated MSI Afterburner 2.1.0 beta 7 coming from beta 6...and I noticed this happening...
I might revert back to the old beta 6 later when I get home and do some more gaming to see if that fixes the problem...

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# Oc rates — Pedro 2012-01-15 04:50

Hi Folks i've just installed my brand new HD 6850 GV-R685OC-1GD, and as per i upgraded from Sapphire 5570 1GB DDR3 to this new one i've already had the Catalyst Control Center installed. I just put the GPU and the driver was automatically installed by w7 and updated by Catlayst (i did not installed the Gigabyte installation CD)
On AMD software by checking the box to enable Graphics Over Drive:
Automatic OC options on AMD Vision Control Center are:
GPU range: from 600 to 985 (just drag the bar)
MeM range: from 1050 to 1260 (just drang the bar)

My question: can i safely drag to 958 and 1260? as they appear as option to me?
very good review by the way

Specs:
AMD Phenom II X4955 Black Edition (800-3800oc by AMD auto tune)
Motherboard: ECS A785GM-M
Graphics Card: Gigabyte Radeon HD 6850 GV-R685OC-1GD
Memory: Ripjaws (4x4)16GB PC3-10666 Markvision 1333Mhz
Hard Drive: Samsung HD-322HJ
Optical Drive: LG GH22NS50
Power Supply: Akasa 600W (AK-P600G-SLAM)
Display: LG W2353V 23" 1920 x 1080
Operating System: Win7 64bit

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# RE: Oc rates — David Ramsey 2012-01-15 08:04

You can do it safely, as in "it won't physically damage your card". However, there's no guarantee the card will run with those settings: you could see visual artifacts, or the computer could lock up or crash.

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# RE: Oc rates — Olin Coles 2012-01-15 08:13

The Radeon HD 6850 is a good overclocking card, but the limit varies from card to card. I suggest finding the maximum GPU and Memory overclock (GPU is more important, and memory really doesn't/shouldn't be overclocked), then backing down 10MHz or more.

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