*Why I like this card:* **1. Very QUIET.2. Power Consumption is LOW.3. Heat Generated Medium or even Low.4. Performance is very HIGH.5. Price is Good!The card is perfect for an HTPC. I had a GTS 250 (XFX) and this card blows it away! The 6850 runs cooler, uses less power, & sounds MUCH better. It has double the memory & performance. Plus, I can hook up my TV w/ HDMI!!!For the cost, it's an easy choice. GTS 450 is over priced. 5770 has no where near the power. The GTX 460 costs the same but needs more juice, including a 2nd PCIe Power Connector. *Drawbacks:* I'm glad to be using ATI (AMD). But NVIDIA chips use Physics & CUDA. For an HomeTheaterPC, CUDA isn't an issue. So my ONLY con would be lack of Physics... *Also:* The reason I bought this card is because, for a year, I haven't been able to update any of NVidia's Drivers since I was using a DVI --> HDMI cable w/ Analog sound. The new drivers kept detecting HDMI of my TV & Disabling my Audio

usernameandp

Pittsburgh, PA

Good card. I am using it right now as I type this, in my computer. It's got single-card triple-monitor capability, which is a big reason why I got it to replace one of my older cards. But you need DisplayPort to run the third monitor. I bought a DP->VGA converter, but you can get a DP->DVI converter (single link) to adapt the display output to DVI, up to 1920x1200 resolution. That way you can run 5670 x 1200 resolution! The card is powerful enough to run older games (and some newer games using older engines, like Fallout New Vegas) at 5040x1050 resolution with a bit of AA to boot. Source games like TF2 are a good example. This immersive experience takes a bit of getting used to, but after a while you ignore the bevels just like you ignore the A-pillars of your automobile. Sapphire's cooling solution is chock full of copper, a big aluminum heatsink, and a reasonably quiet fan. It is much like the ASUS cooling solution, except that Sapphire has a bigger shroud, which in my opinion is a GOOD thing, as it means that most of the hot air is ejected out of the case rather than circulated within your case, warming up your CPU and RAM chips. You can use Sapphire's included TRIXX overclocking software which works much like Afterburner and in some ways is better (more accurate control of overclocking down to 1 Mhz increments). Couple it with GPU-Z and you have all the functionality of Afterburner. Or if you must, yes, you can use Afterburner with this card, too. Overclocking is good. I can reach about 950/1200 core/memory overclocks, but you don't want to go too crazy and shorten the life of the card. (You can use TRIXX to make a more aggressive fan profile, but this card will no longer be very quiet.) The only way this card could be improved at minimal cost would be to add a spine to the card, like ASUS does. This braces the PCB to prevent flexing, which is important when you have so much weight on the PCB.

strata

Oakland, CA

I needed some additional firepower after I upgraded to a 30" monitor (2560x1600 resolution) - my overclocked MSI Radeon HD4830 just wasn't cutting it anymore. Briefly "upgraded" to a 5770 but it wasn't enough to run Fallout 3 @ max settings, so I sold it off and bought this card. This card is awesome - will OC to 900 core, 1150 Mem on stock voltage, idles @ 43*C (using the Sapphire Trixx software). Runs Fallout New Vegas flawlessly on Ultra-High @ 2560 x 1600 (4AA, 15AF, HDR). It's incredibly quiet even at 50% fan speed and I'm incredibly anal about noise - I typically upgrade my VGA coolers to Accelero S1 Rev.2 passive coolers and strap on 120mm fans, but this one doesn't need it. The card isn't ovely long either and fits into my Coolermaster 690 case perfectly. After the rebates/coupons I used to get this, it ended up being a heck of a deal (close to the price of a 5770 for far better performance). Can't wait to get another 6850 and Crossfire!

jtlee

Seal Beach, CA