Sapphire HD 6970 FleX Battlefield 3 Edition Review

Introduction:

It wouldn't be out of line to say that EA's Battlefield 3, released only a couple of weeks ago, was one of the most eagerly anticipated games of the whole year. Almost everyone who has played it, including myself, has fallen in love and has since forgotten about all the other games that they used to play up until its release. I must say that the multiplayer gameplay is phenomenal and offers infinite incentives to keep playing — especially with a good group of teammates. However, that's not the focus of this review; it is merely a small part of it. On the day that Battlefield 3 launched came Sapphire's HD 6970 FleX Battlefield 3 Edition. Now, the only thing that makes it the Battlefield 3 Edition is that retail copies of the card come with a registration key for the game. Of course, the cost of the game is going to be a part of the package, but it still offers incentive to those looking for a new card and were going to purchase the game anyways.

As I've stated in my recent reviews of Sapphire cards, these cards are not anything new at the base/hardware level. Sure, they may come with different coolers, clock speeds, port availabilities, etc., but at the core they are the same. Sapphire has been keeping the market busy with many different varieties of the HD series cards, mainly in the 6800 and 6900 flavors. The HD 6970 is a very powerful card and I thoroughly enjoy my own. I am looking forward to seeing how this card compares to other HD 6970s and seeing how far I can overclock it! In this review, I will provide a thorough evaluation of Sapphire's HD 6970 FleX Battlefield 3 Edition, including its unboxing, exterior and interior evaluation, specifications and features, and OCC's intense testing and benchmarking suite that will put it up against the latest of games and highest of stress levels.

Closer Look:

Covering the package from top to bottom is Battlefield 3 artwork. The front of the box features the same image as everywhere else Battlefield 3 is advertised; an armored soldier walking toward the field of view with a tank and other buildings behind him. All the individual features that the card offers and other specifications are displayed on the front of the box as well. There is an "Overclocked" stamp indicating that it runs at slightly higher speeds than reference clocks, a Dual-Bios icon, and more at the bottom that are general features, such as DX11, HDMI and DisplayPort support, and other AMD features like Eyefinity and CrossFire. The top, bottom, and sides all say "Radeon HD6970 FleX Edition", with the graphics from the front wrapping onto them. The rear of the box mainly goes into detail about the individual features that are listed in icon form on the lower-front of the box, some of which I listed above. Inside of the outer, decorated "sheath" is a plain cardboard box that houses the card and the accessory contents.

The card itself is protected inside of a taped-shut, anti-static bag and arrived in good condition. Underneath the recycled cardboard housing for the video card is another cardboard box that contains the accessories. These accessories include: CrossFire bridge, HDMI to DVI adapter, mini DisplayPort to DisplayPort adapter, 6' HDMI cable, driver CD, users manuals, and of course, a Battlefield 3 voucher.

With the card out of the box, it's time to play!