Diamond Radeon HD 6770 XOC 1GB Video Card Review

Introduction and Package

Introduction

It's been a while since we've looked at anything from Diamond, but today we look at a card that is showing up a bit lately, the HD 6770. Of course, in typical Diamond fashion we're checking out an overclocked model with the HD 6770 we're looking at today coming with the XOC tag.

There's not much else we need to say at the moment; you should know we're already a fan of the HD 6770 and we're looking forward to seeing what Diamond are able to offer us today with their XOC version.

Before we get into the performance side of things, let's look what's going on with the package that Diamond has put together. Once we've done that we'll move onto the card and check out the specifications to find out just what kind of overclock is on offer from the XOC model we're looking at today.

Then the fun stuff begins and we get into the performance side of things to see what's going on before we wrap everything up.

Package

Checking out the box, you can see the front of the box has a heavy focus on Need for Speed Shift II. I've played a bit of it, but not heaps. It does look pretty cool what they've done with the box, though, as it really manages to stand out. You can also see that XOC label present on the front.

Moving inside the box, we haven't got heaps going on with a manual, driver CD, CrossFire cable, DVI to VGA connector and Molex to 6-Pin PCI-E power connector. Along with that, we've got a mini catalog showcasing some of Diamonds products and inside that there's a $10 off voucher included for the next time you buy something from the Diamond store.

I must admit, it would've been nice to see Need for Speed Shift II included in the box since it was quite heavily mentioned on the front of the box, but it's not the end of the world. Diamond doesn't advertise it as being included either, so we can't fault them for that, plus who's going to complain about a $10 off voucher included.

Card and Specifications

The Card

Moving out of the package and onto the card, you can see that Diamond have opted to use a larger single heatsink/fan setup that sits in the middle of the card verses a cooler that covers the majority of the card.

Taking a spin around the card, we can see at the back of the card we've got a single 6-Pin PCI-E power connector. Moving across the top and closer to the front, you can see we've got a pair of CrossFire connectors.

Checking out the I/O side of things, we can see we've got two DVI connectors along with a single HDMI and full size DisplayPort connection. Nothing too unusual here with the same connection setup we see on just about every other HD 6770.

Specifications

With the XOC tag present on the card, that of course means we're dealing with an out of the box overclock. Just what kind of overclock? Well let's fire up GPU-Z and take a closer look at it.

Looking above, you can see that Diamond has chosen to boost the clock speeds on both the core and memory. You can see our core has been bumped up to 900MHz from the default 850MHz while the 1GB of GDDR5 has gone from 4800MHz QDR to a nice round sounding 5000MHz QDR.

Test System Setup and 3DMark 11

We would like to thank the following companies for supplying and supporting us with our test system hardware and equipment: Intel, ASRock, Kingston, Mittoni, Noctua and Corsair.

We'll be checking out our Diamond HD 6770 XOC against a number of other cards here today from AMD and NVIDIA. We won't go into too much detail as there's no real surprises here when it comes to our lineup and testbed today, so let's just get stuck into it.

Let's get started!

3DMark 11

Version and / or Patch Used: 1.0

Developer Homepage: http://www.futuremark.com

Product Homepage: http://www.3dmark.com/3dmark11/

Buy It Here

3DMark 11 is the latest version of the world's most popular benchmark. Designed to measure your PC's gaming performance 3DMark 11 makes extensive use of all the new features in DirectX 11 including tessellation, compute shaders and multi-threading. Trusted by gamers worldwide to give accurate and unbiased results, 3DMark 11 is the best way to consistently and reliably test DirectX 11 under game-like loads.

With a slight bump in core speed when compared to the HIS, you can see an extra couple of points on offer here.

3DMark Vantage

Version and / or Patch Used: 1.0.1

Developer Homepage: http://www.futuremark.com

Product Homepage: http://www.futuremark.com/products/3dmarkvantage/

Buy It Here

3DMark Vantage is the new industry standard PC gaming performance benchmark from Futuremark, newly designed for Windows Vista and DirectX10. It includes two new graphics tests, two new CPU tests, several new feature tests, and support for the latest hardware.

3DMark Vantage is based on a completely new rendering engine, developed specifically to take full advantage of DirectX10, the new graphics API from Microsoft.

Getting into Vantage, you can see much the same thing with an extra couple of points on offer from our HD 6770 XOC from Diamond here.

Unigine Heaven Benchmark

Version and / or Patch Used: 2

Developer Homepage: http://www.unigine.com

Product Homepage: http://unigine.com/press-releases/091022-heaven_benchmark//

New benchmark grants the power to unleash the DirectX 11 potential in the gift wrapping of impressively towering graphics capabilities. It reveals the enchanting magic of floating islands with a tiny village hidden in the cloudy skies. With the interactive mode emerging experience of exploring the intricate world is ensured within reach. Through its advanced renderer, Unigine is one of the first to set precedence in showcasing the art assets with tessellation, bringing compelling visual finesse, utilizing the technology to the full extend and exhibiting the possibilities of enriching 3D gaming.

Under Heaven we see some strong performance again from the HD 6770 XOC and see the huge boost in performance it offers over the HD 6670.

Benchmarks - Resident Evil 5

Resident Evil 5

Version and / or Patch Used: Demo Benchmark

Developer Homepage: www.residentevil.com/

Product Homepage: http://www.residentevil.com/

Resident Evil 5 is a survival horror video game developed and published by Capcom. The game is the seventh installment in the Resident Evil survival horror series, and was released on September 18. Resident Evil 5 revolves around Chris Redfield and Sheva Alomar as they investigate a terrorist threat in Kijuju, a fictional town in Africa.

Firing up Resident Evil 5, we can see some strong performance from our HD 6770 XOC which gives us playable FPS at both resolutions which is always a good thing.

Benchmarks - Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X. 2

Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X.2

Version and / or Patch Used: Benchmark Demo

Timedemo or Level Used: Built-in Test

Developer Homepage: http://www.ubi.com/UK/default.aspx

Product Homepage: http://www.hawxgame.com/

Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X. 2 is an arcade-style flight action game developed by Ubisoft Romania and published by Ubisoft. The game is the sequel to Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X., released in 2009.

The game begins with Colonel David Crenshaw participating in a routine patrol mission in the Middle East. After halting an insurgent attack, a volley of missiles is fired at the Air Force base that Crenshaw was stationed at, with one of the missiles disabling Crenshaw's aircraft, resulting Crenshaw being in enemy captivity. A joint strike force composed of the U.S. Navy, U.S. Air Force, and a Ghost Recon squad executes an operation to rescue Crenshaw. In Scotland, Royal Navy Pilot Colin Munro encounters an unidentified passenger aircraft that explodes from an on-board bomb when undergoing training exercise. In Russia, an air force squadron led by Colonel Denisov and Captain Dmitri Sokov engages separatist aircraft but is ordered to retreat from the region after numerous Russian military installations have been attacked.

Getting into H.A.W.X. 2, we again see strong performance that gives us over 60 FPS at both resolutions.

Benchmarks - Mafia II

Mafia II

Version and / or Patch Used: Latest Steam Update

Timedemo or Level Used: Built in Benchmark

Developer Homepage: http://www.2kczech.com/

Product Homepage: http://www.mafia2game.com/

Buy It Here

Mafia II is a third-person action-adventure video game, the sequel to Mafia: The City of Lost Heaven. It is developed by 2K Czech, previously known as Illusion Softworks, and is published by 2K Games. The game is set from 1943 to 1951 in Empire Bay (the name is a reference to New York's state nickname "The Empire State"), a fictional city based on San Francisco and New York City, with influences from Chicago and Detroit. The game features a completely open-ended game map of 10 square miles. No restrictions are included from the start of the game. There are around 50 vehicles in the game, as well as licensed music from the era.

While under Mafia II we do fall a little short of that 60 FPS average we like to get, we're so close to it at 1680 x 1050 that it doesn't really matter and the smallest drop in detail would get it for us.

Benchmarks - Lost Planet 2

Lost Planet 2

Version and / or Patch Used: Benchmark Demo

Timedemo or Level Used: Built in Benchmark - Test A Scene 1

Developer Homepage: http://www.capcom.com/

Product Homepage: http://www.lostplanet2game.com/

Lost Planet 2 is a third-person shooter video game developed and published by Capcom. The game is the sequel to Lost Planet: Extreme Condition which is also made by Capcom, taking place ten years after the events of the first game, on the same fictional planet. The story takes place back on E.D.N. III 10 years after the events of the first game. The snow has melted to reveal jungles and more tropical areas that have taken the place of more frozen regions. The plot begins with Mercenaries fighting against Jungle Pirates. After destroying a mine, the Mercenaries continue on to evacuate the area, in which a Category-G Akrid appears and attacks them. After being rescued, they find out their evacuation point (Where the Category-G appeared) was a set-up and no pick up team awaited them. The last words imply possible DLC additions to the game, "There's nothing to be gained by wiping out snow pirates... unless you had some kind of grudge."

Lost Planet 2 holds no surprises and we see most cards here struggle with this game.

Benchmarks - Aliens vs. Predator

Aliens vs. Predator

Version and / or Patch Used: Standalone Benchmark

Timedemo or Level Used: Built in Benchmark

Developer Homepage: http://www.rebellion.co.uk/

Product Homepage: http://www.sega.com/games/aliens-vs-predator/

Aliens vs. Predator is a science fiction first-person shooter video game, developed by Rebellion Developments, the team behind the 1999 original PC game, and published by Sega for Microsoft Windows, the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360. The game is based on the Alien vs. Predator franchise, a combination of the characters and creatures of the Alien franchise and the Predator franchise. There are three campaigns in the game, one for each race/faction (the Predators, the Aliens and the Colonial Marines), that, while separate in terms of individual plot and gameplay, form one overarching storyline.

Following the storyline of the campaign modes comes the multiplayer aspect of the game. In this Multiplayer section of the game, players face off in various different gametypes in various different ways.

Aliens vs. Predator paints the same picture as Lost Planet 2. You're going to want to move the detail level down a little to get that FPS up.

Benchmarks - Street Fighter IV

Street Fighter IV

Version and / or Patch Used: Standalone Benchmark

Timedemo or Level Used: Built in Benchmark

Developer Homepage: http://www.capcom.com/

Product Homepage: http://www.streetfighter.com/

While Street Fighter IV features models and backgrounds rendered in 3D, the gameplay remains on a traditional 2D plane, with the camera having freedom to move in 3D at certain times during fights, for dramatic effect. Producer Yoshinori Ono has stated that he wanted to keep the game closer to Street Fighter II. A new system called "Focus Attacks" ("Saving Attack" for the Japanese version) has been introduced, as well as Ultra moves. The traditional six-button control scheme returns, with new features and special moves integrated into the input system, mixing classic gameplay with additional innovations.

All the characters and environments in Street Fighter IV are rendered as 3D models with polygons, similar to the Street Fighter EX sub-series Capcom produced with Arika. However, there are a couple of key differences. Art director and character designer Daigo Ikeno, who previously worked on Street Fighter III 3rd Strike, opted for non-photorealistic rendering to give them a hand-drawn look, with visual effects accented in calligraphic strokes, ink smudges and ink sprays during the fights.

Street Fighter IV sees some big performance which is hardly shocking. Of course, playing SF IV on most cards isn't going to be too much of an issue thanks to the huge FPS we see most cards getting under the game.

Benchmarks - Far Cry 2

Far Cry 2

Version and / or Patch Used: 1.01

Timedemo or Level Used: Ranch Long

Developer Homepage: http://www.ubi.com/

Product Homepage: http://www.farcry2.com/

Buy It Here

The Dunia Engine was built specifically for Far Cry 2 by the award-winning Ubisoft Montreal development team. It delivers the most realistic destructible environments, amazing special effects such as dynamic fire propagation and storm effects, real-time night-and-day cycle, dynamic music system, non-scripted enemy A.I. and so much more.

We continue to see strong performance across the board and you can see the extra MHz on the core bumps that minimum FPS up just ever so slightly.

Benchmarks - Batman Arkham Asylum

Batman Arkham Asylum

Version and / or Patch Used: 1.1

Timedemo or Level Used: Built-in Test

Developer Homepage: http://www.batmanarkhamasylum.com/

Product Homepage: http://www.batmanarkhamasylum.com/

Batman: Arkham Asylum exposes players to a unique, dark and atmospheric adventure that takes them to the depths of Arkham Asylum - Gotham's psychiatric hospital for the criminally insane. Gamers will move in the shadows, instigate fear amongst their enemies and confront The Joker and Gotham City's most notorious villains who have taken over the asylum.

Using a wide range of Batman's gadgets and abilities, players will become the invisible predator and attempt to foil The Joker's demented scheme.

Batman: Arkham Asylum features an original story penned exclusively for the game by famous Batman author and five-time Emmy award winner Paul Dini, whose credits include Lost season one and Batman: The Animated Series.

Finally, we finish up with Batman AA and we continue to see strong performance from our Diamond HD 6770 XOC which performs a little faster than our HIS offering thanks to the extra MHz on offer on the core.

Temperature Test

Temperature Tests

The temperature of the core is pulled from MSI Afterburner with the max reading used after a completed run off 3DMark Vantage and the Performance preset.

Our Diamond HD 6770 XOC runs a little warmer than some of our other cards, but it's not too bad. The cooler isn't as big as some of our other options, so we expected it to run a little warmer than some of the other cards we've looked at.

Sound Test

Sound Tests

Pulling out the TES 1350A Sound Level Meter we find ourselves quickly yelling into the top of it to see how loud we can be.

After five minutes of that we get a bit more serious and place the device two CM away from the fan on the card to find the maximum noise level of the card when idle (2D mode) and in load (3D mode).

Noise levels on the card are good at both idle and load which is something we're always happy to see....or hear in this case.

Power Consumption Tests

Using our new PROVA Power Analyzer WM-01 or "Power Thingy" as it has become quickly known as to our readers, we are now able to find out what kind of power is being used by our test system and the associated graphics cards installed. Keep in mind; it tests the complete system (minus LCD monitor, which is plugged directly into AC wall socket).

There are a few important notes to remember though; while our maximum power is taken in 3DMark06 at the same exact point, we have seen in particular tests the power being drawn as much as 10% more. We test at the exact same stage every time; therefore tests should be very consistent and accurate.

The other thing to remember is that our test system is bare minimum - only a SSD hard drive is used with a single CD ROM and minimal cooling fans.

So while the system might draw 400 watts in our test system, placing it into your own PC with a number of other items, the draw is going to be higher.

Power consumption doesn't hold any real surprises, coming in at just over 250 watt.

Final Thoughts

The Diamond HD 6770 XOC is another good iteration of the mid-range HD 6770 from AMD. While the cooler isn't as fancy looking as some others, it does a good job on our HD 6770 while offering us low noise levels.

The big push on the front of the box showing Need for Speed Shift II makes for a great looking package, but it was a little disappointing to see the game wasn't included in the bundle. The inclusion of the little $10 discount voucher was nice, but for the most part the bundle is very similar to that of most other mid-range offerings.

On the pricing and availability front we can't tell you much at the moment, since the card's not even listed on the Diamond website. I'm sure we'll see it coming in the next few weeks and pricing like usual should be pretty strong.

There's really not much else that has to be said about the Diamond HD 6770 XOC. Diamond has done a good job with the overclock and bringing that core up to 900MHz is great. The good news is that they've also taken the time to overclock the memory and all in all we end up with a nicely clocked card at 900 / 5000MHz QDR.

Now all we need is to wait for Diamond to throw it up on their website and release it to the mass market, which we hope they'll do in the coming weeks.