Introduction

Hemlock is a poison used to kill prisoners to kings, from Ancient through Medieval Times, whose most famous victim happened to be Socrates. Hemlock affects the body’s central nervous system by causing muscle paralysis and, eventually, paralysis of the respiratory muscles, therefore causing death by suffocation.

The newest ATI Radeon 5000 series video card, the Dual Graphics Processor the ATI Radeon HD5970, is codenamed Hemlock and it is the most powerful video card produced to date.  The ATI 5970 with its dual graphics processors is also the first dual graphics processor video card to support DirectX 11, which is a software component of the new Windows 7 operating system.

Sapphire Technologies, a manufacturer of ATI Radeon Video cards, has produced an HD5970 that also comes out of the box with a slight overclock. The Sapphire Radeon HD5970 has a clock speed of 735 MHz per processor and a total of 2048 MB of memory. With the Compute power of 4.64 TeraFLOPs and 3200 streaming processors, you may think that the Sapphire Radeon HD5970 is a power hog, but due to active cycling when idle, it only consumes 42Watts of power and a max of 294W at load.

Sapphire Technologies has been a leader in manufacturing ATI Graphics boards and they are also a key world wide supplier. Within the last three years, Sapphire has also began to manufacture system mainboards and one of their most recent is based on the AMD 785G chipset.

The Sapphire Radeon HD 5970 Dual GPU Graphics Card Overclocked Edition

The Sapphire Radeon HD 5970 Overclocked Edition comes packaged in a bright black box with Gold surrounding the card's twin mascots. There is also a coupon for a copy of Dirt 2 and Sapphire Redline overclocking utility.

The Sapphire 5970 is 12" x 4.5" x 1.5", comes with a dual slot cooling solution and is Crossfire and Eyefinity ready. You will need one 6-pin and one 8-pin PCI-e connectors to power the card.

Sapphire Redline Tweak Utility

Sapphire Redline is an Overclocking/Tweak Utility that allows you to adjust your voltages on the Sapphire Radeon HD5970 Overclocked Edition. Once installed it is very easy to use, the video below shows the process.

Download: Sapphire Redline Utility

Click to View

AMD also has an Overvolt utility that works on the same premise. Below is a screenshot of the maximum overclock I was able to achieve. There was no difference in the overclock with either Sapphire Redline or AMD Overvolt.

Installation

To install the Sapphire Radeon HD 5970, you will need to open your case, find and unscrew the existing video card, remove it from the PCI-e slot, then insert the new card in its place. You will need one 6 pin and one 8-pin PCI-e cable on your PSU to power the card.

Software (Driver Installation)

The installation of the HD 5970 drivers is easy and, if you have installed any programs before, you will find it pretty routine. If not, you can simply follow the on screen prompts and you will have your drivers installed in no time.

Graphics Drivers

Technologies

What's New?

A new line of DirectX 11 compatible 40nm Radeon video cards starting with Cypress (5870 and 5850), Juniper (5770 and 5750), Redwood and Cedar (entry level) and Hemlock (dual core 5900 series) all released within 6 months.

Architecture and Specifications

Efficiency

• Idle: 42W
• Load: 294W

The HD 5970 is designed and unlocked to make overclocking the card as easy as possible, it is rated at 5GB per second (GDDR5) and realtime power monitoring.

Sapphire has designed an overclocking utility called RedLine, which will adjust voltages for overclocking  and will be shown later in this review.

With ATI Eyefinity technology, the 5700 Series of video cards can run three monitors simultaneously as one image for more immersive gaming. The maximum resolution is 3X 2560x1600.

What else is new with DirectX 11?

• Tessellation- "A tessellation is created when a shape is repeated over and over again. All the figures fit onto a flat surface exactly together without any gaps or overlaps."
• Shader Model 5.0
• Direct Compute 11- "Microsoft DirectCompute is an application programming interface (API) that takes advantage of the massively parallel processing power of a modern graphics processing unit (GPU) to accelerate PC application performance in Microsoft Windows Vista or Windows 7. DirectCompute is part of the Microsoft DirectX collection of APIs. Other DirectX APIs include Direct3D, Direct2D, DirectWrite, DirectDraw, DirectMusic, DirectPlay, and DirectSound."
• HDR Texture Compression

What to expect?

• ATI Stream Technology - OpenCL GPU SDK. Programs using the OpenCL SDK will take advantage of the power of Microsoft Direct Compute for better GPU acceleration.

Specifications

Features

1. Full Microsoft DirectX 11 Support

2. ATI Eyefinity Technology, support up to 3 displays. *

3. ATI Stream technology**

4. Microsoft Windows 7 Support

5. 40nm Process Technology

6. Enhanced Ansitropic Filtering

7. Dual 2nd Generation TeraScale Engine

8. Accelerated Video Transcoding

9. PCI Express 2.1 support

10. Advance GDDR5 Memory Technology

11. HDMI 1.3 Support

12. Display Flexibility

13. ATI CrossFireX™ multi-GPU support for highly scalable performance.

14. ATI Avivo HD Support

• ATI Unified Video Decoder 2 (UVD) for Blu-ray™ and HD Video.
• Accelerated Video Transcoding (AVT)
• DVD Upscaling
• Dynamic Contrast
• Built-in HDMI with 7.1 surround sound support

15. Dynamic power management with ATI PowerPlay™ technology including memory clocks

16. Dolby® TrueHD and DTSHD Master Audio TM Support

System Requirements

• PCI Express® based PC is required with one X16 lane graphics slot available on the motherboard
• 650 Watt or greater power supply with one 75W 6-pin PCI Express® and one 150W 8-pin PCI Express® power connectors recommended (850 Watt with two 6-pin and two 8-pin connectors for ATI CrossFireX™ technology in dual mode)
• Certified power supplies are recommended. Refer to http://ati.amd.com/certifiedPSU for a list of Certified products
• Minimum 1GB of system memory
• Installation software requires CD-ROM drive
• DVD playback requires DVD drive
• Blu-ray™ playback requires Blu-ray drive
• For an ATI CrossFireX™ system, a second ATI Radeon™ HD 5970 graphics card, an ATI CrossFireX Ready motherboard and one ATI CrossFireX Bridge Interconnect cable per graphics card (optional) are required

Maximum Display Resolution:

• D-Dub(VGA): 2048 x 1536 @85 Hz.
• DL-DVI-I: 2560 x 1600@60Hz
• HDMI:1080P
• Display Port: 2560 x 1600@60Hz
• Eyefinity: 7680 x 1600@60Hz*

*Grouped with 3 monitors supporting resolutions at 2560 x 1600 with one of them supporting Display Port input.

NOTE:

1. Resolutions are limited by the performance of the attached monitor.

Operating System

• Windows XP(32Bit/64Bit)
• Windows Vista(32Bit/64Bit)
• Windows Media Center Edition 2005
• Windows 7

Testing

To benchmark the video card, we will use our suite of popular games and also a synthetic benchmark created by FutureMark. For testing purposes, all scores will be posted on a graphical chart, which will progress from lowest to highest resolutions. All benchmarks will be on their own individual pages to eliminate confusion. Graphs will measure Frames per Second (FPS) in each resolution, except for 3DMark Vantage, which will reflect an overall score.

Test System(s):

Benchmarks:

• 3D Mark Vantage
• Batman Arkham Asylum
• Resident Evil 5
• Battleforge
• Call of Duty (World at War)
• Left 4 Dead
• Unigine

Resolutions:

• 1280x1024
• 1680x1050
• 1920x1200

Temperatures:

All Temperatures taken with IR Thermometer and will be read in Celsius.

3D Mark Vantage

3DMark Vantage is a benchmark suite that was designed to test performance of video cards. The overall score obtained when running the benchmark will measure your system's gaming performance.

3DMark consists of four tests, two for graphics and two to test your CPU, one for AI and one for Physics. Hi Tech Legion will test a video card using any of the four settings offered by 3DMark which are:

• Entry 1024x768
• Performance 1280x1024
• High 1680x1050
• Extreme 1920x1200

Comparison

Batman Arkham Asylum

Batman Arkham Asylum is the newest of the Batman series of video games. The Joker has escaped and is holding the Asylum hostage. It is up to you (Batman) to stop the Joker's evil plot and bring order back to the Asylum.

Settings

• No AA
• No Physics

Comparison

Resident Evil 5

The fifth installation of the Resident Evil Series, which is a first person shooter. You are a member of the World Bioterrorism Team and are sent out to stop a new infestation of the virus created by the Umbrella Corporation.

Settings

• AA 8x
• Levels: High

Comparison

Battle Forge

Battle Forge is an MMORPG that is free to play with its download. You choose from mythical characters and battle until your opponents are conquered. Battle Forge is the first game to support Direct X 11.

Settings

• AA x4
• Default High

Comparison

Call of Duty (World at War)

Call of Duty: World at War is a World War II First Person Shooter which begins in the Japanese theater of the war. This is the first in the Call of Duty series to use the Pacific Theater.

Settings:

• AA: x4
• Ansi: x16

Comparison

Left 4 Dead

Left 4 Dead is an FPS where four uninfected people are left in a city where everyone else has turned into zombies. The action in this game is intense - zombies come at you from all angles. You can play Left 4 Dead via Stream and can choose whether to play your own campaign or play with others.

Settings:

• AA: 4x
• Ansi: 8x

Comparison

Unigine (Heaven)

Unigine Heaven is the first DirectX 11 benchmark and has multiple options for Shader Models, DirextX versions, AA,AF, Resolution and Tessellation.

Settings:

• AA: x8
• Ansi: x4

Comparison

Putting it all Together

The Sapphire HD5970 Overclocked Edition, outperforms the leading NVIDIA GTX 295 by about a 15% margin. This relates to a decent increase in performance, if you are looking to move from a GTX 295. The major benefit of the Sapphire HD 5970 is that it's the only DirectX 11 Dual Graphics Card on the market, allowing you to take full advantage of the new features Windows 7 has to offer.  Other benefits are efficiency and overclockability. Unlocked Voltages equate to higher overclocks and Sapphire Redline comes packaged with the card.

I would like to talk a little about the benchmarks in Call of Duty (World at War). Some people are speculating that due to CPU limitations (not getting the info to the card fast enough), there is a bottleneck. I see and understand the point, but I would like to possibly add something to those remarks. Could it be that the drivers aren’t mature enough yet? While benchmarking the game, I noticed the frame rates would not go over 91 FPS no matter what settings I tried (No AA, No AF,etc.), which may lead to another argument about resolution. I can understand the CPU being the bottleneck at lower resolutions but does it really play that much of a part at 1920 x 1200? If it did, why did frame rates drop as the resolutions went higher? (ATI and NVIDIA) So let’s rethink this. Windows 7 is new, both ATI and NVIDIA’s drivers are new, so could it be lack of maturity or even lack of support by the games developers? I think we will start seeing some differences as drivers mature and Activision comes out with their next patch.

When overclocking I did notice the temps approaching 100C at a fan speed of 67% setting the controls to manual and 100% only made a 2C difference as it went from 98C to 96C. (OCCT GPU to 98% load)

If you do choose to overclock the Sapphire Radeon HD5970, it is imperative to have at least an 850W stable power supply. I had no problems overclocking the card with an 850W PSU so i decided to try a 650W PSU, which is recommended for single card use. I was able to get an overclock passed by ATI Overdrive, but when running benchmarks, the video card at times needed more power than the 650W PSU could handle, causing a system crash.

Computing Experience

 We joke about this a lot in our forums but in all honesty computing experience does matter. My overall experience with the Sapphire HD5970 Overclocked Edition was great. Games were crisp and fluid, I did not see any ghosting nor did I have any artifact, edges were rounded and games popped right out of the screen with realism in a way that I have never seen with an ATI card before. Not worrying about having too much AA or AF at any resolution played or even details levels is a plus.

Conclusion

Price Point

Price: $629.00 USD

Class: Enthusiast

A price point of $629.00 USD places the Sapphire Radeon HD 5970 DirectX 11 Video card in the Enthusiast Gaming category.

Performance

If considering an upgrade from your old graphics card, you won't be upset with the performance of the Sapphire Radeon HD 5970 Overclocked Edition. It will outperform other video cards in its price point. You will also be able to take advantage of DirectX 11 and the enhancements that come with it.

Reviewer's Opinion

If you are an enthusiast and are looking for the best gaming performance in any Direct X environment, the Radeon 5970 is King. It is the only dual graphics video card that supports DirectX 11 and is unlocked giving enthusiasts the ability to further tweak performance. What more can an enthusiast ask from a frame rate producing machine.

I will warn you, you will need to measure the inside of your case before purchasing this card since it does have dual graphics on the same PCB and it is longer than most full length cards. I tried 3 cases which all stated they could accommodate a full size performance video card and they failed. At 12” in length, it would be wise to use a full tower case, or you will be getting out your Dremel.

Another thing I noticed is that the fan on the heatsink makes a weird clicking sound, I’m not sure if this is normal but after speaking to some others that have the 5970, it seems to be something common.

Enthusiasts want frame rates and the Sapphire Radeon HD5970 delivers, while also being power efficient. With new DirectX 11 games being released that will use total tessellation and support shader model 5, you are going to want a video card that can handle the extra demand. The Sapphire Radeon HD5970 is up for the challenge.

Pros

• Direct X 11 Compatible
• Performance
• Dual GPU
• CrossFire Ready
• Eyefinity Multi Display Capable

Cons

• Fan is rather loud at speeds over 50%