Gigabyte Radeon HD 5870 SOC (Super OC)
Gigabyte Radeon HD 5870 SOC (Super OC)
Okay, we just talked about the standard reference architecture. Gigabyte is doing it slightly different with this model though.
With the release of the SOC edition, Gigabyte tries to do something out of the ordinary. And this product certainly is that. The product is tagged under SKU GV-R587SO-1GD and comes with a nice phat 950 MHz core frequency and its memory clocked at 5000 MHz at default.
With the card Gigabyte once again makes use of their Ultra Durable VGA+ that features the very best components; the Super Overclock Series supports top performance in graphics benchmarking.
One of the quality components of Ultra Durable VGA+ is GIGABYTEs exclusive use of proadlizers. Unlike other leading brands that only use one proadlizer on their graphic cards, GIGABYTE generously uses five units of NEC's Proadlizer, also known as a film capacitor, to provide current capacity up to 5000uF and extremely low ESL/ESR for super overclocking ability.
Five times the regular capacitance indicates the amount of electric energy stored is fivefold. By placing five proadlizers around the GPU, electric currents are able to be charged and discharged rapidly to support super overclocking activity.
You'll spot a custom fan, the dual fan design doubles the cooling ability and offers a reasonably inaudible environment. The inclined cooling fan dissipates heat effectively from hot areas. Four heat pipes contribute to a temperature drop of 13ºC, cooler than the reference fansink.
Voltage Read Points - an idea 'borrowed' from MSI, Gigabyte has specific voltage read points supplying hardcore gamers an ultimate benching experience at overclocking competitions. The more extreme users can change the voltage through software (though VERY limited) instead of manually adjusting components on the PCB. But it is easy for overclockers to master the platform and monitor GPU workload at any time just through the voltage read points.
But let's place the primary clock specs into a little chart so you can compare.
| Radeon HD 4870 | Radeon HD 5850 | Radeon HD 5870 | Gigabyte R5870 SOC | |
| Process | 55nm | 40nm | 40nm | 40nm |
| Transistors | 956M | 2.15B | 2.15B | 2.15B |
| Die Size | 263 mm² | 334 mm² | 334 mm² | 334 mm² |
| Core Clock | 750 MHz | 725 MHz | 850 MHz | 950 MHz |
| Shader Processors | 800 | 1440 | 1600 | 1600 |
| Texture Units | 40 | 72 | 80 | 80 |
| ROPs | 16 | 32 | 32 | 32 |
| Memory Type | GDDR5 | GDDR5 | GDDR5 | GDDR5 |
| Memory Clock | 900 MHz | 1000 MHz | 1200 MHz | 1250 MHz |
| Memory Data Rate | 3.6 Gbps | 4.0 Gbps | 4.8 Gbps | 5 Gbps |
| Memory Bandwidth | 115.2 GB/s | 128.0 GB/s | 153.6GB/s | 153.6GB/s |
| Maximum Board Power (TDP) | 160W | 170W | 188W | 191W |
| Idle Board Power | 90W | 27W | 27W | 27W |
As you can see, the R5870 SOC comes overclocked at the core with a 100 MHz increase and an effective 200 MHz extra on the 256-bit gDDR5 memory. But let's have a closer look with the help of a photo-shoot.
