Sapphire DIRT 3 EDITION Radeon HD 6950 2 GB DDR5 DL-DVI-I/SL-DVI-D/HDMI/DP PCI-Express Graphics Card 100312-3SR

by Sapphire Technology

• 1xDisplayPort
• 1xDual-Link DVI-I
• 1xSingle-Link DVI-D1xDisplayPort
• 1xHDMI 1.4a
• DisplayPort 1.2

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 14.8 x 4 x 9.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 pounds
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B0055Y66A4
• Item model number: 100312-3SR
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (57 customer reviews)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: June 14, 2011

Product Description

The SAPPHIRE HD 6950 Dirt3 Special Edition is a new SAPPHIRE original model with a special cooler using a new dual fan configuration. Based on the latest high end AMD GPU architecture, it boasts true DX 11 capability and the powerful configuration of 1408 stream processors and 88 texture processing units. With its clock speed of 800MHz for the core and 2GB of the latest GDDR5 memory running at 1250Mhz (5 Gb/sec effective), this model speeds through even the most demanding applications for a smooth and detail packed experience.A Dual BIOS feature allows enthusiasts to experiment with alternative BIOS settings and performance can be further enhanced with the SAPPHIRE overclocking tool, TriXX, available as a free download from...

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 30 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great 6950 card August 7, 2011

By Mike The Guy

I did a lot of research before deciding on this card. The main things that made me decide to buy it were;

1. High quality components. This card is not a cheap version of a 6950, it is a solid card with Japanese made capacitors (the best) and great construction.

2. Quiet! This card is 100% quieter than my last card, a 4890. My wife loves it that my computer cannot be heard in the other room now!

3. Cool! This card runs extremely cool. The two fan configuration does an excellent job keeping it cool (and is also the reason it's so quiet, the fans can run at a lower rpm and still provide more cooling than a single fan).

4. Fast fast fast. This card, while not a reference design (for unlocking shaders) is still a very fast card. It blows away every game I throw at it, and I can FINALLY run crysis at max settings!

One thing to remember about reference vs. non-reference cards is that when you unlock the shaders, you only get a 3% performance boost, and that is at the cost of a hotter running and louder card (due to the single fan).

Bottom line, if you are looking for a great clard that is fast, quiet, cool, and has some overclockability, this is the one to get.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Best bang for the buck out there right now August 30, 2011

By Lockjaw

Amazon Verified Purchase

After tons of research and analyzing benchmarks, I decided to go with a 6950. Deciding to go with the 2GB card was an easy choice, as its a "future proof" of sorts...the extra 1GB of vram might not be too noticeable in benchmarks right now, but may be in the future. Also the extra vram will definitely be a factor if you're running at high resolutions (1920x1080 +), the benchmarks will back that up. This card nips at the heels of the nvidia gtx 570 in benchmarks and is about $100 cheaper. The price to performance ratio is superb.

Deciding on the Sapphire Dirt 3 Ed. of the card was also an easy choice. Sapphire is a quality manufacturer that I've had very good experiences with in the past. This card is well made, with Japanese capacitors and a solid frame. The two fans and thick heatsink pipes keep this baby very cool- I get about 30C at idle and 50-60C under load while playing Bad Company 2 for long periods of time at max settings. It also doesn't hurt that the card comes with 2 free games: Dirt 3 and a free copy of Deus Ex: HR (more on the latter later!). With the $20 rebate and the already amazing price to performance ratio, this card is probably the best bang for the buck right now in high end graphics cards.

A note on size: This card is a monster- about 11 inches in length. Most current mid level cases will fit this card just fine; the card fits with plenty of room to spare in my Lian Li PC-7FN. Its also a two-slot PCI-E card, so be prepared to give up the room for this baby. The card also requires two PCI-E power connectors from your power supply. I have read other reviews complain that the card sags at the end due to weight, but my card does not seem to sag at all....

GAME PERFORMANCE:

CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K Processor 3.3GHz 6 MB Cache Socket LGA1155
RAM: G.SKILL 8GB (2 x 4GB) Ripjaws X Series DDR3 1600MHz 240-Pin PC3-12800 Desktop Memory F3-12800CL9D-8GBXL
PSU: Antec Gamer 750W
Mobo: Asus p8p67 pro (rev 3.1)
Monitor: Samsung 2233BW 22-Inch LCD Monitor @ 1680x1050

-BFBC2: 80-90 fps max settings
-Crysis: 50-60 fps max settings
-Witcher 2: 60-70fps max settings

NOTE REGARDING FREE DEUS EX CODE:

As another reviewer stated, you won't get your code for Deus Ex: HR at the time you purchase the card, nor seemingly any time close to that. I ordered this card on August 20th, received it the 23rd, and have yet to receive my code through email for Deus Ex. Its now August 30th, so its been 10 days. I called Amazon to inquire, and the rep simply referred me to the terms and conditions, which states 7-10 business days. I don't understand why this can't be an immediate process, as it is with other sites (newegg). I will update this review when I receive my code, just to give others who are thinking about buying this card an idea of how long they might have to wait to receive this perck. A little ridiculous, and another in a series of steps backwards Amazon has seemed to have taken over the past year or so, but not the card's fault, so can't take away from the 5-star rating.

EDIT 9/14/2011

I ended up having to call Amazon customer service after the 10th business day to inquire about my Deus Ex code. Apparently some sort of error occurred, and my code never made it into the system. The customer service rep was awesome (they always are with Amazon) and escalated the issue to her supervisor, who then put in a ticket to get a new code within 24 hours. Ended up getting the code about 23 hours later, lol. Better late than never I guess!

The card has been perfect by the way. Haven't had an issue maxing any game I've thrown at it yet. Read more ›

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars 100312-3SR August 2, 2011

By Some guy

Amazon Verified Purchase

Pros;
-the non-ref 6950 Dirt 3 ed. runs modern games with ease
-easy to overclock with the free Sapphire TRIXX program
-stays really cool (just like another reviewer comfirmed)
-32c on idle; doing nothing, 40~45c web browsing on ff5, ~69c max load after an hour or so of bad company 2, cod4, metro, ect. data was taken from trixx gadget on windows 7's sidebar
-2gb gddr5 memory helps with aa and high-res gaming
-free Dirt 3 steam voucher included
-dual bios switch for those nasty bios-flashing mishaps. although defeats the bios flashing purpose because amd laser cut the extra 6970 shaders.
-hdmi cable (i think 1....4a), dvi-to-vga adapter, sapphire sticker, driver disc, crossfire bridge, and two 4-pin psu to pci-e adapters are included; standard with sapphire video cards i guess
-very quiet; so quiet, i thought i had to rma because of the fan
-voucher to join the Sapphire Select Club included
-2 year warranty with registration on sapphire's website
-supports amd hd3d for those with bluray drives, 3d monitors, and 3d games

Cons;
-two cards in crossfire only, no triple crossfire x
-cannot flash 6970 shaders (just a heads up for those looking to unlock)
-large card for those people with mid cases; i think it's around ~11in
-covers some slots so make sure your motherboard is big enough to fit 2 of these or an audio card if you desire so
-hard-to-find bios switch
-need an active display port adapter for 3-monitor eyefinity setup

Other thoughts;
-needs two 6-pin pci-e power cables, min 500w psu
-has a blue circuit board
-i read somewhere online that this sapphire model uses japanese capacitors so voltage tweaking is possible; i have not tried this though
-have it running at 900/1350 with TRIXX
-This is a link to the benckmarking site Tweaktown for the location of the bios switch [...]

Conclusion;
-IMHO, the best bang-for-buck 6950 out there; even some 6950 1gb retail more than this 2gb gddr5 card online, factor in the dirt 3 voucher, accessories and rebates, and the temps with the custom cooler, this is a must buy in my perspective. It's a good overclocker too! Read more ›

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars February 15, 2012 shaders unlocked February 18, 2012

By Speedgoat1

Amazon Verified Purchase

I'm a noob when it comes to building a pc or knowing what all the certain specs for gpu/cpu/mobo etc. are and why they do what they do and how they do it, so don't expect an intricate review. There r plenty of those types of reviews out there for you to look at if u really wanna know that stuff. This is just a simple review detailing my experience with this gpu. Also this is my first ever review so if I miss things I apologize.
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I spent alot of time reading reviews n researching parts for my first pc build. I read lots of reviews and forums that say this card has laser locked shaders (whatever that means) so u CANNOT unlock the shaders to the 6970. After much research i decided to go with this card because of the 2gb memory and I've heard alot of good things about Radeon gpu's though I've never owned one in the past (I will be sticking with Radeon from now on). This card runs all games i play (Skyrim/Kindoms of Amalur: Reckoning/BF3 to name a few) at maxed graphics settings (stock not OC'D or unlocked) with out a problem. I WAS able to unlock my card just by flipping the switch (located next to the crossfire bridge/connector thingy (you will need a knife or toothpick or something to flip the switch since its located under the pretty plastic cover). Runs cool 30 degrees C at idle. It's quiet and I really like that.
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Unlocking the shaders to 6970: I've read many reviews of people not being able to unlock the shaders.... I don't know why they couldn't or how it works or why some work and some don't, but there are many reviews and forum posts to read about the subject if you are interested in that stuff. All I can tell you is my personal experience with this issue...There wasn't one. I built my pc and never touched the shader switch on this card cause i wanted to see stock condition during gaming first. After all updates and drivers and all that fun stuff was finished and my games were loaded and tested, I decided to flip the switch and see if it would unlock. I shutdown my pc, disconnected power cord, flipped the switch, and restarted pc. To my amazement and delight the shaders were unlocked from 1043 (or something like that, I can't remember exact number but it was 10xx) to 1536 (according to gpu-z cause cpu-z wouldn't show me any graphics info)! It's beyond me why this card worked and others did not. It was so EASY!! Which is good for a noob like me. No going into BIOS, no software to mess with and potentially fry the card, just flip the switch (away from the crossfire bridge connector thingamajig) and reboot and that's that.
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Overclocking: I haven't overclocked this gpu because i have no need to. If it will run all games I play at max graphics settings i see no point in overclocking. In the future if i need to overclock it i will or get another so i can run them in crossfire. That's just me though. If you have to OC it for bragging rights you need to look elsewhere for info on that because i have none to give.
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Contents: This gpu came with a driver installation cd (of course), an HDMI cable (sweet!), a crossfire cable (also sweet!), a registration card, and a DIRT 3 download card to get your free copy of DIRT 3. NOTE: DIRT 3 coupon may only be redeemed between May 24, 2011 and December 31, 2011 (according to fine print on the download card). I didn't even bother trying to get the game cause I'm not into racing games and don't need something on my pc i will never use.
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All in all i am very happy with my purchase of this card and have had no issues whatsoever and would recommend this card to anyone. Was a great purchase for me since this was my first build ever and a HUGE learning experience. If you're a noob like me i would recommend this card for the simple ease of use I had with installing and unlocking. HOWEVER...keep in mind that some people weren't able to unlock the shaders on their cards for one reason or another. This review is just MY personal experience with the card. There are alot of things like movie quality and such i cannot compare to my old PC since my old PC was running Windows XP and this PC is running Windows 7 with different media players, and to compare the quality from one PC to another would be like comparing a monster truck to a smart car. This is a new card, only a few days old, so if something happens in the future, I will add to this review with new info.
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My First PC Build (feel free to comment on it and add suggestions. Like i said I'm a noob and any info is helpful info to me)
Motherboard: Asus M4A87TD EVO Socket AM3/ AMD 870/ CrossFireX/ SATA3&USB3.0/ A&GbE/ ATX Motherboard
CPU: AMD Phenom II X6 1090T Processor, Black Edition
GPU: Sapphire DIRT 3 EDITION Radeon HD 6950 2 GB DDR5 DL-DVI-I/SL-DVI-D/HDMI/DP PCI-Express Graphics Card
PSU: Corsair Enthusiast Series 750-Watt 80 Plus Bronze Certified Power Supply Compatible with Intel Core i3, i5, i7 and AMD platforms
Cooling: Antec Kühler H2O 620 Liquid Cooling System (my case came with 5-120mm fans and 1-200mm fan so i left them in there and have them running as well)
RAM: Corsair Vengeance 8 GB ( 2 x 4 GB ) DDR3 1600 MHz (PC3 12800) 240-Pin DDR3 Memory Kit for Intel Core i3, i5, i7 and AMD Platforms SDRAM
Case: Antec ATX Full Tower Gaming Case, Twelve Hundred V3 (Black)
SSD: Crucial 128 GB m4 2.5-Inch Solid State Drive SATA 6Gb/s
HDD: Current HDD's are ancient so I'm shoppin for 2 good 1tb HDD's (any suggestions? please give a reason for any suggestion u leave so i know why you suggested it)
OS: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium
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