GIGABYTE GV-R5876P-2GD-B Radeon HD 5870 (Cypress XT) 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Eyefinity 6 Edition Video Card

Pros: Looks awesome, 6 monitor outputs, CrossFireX compatible, 2GB RAM.

I bought this because it was cheap compared to when I bought my first 5870 (this was $230, my other one cost $420 and it's not x6). It is a reference-design style which matches my other card perfectly except for the label and the outputs. The reference design cards have software voltage adjustment, a solid full shell cover with backplate, and a powerful fan.

Cons: There are no major cons, but I had a few issues:

Uses an 8-pin and a 6-pin PCIe power connector despite having the exact same GPU as my other 5870 (which uses 2x 6-pin connectors). I didn't have anymore PCIe connectors so I used the two included adapters. It doesn't make much sense to require two Molex connections per adapter as the PSU connectors are all on one of two output wires, so 4 wires are unnecessary and clutter.

CrossFireX installation and setup was difficult. The card was picked up by 11.3 right away but crashed with Afterburner. After discovering a driver feature called ULPS crashes Afterburner, I disabled it and stopped the crashing. I was able to enable CFX but GPU2 was getting zero usage and the game had low FPS. Finally after switching between modes and installing the Radeon Pro tool, I managed to get CFX enabled and working in most games (DX11 games still don't seem to work right, but it's a driver issue and should not detract you from this card in any way)

Other Thoughts: My other card is a Diamond HD5870 reference design, not Eyefinity x6. I'm running 3 Dell ST2210 1920x1080 monitors in Eyefinity. My system is a 4.12GHz i7 930, Gigabyte X58A-UD3R, 6GB DDR3 OCZ Gold, and Antec EA650 650W PSU.

I had doubts about the EA650 PSU being able to handle an overclocked i7 and two 5870's but it appears to work just fine. I have both cards (not in CFX mode) running Folding@Home GPU and the Folding@Home SMP running on the i7. Everything maxed out and the PSU is still pushing 12V.

Pros: This card gets Higher frame rates than the Asus 1gb 5870 (15 to 25% more) at a resolution of 1920x1080 with all settings on max, and runs cooler also. I must of recieved a card that was built flawless because I can't even hear the GPU fan when its running at 35% after hours of gaming.

Cons: I didn't buy a second one before they were sold out . I did have an issue with the initial instal, the gpu was not being picked up by the moniter. After 4 hrs of pulling my hair out, I changed the DP adpter for a different 1 and it worked. The DP to DVI adpter was bad. (never heard of this issue before) but after that its smooth sailing all the way....

Other Thoughts: I am extemely happy with this GPU. Keep up the good work AMD and Gigabyte.

Pros: Great card. I now have a crossfire setup with this card as the primary, and my old Sapphire 5870 as gpu 2. I also noticed an increase in performance when I benchmarked this card by itself. It actually comes with a Crossfire bridge.

Cons: Anyway, no problems with the card yet. Ran furmark in crossfire mode for an hr or 2, and no problems.

Other Thoughts: I wish there were other shipping options, like USPS. It costs $20+ just to ship to my location by using Fedex or ups.

Pros: Has a stable bios out of the box unlike my Asus 5970. No coldbug. An amazing price for an eyefinity version. Looks awesome. Matches my 5970 with the full body heatsink on both sides and air intakes on the end. Runs great with 2gb as compared to the 1gb per core on my 5970. Its in crossfire running no monitors so can't comment on the eyefinity aspect.

Cons: None at all.

Other Thoughts: If you want a 5870 buy this one, even if you dont need the eyefinity.

Pros: Amazing Card, bought this one to Crossfire with an xfx version of it, fit snug in next to my first with minimal temp increase. Fps got boosted quite a bit, quite impressed witht he eyefinity 6 series too bad they are d/cing them.

Cons: none

Pros: This card is phenomenal! It is banging out on average 20% higher framerates than my 1GB Power Color 5870. A lot more than I expected for just adding extra memory. I knew I wanted a 2GB 5870 for my next vid card, I picked this one (believe it or not) because it was the only 2GB 5870 card without whack anime graphics on it. I hate the cards with weird pictures on them!

Cons: This card is big. My NZXT Lexa mid-tower required some man-handling with pliers in order to get the card in, and it is still an uncomfortable fit. I'll be going to a full tower shortly; seems like mid-towers just aren't going to cut it for serious gaming anymore.

Other Thoughts: I have so far tested the card extensively with Civilization V, Fallout New Vegas, and Battlefield Bad Company 2.

The rig with this card in it:

Core i7 960 @ 3.2GHz
MSI X58 Pro-E
12GB (6x2) G.skill DDR3 1333 MHz (CL9)
Gigabyte HD5870 2GB
2 x OCZ Vertex 2 120GB (OS + Apps)
2 x WD Caviar Black 1TB (storage)
Pioneer Blu-Ray Burner
NZXT Lexa Case
Thermaltake Toughpower 850W PSU

Pros: awesome! card works like a charm.

Cons: I write instructions for a living and one thing the manual didn't mention was that both the 6 pin and 8 pin power connectors needed to be attached. In other words, the documentation was horrible.

Pros: Installs quickly to properly equipped systems. ATI drivers seem solid.

Cons: The supplied PASSIVE mini-displayport dongles for DVI and HDMI do NOT allow more than TWO DISPLAYS. To get the Eyefinity functionality, you must either have native Displayport monitors for all but one port, OR 'active' displayport dongles as documented on the AMD/ATI web site.

Other Thoughts: Gigabyte and other OEMs selling Eyefinity display cards under their brand should be including correct dongles so that the functionality of the card is actually usable. Throwing in cheap passive dongles is wrong because then the card does not operate as advertised out of the box. When purchased separately in small quantities, the active mini displayport dongles make an already comparatively expensive display card much more expensive.

The Gigabyte manual is HORRIBLE. It explains none of these Eyefinity cabling issues.

Manufacturer Response:

Dear Customer,

Thank you for your comments. We apologize for your difficulty with your Gigabyte product. Please contact us at newegg-support@gigabyte-usa.com with the case number 62534 in the subject line. We will provide personalized service and analysis to help solve your issue ASAP. If the matter is urgent, please send us your contact number, and we will contact you.

Gigabyte VIP Support Team

Pros: Runs everything I throw at it at 1920x1080 including Metro 2033 with tessalation on at around an average of 90 FPS. It runs very quiet and looks great inside of my Corsair 800D. No driver problems the newest catalyst drivers work perfectly.

Cons: Could of done a better job with the packaging. Not enough mini display adapters, and no STICKERS!!! We love stickers.

Other Thoughts: AMD Phenom II 955 @ 4.0 Ghrtz
Asus Crosshair IV AM3
4GB Corsair Dominator GT DDR3 2133
Gigabyte 5870 2GB
Corsair H50
Corsair HX750
Corsair 800D

Pros: Seems to do everything well enough - ATI is constantly updating drivers. Works well well not "Black Screen" problems.

Cons: No bios updates. It doesn't seem to support cables from the display port to an HDMI display (e.g. Samsung TV) that are over 2m long. (mine is 3m). If I drop to 1m, it works ok (about 3ft). Tried two cards - both does the same thing. Drivers also seem to have an impact here, 10.6-10.8 seem to have more problems (black screens) combined with the cable length - then does 10.9 with the same cable legth.

Worked for weeks to get straight answers from AMD/Gigabyte and they all thing it comes down to a bad small display port to hdmi adapter. They suggested I buy a different one then they shipped with their product. Hell if I know which one to buy considering they shipped the original. Still doesn't jive with the driver also having impact. Other websites said they fixed the problem by tweaking voltage in the bios - but this would void the warranty so I didnt do that. I suspect if they just increased the output signal levels from the card via bios - all would be good... but they dont.

Other Thoughts: Just search on the web for "black screen" and "eyefinity" and you will see multiple people have this issue, and not just on gigabyte eyefinity cards. I find it REALLY hard to believe it is all because of a few bad display port to hdmi adapters, especially when others are using DVI adapters. Everyone wants to blame something other than basically what it truly is - not enough signal over the cable to get to the display. HDMI and display port standards spec a minimum of 49ft (15m) to be able to be displayed at 1080p. This card (both of them) simply can't do it. I haven't tried multiple monitors to see if it makes the problem worse. I am really at a loss here because no one wants to take responsibility. Since it works over a short cable, it really seems like its just not enough voltage over the wire - but they won't admit that. This card is actually made by AMD not gigabyte, just stamped gigabyte. I dont know which display port adapter to try b/c some talk of not supporting audio. :(