Radeon 6950 chipset isn’t their most powerful graphics option available, but its performance certainly isn’t something to sniff at. Combined with the technology that Asus generally pours into their graphic card products, and you’re in for reliable performance from the Asus HD 6950 DirectCU II card.

Performance needs to be balanced with a few other factors, though. One of them is price, and Asus, for all their excellent quality, tends to be on an uncomfortable side of the scale. The other consideration that comes in – although not often – is the size of the unit. Most graphics cards these days will take up two bays at the back of your PC case. But not this baby. It’s mammoth, a huge card that will swallow up three bays, instead of the normal two. That’s a lot of space, and those who want to make use of more than one card will need to have the right mother-board and case to use this absolutely gargantuan graphics card.

So with it being on the hefty side in a few areas, does it compare in performance? Is it a heavy-hitter when it comes to delivering the goods, too? The answer, quite simply, is yes. Asus routinely manage to make their hardware jump through delicate hoops that others seem unable to achieve, making their performance just that bit more impressive. When compared to other cards carrying this particular chipset, the Asus model is extremely impressive. The 2GB of GDDR5 RAM built in doesn’t hurt, either, and makes it one of the more well-endowed cards in terms of memory.

This is largely because they can push this particular piece of hardware that bit more, thanks to their extremely effective DirectCU cooling technology. Twin fans keep this card cool, combined with generous heat sinks and cooling components that are in direct content with the graphics processor.

Using Super Early Power technology allows to perform better, at cooler temperature, and for longer. Even though this card can handle quite a lot of strain, it does so – for want of a better term – elegantly. Overclocking is fairly simple, too, thanks to bundled proprietary Asus software. As with all Radeons these days, this card also supports Eyefinity, the system that allows up to six monitors to be used to create one big picture. It’s a great idea, but we’re still of the opinion that it’s a little bit of overkill, particularly locally. Either way, the card comes with two DVI ports and four DisplayPort slots, to allow enough monitors to be connected.

There is no doubt that this card is a solid performer. It’s not the absolute top of the range, but it certainly is up there. It offers a good, smooth performance, with even the most demanding games breezing along well as it hums away – surprisingly quietly, at that. But we’re battling with getting past the size of it. It seems… excessive. Sure, to keep it cool at high performance, it probably needs to be this big and, quite frankly, the big size helps it stay cooler. But man, it’s huge. Really. Huge.

Verdict:

It’s a powerful card in a really big package. It will consume a lot of physical space in your PC case.

 PROS:

• Good under pressure
• Runs very cool

 CONS:

• Huge!

TECH SPECS:

• Radeon 6590 chipset
• Direct CU II
• 2GB GDDR5
• 2 x DVI ports
• 6 x DisplayPorts
• 2 fans

Manufacturer: Asus
Distributor: Asus
Online: www.asus.com