Hardware Summer 2008 Graphics Performance Roundup

Wowzerz. Thats a big review.

 

another thing can i ask?

in most games, what is the highest in-game menu setting for ATI cards?

as i understand, those games offering 16xQCSAA (Grid) will not continue to offer that with an ATI card

 

Well, we've been hearing about Tim non-stop benching for the past few weeks, so that's why i assumed it would be him that needed the most sleep

Killer article though guys, this basically covers all the ground for almost all users. Energy usage would be a nice bonus though.

Bring on the SLI/CF and OC articles

 

Great article folks, worth the wait but as it answers a good few questions, it rasies a lot more (sheesh, its like watching an episode of Lost!).
I now have clarity as to which card to buy, its the 4870, the only question is do I hang on for the X2 or try for a crosfire config - despite swearing that I'd never run a dual GPU setup and would rather buy a more expensive card instead.

I now realise that I have to waity for the next article on crossfire results.

 

`great article, if i needed a new card i would defo be picking up a 4870 at the mo

 

Great article guys, really impressive. Now if only your games editor worked as hard as you two do...

(J/K!)

 

Great article guys, I've been ignoring hardware for a while now, there's just too much stuff coming out, unless you're really into it, it's difficult to keep up so I just gave up.

Very useful article

 

LOL don't worry - it's a nice kick up the backside to know people want an article we're in the process of doing

 

Wow.

ehmmm, did I hear right, the 4870 card is supposed to be midrange?

Well that's gonna up the ante

For those interested in Euro pricing: not much difference. Looked for normal (non factory-overclocked) cards from known online German retailers
(there's allways some guy thats cheaper but that i don't feel comfortable sending my money)

4870 & 9800GTX+ 220 Euro about 175 Pounds
GTX280 425 Euro about 340 Pounds
9800GTX 200 Euro about 160 Pounds
4850 140 Euro about 110 Pounds

Xir

 

If graphics cards had emotions, my 8800GT would be feeling a bit sad now.

Good to see some cards from ATI worth buying. While Nvidia floods the market, ATI is making nice cards with excellent prices, which can only be a good thing for gaming on the PC.

 

Nice article, confirms that there is some nice competition out there in the mid range price bracket, and hopefully prices will come down at the high end once R700 makes an appearance.

Look forward to seeing the crossfire/sli comparisons soon!

 

Great review, have been looking forward to this for a long time!

Thanks guys

 

Been waiting for this since my gfx card died a week or so ago, you made my mind up anyway, ATI Radeon HD 4850 it is, thanks

 

hmm its great to see AMD/ATI with some great cards looks like we have the new 9800 on our hands, and its nice to see this.

Shame i have a NF790i board and cant crossfire 2x4870's.
I am tempted to sell my 8800GT for £80 (got a buyer) and put 2x9800GTX+'s in there as they overclock very well.
An overclocked 9800GTX+ outperform the 4850 and its very close to the GTX260 in testing So 2 of these Overclocked in SLI seems like a good move
Overclocking results here http://www.legitreviews.com/article/732/1/

Its also nice to see that gamers no longer have to pay mega, mega money to get great performing cards

Also one thing to point out is Nvidia Cards offer Physx and i'm sure this will come into its own in the near furture with alot of games on the UT3 engine, it offers increased real life physics in game but without any loss to the FPS, or without toasting your CPU

EDIT:
Review of 4870,4850 single and cross-fire compared to Nvidia 9800GTX, GTX280 and 9800GX2 single and SLI
http://www.hexus.net/content/item.php?item=13972&page=16
Its very close

 

Great review guys! Got my 4850 on order :-D

 

Thank you SO much, Bit-tech...

Just as I was unsure whether to go with an 8800GT or spend a little extra for the 4850 in my new PC, you guys come up with this...

4850 it is... I really can't wait now.

You do all your benchmarking on 64-bit Vista now, right?

 

Looks like the idea to sell my 8800GTX is a good thing.

Hated ATI after driver issues 4 years ago, but I'm no fanboy and looking forward to trying the 4870 in crossfire.

Thanks again BT for such an entertaining and informative read, you guys ROCK!

 

wont nvidia just bang 2* 280 chips on the same board? same as ati are gonna do with the 4870? Charge whatever they want and still be performance king?

in the end of the day if you pay £1500 for a moniter what is £300 for a graphics card that truly is pocket change.

The realists will never need to go above £130

 

Jesus the post-processing on that Grid menu makes me feel sea sick .. glad I didn't buy that now

 

£1500 for a monitor *cough, splutter* ?! Crikey.

I think I'll hold onto my oc'd 9800GTX for the mo, until maybe the 280 comes down to a reasonable price (say £170ish).