Hardware Summer 2008 Graphics Performance Roundup

this card is very good
makes me want to use my server mobo (M3A32-MVP Deluxe) and slap in 2x4870 in there (only let down is the CPU as its an X4 9850 not an intel cpu at 3.4ghz, i Still cant get my CPU to be desktop stable beyeond 2.4ghz {see SIG})

makes me wunder why i just got an second 8800gtx (but i allready had an 8800gtx so it was worth it for £120), replaced me PSU with an TK 1200W PSU and still cant oc the cpu so cpu mite be naff or the mobo is

4850 for the price it is its very fast 2 of them in CF seems very impressive be even better once we get the CF results form BT only downside with ATI on the 4850 is lackluster fan options needing to use XML file to contole the fan speeds(or more to the point Why we are needing to contole the fan speed in the first place), the 4870 does not have this problem (dual slot cooler)

the only let down with any 2xxx to 4xxx cards is Folding, yes it mate be very stable but 1 of my 8800gt cards gets 3-4x more perfomace then an any of them, hopefuly when thay bring out bigger work units (or Fix the core) thay can get them 800 SP working away

 

Nice article I'm still on the fence for a new card even after all that though.

Sounds like a 4850 would probably be somewhere in the region of 4-6x the performance of my current 7800GT? and in most respects a clear winner for a single card running 1680*1050.

Before I could actually decide and commit I'd need to get an idea of a bit more though - firstly being which companies warranties are voided by proper installation of a water block (I have the current card from Club3d because Tim said at the time they'd not void a warranty for it) which I have yet to see really publicised by any of them and the second being how well they tend to overclock. I know G92 seems to clock quite well since the default coolers seem to be a limiting factor but I've yet to hear that much about the new ati cards, beyond running hot and doing very poorly at overclocking with the default cooler.

There's also my divided loyalties I guess, I've an SLI board and always gotten on well with nvidia cards, but I've always liked AMD processors (mostly helped by them offering that much extra performance for the money back in the day from the athlon on)

Gah!

 

got a question bout these new ati cards.

Can I do CrossfireX between a 3870 and a 4870? Right now I've got a 3870 and would like a 4870. It wont limit the performance of the 4870 if I have the 4870 as the primary card will it? I thought the new 'CrossfireX' was supposed to allow cards to run in crossfire at full speed or something.

Someone wanna tell me how it would work?

 

will the SLi/Crossfire review also review CrossfireX and tri and quad SLi?

 

They wouldn't lose much really, high end cards are a tiny part of the overall volume of sales. And prices have already dropped enormously, from $650 to $430 Cdn. in the short time since launch.

 

OK but wich one is gonna run FarCry2 best, that game looks beastly!

 

No, you can only crossfire between the current generations of each GPU. Check out http://game.amd.com/us-en/content/images/crossfirex/CF_combo_chart_July08.jpg

I have 2 x 4850's installed, and room for 2 more, however all the indications seem to be that 3 or 4 cards offer little benefit (except in synthetic benchmarks) and in some circumstances the performance actually drops.

 

there be no point in CF an 3870 card even if you could the 4870 is about 4 times faster (then add more on top of that) then an 3870

it can do AA as well now

 

It depends on how much time we have to be honest, and how flacky the drivers are.

 

Very interesting article on the current state of video cards. I was hoping to see something like this, as things have been changing very rapidly. Just six months ago I bought a 8800 GT, which seemed like a steal at the time. Now, all these new cards out perform it. To be expected, but not so soon.

Now, this may be a dumb or even silly question, but since it was noted that the difference between the GT 280 and the 4870 varied wildly depending on the game and settings, would it be possible to get both, put them in a motherboard that supports two PCIE x16 cards and not run SLI or Crossfire (of course). Then each game or app could be used on the monitor attached to the card that supports it best.

This is based on a dream of someone with a load of cash and time on their hands, which in reality I have neither. Just wondering.

 

dang....

hmm supposedly you can use any aftermarket cooler on a 4870 that works on a 3870. Can anyone confirm this to be true? More specifically I would want to use an EK Waterblock from my 3870 if I were to get a 4870.

 

This is great way to go ATI, but it did feel like the reviewers were a little bias towards nVidia but ehh anyhow I think overall ATI should be the real winner here, I mean price to performance alone is amazing. I cant wait for their 4870x2 to hit the market.

 

Yeah check out this review of the Palit Radeon HD4870 - http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum/hardware-canucks-reviews/8162-palit-radeon-hd4870-512mb-graphics-card-review-21.html

They put a Thermalright HR-03 GT on a 4870 and apparently it fits perfectly. If you scroll down you will see how cool it keeps a 4870, pretty impressive!

 

Might consider the 4850 seeing as it looks to take the position of the now obsolete 8800GT.

 

???

We gave two awards out of two - an excellence which we issue less than 10 a year of, and a recommended to ATI products.

 

I am still wondering how much impact GPGPU orientated software is going to be in the future. Phys-X should not be a problem for both brands to emulate. If a lot of software is going to support GPGPU then Nvidia might get me more excited. Ati has way better support in the motherboard department. Crossfire boards outweighs Nvida SLI boards 10 to 1.

 

Words officially eaten

http://forums.bit-tech.net/showthread.php?p=1776038#post1776038

seems Nvidia are happy being somewhat of a loss leader to try and maintain market share.

 

I really, really want a 2gb 4870x2, but I may end up settling for a "cheap" 280 I want to upgrade this box and then leave it the hell alone for a year or two like I did after I got my 9800 Pro.

 

all these cards look pretty nice tbh.

im currently running an 8800gts 640mb card at 1680x1050 and was wondering if it was worth me upgrading yet? ( i cant find a comparison of the old 8800gts with the latest raft of cards anywhere)

 

A question about performance difference 1680x1050 (22") to 1920x1200 (24"...full HD)
It seems to me there is a surprisingly low difference in FPS between these two resolutions, are we running into CPU limitation here?

...still wondering what size my next monitor should be ;-)