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Hardware Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 4870 X2

Discussion in 'Article Discussion' started by Tim S, 3 Sep 2008.

  1. Tim S

    Tim S OG

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  2. wyx087

    wyx087 Homeworld 3 is happening!!

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    nothing is going to change the fact it's multi-GPU and have potential driver problem and it may not perform as well as it should be.

    great product for those who are willing to go multi-GPU for the average FPS performance, but as article said, the value of it really isn't very good.
     
  3. Tyrmot

    Tyrmot Minimodder

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    But then of course, the value of any new bit of kit is never very good at launch is it? It's just to tempt those with the cash to burn and don't care what they pay... On the plus side, people like that are subsidising it for the rest of us! :) (thanks!)
     
  4. Kris

    Kris Lord Lolwut

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    Hey,

    just a nice review, however I don't really see the point of testing a card like 4870 X2, or even GTX 280/260 in a game like Half Life 2 - it's so sure that they'll deliver absolutely stellar performance anyway... I'd really go for something diffeent, that's more suitable to cards of this calibre. This would also give the reivew some other value like "how will this card run t<insert game here>"?
    Also, you keep on mentioning "maximum settings", in the Crysis performance tabs, yet say that you've tested with everything set to "high". Everyone knows, that Crysis also has a Very High setting :) That's of course true only for DX10 testing...

    But cheers for the review ^^
     
  5. Baz

    Baz I work for Corsair

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    We're actually accessing which new titles to test graphics cards on right now. There are so many graphically demanding titles coming up, if you have any suggestions of benchmarks you'd like to see just let us know.
     
  6. badders

    badders Neuken in de Keuken

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    GRID's quite hard on my 8800GT - I get about 34FPS at 1920x1200 on 4xAA - it slows a little when there's lots of smoke, but I'm sure that would be a nice benchmark.
     
  7. The boy 4rm oz

    The boy 4rm oz Project: Elegant-Li

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    I can max GRID out at 1600x1200 res and still get 65-80FPS constant with my 8800GTX.
     
  8. tech9

    tech9 What's a Dremel?

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    hi all, i was wondering why this card wasn't water cooled or even had an better aftermarket cooling instead ? as i understand it better cooling would give u a bit more head room and could improve overall performance.

    woo finally made me an account here love this site
     
  9. wyx087

    wyx087 Homeworld 3 is happening!!

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    same, 1680x1050, CS16xQAA, not sure about FPS, but always silky smooth.

    i'd like to see more Dx10 tests, World in Conflict Dx10 at max is a must, Devil May Cry 4 Dx10 at max?
     
  10. mrb_no1

    mrb_no1 Pie Eater

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    Firstly, I'm not the tester but my impression was that half life 2 was included for 2 reasons;
    1: It is a common title that many geeks/games enthusiasts will have played so can relate to it.
    2: It is one of the few games that is optimised for ATI cards. Remember the "Nvidia, the way its meant to be played" that seems to appear on all games these days. Well i dont know how much effect it does have when hard and software developers get into bed with one another but maybe its chosen because its one of the few games that is for ATI cards..."ATI, because our drivers are better than Nvidia!"

    Secondly, my guess on the crysis question is probably because when testing lower end/older cards the bit-tech guru's werent able to run the 3870 and the like at very high settings, thus high settings was the best they could do and for the purpose of having benchmarks that might be useful to people they kept using 'high settings' rather than switching between the two, confusing everyone and removing any usefulness of their benchmarks.

    Arguably you might ask Harry, Tim or Rich to include some benchmarks at very high on the top end cards for those of you wanting to know how large your e-peen might really be if you purchased the card. Other than that, there is no point imo.

    On a different note, i dont know why Quake Total war, or whatever the latest quake is as the games are soo poor that your benchmarks often tally over 100fps, at which point you arent looking for more fps as its pretty much pointless. Saying that i'm not entirely sure what i would use in their place. I'm a rts fan so sup com/forged alliance or company of heroes until starcraft 2 comes out maybe (note:did not like that World in Conflict so much but most rts seem to fall short since playing sup com.) Maybe use the new unreal tournament or something, i dont know there, i'm stuck playing bf2 and bf 2142 because i love 'em atm. Maybe take a poll and get a feeling for what people might want to see in benchmarks just to give you an idea, or a group that arent being catered for when you review a card, just a thought.

    peace

    fatman
     
  11. Tim S

    Tim S OG

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    It raises an interesting point - we want to keep the games relevant to you, the readers, so if you have any suggestions please don't hesitate to make them! We'll have a look into DMC4 - there's a copy lying around somewhere.
     
  12. Bauul

    Bauul Sir Bongaminge

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    As overpriced and dual-card-unreliable as it is, it's nice to ATI kicking ass again, especially after they had said they were submitting the higher end products to nVidia.
     
  13. [USRF]Obiwan

    [USRF]Obiwan What's a Dremel?

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    Despite the stellar performance the card has. On pure logical basis, I will probably go for the GTX280 when globally comparing: price, power consumption (both idle and load) and performance.
     
  14. Goty

    Goty Minimodder

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    Quick question: Why the different driver revisions between the preview 4870X2 and the Sapphire board?
     
  15. frontline

    frontline Punish Your Machine

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    Nice review. I think the games used as benchmarks are generally ok, i'm more of a first person shooter nut, so prefer it if most of the games used are of this genre. Half Life 2 Ep 2 is worth having in to see how cards perform on the OB engine. I'd also like to see some dedicated multiplayer benchmarks for games like COD 4, TF2 and Day of Defeat Source, as these often differ significantly from the Single player games using the same engine (especially when you factor in 16-20 players + on a server).

    Forthcoming releases look like they will be good for benchmarking, Fallout 3, Far Cry 2, Stalker Clear Sky etc.
     
  16. Star*Dagger

    Star*Dagger What's a Dremel?

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    I bought one last week for my new system, a Intel Core 2 Quad 9650 with OCZ SSD drive for OS with a Velociraptor for Apps.
    This card is capable of delivering, in the words of Computer Gaming World, a Transcendental Gaming Experience.
    The price is in line with high end cards, and in fact is less than I paid for my 8800gtx when they first came out. Sure it is warm, but thats why the Goddess gave us air conditioning.

    Anyone considering a lesser card should think about where the state of games will be in a year or 2.

    Enjoy and thanks to Bit-tech for previewing, reviewing and re-reviewing the finest card in the Sol system.

    Yours in Hot but Fast Plasma,
    Star*Dagger
     
  17. Tim S

    Tim S OG

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    They're run at the same clock speeds and it was more interesting to see how 8.8 worked out than to retest two cards and get exactly the same results for both. :)
     
  18. wyx087

    wyx087 Homeworld 3 is happening!!

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    i assure you, in less than 1 year time, a faster, cooler graphics card will come out.

    4870 is based on 3870, it's not a very large improvement . so is gtx280 based on G92 which is a tweaked+smaller G80.
    only when they take the risk and develop really new architecture we can see a large improvement.
     
    Last edited: 3 Sep 2008
  19. Tim S

    Tim S OG

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    It's a massive improvement and there are many things that changed - it's easier to list what didn't change.

    The only thing that didn't really change was the shader core - the only update there was the local data store and re-association of texture units with shader units. 3870's texture units were completely decoupled from the shader units and just about all of the cache was global.
     
  20. mrb_no1

    mrb_no1 Pie Eater

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    personally, thats the wrong attitude for someone with an interest in the current technology market. Its like me saying i wont go quad core because within 12 months they'll have doubled the core# and halfed the wattage, or something along those lines....of course they will have done something like that!

    Personally, when you keep uptodate with techs, you buy to have the best for buck, or the best period! Not saying i'll wait 12 months for something better. When i got into Pc's 6 years ago, i might aswell as bitten the bullet and said i'll wait 6 years, and then buy something really awesome :p Apologies, i know thats slightly obtuse of me and not particularly funny, but the original quote struck a nerve in my brain

    peace

    fatman
     
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