AMD Radeon HD 4800 Series @ [H]

funny how fast this stuff gets out of date, I bought an 8800gt just two months ago, at the time that was the best value card on the market for just under $200... now I can buy a card that's better than a 9800gtx for less than that! I guess that's technology though eh :p
 
It's a tough choice - for my 1900x1200 resolution Geforce 260 performs much better in AoC. Then again, in most other games 4870 is better. Not to mention the price (260 is about 100$ more expensive).

I plan to buy the card on monday and I really need your help on that one ;)
 
Hmm, very interesting. It isn't the question of a price now then.

But why would you go for the 4870?

Why wouldn't you? My last two cards were a 8800GT and 8800GTS G92 so NO BIAS here as I switch back and fourth routinely and my current Graphics Card Ladder includes 11 ATI cards and 14 Nvidia cards. Anyway, the first thing I noticed after installing the card was that IQ was off the hook, even made my old "Land of the Dead" game look good. :p I can play everything I own maxxed out now and smoothly using 1680X1050 @ 8xAA/16xAF in CCC and almost all games maxxed detail in-game settings. I don't play Crysis however. Temps are fine after using the Profile Hack I posted in another thread. Can't think of a reason not to buy this card, unless of course you prefer the Nvidia way of doing things such as there control panel. Nothing wrong with that if you do. Personally I prefer the CCC warts and all, but I wouldn't consider that a real BIAS. Just a preference. On the otherside of the coin though, now that the prices have equalized, you could flip a coin now and you wouldn't be disappointed with either the GTX 260 or HD 4870 card in my opinion. Sorry, probably didn't help you out a whole lot did I? :rolleyes:

Post with pics ...

http://www.hardforum.com/showpost.php?p=1032690998&postcount=122

(I'm re-doing the wiring today)
 
I got in on the Vision Tek 4850 @ Best Buy for $150. The card showed a lot of artifacts at the desktop while surfing the Internet. Exchanged it for a new one, hopefully this one works better.

Noticed a 9800 GTX on the shelf for $350. Hope nobody buys that as I see nVidia is cutting them to $165.
 
Why wouldn't you? My last two cards were a 8800GT and 8800GTS G92 so NO BIAS here as I switch back and fourth routinely and my current Graphics Card Ladder includes 11 ATI cards and 14 Nvidia cards. Anyway, the first thing I noticed after installing the card was that IQ was off the hook, even made my old "Land of the Dead" game look good. :p I can play everything I own maxxed out now and smoothly using 1680X1050 @ 8xAA/16xAF in CCC and almost all games maxxed detail in-game settings. I don't play Crysis however. Temps are fine after using the Profile Hack I posted in another thread. Can't think of a reason not to buy this card, unless of course you prefer the Nvidia way of doing things such as there control panel. Nothing wrong with that if you do. Personally I prefer the CCC warts and all, but I wouldn't consider that a real BIAS. Just a preference. On the otherside of the coin though, now that the prices have equalized, you could flip a coin now and you wouldn't be disappointed with either the GTX 260 or HD 4870 card in my opinion. Sorry, probably didn't help you out a whole lot did I? :rolleyes:

Post with pics ...

http://www.hardforum.com/showpost.php?p=1032690998&postcount=122

(I'm re-doing the wiring today)


If it wasn't for AoC I probably wouldn't have even considered buying the 260.
Now, with the prices equalized it's not easy choice :\
 
Noticed a 9800 GTX on the shelf for $350. Hope nobody buys that as I see nVidia is cutting them to $165.

Don't count on it being reduced at Best Buy anytime soon. I was just there yesterday and they still had a 8600 GTS on the shelf for $279. It was an OC model though .....:p
 
I have a question about "Idle Power" from the review.

Are the values taken in the bios, or after the computer booted and the drivers have been loaded.

Reason I ask is that currently if I take Idle while in the bios, my ATI HD3870 is on 3D clocks and my Kill-A-Watt reports ~160w. If I take Idle after Vista64 has loaded, the card is in 2D clock mode and computer Idle consumption is ~120w. (no cpu clock changes I.E. speedstep?)

Thanks,

Sitting on the desktop after having the machine up and running for 5 minutes.
 
Kyle

What do you think about Xfire with 2 4850s or 2 4870s but on a P965 motherboard? The board I have has one Pcie 16x 1.1 slot and the other is only 4x. My max rez is 1900x1080 but I do like to raise that AA as far as I can go.

Will I see a large performance drop, enough to make it not worth the extra money to buy 2 cards? Better to wait for the X2 version of the 4870?

Thanks

I would suggest no you would not see a perf drop in real world gaming.
 
Why wouldn't you? My last two cards were a 8800GT and 8800GTS G92 so NO BIAS here as I switch back and fourth routinely and my current Graphics Card Ladder includes 11 ATI cards and 14 Nvidia cards. Anyway, the first thing I noticed after installing the card was that IQ was off the hook, even made my old "Land of the Dead" game look good. :p I can play everything I own maxxed out now and smoothly using 1680X1050 @ 8xAA/16xAF in CCC and almost all games maxxed detail in-game settings. I don't play Crysis however. Temps are fine after using the Profile Hack I posted in another thread. Can't think of a reason not to buy this card, unless of course you prefer the Nvidia way of doing things such as there control panel. Nothing wrong with that if you do. Personally I prefer the CCC warts and all, but I wouldn't consider that a real BIAS. Just a preference. On the otherside of the coin though, now that the prices have equalized, you could flip a coin now and you wouldn't be disappointed with either the GTX 260 or HD 4870 card in my opinion. Sorry, probably didn't help you out a whole lot did I? :rolleyes:

Post with pics ...

http://www.hardforum.com/showpost.php?p=1032690998&postcount=122

(I'm re-doing the wiring today)

Isn't that Arctic cooling freezer 7 pro amazing for the price???? one of my favorite coolers of all time. I miss its smallness and convenience vs my TRUE...

I'm so GLAD I didn't waste an extra $60 stepping up from the 8800GTS 512 I bought to the 9800GTX through EVGA. I wish I would've bought the 8800GTS about a month later... but such is the technology world. At least I am $60 richer if I want the 4850/70. Too bad I DID buy into the whole SLI mobo thingy...

The Visiontek 4850 is a dang nice card. I've actually sold and installed several of those to customers where I work so they can use them for Hi-Def video editing. They love that that card supports 7.1 audio and has perfect output via HDMI. The visiontek has a lifetime warranty and includes the proprietary HDMI adapter as well. These things fly, and they're only $200, even on Best Buy's storefront, where video cards are often ridiculously marked up, IMHO, like the $280 8600GTS overclocked, for example.... They get a little toasty in some of the minitower cases that we sell, so be warned ... I recommend some extra fanpower moving in there.
 
Isn't that Arctic cooling freezer 7 pro amazing for the price???? one of my favorite coolers of all time. I miss its smallness and convenience vs my TRUE...

I totally agree. It also uses the standard Intel Push-pin design to attach it unlike many of the others which require you to remove the motherboard to attach them. No it doesn't cool as well as some of the others but for me It's a perfect fit.
 
Look at the tests again, I'm wondering why would you buy 4870 instead of Geforce 260? It's usually better and the prices will be dropping soon, which will make it even cheaper. That coupled with a fact that most games are optimized for Nvidia's cards makes me want to buy the Geforce instead. And before you ask - I've never had Nvidia's cards :p


Prices are already dropping, but I've heard 260 is to be priced at 260$.
Any truth to that? And when can we expect it?
 
Compare performance 260-280-4870, if you still ponder a 260 after that, you either play just one TWIMTPB game that magically performs like crap on ATI hardware, or something isn't quite right.

If you want to buy it just because more games are Nvidia optimized you're hurting the competition by falling for their tricks. I'd rather see their cash go towards more driver updates and lower prices (okay, that's taken care of, sort of) than getting TWIMTPB showed down my throat.
 
Well, to be honest I wanted to buy the card for Age of Conan - and 260 performs MUCH better than ATI there. Seems only one game, but if prices are equal, would you really get 4870? It rarely outpreforms Nvidia's card.
 
4870 drivers will improve and so will AoC performace over time. Besides, even if the 260 outperforms the 4870 in AoC, that doesnt make the latter underperform. Its still a great card with the current drivers in AoC and like I said, will get better in a few driver updates.
 
Well, to be honest I wanted to buy the card for Age of Conan - and 260 performs MUCH better than ATI there. Seems only one game, but if prices are equal, would you really get 4870? It rarely outpreforms Nvidia's card.

One game hardly equals the 260 outperforming the 4870.And figure in the fact that if you want to go to a multicard setup later,with the 4870 you can use a nice stable Intel board.With the 260,you're stuck with the problem ridden junk that Nvidia passes off as motherboards.
 
I own the 4870 and i must say im just a tad bit disapointed. I was expecting the 4870 to blow my 8800GTS G92 out of the water. Played Crysis 1900x1200 everything full blast high and its still choppy with tons of tearing. I lowering soem thign shere and there and it dont seem to be a big improvement. I also ran a benchmark called PT boats @ 1900x1200 eveyrthing High. Results was very choppy and tearing graphics. Maybee its the drivers?
 
One game hardly equals the 260 outperforming the 4870.And figure in the fact that if you want to go to a multicard setup later,with the 4870 you can use a nice stable Intel board.With the 260,you're stuck with the problem ridden junk that Nvidia passes off as motherboards.

Well, I've got an Intel motherboard, actually.
 
I own the 4870 and i must say im just a tad bit disapointed. I was expecting the 4870 to blow my 8800GTS G92 out of the water. Played Crysis 1900x1200 everything full blast high and its still choppy with tons of tearing. I lowering soem thign shere and there and it dont seem to be a big improvement. I also ran a benchmark called PT boats @ 1900x1200 eveyrthing High. Results was very choppy and tearing graphics. Maybee its the drivers?
tearing has to do with vsync so why are you blaming the 4870 for that?
 
tearing has to do with vsync so why are you blaming the 4870 for that?

When I enable vsync, its alot worst. I thought high end should be able to handle anygames without vsync. Im not really blaming the 4870... its really my fault expecting too much from a video card.
 
When I enable vsync, its alot worst. I thought high end should be able to handle anygames without vsync. Im not really blaming the 4870... its really my fault expecting too much from a video card.

I'm not sure about a single card, but my 4780s X-fire tear up my old 8800 GTX OC SLI setup. I can finally play at 1920x1080 at all very high. No screen tearing that I've noticed.

I think 1900x1200 at all high setings is a lot to ask from any single card. If it helps, I am using the 8.7 beta drivers and there was a marked improvement from the 8.6 drivers in Crysis.
 
I own the 4870 and i must say im just a tad bit disapointed. I was expecting the 4870 to blow my 8800GTS G92 out of the water. Played Crysis 1900x1200 everything full blast high and its still choppy with tons of tearing. I lowering soem thign shere and there and it dont seem to be a big improvement. I also ran a benchmark called PT boats @ 1900x1200 eveyrthing High. Results was very choppy and tearing graphics. Maybee its the drivers?

First thing Ide think of is crysis isnt the best game to compare...second is it sounds like you have a driver conflict. Ive seen many people going from NV to ATI drivers experiencing similar situations. Try to remove all instances of NV drivers with driver cleaner or a similar prog, if that doesnt help, then Ide sugest you /format C: and reinstal.
 
I think I'll buy the 4870. I'd really like to hear how it performs in Age of Conan from card owners. Anyone?
 
Gotta say I was a bit dissapointed with the HD 4870 too, I can only assume from the reviews I've read that something else in my system is holding me back:confused:.
I only game at 1440x900 res and can just about play stutter free on Crysis on High settings without any AA. If i put even 2x AA into the mix the game becomes a lot less smooth. I was also expecting that I would be able to use the greyed out very high settings at the 1440x900 resolutions.

I previously had an 8800 GTS (320mb) and tbh I am not blown away by the differences. It is a big improvement but I'm not sure it was worth £190. I assume that the 4870 will be much better if and when I get a bigger/better monitor but for now I'm a bit despondent.

However I only installed the card yesterday and haven't updated the drivers maybe that will help:).
 
I think I'll buy the 4870. I'd really like to hear how it performs in Age of Conan from card owners. Anyone?

I'm running the HIS version HD4870 at 1920x1200 in AoC. Using the settings that [H] used for their 4800 series review. My framerate is usually in the mid 40s, dropping to the low 30s in cities and going over 100 in indoor instances. I came from an 8800GTX and was able to turn on bloom, raise some view distances and still see framerate improvements. I don't see any quality difference between the 2 cards.

I'm trying desperately now to not pull the trigger on a 2nd 4870 for crossfire to add some AA to the Conan mix.
 
Of course they do lmao I'll take the dopey points for that one:D.

Still doesn't resolve the stuttery performance I get from a card that ought to have kicked the pants of a the old 320mb GTS.
 
I'm running the HIS version HD4870 at 1920x1200 in AoC. Using the settings that [H] used for their 4800 series review. My framerate is usually in the mid 40s, dropping to the low 30s in cities and going over 100 in indoor instances. I came from an 8800GTX and was able to turn on bloom, raise some view distances and still see framerate improvements. I don't see any quality difference between the 2 cards.

I'm trying desperately now to not pull the trigger on a 2nd 4870 for crossfire to add some AA to the Conan mix.

So, would you recommend that card (which version : Sapphire, HIS, Gigabyte, Powercolor?) Or would you rather buy Geforce 260?
 
So, would you recommend that card (which version : Sapphire, HIS, Gigabyte, Powercolor?) Or would you rather buy Geforce 260?
I went with the 4870 mainly because I have an Intel based motherboard and it can do crossfire, but not sli also it was cheaper before the nvidia price cuts. The performance looks to be similar between HD4870 and GTX260, so price and mobo chipset are the bigger factors. I don't think the brand matters too much, other than a lot of people seem dissatisfied with Sapphire.
 
I went with the 4870 mainly because I have an Intel based motherboard and it can do crossfire, but not sli also it was cheaper before the nvidia price cuts. The performance looks to be similar between HD4870 and GTX260, so price and mobo chipset are the bigger factors. I don't think the brand matters too much, other than a lot of people seem dissatisfied with Sapphire.

So do I. I was thinking about MSI, Powercolor or Gigabyte.
 
Got my Sapphire 4870 today, rather satisfied with the upgrade from a 8800GT :) Crysis has never been smoother. Now I need a huge monitor so I can test how it copes with large resolutions.
 
My HIS cards are working well.
And they came with a cool flashlight/screwdriver tool
 
So Kyle, I just bought a second HD4850, giving me two 4850s on an X48 motherboard for less than the MSRP of the HD4870 at $295 AR.

Did I make a stupid, or is dual GPU actually worth it this time around?
 
So do I. I was thinking about MSI, Powercolor or Gigabyte.
I would recommend MSI definetly. Had some overheating problems but fixed it with the manual fan tweak, now my 4850 is running beautifully. Ran C&C3 last night with max settings @ 1440x900 and not even a stutter with WW3 breaking out onscreen :D

Plus the MSI bundle includes the 14 day trail of LOTR: Online and the full version of Colin McRae Dirt :D
 
So do I. I was thinking about MSI, Powercolor or Gigabyte.

Gigabyte or MSI = 3 year US warranty , Powercolor = 2 year US warranty. It's a toss up support wise, I'd base choice on warranty.

hd4870warrantyfd7.jpg


The only extras I've seen with any of these cards are from HIS which inlude a screwdriver/flashlight/level tool. Asus which includes "Alone in the Dark" game or a Mousepad and Powercolor which has a ATI Remote Control for a limited time on Newegg, but more expensive than card without bundle..
 
This may have been said, and I realize this article is pretty old now, but the tone of a lot of the enthusiasts sites with re: to the 4000 series has me scratching my head.

The whole point of the enthusiast community has always been maximum performance. Thats why you see communites proudly proclaimed as [H]ard!!! or XTreme!!!!

Yet with the 4870, somehow everyone is now consumer reports. Totally downplaying the fact that the GTX280 IS the best performer and instead crapping on NVidia for it being "too expensive" and crediting the 4000 series with "performance per dollar". Its starting to get like car forums where Honda maniacs rant and rave about how they get "more HP per liter" than a Viper.

Why all of the subjective BS like relative value in an enthusiast article? Is this a new tone that we'll now see in articles about liquid nitrogen cooling, server class moboards, super high clocked RAM, etc etc??? Or is this new attitude reserved exclusively for NVIdia because they did something to piss off the "journalist" crowd?

Again, this isnt for [H]ard only, Ive noticed it across the board. The GTX280 wins every benchmark yet the 4870 is hailed as a MASSIVE slam dunk because it is a couple of hundred less. I guess in the land of MULTI GPU GAMING, stretching the dollar now trumps absolute performance.

Dont get me wrong, these cards are a massive value and do a great job, but it just seems that in the past, reviewers would always acknowledge the king of the hill in some way other than lambasting it for being the most expensive.

I know that stepping up from 8800GTX SLI to GTX280 SLI got me to 35fps in Crysis at 1900x1200 with everything on Very High. This has allowed me to finally play the game as the 8800 just choked on that res/detail level and I decided to wait rather than dumb it down.

I bought the 8800GTX pair back in Jan 07 for $650 each, so I got 18 mths out of them and was able to sell them to help finance the GTX280 (which I paid ~$500 each for recently).

Sure the 4870 would have been a bit cheaper - few hundred total I guess - but over the course of 18 mths or so it really isnt a big deal considering the performance is lower!
 
The whole point of the enthusiast community has always been maximum performance. Thats why you see communites proudly proclaimed as [H]ard!!! or XTreme!!!!

Why all of the subjective BS like relative value in an enthusiast article? Is this a new tone that we'll now see in articles about liquid nitrogen cooling, server class moboards, super high clocked RAM, etc etc??? Or is this new attitude reserved exclusively for NVIdia because they did something to piss off the "journalist" crowd?

I think you're confusing the [H] with XtremeSystems. I have yet to see an article on liquid nitrogen cooling on the [H], and they have always reviewed both high and low end parts for as long as I can remember, long before the current crop of video cards (so it has nothing to do with NVIDIA pissing off the "journalist class" as you claim).

And you have a very narrow definition of enthusiast. An enthusiast can be a person that gets top-of-the-line, no matter what (like you say), a person who takes low-end parts and overclocks them far beyond the top-end of stock parts, or can be a person who is very knowledgeable in hardware and squeezes every last bang out of his or her buck. The 4850/4870 is very clearly targeted towards the latter group.
 
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