AMD Radeon HD 4800 Series @ [H]

the HD 4870 looks really nice but i have a question.

does EVGA carry ATI products?
because i'd like to step-up but if they don' then i guess i'll have to get the GTX260
 
Sweet..........I bought my 8800gts640 over a year ago for around $330 with/reb.....because I couldn't afford a GTX......and there was no competition!! Nice review, and I'm glad you summed up the bandwidth on the last page to squash those posts. 2 things.......
1. Are there any current 3rd party cooling solutions for these things? I have an HR-03 on my GTS, and it never goes over 60c..............+80c makes me nervous........
2. Do 16x12 gaming benchmarks closely shadow 16x10? I have a 22" monitor, and I think that most guys who have one run on native rez.........
 
Brent said in an earlier post that the 4870 is 9.75" long but what about the 4850? as I'm seriously tempted to pick up a 4850 to replace my x1950xtx but if it's any longer it ain't gonna fit in my case rofls.
 
Brent said in an earlier post that the 4870 is 9.75" long but what about the 4850? as I'm seriously tempted to pick up a 4850 to replace my x1950xtx but if it's any longer it ain't gonna fit in my case rofls.

I was actually wrong on the size, need to edit that, (no sleep, heh) the 4870 is 9.5" long and the 4850 is 9.25" long.
 
I would have liked to see a 8800GTX in the line up. There are a lot of people with 8800GTX that were waiting for a worthy succesor and decided to wait a week to see what ATI had to offer. Is the 4870 worthy?

The GTX 280 belongs in there too. It represents the highest single card performance available. Value is relative. I'd like to see what I get (or don't get) for the premuim $$$ of a gtx280 vs 4870.

Nice start, though ;)
 
Hi All

Great review Kyle & Brent. I really appreciate all the time & effort you Guys put into this review.

It's nice to see AMD/ATI competitive again. AMD/ATI absolutely slams Nvidia on price to performance front. This is great for us for now as competition means better prices for all of us.
 
[H]Gold award?
heh, the 4800 series should have deserved a [H]Platinum award if 260/280 got a Gold award...
 
GRID looks daaaamn nice, but still doesnt require much, reccomended, its fun aswell ;).

Sooo, i can agree on what [H] crew said: "grid wasnt as demanding as we thought" or something like that.

a 4850 can crank up 2560x1600 on max no aa if i remember right ;)

my 3870 phenom 9850 @ stock runs grid 720P max 2xMSAA, 3870x2 runs 4XMSAA CFX 3870x2 runs 8x
4870CF runs 2560x1600 4x ? :) or 8 x ? :D
 
the HD 4870 looks really nice but i have a question.

does EVGA carry ATI products?
because i'd like to step-up but if they don' then i guess i'll have to get the GTX260

You know. Thats something that doesn't get mentioned in reviews. Nvidia has WAY better people selling there cards than ATI. Better warranty.........step up programs from 2 different companies now.

N can f up the party big time with a wee little price drop on the 260.

But I must say. I am reading all of these reviews with glee. Plus, it would seem that AMD has captured the multi-gpu cache (pronounced cash-aaaay for those of you in Mineral Wells) that Nvidia used to have. Crossfire seems to be the cats tits while SLI is considered a buggy no value option except for those with the biggest of screens.

Interesting times indeed.
 
...step up programs from 2 different companies now.
I would love to see an ATI partner come up with a Step Up program. That could really help ATI solidify their gains with this generation.

If Nvidia drops the price quickly on the GTX 260 down to near 4870 levels, Step Up would be a big factor in my purchasing decision. The 9800 GTX even becomes worth considering, if there is word of reasonably priced refresh card in the next 3 months.

It would be nice if ATI had something to combat Step Up. An ATI Step Up program would give buyers more flexibility and eliminate another factor that favors Nvidia when it comes to making a purchasing decision.
 
Better warranty, who needs warranty, 3 years on everythin, i buy lifetime warranty memory, 5 year warranty on psu.

I still got my whole ati linup in a room, lemme give you guys the list of my surviving ati cards

btw, im a hardware maniac, and ati have captured my heart after DOA GF3 and 4 i've been afraid to go back.

9000 9200 9250 9500 9600 xt 9800 pro x800 xl x800 xt x850 xt x850xt pe x1600 pro or 1650 or somethin 1800 gto 1900 xt 1950 xtx had 2900 XT 1000/1150 :D 3870 2x 3870x2(first one to ever have issue.)

I think nvidia have fixed up stuff since GF3 and 4, well since i get vga's free from my m8s from time to time and they is on same ride as me, got sick of gf3 and 4 doa and dying, my gf 2 ti was just <3 but gf3 and 4 fucked it up lol.

havnt had much issues except x800 series didnt have SM2.0 =/

i buy the cheapest always, and cant CARE less about warranty on vga's since minimum warranty on comp parts is 3 years, and on phones it is 5 years full warranty.( that might just be norway stuff lol)

point is, i dont have vga's burning up, breaking down, even tho ive clocked all alot!
 
I am hoping this will lead to a price dive on the 260GTX cards. I've got a 790i mobo so I am a little scared of sticking an ATI card in it, even if it's a better value.

Grats Ati. Way to bring back the competition. This is only good for all of us.

And to those idiots that have been bitching about the [H] being pro-Nvidia the last few years....please stfu now eh?
 
Thanks for another great review. Now I feel better about getting a Vision Tek 4850 from Best Buy for $150.
 
We removed Call of Duty 4 because basically every video card from the 9600 GT up can provide you with the best experience the game is capable of delivering.

We looked at GRID for a short time, but found it to be less graphically demanding than we like for evaluation games.

As for Devil May Cry 4...It's not out for PC yet.

lol, you guys are quick at responding, I have to praise you guys for that, I can understand you guys now more than I did before, lol. you are basically right if a game can get more than playable rates do we really need the fps count. But I look forward to Devil may cry 4, the demo looked beautiful, it is an excellent coded game.
 
NKD, about DMC4 PC as a benchmark - does it use the same PC engine from Capcom as Lost Planet? PCPER (iirc) dug out that it's optimized for Nvidia which explains 99% of the LP benchmarks, including the 4800 series.

So, thanks for not using that in this article, and not using 3D Mark Vantage with PhysX drivers (TR used it but in a very good way, their article is worth a read).


I consider this generation won by ATI. If there was a monopoly $650 for a card would be cheap. With this oligopoly in heavy fighting with each other we get this, one side making less sense than Sony with the PlayStation 3 and its price, and the other side with what seems to be record high yields for low prices.

Remains to see if the X2 delivers everything, and removes microstuttering.


(edit) Not much difference in video encoding-decoding 3800 to 4800 but for one playback format putting significantly less stress on the CPU than a 3800 series card. I forget where I saw that, and what it was. And I'm still skeptical about AoC. Has it been patched so it is recognized as a 3D application by ATI drivers yet?



No the thing is that it is true that it is optimized for nvidia hardware, but my hd 4850 on the demo kicked ass at 1920x1200 with everything at super high and 4xaa, I have seen benches around the net and I might be wrong the hd 4850 actually beats the GTX 260 in that game, that is why for once I wanted to see HardOCP test it to really see how it contends. From the way the game looked in those benchmark runs I would have to say it was pretty impressive.
 
You know. Thats something that doesn't get mentioned in reviews. Nvidia has WAY better people selling there cards than ATI. Better warranty.........step up programs from 2 different companies now.

N can f up the party big time with a wee little price drop on the 260.

But I must say. I am reading all of these reviews with glee. Plus, it would seem that AMD has captured the multi-gpu cache (pronounced cash-aaaay for those of you in Mineral Wells) that Nvidia used to have. Crossfire seems to be the cats tits while SLI is considered a buggy no value option except for those with the biggest of screens.

Interesting times indeed.

Not really. Ati initially was looking at pricing the 4850 around $150 and 4870 around $200 to compete with 9600gt and 9800gtx in that order. But since cards performance turned out better then expected ati decided to price them up. So even if nvidia manages to drop a $200 on the 260 ati still has a lot of room to cut prices on the 4870.
 
Awesome review guys. I had my mouse on the order button at Best Buy and you put me over the top. I expected some down side, but if you guys didn't find one there's no reason to wait.
 
Just wanted to add that different types of games will benefit more from either AMD's or NVIDIA's architectures. I liked the review of the games that was done, but I would have liked to see more games present.

While I'm not a gung-ho fan of only apple to apple comparisons, Anandtech ran enough games to point out several types of games that seem to benefit more than others.

What I really would have liked to see is some practical comparisons involving Crossfire and SLI. I hope this will be considered at some point in the near future, especially considering the very reasonable price points these cards occupy.

I do want to say thanks for the thorough review, though. Keep up the good work! :)
 
Think I'll wait a bit longer. Running a 650i system with an 8800 gtx on a 1440x900 display. Right now the games I play (mostly AoC) can play well with the right kind of sacrifices. Shoot, AoC plays with 16x AF and 4x AA max texture settings with Bloom on that rig (avg 40-60 fps in non player heavy areas).

How do these new cards stack up against it?
 
How about Supreme Commander Forged Alliance with Dual Monitors. That seems to really stress out my computer.
 
Thanks for the great review guys. I cant wait to snag a 4870 now!! Hopefully it will fold as good as it games!

I only have one suggestion for the review: On this page the banner ads cover the pictures. I am all for the ads on the page if it continues to get us great reviews like the one put forth today but can they not cover the content of the page (the real reason I came to the site)? I had to save the pictures to my hard drive to view them. Hopefully this is just a glitch. Sorry if this has been brought up already in this thread. I only had time to read part of it.

Thanks again for the great review!:)
 
Thanks for the great review guys. I cant wait to snag a 4870 now!! Hopefully it will fold as good as it games!

I only have one suggestion for the review: On this page the banner ads cover the pictures. I am all for the ads on the page if it continues to get us great reviews like the one put forth today but can they not cover the content of the page (the real reason I came to the site)? I had to save the pictures to my hard drive to view them. Hopefully this is just a glitch. Sorry if this has been brought up already in this thread. I only had time to read part of it.

Thanks again for the great review!:)


I think it's your browser, as it looks fine on my end under IE7 :).
 
Any idea whether any aftermarket coolers will fit the 4850 right now? Are they the same mounting holes as the HD 38xx series?
 
[+Duracell-];1032671125 said:
Any idea whether any aftermarket coolers will fit the 4850 right now? Are they the same mounting holes as the HD 38xx series?

same mounting holes as 3800 series ;)
 
My first thought is...wow AtkinS missed out. SOOO many cool Nvidia cards like the 6800GT for DooM 3 or the 8800GTX for Oblivion!! Don't get me wrong, I replaced a pair of $$$ 7800GTX w/ a single $$ x1900XT and very much enjoyed my shader performance in FEAR. I'm just saying brand loyalty in anyway makes little sense to this educated enthusiast that requires a discerning product to put a smile on my face.

I bought 2 8800GT's and an SLI board for Crysis. I finished it on a single card because it stuttttttered on 2 and the last battle had me "falling" through imaginary holes on the deck. I believe it was the single most frustrating experience I've ever had on a PC. For everything Crysis and Nvidia put me through, I'm now the very proud owner of a pc like console, the PS3. Combined w/ a 4850, I should be able to play all the non retarded multiplayer shooters like COD4 and TF2 @ LAN's. Considering how often I'm actually gaming on the pc anymore, $650 for a card that's completely unnecessary just kills the sport for me.

I typically digest about 10-15 reviews, then pick a card and check clocks w/ buds or forums. This year I bought a PS3 because for the first time in YEARS, I feel a $150 GPU is sufficient for getting a solid pc gaming experience provided AA and resolution are kept in check.

So I'll be purchasing a 4800 series this year and keeping my reading limited to [H] for the moment. Hell you guys pluggin' Fud really made me happy. I know we all make fun of TH and FUD and everyone else, but when a site consistently gets shit right...why go anywhere else? :D

Cheers and how loud are these things?
 
You know. Thats something that doesn't get mentioned in reviews. Nvidia has WAY better people selling there cards than ATI. Better warranty.........step up programs from 2 different companies now.

N can f up the party big time with a wee little price drop on the 260.

But I must say. I am reading all of these reviews with glee. Plus, it would seem that AMD has captured the multi-gpu cache (pronounced cash-aaaay for those of you in Mineral Wells) that Nvidia used to have. Crossfire seems to be the cats tits while SLI is considered a buggy no value option except for those with the biggest of screens.

Interesting times indeed.

hehe yeah.
I still have 60 days on my step up so i'm going to wait a bit see if price drop some.
I'd love for the GTX260 to be about $300-350

I'm glas ATI is back in the game, it's WAR!!!
 

LOL. WUT?

Dude, seriously. I'm 27 and I don't feel too out of touch. But yur l337 sp33k is way too savage.
PPS: "Alot"? What does that mean? I only see it on interweb forums. Don't mean to be a grammar nazi, but sheesh*.

* Also not a word.
Did you miss the part where he said he was in Norway? It was right there in your own post. :rolleyes: Not everyone on teh internets is American or British, buddy. Some actually learned more than one language and do not know a second, third or fourth language as well as you know your first. Sure, he could use more punctuation, but that's another story.

Anyway, on to the card...I'm very happy with the 4850 results. Ever since the 8800GT, mid-range performance went up tremendousely and it's only getting better. Most people do not buy $600 video cards so allowing people to play new games with high settings and resolutions on 200 dollar video cards is amazing. More people can afford those, more people can become gamers and more PC games can sell. Gaming communities can grow, etc. Everybody wins.

With that said, I'd still rather buy a cheap, second 8800GT, being in my situation, but if I had to buy a cheap single card, I'd go with ATI again. (last card I had from them was the 9800 Pro at $650...and that did not play new games at 1600x1200 or more) There's really no point in buying expensive cards right now if you're not a rich gamer. Two 8800GT cards at $300-400 beat or match a $650 card.
 
Busy with college I was SO out of the gfx card loop and my gf gives mention of BB having the 4850 available for 25% off of their price if I could find any in stock. I didn't have time to research and was so out of the loop I didn't know anything about the 4800 series (yeah, WAY out of the loop!). After reading a ton of different reviews on this card (after I purchased them), I am very happy LoL. Thanks hun!!! It kicks @ss! Now I can wave farewell to it's older brother, the card that served me for years - ati 9800 (overclocked by me, but not the pro version).

And just because this might help people trying to purchase at BB, here is how a little persistence paid off in getting two of these cards (one is for gf's system, lol, i'm not doing CF):

Last day to purchase was a few days ago on Saturday. Went in to one BB, the GSquad guy told me his manager said they couldn't sell it to me because the official release date for it was not until the next day and he wouldn't call another store to check if they had any in stock (this was BB in Natomas, Cali). Next went to another BB and saw one on shelf, got it for score #1!. Took off to another BB, not even a tag on shelf. I ask guy on floor, he checks and says 1 in stock, goes to check, nothing. I ask him to call around, he comes back and says none. Ask him since it was new if there was any other place it could be, so he goes somewhere else, says he found it, but it was prepaid so he couldn't sell it. I was like how could it be prepaid if it's not available to buy online? He goes back, and comes back and then says it's on hold. I said "is it on hold for a customer or an employee to buy?" He left and came back a few minutes later. Now he said a person put it on hold the day before and again on this day - stated that they were only supposed to hold it for 2 hours max and not for a day let alone 2 days - so he said, you have the cash to buy it right now so I'm going to let you buy it, score #2! :D

Oh and note: Each time I purchased one, the cashier questioned the 25% off because it rang up at regular price. Had to show them the ad and point out that it said 25% off of ALL visiontek. One cashier said, but it's only for those items shown (which was 1 older ati, and 1 tv tuner), which I had to say "no, it's for ALL visiontek, see it says it right here" - which she then had to have a CS manager confirm it. At the other BB a similar occurrence happened too. So, for me what works is to be "nice" but not a pushover (sometimes you have to argue a little bit, but not be mean about it), it doesn't work every time, but if you're mean you'll have less luck because nobody wants to help a jerk. Best of luck! ^^V
 
Just picked up a MSI 4850 from Newegg to replace my X800XL. Got it for $175 counting the $25 rebate they had going on.

Only did a little gaming on it so far but I am happy with it.
 
Great job on the review guys, like many others who have waited patiently I could NOT wait to get home from work today to read your review. Its truly a great time for us as consumers, cannot wait to upgrade from this Intel 3.4C and X850xt. I see a 4870 1g or 4870x2 in my near future, hell, with these numbers the 4870 as it is. Nvidia isn't out of my sights either if their pricing is worked out a bit, I'm an equal opportunity consumer. Between the reviews of the new ATI cards and the new LG Dare cellphone my brain is spinning-and my wallet crying. Welcome back ATI, I knew you had it in you.
 
As short as the 3800 lifespan was this kind of sucks a bit for me...
I don't suppose there is any chance that crossfire can exist with a 3870 and a 4870??
 
Hehe, sorry for my strange way of speech :D

well, my point was kinda, who needs warranty, when none of the ghpx cards I listed that I've used have died after all my treatment.
I've clocked them, they are first in my computer, then my 2nd comp, then my 3rd(open source ati drivers for linux is perfect by then =))
I let a x800 XL be in a sofa for 6 months, getting laid on by my cats, and thought it was broken, actually it did not die(even I got surprised there)

Well I do know that Norway got good rules, for buys and alike, 5 year warranty on cells.

is there 3 years warranty on all products in the USA. aswell ?
atleast a 1 year should be enough if you're like me, I'm changing every year more/less.
 
Hehe, sorry for my strange way of speech :D

well, my point was kinda, who needs warranty, when none of the ghpx cards I listed that I've used have died after all my treatment.
I've clocked them, they are first in my computer, then my 2nd comp, then my 3rd(open source ati drivers for linux is perfect by then =))
I let a x800 XL be in a sofa for 6 months, getting laid on by my cats, and thought it was broken, actually it did not die(even I got surprised there)

Well I do know that Norway got good rules, for buys and alike, 5 year warranty on cells.

is there 3 years warranty on all products in the USA. aswell ?
atleast a 1 year should be enough if you're like me, I'm changing every year more/less.

You have one heck of a system there :eek: I would like to see some benches from you lol.
 
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