AMD Radeon HD 4800 Series @ [H]

How about a review that matchs the GTX 260 against the HD 4870 at their best overclocks you fellows could get? It would be interesting to see.

XFX and Evga both support overclocking under their warranties so doing said activity would not void them.
 
Oh dear.

A guy I work with has been asking questions about building a new computer, what cpu, what gfx card etc. I told him to hold fire a week or so on the graphics card and see what ATI came out with (or at the very least buy an 8800GT for £100 if he absolutely couldn't wait). Went to see him today to tell him about this great new card (4850) that ebuyer.com had in stock for just £125 that would be perfect for him both performance and budget wise.

I got as far as "The new ATI card is out" and the guy next to him rolls his eyes and says "Tell him what you've done"

He'd just gone and bought an X1950 for £150 from PC World (B&M chain for those that don't know it). His justification for ignoring my advice (which he'd pestered me for in the first place) "I only have a 1280x1024 monitor so I don't need anything faster anyway"

:rolleyes: indeed
 
He'd just gone and bought an X1950 for £150 from PC World (B&M chain for those that don't know it). His justification for ignoring my advice (which he'd pestered me for in the first place) "I only have a 1280x1024 monitor so I don't need anything faster anyway"

:rolleyes: indeed[/QUOTE]

I got 1280x720, and i still feel my performance is too low ROFL !

anyways, im going for 4870CF i guess :D
 
[H]Gold award?
heh, the 4800 series should have deserved a [H]Platinum award if 260/280 got a Gold award...

Yes, I could somewhat agree with you on that. Maybe we do need a Platinum....

But some of this is relative as well. Had the 4800 launched before the 200, it would have likely only garnered a silver. that said, the 200 series is an AWESOME peice of technology, but simply not a great value this week.
 
lol it is nice to see ATi getting back into their groove
never had an Nvidia card but the foillowing ATi cards definately served me or are serving me well

Radeon LE
Radeon 8500
Radeon 9700 Pro
Radeon 1800XL
Radeon 1950Pro
Radeon 3750
Radeon 4870 when it gets here

I see no need to go green any time soon
 
He'd just gone and bought an X1950 for £150 from PC World (B&M chain for those that don't know it). His justification for ignoring my advice (which he'd pestered me for in the first place) "I only have a 1280x1024 monitor so I don't need anything faster anyway"

Be sure to buy him some earplugs. :p
 
We are finally seeing the fruits of the AMD/ATI merger. I'm happy for AMD, as this will keep them in the game that much longer. I'm sure Nvidia is scrambling right about now. The rumors of an Nvidia/VIA merger or Nvidia/TSMC merger may one day come to fruition.
 
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.

nVidia delayed Launch of the GTX260 for the sole purpose to see how the 4870 was going to pan out. They will probably release the GTX260 at $299.

The GTX280 will probably stay where its at until the 4870X2 comes along. If they deliver similar or better performance, expect the GTX280 to hit $499 or Even $449.
 
nVidia delayed Launch of the GTX260 for the sole purpose to see how the 4870 was going to pan out. They will probably release the GTX260 at $299.

The GTX280 will probably stay where its at until the 4870X2 comes along. If they deliver similar or better performance, expect the GTX280 to hit $499 or Even $449.

WEll, judging by number of transistors, and designs.

I have a feel thats ATI that is pulling in the bucks, 55 NM vs 65 (gtx 200 comming 55 nm prolly soon)

965 million transistors on ATI built on 55 NM tech, meaning less cost.
1.2-1.4 million on GTX260/280, meaning more cost by just number of transistors, and built on more expensive 65 NM!.

GDDR5 is cheaper to buy than 512 bit GDDR3 ?. if the gddr5 solution is cheaper, i'd be guessing ati will push in alot of money, which might help amd.
 
wow, I'm suprised at the price point. I would have thought the 4870 card would be worth $400 MSRP.....

Good job ATI...it's about time too :)
 
I have no bought an ATI card in years, mostly because nvidia was the clear leader. Some have accused me of being a fanboy, whatever I just want the biggest bang for my $. That said, I just bought 2 4850's off newegg, the 1 day sale for $179.99 plus an additional MIR for $30 = $150 card that keeps up with a $400 card. That is just pure Win. My 8800GTS 640mb just got retired.
 
Finally, Ati reminds me the old good 9800 Pro days! I will never forget that card!
The problem is that a few months ago i bought an nvidia 8800 GT and i just don't feel comfortable to change cards before they serve me for 1 year or so!
 
nVidia delayed Launch of the GTX260 for the sole purpose to see how the 4870 was going to pan out. They will probably release the GTX260 at $299.

The GTX280 will probably stay where its at until the 4870X2 comes along. If they deliver similar or better performance, expect the GTX280 to hit $499 or Even $449.
hahaha
Wishful thinking, I'm afraid. GT200 costs too much money to make to sell it at those prices.
 
I have never owned an ATI card, but at this price point, i may just have to slip into a nice 4870.....just seems too good to pass up!
 
Wow, refreshing to see some competition - and a great comparison from [H] as I've come to expect, but never take for granted. Once again, you guys put together an extensive and complete set of permutations - then chased down the proof points for excellent conclusions.

I'm sitting at #6 in queue for my GTX280, but if not for the step-up I couldn't justify a 280 right now, even at 25x16. Given the performance ATI is wringing out of a lower transistor count and smaller die area, I think they'll make a lot more money than nvidia this summer. The lower power consumption plus the difference in price makes ATI's offering accessible to a much broader market.

Not that we really need it (yet,) but just for the sake of excess I can't wait to see how 280 and 260 SLI compares to 4870 and 4870X2 crossfire :D
 
Excellent review as usual guys!

I am a fanboi based only on my wallet and performance, so I am very glad to see that AMD is back in the game. Looks like there is a 4870 in my future after quite a long spell of NVIDIA GPU's.

Huzzah for competition!
 
I just grabbed the 4850 off newegg yesterday... and it's been delivered today already!

Unfortunately, the rest of my parts aren't in yet.. but I'm definitely looking forward to putzing around w/ this card. I didn't actually see this review before I purchased either.. but now I'm even more pumped! =)
 
I have been waiting for this review for a while now. I am actually happy with the last batch of offerings from both companies and I really hoped that things wouldn't change as far as price to performance. It is sad though that Nvidia so far off on value compared to ati.
 
I am just very happy that AMD/ATI is doing so well with their video card development. I will try, in the future, to support them by using their products. :)
 
hahaha
Wishful thinking, I'm afraid. GT200 costs too much money to make to sell it at those prices.

I think the GTX 280 could hit $450 or even $400. There's really not much difference in manufacturing cost between the 280 and 260 if you think about it (280s get the good chips, 260s gets flawed ones and 1 less GDDR3 memory chip), and they can sell the 260 for $400, so why not?
 
holy crap was not expecting this madness, and under $200?!?! awesome, just wondering what they'll be coming out with next. that whole GDDR5 business seems to have a shitload of potential as the article pointed out, mmmmmmm can't wait for some more competition.

PS: goodbye GTX 2xx
 
I picked up a 4850 today at BB for $179 and they had 3 gtx 260's there for $449. I just rolled my eyes at them. That card is a GOOD $150 overpriced imo. I may have picked one up for $299 but afaik it won't even pass sound and video through an hdmi adapter like the $179 4850 does. I plan on buying 2 more 4850's in the near future as well. One more to go CF in my game box and another for the htpc I am upgrading for my entertainment center. Hopefully they are solid and reliable performers like my trusty 8800gts640 has been for the past 18 months.
 
Man, I love [H] for their bad ass reviews.... After scoping out the 4870 reviews, im ditching my plans for the GTX280 to game on 1900x1200. Upgrading from a 8800GTS (G92). EAT THIS COCK NVIDIA, you aint getting $650 from me.
 
Good review guys! ATi/AMD is finally kicking some serious ass where it counts, the mainstream gamer market. Anything past $299 is too rich for me as a casual gamer.

After picking up a HD3850 last year for my simple HTPC project, I got my first nVidia card since the old GF2 days (only on nV card in my PC history till now) and grabbed an 8800GTS 512 for my gaming needs. With all the BS UMAP, I'm gonna grab up a HD4800 series in the next little while to replace the 8800GTS.
 
hazard. you can be glad you didnt jump on the GF3 and gf4 ship, cause that sucked, rma every month here, which turned me over to red =)
 
Oh dear.

A guy I work with has been asking questions about building a new computer, what cpu, what gfx card etc. I told him to hold fire a week or so on the graphics card and see what ATI came out with (or at the very least buy an 8800GT for £100 if he absolutely couldn't wait). Went to see him today to tell him about this great new card (4850) that ebuyer.com had in stock for just £125 that would be perfect for him both performance and budget wise.

I got as far as "The new ATI card is out" and the guy next to him rolls his eyes and says "Tell him what you've done"

He'd just gone and bought an X1950 for £150 from PC World (B&M chain for those that don't know it). His justification for ignoring my advice (which he'd pestered me for in the first place) "I only have a 1280x1024 monitor so I don't need anything faster anyway"

:rolleyes: indeed

A co-worker of mine did this (to me) while the geforce 6 series was HUGE. His 9800 pro died and wanted a new card. He asked me about it and I said that newegg had 6600gt's for a great price and that I had one and it was a great bang for the buck (as well as the 6800 vanilla's).

He bought a plain 6600 from BB for like $275. I informed him of the huge performance difference between the GT and the vanilla... then that he could've purchased the GT or better for the shit BB price on newegg.

DUMB AND LAZY.


In other news... 4850 CF here I come.
 
Thank you Brent (and Kyle) for the following:

Reducing the resolution further to 1280x1024 you will find mostly everything playable on “High” with the VisionTek Radeon HD 4850. We say mostly because even at 1280x1024 we felt it best to leave shadows or objects (either one) on “Medium” for the smoothest gameplay. One thing we did also try is Antialiasing both on the HD 4850 and HD 4870, but unfortunately in Crysis that is just not playable yet for any video card out there unless you want to run at 1280x1024. We’d rather turn the resolution up and the in-game settings to improve the gameplay experience.

I think it's a nice "nod" to those of us previously wondering (ref: the 260 thread).
Not only explains your position (point blank, in print), but still tries to address those curious. Thank you! :)
 
Any idea on how much of a boost for folding@home those 800 SP's will provide over the 320 of a 3870?
(after all, [H]ardocp is #1 - this is important!)
just curious.

It looks like my hd2900 will finally be put in folding only box. :)
 
I look forward to seeing the AMD / ATi one two punch make it's mark on the BYOPC market. I might just have to build my computer 2 months early.
 
hehe,

Gainward and a another one is going RED!.

sooo, umap and mass pump out of models from nvidia making them, also palit makes amd cards now!
 
just got a new job too!

now i know the first thing i'm treating myself to when i get my first big paycheck =)
 
^^^^ Same here. Although a few things are conspiring against me in getting back to the "other side" for the first time since my old Sapphire R9500 soft mod board. a) Haven't really been home in two weeks due to my job, b) Not really much time to game even if I did and c) I'm going to visit my sister in France soon here, probably this time next month - trying to keep a reign on the checkbook as best I can.

Back on the R9500 comment - these cards do seem like a close relative (BFTB wise) to the aforementioned cards for yesteryear. This is something AMD needed *badly*, and us as consumers. Now hopefully this will drive down the prices of the GTX2x0's, and/or spur the release of a die shrink perhaps.

Now only if AMD could straighten out their CPU division, and they'd be golden. I felt somewhat dirty going blue for my quad, but I could no longer hold off. Get off your duffs w/ CPUs and keep the graphics division on an even keel and maybe the talks of a dead AMD can end.

ps Didn't peruse the entire 15 pages or so, maybe somebody already caught it -- but "7 months of [dominance]"? Umm - wouldn't it be more like 17 months [errr 19] of Nvidia dominance?

pps Hopefully running an AMD F@H client is easier. In the little time I did have at home last weekend, I attempted to install new drivers + the NVIDIA client. I couldn't get past the core "not running". Took far too long to even find a driver that would install on Vista x86 (hacked .INF or not). I *really* want the killer PPD the new client seems to be putting out w/ even my 8800/G92, but I don't have the time to fight w/ install & re-install procedures. I wonder how these new 4-series cards will do folding??
 
Anyone else notice how the GTX 260 gets better minimum framerate figures, particularly in Crysis? What's the issue?
 
Looks like these are going to be wildly popular (I have already sold 4 in yet to be built systems and I havent even laid hands on one to play with. ). I have found posts where existing aftermarket cooling was modified to work but it was a bit of a kludge.

How about an quick article on the availability of existing (none probably) and upcoming 3rd party cooling solutions, a couple of phone calls would do it I bet. And my most pressing question which is 'what is the options/dimensions/hole sizes around the cpu area?' if any, and what existing waterblocks could be fitted.

Just a thought, off now to see if anyone has already done this work up.
 
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