New Powercolor HD 4870 question

Raudulfr

2[H]4U
Joined
Sep 12, 2004
Messages
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Hello,

I have a quick question for you, this might sound like a newb question but I want to know for sure ;)

I had to RMA my BBA Powercolor HD 4870 1GB. It was sent to the supplier to be exchanged and they sent me a new one but this one was Powercolor's new HD 4870, not a reference design. This one. Yes, it's very similar to the PCS+ version.

Now, my question is: My card also has some similar 4 chokes next to the MOSFETs like the Asus HD 4870 D5 which has a 4 phase power circuit. Does it mean my card also has 4 phase VRM power? BBA cards only have a 3 phase design and it's not advertised anywhere that my card has 4 phases like the PCS+ version. Unfortunately, unlike my previous BBA card this one doesn't seem to have a VRM temperature sensor.


Maybe they decided to ditch the reference design and instead use the PCS+ version's PCB for the regular cards as well?
 
Hey, you have a very good question. I own the reference 512MB card from Powercolor. According to several sites around the web Powercolor ran out of the reference PCB for the PCS+ cards and they started using PCB's from some other source. I don't know how true the story is but some of the newegg reviews of the PCS+ refer to the PCB problems. As far as being sure who made your card, you may never know because ATI partners make cards for each other.
 
According to one reviewer, Powercolor only sent 14 of the reference PCS+ PCB cards cards to newegg. He bought one of them and liked it. He then bought the same card later for a crossfire setup. The second card was a modified reference PCS+ PCB and was different than the first card that he bought. He said that the second PCB resembled the Diamond PCB. So Raudulfr you may well have an ASUS PCB with 4 phase power circuit on your Powercolor HD 4870!:)
 
Yes, it looks like that Asus D5 card's PCB. So far I don't have any of the problems the PCS+ version had. I can run FurMark without artifacts or crashing. I guess I got a good deal :)

Pic of the VRM area (2004-era smartphone camera FTL!)

My card also has that metal bracket seen on the PCS+ version. Eh, these new cards are like the hellish spawn of the Asus D5 and the PCS+ :D
 
Hey, I guess that is enough to give Powercolor a thumbs up then! Plus Powercolor has top notch customer support if a problem should arise. If anyone plans on a crossfire setup, with exact identical cards, they should order their cards on the same day, maybe!:D
 
I had a look at Newegg's site and I can say that indeed my video card has the exact same PCB as the Diamond card. Only the cooler is slightly different, mine has one extra heatpipe, etc.
 
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