4870 review

[JACKDRUID]

anyone else noticed that 4870 get a bigger performance hit at higher resolutions? when compared to g260..? is it real ? is there another reason behind it?

 

[Munky]

Based on this review the 4870 takes about an equal hit as the gt200 cards going to 1920x1200 rez. I havent done the actual math, but using my handy visual guesstimate ruler, it seems to take a slightly smaller hit than the gtx260, and slightly higher than gtx280.

 

[JACKDRUID]

that is certainly odd... I was referring to anandtech review.. on some benchmarks 4870 beat gtx260 easily in 1600x res, but lose to it at 2560rez... http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3341&p=14

 

[AzN]

Originally posted by: JACKDRUID
that is certainly odd... I was referring to anandtech review.. on some benchmarks 4870 beat gtx260 easily in 1600x res, but lose to it at 2560rez... http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3341&p=14

More than 512mb of vram is obviously helping in 2560x1600 with 4xAA.

 

[JACKDRUID]

ah that explains it! the difference in memory size..
then 4870 is definately the better structure... cheaper to make, run cooler, smaller, more performance / money.. etc

g200 isn't in as bad shape as fx series, but its definately not competitive without some serious price cut.

 

[lopri]

I've got my 4870. Taking a day off at work and going to play with it tonight. I have an 30", so I'll make sure to test it out @2560x1600.

Right now it's temporarily installed in my testing bench with Pentium E2140 and ASUS P5E-VM HDMI, and I can tell the reported temps are true. The card idles @77~78C and loads @83~84C. I've never seen anything like this temperature-wise. However, a good news is that the space around the card doesn't get hot at all. Thanks to the heatsink design that blows the all hot air generated by GPU, it looks like it's not going to heat up the case temp. But the exhaust air gets incredibly hot under load.

 

[ginfest]

Originally posted by: lopri
I've got my 4870. Taking a day off at work and going to play with it tonight. I have an 30", so I'll make sure to test it out @2560x1600.

Right now it's temporarily installed in my testing bench with Pentium E2140 and ASUS P5E-VM HDMI, and I can tell the reported temps are true. The card idles @77~78C and loads @83~84C. I've never seen anything like this temperature-wise. However, a good news is that the space around the card doesn't get hot at all. Thanks to the heatsink design that blows the all hot air generated by GPU, it looks like it's not going to heat up the case temp. But the exhaust air gets incredibly hot under load.

I just installed my 4870 today and am noticing similar temps. I adjusted the fan speed with the "profile fix" that is going around but anything over 30 (default is 22-23?) is really noticeable (loud) in my setup. Around 40 though and idle is down in the 45C range for me which is nice but again fairly loud
Supposedly these chips can take the heat so I'll let mine stay hot rather than loud.
As you say the fan does seem to take most of the hot air out - the exhaust is really hot when the card is under load.
I have a GTX 260 on the way from step-up so I can get a first hand comparison with the games I play. Then one or the other will be on sale
I have only had time to play Age of Conan, right away there are some graphic abnormalities that I have noticed but the frame rate is slightly better than my 9800
More later

 

[lopri]

Judging from the percentages showing in GPU-Z, the max RPM of the fan must be 6,000 RPM. The fan stays around 1,000 RPM (17%) when the card is idling, and it's dead silent. Quieter than normal 120mm fan spinning @1,200 RPM, so it's not likely that one will hear it over CPU fans or case fans. Under load it goes slightly over 1,800 RPM. (30%) I didn't think it was too loud, but I will try the fan speed mod and see how it plays out.

 

[n7]

I suspect the RPM readings are a bit off.

lopri, i want to know all the details @ 2560x1600

If you have it & can, test UT3 w/ 4xAA...it really kills things on my GTX, & i couldn't even get 4xAA to work with my 3870X2 other than around 2 fps.

Really curious to see benchies @ our resolution.

 

[lopri]

I will do. The closest thing that I've got to UT3 is Gears of War, so hopefully that'll do. I installed the HD 4870 in my system (replacing an HD 3850), so I am ready to go. That is, until I found out somehow I'd managed to degrade my RAID1 array. It's rebuilding now for almost two hours, and probably another two more hours. It's so freaking aggravating. Ugh.

Meanwhile, I managed to take some pics. Here are a couple of them for your viewing pleasure.

Before

After

 

[n7]

Nice, i have the CM690 as well, though i use it for my secondary system.
And mine looks nowhere close to as neat

I wish they made one that was just a wee bit bigger, then i'd likely use it as main system case.

 

[Dadofamunky]

Originally posted by: lopri
I will do. The closest thing that I've got to UT3 is Gears of War, so hopefully that'll do. I installed the HD 4870 in my system (replacing an HD 3850), so I am ready to go. That is, until I found out somehow I'd managed to degrade my RAID1 array. It's rebuilding now for almost two hours, and probably another two more hours. It's so freaking aggravating. Ugh.

Meanwhile, I managed to take some pics. Here are a couple of them for your viewing pleasure.

Before

After

Wow. that's a beefy looking system. ALMOST makes me wish I had a tower again.

 

[GarfieldtheCat]

Originally posted by: lopri
I've got my 4870. Taking a day off at work and going to play with it tonight. I have an 30", so I'll make sure to test it out @2560x1600.

Right now it's temporarily installed in my testing bench with Pentium E2140 and ASUS P5E-VM HDMI, and I can tell the reported temps are true. The card idles @77~78C and loads @83~84C. I've never seen anything like this temperature-wise. However, a good news is that the space around the card doesn't get hot at all. Thanks to the heatsink design that blows the all hot air generated by GPU, it looks like it's not going to heat up the case temp. But the exhaust air gets incredibly hot under load.

Can't wait to see the results, as I too have a 30", and am thinking of getting the 4870 (probably with an Accelero cooler as well)

EDIT: Is that a TRUE on your cpu? I've got the DFI P35 board with a TRUE, and I thought a 3rd party cooler on the NB wouldn't fit. I've got an HR-05 (or whatever it's called) and it didn't look like I could mount it with a TRUE.