4890 worth it?

[GodlessAstronomer]

Well, don't be too sure about that. DX11 is poised to take off much better and much faster than DX10 did (or tried to). I expect DX11 to be much more widely used than DX10 ever was. Especially too because it is easier to code for than DX10; developers will gravitate towards it.

They said the same thing about DX8, DX9 and DX10, yet all of those had very slow adoption curves by the industry. Like I said, if history is an indication DX11 won't be relevant for a couple of years. As for the supposed performance increases of DX11, well I remember very clearly that the same was said of DX10 and it turned out to be BS. Don't believe the hype, don't waste your money on the 5770 just for DX11.

 

[Winterpool]

I recently convinced my co-worker to buy the $160 HIS HD 4890 for his Core i5 build. I just can't see DX11 development and adoption taking place swiftly given how difficult it is to even find a Radeon HD 5800 card right now. I should be surprised if DX11 games are common before 2011, by which time there will be better and cheaper cards, I should think.

The HD 4890 is a great card to tide one over till DX11.

 

[Trusted Advisor]

@Trusted Advisor - I am pretty sure the only difference between the cards is that the MSI one is guaranteed to overclock since they are selling it at slightly faster speeds. You might be able overclock the other card the same, less, or more, but you never know since overclocking isn't guaranteed. Also, depending on what size monitor you are using, you may not even need to overclock at all, since the card runs my system very well.

Thanks dph1077, good info.

 

[cbn]

I am working on a new build, quadcore i5 with windows 7 64 bit. I have an 8800gt right now and am used to the performance from that. Im switching to ati and i'm not sure where to go, 5xxx series? or 4890- higher performance than 5770 but no dx11 support?

I don't think dx 11 support now is a big deal, I mean i still use dx 9 in windows xp. What does everyone think. Jump for a 4890 now for 160 at newegg? or save up and get a 5850? or higher series? Thanks

I think the HD4890 is a great card but it does use a good bit more power at idle.

 

[bryanW1995]

How dare you talk about power in a video card enthusiast forum???!!!

power savings from 5770 should make up the $20 price diff in 2-3 years, but 4890 will probably be faster for the usable life of both cards.

 

[nOOky]

True that. Get a 4890 over a 5770, and drink one less beer a day and you'll be waaay ahead of any power savings...

 

[Washoe]

after researching the 5770... the thing that is killing me is 128-bit mem interface. It seems to me that by the time dx10 is a thing of the past, won't most games demand at least 256-bit?

 

[bryanW1995]

brent justice from hocp has some interesting thoughts on the 5770 memory interface. 5770 and 4890 have same core speed and same # of sp's. 5770 has lower power and dx11, 4890 has much better memory bandwidth. by the time the dx11 and lower power of the 5770 start to overwhelm the mem bandwidth advantage of the 4890 both cards will probably be obsoleet.

 

[yacoub]

after researching the 5770... the thing that is killing me is 128-bit mem interface. It seems to me that by the time dx10 is a thing of the past, won't most games demand at least 256-bit?

Yup, even Anandtech's own review of the 5770 noted how the 128-bit bus ties the hands of all that fast DDR5 memory. 256-bit would have uncorked it but of course then it'd probably threaten the 5850 or some in-between card AMD plans to release 5-6 months from now. =\

Shame, really, as the 128-bit restrictive bus is the #1 reason I didn't buy a 5770 at launch. The benchmarks with current games show it's already limiting it, so we can only imagine how much worse it'll be held back by it in 2010 and beyond.

 

[Washoe]

Normally power demands wouldn't catch my attention either, but I have to say... that 5770 power consumption is *really* low. imo that aspect is impressive enough to weigh into the mix.

Still... it ends up being about the almighty fps doesn't it

 

[jjj807]

hmm well i missed the HIS 4890 on newegg for 160 AR its sold out, any other solid options? How are sapphire cards?

 

[lavaheadache]

hmm well i missed the HIS 4890 on newegg for 160 AR its sold out, any other solid options? How are sapphire cards?

my local best buy had an XFX hd4890 for 169.99 when I was there last week. I almost shat myself. Dunno if it is ymmv or what but worth a call anyways, esp if you have rewards zone points you can use up on it.

 

[lothar]

hmm well i missed the HIS 4890 on newegg for 160 AR its sold out, any other solid options? How are sapphire cards?

You too?

 

[Patrickz0rs]

hmm well i missed the HIS 4890 on newegg for 160 AR its sold out, any other solid options? How are sapphire cards?

If you can shell out some extra cash, the Asus 4890 is really nice. The two fans keep the card idle at 40 and full load around 50ish. Great overclocking software included, have mine up around 950.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814121308

 

[zCypher]

Planning on getting the Asus 4890 shortly. Can't think of a reason not to. I was going to live with my integrated video for a while but it seems even slower than my laptop so screw that.

 

[jjj807]

anyone know of the XFX model's performance? Is the XFX 4890 a solid card?

 

[Washoe]

anyone know of the XFX model's performance? Is the XFX 4890 a solid card?

I have just obtained one and am popping it in now. newegg's ratings are overall very good, outside of one 'reviewer' claiming they saw no difference from a 3870 (which I think we can all agree would be false):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814150438

edited to add: I tell you what - this is one longggg card. Extends out just as long as the motherboard. Make sure you've got room!

 

[jjj807]

thanks, I think im going to pick it up from BB later

 

[Washoe]

Yeah I got it from BB too. $199 from them isn't that bad for this card. I would have expected at least $220 or so. Packaging inside is very nicely done.
Fired it up, installed Catalyst 9.11 drivers... it works great. Slightly on the loud end for my tastes but nothing I can't live with. Crysis demo runs so smooth now on very high settings @ 1920x1200 resolution. About to run 3dMark06 on my system...

 

[jjj807]

Yeah, I see you have the HP sata drive they sell for 40 too

 

[Washoe]

3DMark Score - 15960
SM 2.0 Score - 6299
SM 3.0 Score - 7416
CPU Score - 4589

No OC has been done with the system yet.

 

[RussianSensation]

Crysis demo runs so smooth now on very high settings @ 1920x1200 resolution.

Wow I am getting like 28-29 fps at 1920x1080 4AA with High and 23-24 fps with very high in actual gameplay (this is at 880mhz GPU). Runs like a dog. I find 1920x1080 high 0AA a sweet spot for frames. I guess everyone is different. Although I can't tell any significant difference in visual quality between high and very high.

I honestly don't know what you need to run this game smoothly (although outdated drivers, but still)
http://www.pcgameshardware.de/screenshots/original/2009/04/HD4890-Crysis-Warhead-1280.png

I think 7890 series will do it!!!

 

[RockinZ28]

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...267&CatId=3669

Use bing cashback of 12.2% and free shipping and no tax and this is yours for under $160. Same deal I got on it back in June. XFX version would come out a little over $175.
No rebates to mess with, have always got my cashback from MS.

 

[Washoe]

Wow I am getting like 28-29 fps at 1920x1080 4AA with High and 23-24 fps with very high in actual gameplay (this is at 880mhz GPU). Runs like a dog. I find 1920x1080 high 0AA a sweet spot for frames. I guess everyone is different. Although I can't tell any significant difference in visual quality between high and very high.

Ah, I guess it is all relative (I did just upgrade my entire system). I turned on fps and am getting upper 20s on High, and from 18-21 on Very High. I agree about the visual quality - hard to tell much difference between high and very high there.

 

[lothar]

Wow I am getting like 28-29 fps at 1920x1080 4AA with High and 23-24 fps with very high in actual gameplay (this is at 880mhz GPU). Runs like a dog. I find 1920x1080 high 0AA a sweet spot for frames. I guess everyone is different. Although I can't tell any significant difference in visual quality between high and very high.

I honestly don't know what you need to run this game smoothly (although outdated drivers, but still)
http://www.pcgameshardware.de/screenshots/original/2009/04/HD4890-Crysis-Warhead-1280.png

I think 7890 series will do it!!!

Does your MSI Cyclone move the heat to the exhaust or just redirects it to the mobo like the XFX cards?

Mwave is selling MSI Cyclone for $159.99 after rebate...