ATI 4770x2

[thilanliyan]

http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/v...reat_Concept_Idea.html

Lol now they'll have double the supply problems.
Hopefully everything is fixed with TSMC soon for both ATI and nVidia.

 

[OCGuy]

Same way I feel about the 2GB cards and refreshes from both sides right now......*yawn*

 

[Cookie Monster]

This card could potentially fit the gap between HD4890 and HD4870X2. Could be quite the competitor to the GTX285.

 

[PM650]

Enough by august lol. They've already killed 4850 prices as a result of the shortage, there's really no point in buying a single 4770. This half-node 40nm stuff is crap. should've just made them at 45nm and waited for 32nm..otherwise a good idea though.

 

[dguy6789]

Originally posted by: Cookie Monster
This card could potentially fit the gap between HD4890 and HD4870X2. Could be quite the competitor to the GTX285.

You mean the gap between the 4890 and the 4850X2? The only point I could see to a 4770x2 is to have 4850x2 performance for less cost and have lower power consumption. I don't see a reason to have both on the market at the same time.

 

[Cookie Monster]

Well the HD4850X2 isnt a reference design by AMD. Only sapphire provides this card. Seeing as an HD4770 is about 5% off from the HD4850 (same goes for Xfire), this card could potentially replace the HD4850X2 all together.

 

[dguy6789]

Nevertheless, the 4850X2 does and has existed for quite a while and there's never been a shortage of them. From a customer standpoint, it's a very viable option and probably the single best card in that price range.

I would be for the 4770x2 replacing the 4850x2 though. Cooler running and using less power sounds great.

 

[Cookie Monster]

Originally posted by: dguy6789
I would be for the 4770x2 replacing the 4850x2 though. Cooler running and using less power sounds great.

This.

 

[yh125d]

Maybe we'd get more companies willing to make them too, since sapphire is the only one with 4850x2's

 

[Henrah]

I've been wondering why Sapphire was and is still the only manufacturer of 4850x2's. The only reason I can find is that it seems pointless when you can make a 4870x2. I guess other manufacturers see the 4850 as a lesser 4870, so why double it up? For the same reasoning, why double up a GTX275?

However, it is AMD's strategy to create high-end parts by doubling up mid-range parts, as we all well know. So I guess Sapphire took initiative. Am I correct in believing that the 4850 was a better seller than the 4870 because it became the bang-for-the-buck king? If so, Sapphire made a good move; it's unfortunate now that 4850 prices have dropped so far that the 4850x2 (both vram flavours) are at least £20-£70 more expensive than buying two separately. £20 might be feasible for multiGPU stability, single-slot pcix16 and security, but not £70. I think buyers are more likely to buy two separately and crossfire them themselves in the latter case. (Or, for slightly cheaper, a 4890 - the better choice of course.)

The 4770 is now the bang-for-the-buck king in the low-middle range, right? Doubling up seems like a smart thing to do (as many have crossfired already) and I think would be pre-judged on the success of the 4850x2 up until now. I wonder if the 4890 might also be doubled up. With all this activity on the 4xxx series, it seems to me that AMD are setting up an AMAZING set of previous-generation cards for when 5xxx hits.

Being someone who doesn't keep up-to-date, I'm looking forward to potentially cheaper 4xxx hardware. ^_^

 

[yh125d]

4770 isn't that great bang/buck right now. Supply problems aside the mean cost is $100-110, when you can regularly get 4850s for ~$85 and 4870 512's for ~$125 pretty regularly also. The 4770 does have its advantages though, it only uses like 50w of power so it doesnt need a pci-e connector making it great for putting in dells for a cheap gaming rig, and it puts a lot less heat in your case.

 

[dguy6789]

Originally posted by: Henrah
I've been wondering why Sapphire was and is still the only manufacturer of 4850x2's. The only reason I can find is that it seems pointless when you can make a 4870x2. I guess other manufacturers see the 4850 as a lesser 4870, so why double it up? For the same reasoning, why double up a GTX275?

This is why.

Look at the how the prices compare.

Link

Link

Now look at how the performance of the two compares.

Link

4850X2 allows you to get a very fast video card for a very low price. Sounds like a good reason to me for it existing.

 

[nitromullet]

Originally posted by: OCguy
Same way I feel about the 2GB cards and refreshes from both sides right now......*yawn*

Agreed. It concerns me about availability of the new parts to see this kind of stuff.

Originally posted by: Cookie Monster
Well the HD4850X2 isnt a reference design by AMD. Only sapphire provides this card. Seeing as an HD4770 is about 5% off from the HD4850 (same goes for Xfire), this card could potentially replace the HD4850X2 all together.

Neither is the proposed 4770 X2...

?A dual ASIC board utilizing the ATI Radeon HD 4770 chip is a great concept idea. This would be up to our partners to bring to market,? said Patrick Moorhead, vice president of advanced marketing at AMD

 

[Henrah]

Originally posted by: dguy6789

Originally posted by: Henrah
I've been wondering why Sapphire was and is still the only manufacturer of 4850x2's. The only reason I can find is that it seems pointless when you can make a 4870x2. I guess other manufacturers see the 4850 as a lesser 4870, so why double it up? For the same reasoning, why double up a GTX275?

This is why.

Look at the how the prices compare.

Link

Link

Now look at how the performance of the two compares.

Link

4850X2 allows you to get a very fast video card for a very low price. Sounds like a good reason to me for it existing.

Wow. 4850x2 really shows up expensive single-gpu cards. However, that is near 100% scaling, which isn't the case in every game. I'm sure it's still faster in many games - just not by that degree. Still, a definite reason for the 4850x2's existence.

Price-wise, you're very fortunate over in America. That sale has made the 4850x2 2gb $14 cheaper than crossfiring the cheapest 4850 1gb: http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814161275

Fantastic deal! Over the pond, not so great.
Here is our cheapest (afaik) 4850 1gb: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/...01&catid=56&subcat=938 (this is £5 more than the cheapest 512mb)

And here is our cheapest 4850x2 2gb: http://www.ebuyer.com/product/152204

And for kicks, our cheapest 1gb: http://www.scan.co.uk/Products...00-Cores-4x-DVI-I-HDTV

That's £76 for a 4850 1gb and £205 for a 4850x2 2gb. £53 more for a single-slot and other advantages. The 4850x2 1gb is ~£150, which is on target.

Our cheapest 4890 is £136: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/...1&catid=56&subcat=1403

Our cheapest 275 is £150: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/...1&catid=56&subcat=1410

Cheapest 285 is £224: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/...1&catid=56&subcat=1341

4850x2 2gb is great for quad-monitor support, or dual 30" monitors. (They use dual-dvi right?)


If I were to upgrade now, I'd choose the 4890. Maybe 275 because I've never been nVidia, and the prospect of buying a cheap 9600 to run PhysX sounds fun.

Lots of info there, sorry ^_^

 

[ArchAngel777]

Originally posted by: Cookie Monster
This card could potentially fit the gap between HD4890 and HD4870X2. Could be quite the competitor to the GTX285.

This isn't directed at you perse, BTW. I am getting tired of people pitting multi-gpu setups versus single-gpu setups. With the 'potential' for horrible scaling, or no scaling at all, and the 'potential' for micro-stuter and input lag for vsync + tb, I don't think they can even be compared.

I would take $300-350 single card solution that works 100% of the time over a $200 card that has the potential to be as crappy as a $100 card. People typically like 'consistency' and multi-gpus are not consistent, except with being consistently inconsistent and buggy.

 

[dguy6789]

Multi-GPU solutions have come a long, long way. They scale much more often than not. You'd have trouble finding a game that it didn't scale in that wasn't old as heck. And for those games, it would be so easy to play that even single card mode performance is enough to run with max res and aa and af at perfect fps. The buggy thing is also a thing of the past.

Read some recent articles on it. Anandtech has said multiple times that crossfire and sli problems are largely a thing of the past.

 

[ArchAngel777]

Originally posted by: dguy6789
Multi-GPU solutions have come a long, long way. They scale much more often than not. You'd have trouble finding a game that it didn't scale in that wasn't old as heck. And for those games, it would be so easy to play that even single card mode performance is enough to run with max res and aa and af at perfect fps. The buggy thing is also a thing of the past.

Read some recent articles on it. Anandtech has said multiple times that crossfire and sli problems are largely a thing of the past.

My friend just setup his new SLI system. I have already noticed several graphic glitches with the latest drivers. One of those I will mention is that in TF2 when he dies, his entire screen flickers over and over until respawn. This happens every time.

 

[MrK6]

If they come out with a 4770X2 that has decent memory chips on it, this GTX295 is SO GONE .

 

[Cookie Monster]

Originally posted by: nitromullet
Neither is the proposed 4770 X2...

?A dual ASIC board utilizing the ATI Radeon HD 4770 chip is a great concept idea. This would be up to our partners to bring to market,? said Patrick Moorhead, vice president of advanced marketing at AMD

O yeah, your right!

 

[Jacen]

The 4850x2 is a hell of a card. I won't deny the noise/heat issues but they are far from a deal breaker. Someone like me who goes for very quite with Yate Loon fans, lowered fan speeds and a P180B generally isn't a fan of that kind of noise but I manage.

Now a 4770x2 would be a appealing considering both of those cons would be somewhat relieved. But still, at this point with DX11 right around the corner, if that card isn't out within the month or so, you may as well wait.