ATi 4870 X2 (R700) previews thread

[Sylvanas]

Originally posted by: apoppin

Originally posted by: Sylvanas
Wow awesome. I don't think I'll have the $$ for two but one 4870X2 will be enough for me .

am i the only one with a different "in-between" plan ?

i already have a 4870 .. i want to add a 4870x2 for an X3 solution
- i doubt that 512MB vRAM on my current card holds me back at all - at 19x12

HD4870x3 should equal GT280 SLi for a bit less money. We shall see.

Well in most cases a single 4870X2 already beats GTX280 SLI so I am sure an X3 combo would extend that gap even more (Review 1 Review 2 ).

@idiotekniQues:

are there benchies out with a 4870 and a 4850 crossfired?

thats something i might think about for that extra lil boost for my 4870

Right here

 

[dennilfloss]

Originally posted by: idiotekniQues
are there benchies out with a 4870 and a 4850 crossfired?

thats something i might think about for that extra lil boost for my 4870

http://www.hardwarecanucks.com...erformance-review.html

 

[SSChevy2001]

Originally posted by: dennilfloss

Originally posted by: idiotekniQues
are there benchies out with a 4870 and a 4850 crossfired?

thats something i might think about for that extra lil boost for my 4870

http://www.hardwarecanucks.com...erformance-review.html

This is why you don't mix different cards in CF. You just turned your $100 more 4870 into a 4850 and even worst it looks like you'll eat more power as well.

 

[BFG10K]

Originally posted by: thilan29

How does it scale more than 100%?

I have one possible answer. Some games are aware of multi-GPU and alter the way they send frames to the GPUs by introducing more pre-rendering and buffering.

If this option is activated with multi-GPU it looks like you?re getting more than 100% scaling but in reality if the option was enabled on single cards they?d also get a performance gain, although input response usually suffers as a result.

So with the option enabled on both single cards and multi-GPU the performance gain becomes less than 100%.

 

[Hauk]

Here we are, two days to launch. I decided a month ago I was going to grab one of these, but had hoped to see some news about GT200b. Makes me wonder if nV had much luck closing the gap. Seems like they'd want to get info leaked right about now. Regardless, I'm locked and loaded!

I'm curious if we'll see bios controlling fan speed, or will Catalyst 8.8 launch Tuesday and control fan speed. They've had enough time, and more importantly, they should have been paying attention to the people who worked to increase fan speeds with their 4850/4870's. The stock coolers do a decent job, just needed a fan boost. I don't care about "within spec." I'll trade a couple DB for 10c any day. With that said...

I'm wondering if temps < 90c load are attainable. The previews didn't talk much about fan speed, only noise level. I'll be blowing fresh intake air across the board and will have a fan pointed at the black fins and top of the the card. Good airflow across the board usually helps a few degrees.

I thought about pointing an Antec Spot cool at the card's fan, or maybe even creating a push/pull system by fixing an Antec V Cool outside the case sucking air out of the pci slot. The pci bracket comes off, would just have to take out the fan speed switch and fix the V Cool outside the pci slot with aluminium tape I used to to create a fan duct. Any thoughts on this?

 

[nRollo]

Originally posted by: SteelSix
Here we are, two days to launch. I decided a month ago I was going to grab one of these, but had hoped to see some news about GT200b. Makes me wonder if nV had much luck closing the gap. Seems like they'd want to get info leaked right about now. Regardless, I'm locked and loaded!

I'm curious if we'll see bios controlling fan speed, or will Catalyst 8.8 launch Tuesday and control fan speed. They've had enough time, and more importantly, they should have been paying attention to the people who worked to increase fan speeds with their 4850/4870's. The stock coolers do a decent job, just needed a fan boost. I don't care about "within spec." I'll trade a couple DB for 10c any day. With that said...

I'm wondering if temps < 90c load are attainable. The previews didn't talk much about fan speed, only noise level. I'll be blowing fresh intake air across the board and will have a fan pointed at the black fins and top of the the card. Good airflow across the board usually helps a few degrees.

I thought about pointing an Antec Spot cool at the card's fan, or maybe even creating a push/pull system by fixing an Antec V Cool outside the case sucking air out of the pci slot. The pci bracket comes off, would just have to take out the fan speed switch and fix the V Cool outside the pci slot with aluminium tape I used to to create a fan duct. Any thoughts on this?

I've thought about this before and even suggested this sort of thing to NVIDIA.

A case with insulated air tunnels supplying air to the HSF intake on the video card would be a HUGE benefit for the hot cards of today by either brand.

If not an insulated/fan supplied wind tunnel, a case designed with the PCIE slot half of the case separated from the CPU/RAM half of the computer with maybe two 120mm pulling air in the front and two 120mm pushing the air out on the side to create constant air flow could really help cards like this that are likely to generate a fair amount of heat.

Do case designers care? No, no, no. :-(

 

[Tempered81]

Originally posted by: nRollo

Originally posted by: SteelSix
Here we are, two days to launch. I decided a month ago I was going to grab one of these, but had hoped to see some news about GT200b. Makes me wonder if nV had much luck closing the gap. Seems like they'd want to get info leaked right about now. Regardless, I'm locked and loaded!

I'm curious if we'll see bios controlling fan speed, or will Catalyst 8.8 launch Tuesday and control fan speed. They've had enough time, and more importantly, they should have been paying attention to the people who worked to increase fan speeds with their 4850/4870's. The stock coolers do a decent job, just needed a fan boost. I don't care about "within spec." I'll trade a couple DB for 10c any day. With that said...

I'm wondering if temps < 90c load are attainable. The previews didn't talk much about fan speed, only noise level. I'll be blowing fresh intake air across the board and will have a fan pointed at the black fins and top of the the card. Good airflow across the board usually helps a few degrees.

I thought about pointing an Antec Spot cool at the card's fan, or maybe even creating a push/pull system by fixing an Antec V Cool outside the case sucking air out of the pci slot. The pci bracket comes off, would just have to take out the fan speed switch and fix the V Cool outside the pci slot with aluminium tape I used to to create a fan duct. Any thoughts on this?

I've thought about this before and even suggested this sort of thing to NVIDIA.

A case with insulated air tunnels supplying air to the HSF intake on the video card would be a HUGE benefit for the hot cards of today by either brand.

If not an insulated/fan supplied wind tunnel, a case designed with the PCIE slot half of the case separated from the CPU/RAM half of the computer with maybe two 120mm pulling air in the front and two 120mm pushing the air out on the side to create constant air flow could really help cards like this that are likely to generate a fair amount of heat.

Do case designers care? No, no, no. :-(

isn't it about time that the mobo form factor & case layout allows for the gpu core(s) to sit atop the PCB? lol this would be the most obvious to me - heat rises!

is there a particular reason the gpu core sits underneath the pcb on all gfx cards? Also we could use some better spacing between pci-e slots for greater cooling & airflow. Also, all cards should exhaust out the rear of the case, an intake tunnel for the gpu cooler would be nice too. And, can we get a little more space between the mobo & the HDD racks? These cards are growing in length as well.


Hopefully they can take all of this into account with the next form factor redesign.

 

[solofly]

My latest case is perfect for hot video cards. Air flows side to side rather than front to back. Any heat coming off the video card never reaches the CPU.

Here's one pic...

Mountain Mods H2gO

PS
BTW, the case is still under construction...

 

[solofly]

Originally posted by: SteelSix
Here we are, two days to launch.

Two more days to halloween silver shamrock...

 

[Hauk]

Originally posted by: solofly

Originally posted by: SteelSix
Here we are, two days to launch.

Two more days to halloween silver shamrock...

Now there's a blast from the past. I've not seen that one since I was a kid. What a departure from the rest of the series. Reference.. Halloween III

 

[bryanW1995]

this discussion about case airflow is particularly relevant for ALL hardcore gamers, and it's becoming more and more important for casual/mainstream users. Honestly, I like my antec 900's but the blue led's, side window, etc are just too much. give me a case with two front, two rear, one side, and one top 120mm exhaust with no frills and I'll show you a winner!

 

[SSChevy2001]

@solofly - Nice case! Got to make one soon, here's my cheap rig I got for a case. With the gpu upside down keeps the extra heat away from both my CPU and PSU. 2 more days.

http://img237.imageshack.us/my.php?image=mypcmj3.jpg

 

[CP5670]

I rather like the cases with the big 250mm side fans. Those should work very nicely for cooling video cards, especially SLI/CF setups. They weren't around when I got my Stacker, or I would have gotten one of those instead.

 

[MichaelD]

Tomorrow is the big day!

I'm wondering if Anandtech will have/already has a retail sample of the HD4870X2 to review? A follow-up review or addendum to the existing HD4870X2 would be great.

Specifically, it would be nice to see if Power Management features have been introduced.

 

[Hauk]

Alright Newegg.. play fair. We do have choices you know..

Nordic Hardware - $500 US?

"4870 X2 is expected to launch on August 12, but with a just few days to go it seems like the first cards have already found their way on to the shelves in European stores. Several German/Austrian stores have listed the card (cheapest being 395 euro), and considering taxes and the weak dollar the card should cost around $500 in the US. Slightly more than NVIDIA's flagship GeForce GTX 280, but then Radeon HD 4870X2 has also been proved to be faster in many games."

 

[BFG10K]

Originally posted by: CP5670

I rather like the cases with the big 250mm side fans. Those should work very nicely for cooling video cards, especially SLI/CF setups.

Yeah, I have one on my Armor and it really does work, plus it?s practically silent.

It's also very good for passively cooled video cards as the massive fan blows air over them.

 

[MichaelD]

Of course, the launch price (i.e. Initial Gouging) will be high. I'll be holding out for a couple of weeks until it drops a bit. Unless the launch is $450 or less, in which case I'm in like flynn right off the bat.

I swore I'd never pay more than $300 for a video card, but the HD4870X2 is just too tempting. I mean, who DOESN'T want to see 150FPS in all of the 3DMARK06 tests? I know I do. Seriously though, the thought of all my games at 19x12 with all the eye candy on and 50+ FPS just makes me drool. Except Crysis of course. Of course. :roll:

 

[Tempered81]

somebody got 1 last night:

http://www.xtremesystems.org/f...howthread.php?t=198045

 

[MichaelD]

Originally posted by: jaredpace
somebody got 1 last night:

http://www.xtremesystems.org/f...howthread.php?t=198045

That card is just plain sexy. Black PCB, black HSF...me want.

Side note: The rigs in your sig...they've got to be on phase change, right?

 

[Tempered81]

Originally posted by: MichaelD

Originally posted by: jaredpace
somebody got 1 last night:

http://www.xtremesystems.org/f...howthread.php?t=198045

That card is just plain sexy. Black PCB, black HSF...me want.

Side note: The rigs in your sig...they've got to be on phase change, right?

LN2: those are Duck, Andre Yang, & Coolaler. I wish it was me, hahah.

 

[Hauk]

Originally posted by: MichaelD

Originally posted by: jaredpace
somebody got 1 last night:

http://www.xtremesystems.org/f...howthread.php?t=198045

That card is just plain sexy. Black PCB, black HSF...

and PowerColor's Fabio guy to top it all off. Look at that hair. I want hair like that.

 

[Dkcode]

I really like the ATI stock design. I hope HIS keep this on their cards like they did on the 4870.

 

[SolMiester]

Originally posted by: MichaelD

Originally posted by: jaredpace
somebody got 1 last night:

http://www.xtremesystems.org/f...howthread.php?t=198045

That card is just plain sexy. Black PCB, black HSF...me want.

Side note: The rigs in your sig...they've got to be on phase change, right?

Do you mean sexy as in anticipation of performance sexy, or just sexy to look at?, cause I disagree......

THIS IMHO a much sexier looking card...LOL, just look at the staunch coolers!!!

 

[nitromullet]

Originally posted by: jaredpace

isn't it about time that the mobo form factor & case layout allows for the gpu core(s) to sit atop the PCB? lol this would be the most obvious to me - heat rises!

is there a particular reason the gpu core sits underneath the pcb on all gfx cards? Also we could use some better spacing between pci-e slots for greater cooling & airflow. Also, all cards should exhaust out the rear of the case, an intake tunnel for the gpu cooler would be nice too. And, can we get a little more space between the mobo & the HDD racks? These cards are growing in length as well.


Hopefully they can take all of this into account with the next form factor redesign.

It was called BTX...

The original Lian Li v-series cases were ATX/BTX compatible, which required ATX boards to be mounted upside down. So, the video cards were at the top of the system. The problem with having super hot video cards at the top of the case is exactly that heat rises... If the cards are at the top, there is no place for the heat to go. The v-series cases were really nice, but they pretty much required a HSF setup that exhausted the air out the back of the case. Any cards that did not exhaust the air out the back would get really hot, and you could feel that the case was really hot at the top with all that heat trapped in there.

A standard ATX setup works way better because the hot air has somewhere to go, and the vast majority of ATX cases have 120mm case fans right above the video cards. Having an exhaust fan on the side of the case next to video card can work wonders too.

 

[Janooo]

Another person claims that microstuttering is almost gone...

So 4870x2 came to me. What can I say. I think you'll be satisfied with this card MS is not completly fixed, but there is big improvement. So big that most of ppl won't ever notice that smth is wrong.

and here.

It's not much worse than single card. You can see some pattern, but it has minor influence for your gaming experiance (in 99% of cases). Problem is with some strange spikes, which i've noticed, but unfortunately I didn't have enough time to check it better.