Gigabyte Radeon 4870 1GB

[Lightning983]

Hello,

I'm just wondering since there are a bunch of 4870 card out there with 1GB of memory, does anyone here have Gigabyte's GV-R487-1GH-B model??

It's by far the cheapest one you can buy, and i'm wondering if there's a reason for that in performance or something, but then on the other hand most of these cards are the same (ATi design) just with a re branded cooler sticker.

Also someone told me that the latencies on the 1GB models were a bit higher, and that even though you have more memory, you get a bit "slower" memory. Is there any thruth in that, since the 1GB model is about 50$ more than the 512MB version...

Oh well,
If anyone has some inputs, specially for the Gigabyte card i'd appreciate it.
Tom,

 

[thilanliyan]

I'm not sure about the higher latencies but when you get up to the higher resolutions, unless the memory on the 512mb model is twice as fast (which in this case it isn't), you'll get better performance with the 1GB model. This depends on what graphical settings you run and which game it is (ie. if you don't run high resolutions then the 1gb model might be a waste for you).

 

[F1shF4t]

Both 1gig and 512 versions have the mem at 3600(900mhz) stock. As far as i've seen there are more 512mb versions which have the mem OC'ed (and my 512mb card's mem ocs better).
The cards use different mem chips not sure about latencies though.

 

[AshPhoenix]

The Asus Radeon HD 4870 1GB is cheaper on Newegg.

ASUS EAH4870/HTDI/1G Radeon HD 4870 1GB

GIGABYTE GV-R487-1GH-B Radeon HD 4870 1GB

 

[Lightning983]

Wow, that just shows you how much more expensive cards are here in Europe... when you convert from my currency to $, the very cheapest 1GB version costs about 395$ here....

And if i could buy it from newegg, belive me i would
I'm gonna go and get the gigabyte one today, because i looked and the ASUS version costs about 80$ more here so...

 

[AshPhoenix]

Originally posted by: Lightning983
Wow, that just shows you how much more expensive cards are here in Europe... when you convert from my currency to $, the very cheapest 1GB version costs about 395$ here....

And if i could buy it from newegg, belive me i would
I'm gonna go and get the gigabyte one today, because i looked and the ASUS version costs about 80$ more here so...

I live in Egypt myself Most computer parts have good retail prices here except for Graphics cards, The Gigabyte 1GB 4870 costs what equals to $390 here too !

 

[Lightning983]

I guess most prices outside of the US are similar and on top of that i have a few friends there that still "complain" about pricing lol that's funny to me when you can get a 4870X2 there for the price of a regular one here

Anyways, i'm gonna go and get the 1GB version, do some tests and check back with the impression of the card.
Gigabyte hasn't dissapointed me yet, so i have high hopes

 

[Hauk]

I wonder if this Gainward 1GB model is available..

I'll never forget my Gainward 5900 Ultra. It was a kickass looking card with a red pcb, a fire engine red cooler with flames, and noisy little dual fans. :heart:

 

[Lightning983]

Hmm... i checked for the Gainward card in the store i went to buy the card, but they only had this 1... and i don't mean just 1 model, they only had 1 card there
I lucked out a bit, so far i'm loving it... had a little trouble getting it in my case, so i eventually had to pull out the motherboard tray of my Armor+

The temps are not that bad, maxing out at 79 - 82°C after 30 minuted of benching. Running it @33% fan speed now and i can't really hear it.
I tried to run the fan @ 100% just for fun to see how it really sounds, and i was like WOW!! That's really loud

I guess with these temps there's no point in OC- ing?? Could i at least try to get the memory working @ 1000... i mean is that a realistic goal?