- Jun 25, 2004
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I did a few benches with the games currently installed on my computer:
(4870's are 512MB)
Explanation of chart:
All benches are run at 1920x1200 with 16x AF and mipmap detail set to high.
In Dolphin, I loaded up Mario Galaxy 2 and played to the first scene, where Mario is dropped from the sky onscreen. Game is using D3D9 renderer (most compatible) and I tested with the internal resolution at 2.5x and 4x. Dolphin can only make use of a single HD4870, and on the 7850 my framerates were a bit less than doubled by the upgrade (57->106 and 28->64). I was surprised here, as I didn't think I'd see any increase at 2.5x, and believed 4x to be limited by total graphics memory. At 4x, it might well be memory limited but that's definitely not all that's limiting emulation speed.
In Skyrim, I installed the official high resolution texture pack and played until right before the headsman killed the first prisoner. Framerate was 42fps on the HD4870CF, which I expect is due to VRAM limitations. On the HD7850 it stayed pegged at 60fps from the beginning of the cutscene to when I took my measurement, and I saw no obvious way to disable vsync. As an aside, lowering the texture quality by one level pegs the 4870's at 60fps as well (or running without the high res texture pack), but that defeats the purpose. Due to vram limits, and not raw speed, the HD4870's provide a compromised gaming experience in Skyrim.
In Civ5, I ran the DX11 executable and maxed the game out with 4x MSAA. I loaded a quicksave 225 turns in and gave the game 2 minutes for framerates to stabilize and then took my measurement. Surprisingly, the HD4870's were well ahead here, with 97fps vs 71fps with the 7850. This is a game where crossfire works properly and vram isn't a limitation.
In Guild Wars 2, I maxed out graphics and teleported to Seraph's Landing, which is a fairly graphically intensive area that is also mostly empty of players, removing a variable. I took a measurement, and disabled supersampling and took another measurement. The 4870's came out ahead in both measures, with 35 vs 30fps and 52 vs 49fps respectively. This is apparently another game where crossfire scales well and vram is not a limitation - at least not a major one.
______________
Was it worthwhile? From a raw speed comparison, I'd say no. I don't really play any 2012 or 2013 AAA titles. In other games I play and didn't benchmark, such as Starcraft 2, Sins of a Solar Empire, Minecraft, EVE, and Sonic Generations, crossfire either scales perfectly thus allowing me to max out those games anyway, or the games were able to be maxed out on a single HD4870 anyway. In Guild Wars 2 and Civ 5, crossfire scaling actually exceeds 100% on these cards giving them better average framerates than the newer 7850. Skyrim is perfectly smooth without the texture pack.
However, the 7850 does have some perks. It has a TDP similar to that of a single HD4870, and has a *significantly* lower idle power draw, which will make the card pay for itself over the period I expect to use it. If I were running air cooling it would be quieter, but I moved my waterblock over from my HD4870 (yay @ AMD for keeping the same mounting holes for 7+ years). I'm also looking forward to playing with ridiculous texture mods in Skyrim now.
In other news, the 7850 is SMALL!
And finally:
(This is after I removed the VGA block from the upper card in preparation for selling it)
VS
(going to throw my fan underneath it)
(4870's are 512MB)
Explanation of chart:
All benches are run at 1920x1200 with 16x AF and mipmap detail set to high.
In Dolphin, I loaded up Mario Galaxy 2 and played to the first scene, where Mario is dropped from the sky onscreen. Game is using D3D9 renderer (most compatible) and I tested with the internal resolution at 2.5x and 4x. Dolphin can only make use of a single HD4870, and on the 7850 my framerates were a bit less than doubled by the upgrade (57->106 and 28->64). I was surprised here, as I didn't think I'd see any increase at 2.5x, and believed 4x to be limited by total graphics memory. At 4x, it might well be memory limited but that's definitely not all that's limiting emulation speed.
In Skyrim, I installed the official high resolution texture pack and played until right before the headsman killed the first prisoner. Framerate was 42fps on the HD4870CF, which I expect is due to VRAM limitations. On the HD7850 it stayed pegged at 60fps from the beginning of the cutscene to when I took my measurement, and I saw no obvious way to disable vsync. As an aside, lowering the texture quality by one level pegs the 4870's at 60fps as well (or running without the high res texture pack), but that defeats the purpose. Due to vram limits, and not raw speed, the HD4870's provide a compromised gaming experience in Skyrim.
In Civ5, I ran the DX11 executable and maxed the game out with 4x MSAA. I loaded a quicksave 225 turns in and gave the game 2 minutes for framerates to stabilize and then took my measurement. Surprisingly, the HD4870's were well ahead here, with 97fps vs 71fps with the 7850. This is a game where crossfire works properly and vram isn't a limitation.
In Guild Wars 2, I maxed out graphics and teleported to Seraph's Landing, which is a fairly graphically intensive area that is also mostly empty of players, removing a variable. I took a measurement, and disabled supersampling and took another measurement. The 4870's came out ahead in both measures, with 35 vs 30fps and 52 vs 49fps respectively. This is apparently another game where crossfire scales well and vram is not a limitation - at least not a major one.
______________
Was it worthwhile? From a raw speed comparison, I'd say no. I don't really play any 2012 or 2013 AAA titles. In other games I play and didn't benchmark, such as Starcraft 2, Sins of a Solar Empire, Minecraft, EVE, and Sonic Generations, crossfire either scales perfectly thus allowing me to max out those games anyway, or the games were able to be maxed out on a single HD4870 anyway. In Guild Wars 2 and Civ 5, crossfire scaling actually exceeds 100% on these cards giving them better average framerates than the newer 7850. Skyrim is perfectly smooth without the texture pack.
However, the 7850 does have some perks. It has a TDP similar to that of a single HD4870, and has a *significantly* lower idle power draw, which will make the card pay for itself over the period I expect to use it. If I were running air cooling it would be quieter, but I moved my waterblock over from my HD4870 (yay @ AMD for keeping the same mounting holes for 7+ years). I'm also looking forward to playing with ridiculous texture mods in Skyrim now.
In other news, the 7850 is SMALL!
And finally:
(This is after I removed the VGA block from the upper card in preparation for selling it)
VS
(going to throw my fan underneath it)
Last edited:
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