Well, I just ordered one which I should get on Monday. It will be $241.00 after the rebate so I couldn't resist. I'll let you know what I think after I've had a chance to test it out a bit. This will be my 4th and final attempt at the AMD 48xx series cards. Here is a breakdown.
1st Card: Original HIS 4870 "Turbo" = Too loud
2nd Card: HIS 4850 IceQ4 "Turbo" = Great card but defective RAM, Blue Screens when stressed
3rd Card: Sapphire "Black" 4870 1GB = Nice Card, almost kept it but it had a defective Fan (Zippy Fan Syndrome)
I've had really bad luck with defective products & services in 2008 (Not sure what that's about) but I really did like the 4870's performance wise, I just couldn't get a card that worked right. I'm also a little fed up with what Nvidia has tried to pull with the GTX 200's cards and feel that AMD deserves my $$$ for this generation of cards.
I ordered the new card on New Year's Day so hopefully my luck will be better. If anyone has any questions about the new 4870 IceQ4+, just ask and I'll be happy to share after I've tested it out.
The only thing I wish AMD would fix is their Driver Software in terms of "Game Profiles". I can live with it but Nvidia Drivers do a far better job w/ Custom Game Profiles that automatically "reset" after the game closes. If only AMD had a "Reset to defaults on Exit" option in the CCC Game Profiles, I would be a happy camper