Sapphire Vapor-X 4890 Pictured - clocked @ 1ghz

[SNiiPE_DoGG]

Sapphire has a new high-end graphics accelerator in the works for launch next week: the Atomic HD 4890. The card features a blue reference PCB by AMD with a few enhancements, paired with Sapphire's Vapor-X cooler to keep this factory-overclocked card cool, and more importantly, quieter than the reference cooler.

What makes this card even more special is that Sapphire generously overclocked it. The core runs at 1000 MHz, and the 1 GB of GDDR5 memory at 1050 MHz (2100 MHz DDR, 4200 MHz effective). The Catalyst Control Center ATI Overdrive page shows its GPU core overlocking limit upped to 1100 MHz, from the 1000 MHz limit release-drivers were noted to come with. To sustain such high speeds, the card's VRM has been slightly expanded. The card uses an 8-pin PCI-E power connector alongside a 6-pin one. The price of this card is yet to be known.
http://www.techpowerup.com/img/09-04-29/84c.jpg

http://www.techpowerup.com/img/09-04-29/84b.jpg


http://www.techpowerup.com/92768/Sapphire_Atomic_HD_4890_Vapor-X_Pictured.html

[LiquidReactor]

1000 core stock? :banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::b anana: ATI oem partners, I knew they were holding on to all the gold rv790 chips for the more expensive cards.

[breathemetal]

Nice!

[SNiiPE_DoGG]

Yeah, I hope it actually does come out next week.... cuz I will be buying 2 of them and an MSI 790fx-GD70 ASAP

[Ozzfest05]

Yeah this is sick

[WrigleyVillain]

Sweet.

[DaMulta]

I hope it's not a 300 dollar card, but if it's out next week I'll buy two......

Then hold out a month and buy two more lol.

[[XC] gomeler]

Sick.. I want 3!

[RPGWiZaRD]

Some crazy binning is gonna take part at Sapphire, imagine how few will pass the quality control. Won't be a problem for the customers but the quality control is so much more strict. This card will probably have quite hefty price premium, $319 sounds likely but even so it would be a good option, shouldn't have trouble matching GTX 285 at least which is ~$350.

[ILikeCosmosS]

refrence can i put a ek waterblock on it ?

ill pay 300 at max for this

[initialised]

1000 core stock? :banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::b anana: ATI oem partners, I knew they were holding on to all the gold rv790 chips for the more expensive cards.Waiting for Gainward Golden Sample x2 or a 2GB version of 4890 OC

[DeathTyrant]

Sweet card! Can't wait to see OC results for these. :D

[ColonelCain]

1000 core stock? :banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::b anana: ATI oem partners, I knew they were holding on to all the gold rv790 chips for the more expensive cards.

I really hope that this isn't the case. Really hope.

[naokaji]

4890 at 1ghz? they can only hope noone tries furmark or they will get the cards back with blown up VRMs....

Anyway, nice to see ATI partners finally taking on all the variations of pre oc'd non ref pcb nvidia cards instead of the "boring" default stuff.

[Carfax]

With the imminent arrival of the R870 and the G300 this year, I personally could not justify buying one of these cards.

Then again, everyone has a different upgrade cycle I suppose..

[Salsoolo]

With the imminent arrival of the R870 and the G300 this year, I personally could not justify buying one of these cards.

Then again, everyone has a different upgrade cycle I suppose..
exactly, im waiting too.
i always skip a generation but i got my 4870 b/c my older 8800gtx died.
that goes for cpu too, the next build will be whatever i7's successor in 2010

[SNiiPE_DoGG]

personally I am getting these cards because my build needs to be done by July and the blue PCB is perfect for my theme.... I woulda bought 2 cheap 4890's when they were available but the red PCB was a no-go

[lesstutrey]

with the core at 1000 already, and i know overdrive allows to 1100, this card doesn't really have anywhere to go from what it's running stock... i guess that's not a problem, but i do like overclocking, that's a big part of the fun for me, and cards like this tend to ruin that without voltmods and dice/ln2, and a big chunk of the cost of this thing is the great stock cooling solution.

[Mpetrosino]

With the imminent arrival of the R870 and the G300 this year, I personally could not justify buying one of these cards.

Then again, everyone has a different upgrade cycle I suppose..

+1, I'll wait till later this year

[ILikeCosmosS]

i just want this to be reference so then i can use a ek waterblock

i am not going to hear a fan screaming

[SNiiPE_DoGG]

It is reference, it says in the main article I posted....

[breathemetal]

Idk if id buy pre-oc'd or not
I bought a pre-oc'd 8800gtx and i ran into all sorts of issues. i have it downclocked now :/

[ILikeCosmosS]

i will keep it at these clocks and hopefully there wont be a problem with 3

(wow my 6th sense is kicking)

only thing try to increase is the data rate
thx snipe

[initialised]

i will keep it at these clocks and hopefully there wont be a problem with 3

(wow my 6th sense is kicking)

only thing try to increase is the data rate
thx snipeI've seen limits of 1050MHz on some 4890s yet most 4870s will do 1100, the extra 8-Pin PCI-E power connector should help but I was hoping the Toxic would be the first 4890 2GB. However, I was told that a Sapphire rep said that releasing a 2GB at launch would have killed demand for OC 4890s and to expect these around mid May!

[Bobsama]

With the imminent arrival of the R870 and the G300 this year, I personally could not justify buying one of these cards.

Then again, everyone has a different upgrade cycle I suppose..

I can agree with that. I had a HD3850-256 that I replaced with an 8800GT-256. While the difference is there & noticeable, I'd prefer to wait for significantly-better products until I pop more money on an upgrade. HD5850 perhaps? :p: I hope so!:yepp:

[LiquidReactor]

I really hope that this isn't the case. Really hope.

The more I look around the more it appears to be that way.

I bought my HD 4890 right after launch date from ewiz; I really got lucky on it. DOes 980 core / 1175 ram on stock clocks. Max core clock so far was 1050Mhz at 1.45V core.

But theres a lot of HD 4890s that have trouble reaching 950 core even with additional voltage.

[perkam]

Ze front:

http://www.techpowerup.com/img/09-04-29/84a.jpg

Perkam

[gumballguy]

Ze front:

IMG

Perkam

Crikey, thats a feral chick(?) on that sticker.

[Rilla927]

Good to see!! Too bad I don't need a card.

[tuanster1119]

nice... if the next gen cards weren't so close to being released I might jump on a pair of these.

[Jamesrt2004]

nice... if the next gen cards weren't so close to being released I might jump on a pair of these.

+1 still debating if I might :p:

[Hornet331]

4890 at 1ghz? they can only hope noone tries furmark or they will get the cards back with blown up VRMs....



indeed. :rofl:

I wonder if the uped the core voltage again to reach the 1ghz.

A stock 4870 runs at 1.26V, a 4890 @ 1.31V mybe this baby will run at 1.34V. :p:

[saaya]

nice!!! if it exhausts the hot air from the case then its perfect, best clocks so far, nice heatsink... and knowing sapphire itll be priced very well too...
very promising! :toast:

[saaya]

indeed. :rofl:

I wonder if the uped the core voltage again to reach the 1ghz.

A stock 4870 runs at 1.26V, a 4890 @ 1.31V mybe this baby will run at 1.34V. :p:
who cares, the higher the better! :D
thats what i realized when binning memory at cellshock, its a common myth that hardware that clocks well with low voltages clocks well with higher voltages too. there are quite some chips, whether its memory or cpus or gpus, that dont scale with higher voltages... so what you want is high clocks, regardles of voltages...

thats at least my experience...

[HousERaT]

Price will determine the outcome. I hope it's competitive. Looks cool.

[saaya]

me not likey ze front... but its ok...
whats up with the rasta girl tho 0_o
will the card have red, yellow and green leds and come bundled with a best of bob marley cd? :D

[DaMulta]

I wonder when this bad boy will hit the self....I'm ready for a pair!

[Bo_Fox]

who cares, the higher the better! :D
thats what i realized when binning memory at cellshock, its a common myth that hardware that clocks well with low voltages clocks well with higher voltages too. there are quite some chips, whether its memory or cpus or gpus, that dont scale with higher voltages... so what you want is high clocks, regardles of voltages...

thats at least my experience...

You forgot to mention temperatures. More often, now that the chips are getting smaller and smaller with higher heat dissipation per area, keeping the whole thing cooler will allow for higher clocks. That's what LN2 cooling is all about... keeping it cold without having to feed it insane voltage, so that it can reach insane clocks.

Note how the new Accelero Xtreme GTX 280 cooler did not help the card overclock any better as shown here: http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/coolers/display/ac-accelero-xtreme-gtx280_8.html#sect0 Well, Xbitlabs said that " I believe it was the high VRM temperature that wouldn’t let me overclock the card any further with Accelero Xtreme GTX 280 cooler." So, the VRM also gotta be kept cool, if the GPU is going to be overclocked any! 100+ degrees Celsius is just too much. When I took the fans off of my Accelero Xtreme 8800 and used custom fans blowing down from the top, it allowed me to overclock my 8800GTX even better, since VRM was being cooled much better.

[purecain]

who cares, the higher the better! :D
thats what i realized when binning memory at cellshock, its a common myth that hardware that clocks well with low voltages clocks well with higher voltages too. there are quite some chips, whether its memory or cpus or gpus, that dont scale with higher voltages... so what you want is high clocks, regardles of voltages...

thats at least my experience...


thanks for the insight m8....:up:

[Rise]

thanks for the insight m8....:up:
man i love your avatar.

back on topic: i think i would buy a used 4870x2 over this if this is priced where people in the thread are thinking it might be ($325ish)... but i'm forced to stick with a single card solution with my Mobo so i guess i have different requirements.

we need a 4890x2 w/ 4gb :)

[initialised]

I wonder when this bad boy will hit the self....I'm ready for a pair!Mid May

[NaMcO]

Here are a few pictures from a home review i made, might help people decide. They picture a normal clocked 4890 against the same model overclocked to 1GHz (PowerColor). The card was overvolted to 1.44v or else it couldn't cope with the clock.

Crysis resumed:

http://www.tech-caffe.com/gfx/misc/11.png

FarCry2 resumed:

http://www.tech-caffe.com/gfx/misc/13.png

H.A.W.X. resumed:

http://www.tech-caffe.com/gfx/misc/15.png

3DMark 2006 resumed:

http://www.tech-caffe.com/gfx/misc/8.png

Power Drain and Temperatures:

http://www.tech-caffe.com/gfx/misc/10.png

http://www.tech-caffe.com/gfx/misc/16.png

Graphics are commented in Portuguese, the original review was in that language. Hope it is of some help :shrug:

[joshua7]

4890 at 1ghz? they can only hope noone tries furmark or they will get the cards back with blown up VRMs....

My initial thought exactly. :)

[EagleRock]

Can i have 2 of those in CF. Would be sexy :yepp:

[NapalmV5]

nice.. but the center fan placement is bad.. reference coolers better

anyways waiting on the: 1ghz core/1ghz 2gb

[Manicdan]

Power Drain and Temperatures:

http://www.tech-caffe.com/gfx/misc/10.png

http://www.tech-caffe.com/gfx/misc/16.png



i think those furmark numbers can scare some people quickly. then again, your card was overvolted aswell.

[purecain]

man i love your avatar.

back on topic: i think i would buy a used 4870x2 over this if this is priced where people in the thread are thinking it might be ($325ish)... but i'm forced to stick with a single card solution with my Mobo so i guess i have different requirements.

we need a 4890x2 w/ 4gb :)

thats my gf m8... page 3 model... pm me i'll send you some better pics.... lol

[NaMcO]

i think those furmark numbers can scare some people quickly. then again, your card was overvolted aswell.

Yeah the card is surprisingly fresh, that's a lot of voltage there which the Sapphire card probably won't need. The cooler is very noisy even at 30%, that's the only real let down as it performs nicely.

[gamervivek]

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3555&p=1

[Piotrsama]

Here are a few pictures from a home review i made, might help people decide. They picture a normal clocked 4890 against the same model overclocked to 1GHz (PowerColor). The card was overvolted to 1.44v or else it couldn't cope with the clock.

The memories were clocked at 4.2 Ghz??

[StAndrew]

A review by AnAndtech.com:

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3555

Not the same card. Overclock a 4890 to 1000 core (and >4000 memory). Performs a bit better than the stock 285GTX.

[Bo_Fox]

So, I'm guessing it would need at least 1.4v to feed the chip for error-free 1GHz action. Those 8-pin power connectors really support this assumption.

[SNiiPE_DoGG]

some chips do 1ghz @ stock volts... what makes you think they are not just binning?

[madgravity34]

They wont "Just" bin these cards as I would assume that 1000ghz @ stock voltages may be harder to come by and thus driving the end price up. This is exactly what sapphire wants to stay away from during these times. They are probably hoping to capture more buyers by offering the highest clocked part at a close to reference unit cost. If I am correct, this will mean they are much more likely to slightly bump core voltage to achieve desired results, stability, and manufacturing numbers.


Just my .02

[kemo]

some chips do 1ghz @ stock volts... what makes you think they are not just binning?
But 99% of those 1GHZ stock volts chip wont do 1 hour Furmark error free and not to mention that they have different stability standards

[ChinStrap]

But 99% of those 1GHZ stock volts chip wont do 1 hour Furmark error free and not to mention that they have different stability standards

*cringes* at the thought of running FUR for an hour straight.

That can’t be good for hardware. No matter the cooling.

[SNiiPE_DoGG]

I am the official head of the F$%# Furmark club.... Ithink its bull to run that test for an hour - I am not a gpu folder so I do not need that much stability. period.

[kemo]

and that gets us back to the fact that GPUs have to survive tests that is heavier than furmark to go into retail and my HD4850 had no problem running 105+C for few minutes , i know that it is not good but the card is still working as it should for 6 months now

[Rattle]

1 hour thats retarded

I run it 5 min and move clocks up and runs 5 min

[marten_larsson]

and that gets us back to the fact that GPUs have to survive tests that is heavier than furmark to go into retail and my HD4850 had no problem running 105+C for few minutes , i know that it is not good but the card is still working as it should for 6 months now

Maybe not since the big uproar for ATI making furmark running slower via driver update to spare the cards.

[kemo]

1 hour thats retarded

I run it 5 min and move clocks up and runs 5 min

1 hour on the final overclock is not retarded and that makes 8 hours prime retarded also and not to mention 24+ hours of prime/memtest


Maybe not since the big uproar for ATI making furmark running slower via driver update to spare the cards.

never heard of it :D

[LiquidReactor]

Furmark isn't the best method anymore. I use OCCT gpu test; its almoust as stressful as furmark load temps wise but also has an artifact detector built in thus making it more accurate.

[LiquidReactor]

But 99% of those 1GHZ stock volts chip wont do 1 hour Furmark error free and not to mention that they have different stability standards

Meh...a small voltage bump is all that was needed for my HD 4890 1Ghz.

Sapphire is probably doing binning + small voltage bumps to get these cards to 1Ghz stock.

[Bo_Fox]

some chips do 1ghz @ stock volts... what makes you think they are not just binning?

Erm, the 8-pin power connector, like I already mentioned. I'm responding to your tone with a similar tone!

[SNiiPE_DoGG]

Erm, the 8-pin power connector, like I already mentioned. I'm responding to your tone with a similar tone!

8-pin is not a requirement on more voltage but merely a difference between the vapor model and the stock model.

[STEvil]

8-pin doesnt give you more power supply anyways, the extra 2 ground wires are only sense wires and you can just jumper them to bypass them.

[Bo_Fox]

8-pin doesnt give you more power supply anyways, the extra 2 ground wires are only sense wires and you can just jumper them to bypass them.

Then what does it mean when the 8-pin connector is supposedly claimed to allow for 75 more watts?!?

[Manicdan]

it assumes your keeping the other 75 watts off the same molex connectors, internally there should be no difference.

[Kunaak]

what I find funny about cards like this, is just a year ago, they were selling themself as the company that didnt need super videocards, that they didnt need to compete with nvidia for the speed crown and all that ho-ha, now look - we're right back where we always are. 2 companies fighting for the fastest card on the market.

impressive as 1ghz cards are, just saying, funny how history always repeats itself.

[Bo_Fox]

I love the blue PCB version for the 4890, since all 4890 cards right now are red PCB versions (ugh).. One of my rigs is strictly a purple/green/silver theme, and a blue pcb would look so much better than a red pcb that just does not fit in. It's placed right next to the monitor, with the side off, so the visibility is rather high.

[Bo_Fox]

it assumes your keeping the other 75 watts off the same molex connectors, internally there should be no difference.

What do you mean? I do not understand.

Then why would Sapphire bother changing it to an 8-pin from the original 6-pin? You tell me!


There's a review by overclockersclub.com and it was overclocked to 1050MHz. The name is Atomic Edition. http://www.overclockersclub.com/reviews/sapphire_hd4890_atomic/3.htm

[Tuvok-LuR-]

does it support soft voltmod?

[Mechromancer]

1Ghz core!!! This reminds me of when AMD broke the 1Ghz barrier with the Athlon. Shader clock != Core clock so Nvidia doesn't count. I, for one, will wait for the 1.2Ghz GPU to come out cause the 1.2Ghz Athlon was pimper than the 1Ghz ;).

Seriously though, this truly is a triumph worthy of note.

[Shadowmage]

what I find funny about cards like this, is just a year ago, they were selling themself as the company that didnt need super videocards, that they didnt need to compete with nvidia for the speed crown and all that ho-ha, now look - we're right back where we always are. 2 companies fighting for the fastest card on the market.

impressive as 1ghz cards are, just saying, funny how history always repeats itself.

They never said that before.... all they said is that they're using X2 cards to target the high end. This doesn't imply giving up on the high end since NVIDIA can't do the same if they go "massive die" (which implies massive power and cost).

[BuBBle.D]

Not only did the core overclock good in the OCC review, but the memory speed is pure pr0n. 1255mhz thats 5020mhz effective!!
My card can barely do 1000mhz with 1.45v and only 1080 on the memory.

[Smartidiot89]

what I find funny about cards like this, is just a year ago, they were selling themself as the company that didnt need super videocards, that they didnt need to compete with nvidia for the speed crown and all that ho-ha, now look - we're right back where we always are. 2 companies fighting for the fastest card on the market.

impressive as 1ghz cards are, just saying, funny how history always repeats itself.
AMDs strategy isn't to make monster chips to compete against Nvidia, they make smaller chips and rely on X2 cards for high-end performance, that is what was said.

So it makes complete sense to me that they are making smaller chips, with less shaders and are advancing in getting higher clocks instead.

[Manicdan]

i think they should take it anohter step, and make smaller chips, and make X4 cards and allow up to 16x crossfire. i never understood why they can make x2 cards, but only allow 4 chips total, if its just drivers, why not put a bit of work into them and allow people to throw in 3-4 x2 cards and have killer computers.

[Jamesrt2004]

does it support soft voltmod?

I think they use different VRM's instead of the voltera so im thinking not...

unless they are the voltera ones then im mistaken.

[Jamesrt2004]

i think they should take it anohter step, and make smaller chips, and make X4 cards and allow up to 16x crossfire. i never understood why they can make x2 cards, but only allow 4 chips total, if its just drivers, why not put a bit of work into them and allow people to throw in 3-4 x2 cards and have killer computers.

even with drivers then games have to too etc.. seems like too much of a pain,

what you want is a hardware like X-fire as in like 2 "cores" in one chip if that makes sense and is seen as one :) I think that could be a way to implement it.

[largon]

does it support soft voltmod?

I think they use different VRM's instead of the voltera so im thinking not...The card is an AMD reference board `cept the 8pin plug. VRMs are still 3+2 from Volterras so softmod still works.

Then what does it mean when the 8-pin connector is supposedly claimed to allow for 75 more watts?!?The extra 75W is nothing but numbers of spec sheets. Electrically 6pin is identical to 8pin. In real world it has no bearing on how the card is powered, how much there's "available" power, nor on how the card OCs.

[SNiiPE_DoGG]

I thought the extra grounds connection enables more curent to be allowed through the +12v wires - PSU side of course....

[largon]

It's not like 6pin plug would be electrically limited in any way.
Infact, a single AWG18 wire common in ATX PSUs can "easily" deliver 8A, at 12V that's 96W.

But ofcourse, the old rule of thumb in everything electric is as follows:

You can never have too many grounds.

[tenebre]

Then why not make a card with multiple cores which work in parallel and are recognised by the system as one GPU?

or how it was already suggested... a lot of tiny ones(SP/ALU,Tex, <100mm2) and one master(mem interface, EDRAM,AA, raytracing, display) to rule them all. For mainstream+ segment.

[ToTTenTranz]

Then why not make a card with multiple cores which work in parallel and are recognised by the system as one GPU?
That's kind of what they already do.

[dinos22]

A review by AnAndtech.com:

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3555

Not the same card. Overclock a 4890 to 1000 core (and >4000 memory). Performs a bit better than the stock 285GTX.

yawn
why not check what volts it's actually running at since it's a factory overclocked model. If they upped the volts then this is nothing special and every 4890 will do those close with slightly upped volts

i dont think that all 4890's will hit 1GHz core with stock volts like some say here
i've got mine on watercooling and it's still doing 980 core 1200 RAM.......i could probably reach a bit more core if i dropped the RAM a bit but this is still benching speed.....................

[EniGmA1987]

4890 at 1ghz? they can only hope noone tries furmark or they will get the cards back with blown up VRMs....

Anyway, nice to see ATI partners finally taking on all the variations of pre oc'd non ref pcb nvidia cards instead of the "boring" default stuff.


Im confused, are most of you not able to hit 1GHz? I can run Furmark and play games at 1022MHz, with a max speed (desktop usage only) of 1048MHz... the 4890 was easily my highest OCing card and does it incredibly easy...

Stock volts I can hit about 990, with just .05 increase I am stable to the speeds posted above.

[LiquidReactor]

Im confused, are most of you not able to hit 1GHz? I can run Furmark and play games at 1022MHz, with a max speed (desktop usage only) of 1048MHz... the 4890 was easily my highest OCing card and does it incredibly easy...

Stock volts I can hit about 990, with just .05 increase I am stable to the speeds posted above.

For 1022 core did you have to downclock your memory?