Official HD4870X2 (R700) Review Thread

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08-13-2008, 08:29 AM
cadaveca

It's an extra pci-e 2.0 link between teh gpus for communication. it remains to be seen how it works, etc, it currently is jsut a bit of heatsink right in the silicon until they enable it(a la R600 UVD engine).
08-13-2008, 08:29 AM
Cooper

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cooperdale

These are just rumors, but who knows? I'd just like my R700 to have it.

All current cards have reference design. With 3870X2 there were only two custom designs and both came out months after launch so don't worry.

Quote:

Originally Posted by cakofony

what does the sideport do?

provides direct point to point connection between GPUs :D
08-13-2008, 09:05 AM
Cooperdale

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cooper

All current cards have reference design. With 3870X2 there were only two custom designs and both came out months after launch so don't worry.

It's what I had hoped, thanks!
08-13-2008, 09:14 AM
cakofony

where can I find an explanation of the different warranties offered Sapphire, Diamond, and HIS?
08-13-2008, 09:17 AM
ahmad

Quote:

Originally Posted by cakofony

where can I find an explanation of the different warranties offered Sapphire, Diamond, and HIS?

Visiontek offers lifetime...
08-13-2008, 10:10 AM
Isaac MM

Was microstuttering eliminated on this card?
08-13-2008, 10:22 AM
iTravis

Quote:

Originally Posted by Isaac MM

Was microstuttering eliminated on this card?

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...d.php?t=194808
08-13-2008, 11:05 AM
y2kbos

Well is there a preformance hit on the P35 ( pci e 1.1 mobos ) or not?
08-13-2008, 11:11 AM
jaredpace

Quote:

Originally Posted by y2kbos

Well is there a preformance hit on the P35 ( pci e 1.1 mobos ) or not?

I'm almost sure you'd want pci-e 2.0 slot
08-13-2008, 12:16 PM
mascaras

Hi guys

I tried record 2 videos with Fraps , but i had to covert them to divx and image quality is not good .......

also recording with fraps while playing cause a litle breaks , however here they are :

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...82#post3214882

:up:
08-13-2008, 12:34 PM
villa1n

Quote:

Originally Posted by mascaras

Hi guys

I tried record 2 videos with Fraps , but i had to covert them to divx and image quality is not good .......

also recording with fraps while playing cause a litle breaks , however here they are :

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...82#post3214882

:up:

So the little pauses when your driving and moving, isn't due to buffer loading, but rather the fraps program running? There was a couple parts where, it lurched forward, but i mean overall didnt see any tearing or consistant stuttering that wasnt due to the divx to youtube process :P thanks for the ups, this is very encouraging :)
08-13-2008, 01:18 PM
mascaras

Quote:

Originally Posted by villa1n

So the little pauses when your driving and moving, isn't due to buffer loading, but rather the fraps program running? There was a couple parts where, it lurched forward, but i mean overall didnt see any tearing or consistant stuttering that wasnt due to the divx to youtube process :P thanks for the ups, this is very encouraging :)

i noticed when recording with fraps the games dont run so smooth and + breaks !

yes , i had to convert the video from AVI to Divx and then upload to youtube . the original .AVI files are 3GB each

In the 2nd video a big break when driving is when the Game Saved

best regards
08-13-2008, 01:21 PM
Rock&Roll

Quote:

Originally Posted by y2kbos

Well is there a preformance hit on the P35 ( pci e 1.1 mobos ) or not?

Quote:

Originally Posted by jaredpace

I'm almost sure you'd want pci-e 2.0 slot

I'm willing to be that PCIE 1.1 is just fine. One of the reviews I read used a P35 board, and they made no comments about it either way. I forget which one, it's on the list at the top of this thread.
08-13-2008, 01:41 PM
Eastcoasthandle

PhsyX and DX10.1 "Trends"

Anyone notice a trend when games use PhsyX drivers the 4800 series doesn't do very well? For example:
-Mass Effect
-GRAW 2
-Front Line Gears of War
Guru3d
Driver Heaven

However, when DX10.1 is used even the 3870X2 can compete with the 280.
Assassins Creed with DX10.1:
Computer Base
Tech Report

Assassins Creed DX10:
Driver Heaven
Anandtech
08-13-2008, 04:38 PM
SimBy

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eastcoasthandle

Anyone notice a trend when games use PhsyX drivers the 4800 series doesn't do very well? For example:
-Mass Effect
-GRAW 2
-Front Line Gears of War
Guru3d
Driver Heaven

However, when DX10.1 is used even the 3870X2 can compete with the 280.
Assassins Creed with DX10.1:
Computer Base
Tech Report

Assassins Creed DX10:
Driver Heaven
Anandtech

Mass Effect

http://www.guru3d.com/article/radeon...w-crossfire/11

Almost twice as fast at highest res.

Frontlines: Fuel of War

http://www.guru3d.com/article/radeon...w-crossfire/13

Again faster at max res, though not by much.

GRAW2

Slower at lower res. Almost equal at highest res.

So no, I don't see any trend. What I see is that some games run better on Nvidia hardware and some on ATI. It always was like that and always will be.

I don't think PhysX has any relevance whatsoever.
08-13-2008, 04:50 PM
Eastcoasthandle

Quote:

Originally Posted by SimBy

Mass Effect

http://www.guru3d.com/article/radeon...w-crossfire/11

Almost twice as fast at highest res.

Frontlines: Fuel of War

http://www.guru3d.com/article/radeon...w-crossfire/13

Again faster at max res, though not by much.

GRAW2

Slower at lower res. Almost equal at highest res.

So no, I don't see any trend. What I see is that some games run better on Nvidia hardware and some on ATI. It always was like that and always will be.

I don't think PhysX has any relevance whatsoever.

You miss understood my post, I said the 4800 Series:
Gaming: Mass Effect @ 260 vs 4870. The 4870 loses 2 resolutions, ties 1 in and wins at 2560 by 1 FPS to the 260 . However, the X2 beats the 280.
Look at the 4800 series in Frontlines: Fuel of War. 4870 loses to the 260. The X2 ties with the 280 up until 2560.
Look at the 4800 series in GRAW 2. The 4870 and 4870 X2 loses completely.

The 4800 series cannot seem to thoroughly beat the 200 series consistently in games that require PhysX driver to be installed (that were included in the reviews). I call that a trend. :rolleyes:

Edit: There was no PhsyX driver installed with Mass Effect. Nor was I able to find any PhsyX drivers on the CD. This may explain why the 4800 series did better in this game.
08-13-2008, 05:01 PM
Aberration

Astonishing. :eek:

Games that use PhysX, which the 48xx doesnt support, run better on lastest nV.
08-13-2008, 05:20 PM
Xion X2

Quote:

Originally Posted by cakofony

I've never used crossfire or sli myself, but i dont think you can use vsync with either. It should give a high enough framerate that you dont have to.

Uh, vsync works just fine with both as does triple-buffering. And games are much smoother on a multi-GPU setup when it's on.
08-13-2008, 05:37 PM
insurgent

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eastcoasthandle

You miss understood my post, I said the 4800 Series:
Gaming: Mass Effect @ 260 vs 4870. The 4870 loses 2 resolutions, ties 1 in and wins at 2560 by 1 FPS to the 260 . However, the X2 beats the 280.
Look at the 4800 series in Frontlines: Fuel of War. 4870 loses to the 260. The X2 ties with the 280 up until 2560.
Look at the 4800 series in GRAW 2. The 4870 and 4870 X2 loses completely.

The 4800 series cannot seem to thoroughly beat the 200 series consistently in games that require PhysX driver to be installed (that were included in the reviews). I call that a trend. :rolleyes:

1fps is hardly a loss (what's the margin of error?), so 4870 and 260 are equal and considering that the 4800s don't support physx I wouldn't say the 260 is doing better.. it's better in frontlines but only by a few and wins at 2560. Also I guess the 280 and X2 are bottlenecked at res lower than 2560 so we're not sure it's a tie.

OT: guru3d's graphs are confusing different shades of blue that switches with each test, they can do much better.
08-13-2008, 05:42 PM
Eastcoasthandle

Quote:

Originally Posted by insurgent

1fps is hardly a loss (what's the margin of error?), so 4870 and 260 are equal and considering that the 4800s don't support physx I wouldn't say the 260 is doing better.. it's better in frontlines but only by a few and wins at 2560. Also I guess the 280 and X2 are bottlenecked at res lower than 2560 so we're not sure it's a tie.

OT: guru3d's graphs are confusing different shades of blue that switches with each test, they can do much better.

Those FPS were compiled via average over several runs. Therefore hardly conclusive when averages show 1 FPS, for example. The point being, the reviews of the X2 do show that the 4800 series having problems consistently beating the 200 series when games need the PhysX driver installed. Can the perfomance in GRAW 2, Frontlines: Fuels of War, etc improve with better drivers? We can only hope so...
08-13-2008, 06:02 PM
insurgent

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eastcoasthandle

Those FPS were compiled via average over several runs. Therefore hardly conclusive when averages show 1 FPS, for example. The point being, the reviews of the X2 do show that the 4800 series having problems consistently beating the 200 series when games need the PhysX driver installed. Can the perfomance in GRAW 2, Frontlines: Fuels of War, etc improve with better drivers? We can only hope so...

They will likely improve performance, but now I'd honestly like to know what gamers will be missing out if they're using ati cards for these games... in the absence of hardware physx support is it reduced to software emulation or disabled? I don't really like the idea of another card just to run physics in games.
08-13-2008, 07:47 PM
Tonucci

Disappointing to see how most reviews dont care about min fps... Cant draw definite conclusions without it. Half as meaningful than they could be imo.
08-13-2008, 07:56 PM
Loser777

Dammit, I've only had my 9800GX2 for a month. Crazy results though. gg nvidia.
08-13-2008, 08:06 PM
JumpingJack

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tonucci

Disappointing to see how most reviews dont care about min fps... Cant draw definite conclusions without it. Half as meaningful than they could be imo.

Good point. I have two coming, should be here by Friday -- is there any particular game you would like to see?
08-13-2008, 08:59 PM
emuexport

Quote:

Originally Posted by y2kbos

Well is there a preformance hit on the P35 ( pci e 1.1 mobos ) or not?

I think it should be OK. I ran some Vantage Benchmarks last night just to test it and it gave scores about the same as those seen in reviews. My CPU score was higher as it is @ 3.6GHZ but other than that about on par with reviews.

emu

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