ATI Radeon HD 4000 Series discussion

[LowRun]

more soon.. stay up. low run

I couldn't but thank you for providing us with first hand info and not pulling a Obnoxious Bullsh*tter Return on us

[TI66ER]

Thanks for all the time and effort you are putting in regarding your 4850 jimmyz

I will be changing my 3850 to a 4850 so all this input is nothing but useful.I only have a 1440x900 monitor,so my games will fly with a 4850.

[ORBR]

some thoughts...

~P11.918 HD4850 XFire ( 320 euro ~)
~P10.802 GTX-280 ( 500 euro ~)
~ P8749 9800GX2
~ P7890 GTX-260 (400 euro circa )
~ P7400 (media) HD4850 ( 160 euro ~)
~ P7174 3870X2
~ P5549 9800GTX

(
http://www.nordichardware.com/news,7860.html
http://publish.it168.com/2008/0611/images/1040472.jpg
)

cross fire is +61,2% than single gpu

so... 4870 (+30% on 4850) and R700 (~+60% *al least*
on 4870)->

P24.781 R700 XFire ( ~1200 euro? )
P15.500 HD4870 XFire* ( ~ 640 euro )
P15.392 R700 (~600 euro?)
P11.918 HD4850 XFire ( ~320 euro )
P10.802 GTX-280 ( ~500 euro )
P9620 HD4870* ( ~320 euro )
P8749 9800GX2
P7890 GTX-260 (~400 euro )
P7400 (media) HD4850 ( ~160 euro )
P7174 3870X2
P5549 9800GTX



speed/price

46.2 HD4850
37.2 HD4850 XFire
--- --- --- --- --- ---
30.0 HD4870
25.6 R700
24.2 HD4870 XFire
--- --- --- --- --- ---
21.6 GTX-280
20.6 R700 XFire
19.7 GTX-260

[AliG]

Looks good, but I disagree on the 4870 xfire vs 4870x2 results, the r700 will be faster for multiple reasons than regular 4870 xfire, so you might want to change that

[Mr.X]

I'm guessing my 700W PSU would be more than enough to power two 4850s in Xfire, no?

[natty]

I'm guessing my 700W PSU would be more than enough to power two 4850s in Xfire, no?

good guess

[Crankybugga]

Looks good, but I disagree on the 4870 xfire vs 4870x2 results, the r700 will be faster for multiple reasons than regular 4870 xfire, so you might want to change that

Thinking the same.
Surely shared memory alone would be an improvement over 2 single cards.

[Mr.X]

good guess

Just making sure.


If the HD4850 really ends up faster than a 9800GTX and cheaper than a 8800GT, all while being a single slot card with just one 6-pin connector I'll be a happy camper!

[By0T0xN]

Surely shared memory alone would be an improvement over 2 single cards.

You would think that shared mem would lend to greater results but I also think it is all of to driver support. I have seen some reviews of the 3870 X2 vs 3870 crossfire and the crossfire squeaks by slightly. Why?, only thing I can figure is drivers.

[AliG]

Just making sure.


If the HD4850 really ends up faster than a 9800GTX and cheaper than a 8800GT, all while being a single slot card with just one 6-pin connector I'll be a happy camper!

that won't happen, if ati wants to make money, there's no way they are going to sell the 4850 under the 8800gt, which is as low as $160 these days for the stock model. However it will undercut the 9800gtx while outperforming it

[Mr.X]

that won't happen, if ati wants to make money, there's no way they are going to sell the 4850 under the 8800gt, which is as low as $160 these days for the stock model. However it will undercut the 9800gtx while outperforming it

Sorry, I meant the 8800GTS.

[AliG]

probably won't happen, as it outperforms the 9800gtx, and the 8800gts goes down to as low as $200. Besides once the 4850 and 4870 are launched the price will futher drop to my guess around ~$175 or so, possibly less

[Mr.X]

probably won't happen, as it outperforms the 9800gtx, and the 8800gts goes down to as low as $200. Besides once the 4850 and 4870 are launched the price will futher drop to my guess around ~$175 or so, possibly less

The lowest price for the 8800GTS here is 165E and the HD4850 will be priced at around 160E (as I've heard). So, it will be cheaper or at least similarly priced as the 8800GTS (before any price drops that is).

Anyway, what I'm really excited about is the fact that it will perform great while being a single slot card (so I won't have to remove the fan from my MB's HS) and will only require one 6-pin connector which means I could easily get a second one down the road as my PSU only has two 6-pin connectors.

[AliG]

Perhaps the US just gets cheaper prices as a whole, but check newegg.com if you don't believe me (US's largest etailer, probably one of the largest in the world)

[Mr.X]

We all know the US gets everything cheaper, no need to rub it in our faces!

[Beefy22]

that won't happen, if ati wants to make money, there's no way they are going to sell the 4850 under the 8800gt, which is as low as $160 these days for the stock model. However it will undercut the 9800gtx while outperforming it

Actually the 8800GT can be had for as little as $130 w/MIR(US)... But I digress, it will certainly stifle 9800gtx sales. Nvidia needs G92b and they need great yields too(die shrink + good yields = significantly reduced costs). I've heard (unconfirmed rumors) that they made some minor core changes(more ROPs ect) to go along with the die shrink. The 8800GT and 9800GTX need to be EOL'd and G92b in it's various incarnations needs to make it into the market. Otherwise Nvidia is in for a savage beating in the $200-$350 price range.

You would think that shared mem would lend to greater results but I also think it is all of to driver support.

I think the shared memory will be a huge boon to performance. It's just depressing that we have to wait till August to buy the 4870x2.

[ToTTenTranz]

There's no proof on shared memory yet, is there?

[Hornet331]

There's no proof on shared memory yet, is there?

nope there isn't.
Just everyone hopes, but personaly i dont think it will be anything else than a regular X2.

If something changes better for everyone.

[oohms]

Why does everyone think shared memory? The 4870X2 cooler looks identical to the 3870X2

Also what is the R700? O_O

[Hornet331]

R700 = 2xRV770 on one card, just like R680=2xRV670

[LuckyNV]

Why does everyone think shared memory? The 4870X2 cooler looks identical to the 3870X2

Also what is the R700? O_O

No bridge chip last I checked hence all the speculation

[spursindonesia]

probably won't happen, as it outperforms the 9800gtx, and the 8800gts goes down to as low as $200. Besides once the 4850 and 4870 are launched the price will futher drop to my guess around ~$175 or so, possibly less

8800 GT 512 MB is priced around 200-230 US$ in my country, 8800 GTS is around 270-300 US$, and 9800 GTX is around 320-380 US$, so the launch price of HD 4850 @220 US$ is very promising for ATi in Indonesia.

[Helmore]

R700 = 2xRV770 on one card, just like R680=2xRV670

My guess is that the original R700, the R700 that was planned about 3-4 years ago was scrapped and will probably appear later. People are still using that codename though, but they usually mean an RV770X2 by that. So I don't completely agree with R700 being 2x RV770.
Also I don't think we will see shared memory on RV770X2 (or R780 whatever you would like to call it), probably just a beefed up bus to communicate between the 2 chips although this might just be a PCIe gen 2 bridge chip. Hopefully something a little better than that though, but that's probably not very realistic.

[Helmore]

No bridge chip last I checked hence all the speculation

Where did you check that? There has not been any information regarding RV770X2. One picture about what was probably the cooler for such a card, but no other information. This cooler did have the imprint of a bridge chip, so it was either real and RV770X2 has a bridge chip, or that cooler was some other prototype for R680.
EDIT: regarding retail prices for the 4850: There were some folks on Dutch forums that had contacts with the suppliers/distribution points of these cards and they said that 4850 is being sold there for €130,- excluding tax/VAT/BTW. These are the prices that retailers pay them for the cards, so you have to ad taxes and margins for the retailers on top of this to get retail prices and these are just the initial prices so they might drop a little over time. Some retailers already had the cards up for pre-order for around €187 and then they are making quite huge margins, price gauging in other words. The 4850 will end up around the price of a 8800GTS 512MB around here.

[AliG]

8800 GT 512 MB is priced around 200-230 US$ in my country, 8800 GTS is around 270-300 US$, and 9800 GTX is around 320-380 US$, so the launch price of HD 4850 @220 US$ is very promising for ATi in Indonesia.

you aren't taking into account that if the 8800gt is $50 more there, than you should expect the 4850 to be roughly $75-$100 more there at launch, then drop to being $40-$50 more