[Autopsy] ATI Radeon HD 4870 Update: Review

[Donnie27]

I was poking fun at him saying 512 MEGA bit interface.

I highly doubt any of us will see a day where 512,000,000 bit interfaces are used... that's 1,000,000 times the bus width we use today and the demand for wider buses isn't nearly as great as the demand for faster ICs and it's easier to get a chip running faster than it is to increase board complexity... I wouldn't be surprised to see a 2k or even a 16k interface within my life but a 512M isn't happening.

Yes, I should have said bit

[Manicdan]

dude you could really stop thinking that 512mb memory is useless for 1920x1200. cause i dont play my games at anything but that. i just got done grid and mass effect. both at full res. on a 2900xt and BE 5000+ both at stock.

i will agree that 512 will soon be no where near enough within 9-12 months, but until then its plenty for any good game. good programmers design games knowing what 90% of the world will be using and aim for it. so im sure that many games in the next 2 years will still run great on my setup and keep the visual quality ive been using for the last year.

[Luka_Aveiro]

Yes, in Cellfactor. With all the effects enabled the max you can get is 1-2 FPS, and with image corruption

You should compare Vantage CPU test2 scores on the other thread

[zerazax]

Simple test: someone play Oblivion with Qarl's Texture Pack 3 and tell us if the 4850 chokes big with the texture pack enabled. If not, then 1GB of memory just isn't as necessary w/ ATI cards. I thought I saw a test where QPT3 is on and the 4850 w/ 8xAA actually matched the GTX280 in Oblivion, but it was a review that was considered controversial.

And the bigger thing is that you CANNOT compare how memory is used across different architectures. The G80 GTX and Ultra seem to suffer less than G92 either because G92 has lower memory bandwidth, actual memory, or other possible features that bottleneck it. However, the 3800's did NOT suffer from increased resolution as much as G92 did despite being on the same 256-bit bus. This is because how an architecture actually uses the bandwidth and information will differ from architecture to architecture. And so far, the 4850's which have *less* bandwidth than the 3870's seem to suffer far less at high resolution, AA, AF, etc. than the 3800's also tells me that the architecture might be able to handle it.

And 512-bit bus is useless w/ GDDR5. 256-bit + 3.6GHz GDDR5 = 512-bit + 1.8GHz GDDR3. Given that memory bus is a very large part of the die + transistor count, I bet Nvidia would rather have had higher yields (which cost a lot more than memory chips both in the short term and long term) with a slightly smaller bus and adopt GDDR5

[keninishna]

video memory usage from what i've seen varies greatly on the game and texture settings used less so the resolution and level of aa.
Just open up rivatuner with the video memory monitor plug in. Crysis doesnt go over 500 mb on high from what ive seen, very high probably goes over 512. Call of duty doesn't go over 500 ever, even 1920x1080 with 16aa. Oblivion with high res texture mods goes over 600 mb, same as company of heroes with texture detail set to ultra.
Most games don't go over 512 however the games that do are very pretty.

[Helmore]

video memory usage from what i've seen varies greatly on the game and texture settings used less so the resolution and level of aa.
Just open up rivatuner with the video memory monitor plug in. Crysis doesnt go over 500 mb on high from what ive seen, very high probably goes over 512. Call of duty doesn't go over 500 ever, even 1920x1080 with 16aa. Oblivion with high res texture mods goes over 600 mb, same as company of heroes with texture detail set to ultra.
Most games don't go over 512 however the games that do are very pretty.

On what card? Memory usage is different from architecture to architecture....

[JohnZS]

Not meaning to thread jack (yet again sorry) but I am finding the HD4870 an extremely mouth watering card, I just want to see the UK retail prices and some reviews before I decide what to purchase.

I would go for a 1GB version over a 512MB version because my G92GTS runs out of VRAM in a few games @ high res and also the extra memory will be useful because I could use Triple Buffering in games which were not VRAM hungry for ultimate smoothness

John

[deathman20]

I know I personally would perfer a 1Gig card. I know 512Meg works, and bearly at that with some games without a major hit.

Instance was Oblivion back in the day between 1800XL with 256Megs... running 320Megs normal or 450Megs with AA with zero slow downs yet there was a visual difference.

Guess its more of a safety net feature that I'd perfer to have so I don't have X amount of hardware that could do it but can't because I skimped a little on ram for the card to process the amount of information.

[Helmore]

Not meaning to thread jack (yet again sorry) but I am finding the HD4870 an extremely mouth watering card, I just want to see the UK retail prices and some reviews before I decide what to purchase.

I would go for a 1GB version over a 512MB version because my G92GTS runs out of VRAM in a few games @ high res and also the extra memory will be useful because I could use Triple Buffering in games which were not VRAM hungry for ultimate smoothness

John

As I just said, memory usage can not be compared between different architectures. A G92GTS is very inefficient in memory usage compared to a 3870 for example. Here, if you truly need some more proof:
http://techreport.com/articles.x/14654/10
I have no doubt that 1GB will become necessary in about 1 year from now, but until then 512MB will probably be enough on these cards.

[STaRGaZeR]

You should compare Vantage CPU test2 scores on the other thread

Sorry, I read CPU instead of GPU your last post for some reason

Of course in PhysX tests only a GPU will trounce any CPU out there. And when you enable the effects in CF well, it's a slideshow without hardware support

[Jowy Atreides]

These fake/old?




sorry, i've been out of the game for a few days

[Jimmer411]

Will the new ATI Support PhysX or does one have to upgrade to a newer card in future. I want to upgrade to HD 4870 but the new nvidia GPU PhysX support is too tempting

Honestly is physX really that tempting? Nv adding PhysX support to their cards is really about as useful as adding serial ports and ISA slots to new motherboards. Whats the point if no one is utilizing it? With Intels purchase of havok, as well as its wide spread use (especially compared to PhysX) and top it off with AMD also joining the havok camp, does PhysX really matter? Last I read Ageia's PPU did nothing for havok based physics, but I could be wrong.


Right now PhysX support seems to just be +3Dmark points.











V_rr that price looks low for a 1gb from what people have been speculating. That about right on par with the 512mb in price isnt it?

[kryptobs2000]

What are people expecting the 1gb variant to be? I orignally thought the 4870 was only going to be 1gb and at $350. Now it seems the 4870 may be only 300$. I'm guessing that would put the 1gb at $350? /me hopes.

[n-sanity]

Lawl a 12W fan... there's floorstanding house blower fans weaker then that...

[y2kbos]

That chart looks to be a bit fake Atreides

People that have used the card, say it is very fast, but no so fast that it will be beating a Gx2 in Crysis.

[keninishna]

On what card? Memory usage is different from architecture to architecture....

8800 gtx , my 9800 gx2 would choke on company of heroes but would play oblivion fine even crysis on very high most of the time.
I could see if the hardware was utilized efficiently with things like culling and unloading textures that aren't in sight 512mb could be feasible. Hell it looks like the 4850 isnt having any problems with 512 mb vram.

[adamsleath]

256bit 512MB GDDR5 = no bottleneck, supposedly-> ATI

512bit 1GB GDDR3 = no bottleneck, supposedly-> NV

so claim the 'experts'

yeah right, i'm an expert, and my uncle is donald duck.

[eric66]

hmmm so we can expect 9800gtx +++++ zomg edition with havoc + ageia support

[twwen2]

The pics in the OP look great! This card is shaping up nicely. I too would prefer a 1GB card, hopefully they will be available near launch.

Now for the independant benchmarks...

[Dark-Energy]

I hope it's worth just as much as the 4850 is.

[ryanmartini]

everyones going on an on and on about the damn radeons. THey are good as is at their price point. period.
And why would you stick a gig of gddr5 on a 256bit bus? thats like filling a pool with a garden hose it seems.

[Gambit_2K]

everyones going on an on and on about the damn radeons. THey are good as is at their price point. period.
And why would you stick a gig of gddr5 on a 256bit bus? thats like filling a pool with a garden hose it seems.

Keeeps down manufaturing prices and the bandwith they are getting is enough.

[hurleybird]

And why would you stick a gig of gddr5 on a 256bit bus? thats like filling a pool with a garden hose it seems.

Noob and/or troll.

[Zytek_Fan]

everyones going on an on and on about the damn radeons. THey are good as is at their price point. period.
And why would you stick a gig of gddr5 on a 256bit bus? thats like filling a pool with a garden hose it seems.

512bit vs 256bit is small enough or there is no difference, so why do it when you don't need to?
If 256bit caused problems, then they would probably use 512bit.

[oohms]

Im hoping 3 phase regulation is enough for the core