Gainward HD4870 Golden Sample Crossfire

[fatguy1992]

Rig Pictures









Rig Specifications

CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 @ 3.6GHz
RAM: Corsair Dominator PC2-9136 @ 1066MHz 5-5-5-15
Motherboard: ASUS P5E
Video Cards: Default 750MHz|3800MHz
Driver: 8.7

Note:
I tried running 8.9, but instead of averaging 48FPS (for example) I was only getting 30FPS, second my computer became incredible unstable and crashed. So I switched back to the 8.7 drivers and they work great.

Gainward HD4870 Golden Sample Card Specifications

Core Frequency: 750MHz
Shader Units: 800
ROPs: 16
Transistors: 956 Million
Technology: 55nm
Die Size: 256mm2
Memory Size: 512MB
Memory Frequency: 3800MHz
Memory Type: GDDR5
Memory Bandwidth: 121.6GB/s
Memory Bus Width: 256-bit
Direct X: 10.1
SM: 4.1

[fatguy1992]

Performance

Crysis

High Quality, 1280x1024: 65FPS

High Quality, 1280x1024, 4xAA: 50FPS

Very High Quality, 1280x1024: 41FPS

Very High Quality, 1280x1024, 4xAA: 36FPS

High Quality, 1680x1050: 55FPS

High Quality, 1680x1050, 4xAA: 40FPS

Very High Quality, 1680x1050: 34FPS

Very High Quality, 1680x1050: 29FPS










Crysis Warhead

Gamer Quality, 1280x1024: 77FPS

Gamer Quality, 1280x1024, 4xAA: 49FPS

Enthusiast Quality, 1280x1024: 60FPS

Enthusiast Quality, 1280x1024, 4xAA: 35FPS

Gamer Quality, 1680x1050: 65FPS

Gamer Quality, 1680x1050, 4xAA: 38FPS

Enthusiast Quality, 1680x1050: 49FPS

Enthusiast Quality, 1680x1050, 4xAA: 26FPS










Half-Life 2 Lost Coast

High Quality, 1280x1024, 16xAF, HDR: 239FPS

High Quality, 1280x1024, 4xAA, 16xAF, HDR: 235FPS

High Quality, 1680x1050, 16xAF, HDR: 230FPS

High Quality, 1680x1050, 4xAA, 16xAF, HDR: 230FPS






F.E.A.R.

Maximum Quality, 1280x1024, 16xAF: 201FPS

Maximum Quality, 1280x1024, 4xAA, 16xAF: 166FPS

Maximum Quality, 1680x1050, 16xAF: 178FPS

Maximum Quality, 1680x1050, 4xAA, 16xAF: 137FPS






3D Mark 06

High Quality, 1280x1024: 20,499

High Quality, 1280x1024, 4xAA: 20,042

High Quality, 1680x1050: 20,250

High Quality, 1680x1050, 4xAA: 19,533






Aqua Mark 3

Default: 191,638

[fatguy1992]

Single Card Vs. Crossfire

Crysis

Settings: High Quality, 1680x1050, 4xAA

Single Card: 34FPS

Dual Card: 40FPS

% Gain: 15%



Crysis Warhead

Settings: Gamer Quality, 1680x1050, 4xAA

Single Card: 35FPS

Dual Card: 38FPS

% Gain: 8%



Half-Life 2 Lost Coast

Settings: High Quality, 1680x1050, 4xAA, 16xAF, HDR

Single Card: 210FPS

Dual Card: 230FPS

% Gain: 9%



F.E.A.R.

Settings: Maximum Quality, 1680x1050, 4xAA, 16xAF

Single Card: 124FPS

Dual Card: 137FPS

% Gain: 10%



3D Mark 06

Settings: Default, 1280x1024

Single Card: 16,998

Dual Card: 20,499

% Gain: 17%



Aqua Mark 3

Settings: Default

Single Card: 181,314

Dual Card: 191,638

% Gain: 5.5%



Average % Gain

The average % gain of Crossfire over a single GPU was 10.75%. Please remember that is overall computer performance.

Overclocking & Temps

For overclocking and temp tests, please refer to my Gainward HD4870 Golden Sample review.

Pros & Cons

Pros

1. Good performance
2. Factory overclocked
3. Runs cooler then reference HD4870
4. Quiet

Cons

1. Cannot replace cooler with some other third party coolers, due to the non-reference board design.

Thank You For Viewing

[mak1skav]

I liked your review. Nice work.

[fatguy1992]

Thx

[Computerville]

Very nicely done! :P

I´m working on a "9800GTX+ vs. 4870 review", I just don´t know what CPU I´m going to use :P