Sapphire Readying HD 4870 With 2 GB Memory

[btarunr]

ATI Radeon specialist Sapphire is preparing a new SKU based on its recently unveiled cooler design based on its Vapor-Chamber technology. In an attempt to step up performance and spicing up specifications sheets, the company plans to load 2 GB of GDDR5 memory on an HD 4870 accelerator. To hold that much memory, GDDR5 chips are populated on both sides of the PCB. The chips on the back of the card are cooled by a heatsink, while the ones in the front are subjected to the fan's air-flow. The card uses reference AMD clock speeds of 750/900 MHz (core/memory). DVI, D-Sub and DisplayPort make for the card's connectivity. It is expected to be priced at 258 EUR.



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[CDdude55]

Dats tight!

I shall get one.

 

[InnocentCriminal]

Bit of a gimmick but, yeah two (or even four of these) would set you up for life eh?

 

[Darknova]

Interesting. I'm certainly interested in the cooler. I must say I'm impressed by my current Sapphire 4870 (after a dreadful 3870). However 2GB, I don't know, seems a bit much IMO.

 

[Fleck]

Dats tight!

I shall get one.

Fuckin richies

 

[InnocentCriminal]

Hopefully it'll drive the prices down even further on the 1GB 4870.

 

[kyle2020]

would look better on a black or red pcb IMO. Still, sounds like it could be quite the beast.

 

[TreadR]

It's a shame that most of Sapphire's cards are plagued by incompatibilities.
And yeah... on a red PCB + red DVI connectors (like XFX) would've looked much better.

 

[GSG-9]

It's a shame that most of Sapphire's cards are plagued by incompatibilities.
And yeah... on a red PCB + red DVI connectors (like XFX) would've looked much better.

Most is a bit harsh

 

[CDdude55]

Fuckin richies

If i was, i wouldnt have the video card i have in my system right now. Also i got the QX6700 for free. I havne't had a job for a while now.

 

[technicks]

Well i find €250+ to expensive for that card.
After AMD just announced to drop prices on the HD4850/4870 series paying €100 extra for 1Gb memory doesn't sound that cheap to me.
They already lowered prices at some web shops so expect a nice price drop for the HD4870 512/1Gb soon.

 

[Methious]

I don't see much advantage unless your gaming uber resolutions.

 

[GSG-9]

I don't see much advantage unless your gaming uber resolutions.

Would it even matter then? Im @ 2048x1152 and I doubt it would give me an advantage. But now that CS4 can use videocards... I can see that being a valuable asset.

 

[3870x2]

Would it even matter then? Im @ 2048x1152 and I doubt it would give me an advantage. But now that CS4 can use videocards... I can see that being a valuable asset.

Very much so. But in that case, My AMD 3400+ with 1g ram doesn't have a problem running CS3 with 5-6 10.1mp images open, and several windows running in the background, so would it really help?
On the flip side, I would love to see 3 of these crossfired on 1920x1200.

 

[IcrushitI]

For us older guys and gals we all know about the numbers game, but the new people on the block don't, so entry level people will go GA GA over the numbers and buy.

 

[GSG-9]

Very much so. But in that case, My AMD 3400+ with 1g ram doesn't have a problem running CS3 with 5-6 10.1mp images open, and several windows running in the background, so would it really help?
On the flip side, I would love to see 3 of these crossfired on 1920x1200.

How about compositions for print that are over 32in by 24in @ 600+ Dpi? Filters get angry for me at that point. I am a design tech major though, most people have no need for print quality work at that scale. I think there will be no difference between the 2gb and 1gb versions. But thats just going from the initial release of every card before that has been strapped with more memory.

For us older guys and gals we all know about the numbers game, but the new people on the block don't, so entry level people will go GA GA over the numbers and buy.

I agree

 

[PCpraiser100]

That is a lot of memory for me to feast on.

 

[nafets]

I can't see anyone buying this with the HD4890 coming out soon.

Put 2GB GDDR5 on a HD4890 with this updated "Vapor Chamber" cooler, and you'd have a decent seller, that sticks out from the crowd.

As it is, this souped up HD4870 is just too late to the GPU party. :/

 

[theorw]

I like the VR heatsink.No doupt it will clock well with extra volts and that think cooling the mosfets and vr s...
Its really huge!!!

 

[IcrushitI]

I can't see anyone buying this with the HD4890 coming out soon.
As it is, this souped up HD4870 is just too late to the GPU party. :/

Not every brick and morter carry every brand and sku. The 4870 are becoming the midrange and they will sell.

 

[spearman914]

Is there any point of this? I mean with the performance of the 4870, 2GB will bottleneck it?

 

[W1zzard]

that pictured board is not the 2 gb 4870. its just a random 4870 sapphire had at their cebit booth.

2 gb doesn't make any sense and sapphire knows this, they will have small quantities to sell them to the e-penis people

 

[GSG-9]

that pictured board is not the 2 gb 4870. its just a random 4870 sapphire had at their cebit booth.

2 gb doesn't make any sense and sapphire knows this, they will have small quantities to sell them to the e-penis people

e-penis! Thats the best way to describe it!

 

[DeathTyrant]

2 gb doesn't make any sense and sapphire knows this...

Is this the case for any single GPU out right now (4870 and 285) W1zzard? Or does this also apply to the X2 cards or to SLI/Xfire (two or three 4870s or 285s) - at high resolutions and AA of course - ?
If these 2GB cards could make a difference, it would perhaps push me to dust off my TripleHead2Go setup (almost as many megapixels as 2560x1600).

It's kind of disappointing to hear that they might be pointless.

 

[W1zzard]

Is this the case for any single GPU out right now (4870 and 285) W1zzard? Or does this also apply to the X2 cards or to SLI/Xfire (two or three 4870s or 285s) - at high resolutions and AA of course - ?
If these 2GB cards could make a difference, it would perhaps push me to dust off my TripleHead2Go setup (almost as many megapixels as 2560x1600).

It's kind of disappointing to hear that they might be pointless.

maybe crysis 2560x1600 with all the eye candy .. then you have 20 fps instead of 16 fps.

i put in a request to nvidia to check if there are any [actual existing] cuda apps out there that benefit from 2 gb over 1 gb.