Radeon HD 4870 X2 Previewed, AA Performance a Trump Card

[btarunr]

HardOCP previewed the ATI Radeon HD4870 X2. In the preview it was pitted against a single BFG GeForce GTX 280 OC (overclocked) and Crossfire X setup using two cards was pitted against two GeForce GTX 280 cards in SLI. Across variable settings, the HD4870 X2 was compared to the GTX 280. In Crysis the competition was neck-to-neck while the ATI cards returned marginally lower average frame rates. In Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures, the ATI cards outclassed the NVIDIA cards significantly, where the Anti-Aliasing (AA) performance of the cards proved to be a trump-card, with the cards returning over 30% performance increments in both single and Crossfire X configurations over the GeForce GTX 280 OC and its SLI configuration. With the AA bottleneck reduced, the R700 is a monster. Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures shows what this card is truly capable of, the author of the preview goes on to use "AMD AA Performance FTW" to head a write-up on the AA system. AMD has reworked AA and also a new mode that doesn't tax the video memory as much has been added. The total of 2 GB GDDR5 memory only helps this cause.

The card in Crossfire X peaked 700W though not much is revealed with the power-testing. You can read the article here.

View at TechPowerUp Main Site

 

[The Nemesis]

Price will be key, but the results look pretty darn good.

 

[FR@NK]

Anti-Aliasing (AA) performance of the cards proved to be a trump-card

I just put together a crossfire 4870 setup and i've noticed no reduction in FPS when using 2x AA. I can just imagine what it would be like using 4-way 4870X2's Now ATI just needs to design its cooler to pull air in from the sides instead of on top of the card.

 

[petepete]

omg i cant wait two weeks from now this is gonna be the balls of my new pc!!

 

[ShadowFold]

How this a preview? Seems more like a review to me..

 

[Zehnsucht]

Well, it's only an engineering sample, so the final product will probably be better. Hence it's preview of what's to come and expect


I'm actually more looking forward to the 4850x2, since I only game in 1680x1050.

Any idea how the 4850x2 will be released compared to the 4870x2? (before, after, simultaneously)

 

[indybird]

Any idea how the 4850x2 will be released compared to the 4870x2? (before, after, simultaneously)

It will be released after; late august to early September I believe I heard.

-Indybird

 

[btarunr]

Here's a much better one: http://www.driverheaven.net/reviews.php?reviewid=588&pageid=1

Watch how the R700 pwns XFX GTX 280 XXX.

 

[das müffin mann]

Here's a much better one: http://www.driverheaven.net/reviews.php?reviewid=588&pageid=1

Watch how the R700 pwns XFX GTX 280 XXX.

god damn that's impressive its about damn time ati

 

[vojc]

nice results at the same price for cards (X2 vs 280)

 

[TooFast]

It really takes the gtx280 to school!

 

[ShadowFold]

It really takes the gtx280 to school!

Your name pretty much sums up the HD 4870X2 lol

 

[Edito]

The results are good, but ins`t obvious for a dual GPU to kill a single GPU lets wait to see a fair challenge between 4870x2 vs "GTX280 GX2"....

 

[ShadowFold]

The results are good, but ins`t obvious for a dual GPU to kill a single GPU lets wait to see a fair challenge between 4870x2 vs "GTX280 GX2"....

GTX 260 = 600$+ and HD 4870X2 = 500$. Look who beats who for the price.

 

[vojc]

well x2 cost 550$
and the only real compare is 9800GX2 (it is faster than 280GTX)

 

[bill_d]

The results are good, but ins`t obvious for a dual GPU to kill a single GPU lets wait to see a fair challenge between 4870x2 vs "GTX280 GX2"....

what gtx280 gx2 it would need 5 power plugs and a spark arrester

 

[Wile E]

The results are good, but ins`t obvious for a dual GPU to kill a single GPU lets wait to see a fair challenge between 4870x2 vs "GTX280 GX2"....

All that matters is that it kills the 280 for less money. The fact that it has 2 gpus means nothing. As they say, "The ends always justify the means."

 

[Edito]

GTX 260 = 600$+ and HD 4870X2 = 500$. Look who beats who for the price.

Ur right but is still a dual GPU and i think its not fair despite the fact (PRICE) cause in this meter we just can´t discuss ATI all the way but its good to a have a fair challenge...

 

[ShadowFold]

Ur right but is still a dual GPU and i think its not fair despite the fact (PRICE) cause in this meter we just can´t discuss ATI all the way but its good to a have a fair challenge...

Who cares if its 1 or 2 cards? If two of them beat a single high end card for a lower price everyone wins

 

[Wile E]

Ur right but is still a dual GPU and i think its not fair despite the fact (PRICE) cause in this meter we just can´t discuss ATI all the way but its good to a have a fair challenge...

It is fair. Price is all that matters to most consumers, not how many gpus a card has. They buy their cards based on how much performance they get for their money. This outperforms the 280 for less money. That's a perfectly fair comparison.

 

[alexp999]

I thought the 4870X2 would be sold for $500 as AMD said they would never sell a GFX card for more than that.

Also, if the GTX280 is the same size as a 4870X2. Imagine the size of a GTX280GX2!

Don't forget people, AMD and nvidia have gone about this different ways. Nvidia has a massively powerful but expensive single GPU. AMD has two less powerful and less expensive GPU's. Who cares. It has to be down to price/performance ratio. Even if nvidia do bring out a GX2 of the 280. (if they can fit it all onto one PCB) it will probably still be cheaper to buy two 4870X2's.

 

[xu^]

notice they didnt bother with a gtx280 sli lol

price comparisons are all very well but its STILL a dual card beating a single card ,obviously its going to win and yet your all raving over the fact its winning ,its bound to win fgs.

ive np with ATI beating nvidia at all i just think its very unfair the way you all compare cards on price rather than dual v single,some ppl simply dont want a dual card.

some ppl cant have a dual due to PSU limitations or just dont like them,and a single card is preferred,in which case the 280 wins regardless of the price difference.

 

[Wile E]

notice they didnt bother with a gtx280 sli lol

price comparisons are all very well but its STILL a dual card beating a single card ,obviously its going to win and yet your all raving over the fact its winning ,its bound to win fgs.

ive np with ATI beating nvidia at all i just think its very unfair the way you all compare cards on price rather than dual v single,some ppl simply dont want a dual card.

some ppl cant have a dual due to PSU limitations or just dont like them,and a single card is preferred,in which case the 280 wins regardless of the price difference.

I disagree. Again, most consumers only care about price/performance ratio. They couldn't care less about how the card manages that performance. This is still a single card, and therefore a perfectly fair comparison.

How would it be fair to compare a GTX280 GX2 against a 4870X2, when the GX2 would likely cost almost twice as much? That's like saying it's fair to compare a 2600Pro against an 8800GT.

 

[ShadowFold]

All of those benchmarks are of two GTX 280's in SLi..

 

[alexp999]

notice they didnt bother with a gtx280 sli lol

price comparisons are all very well but its STILL a dual card beating a single card ,obviously its going to win and yet your all raving over the fact its winning ,its bound to win fgs.

ive np with ATI beating nvidia at all i just think its very unfair the way you all compare cards on price rather than dual v single,some ppl simply dont want a dual card.

some ppl cant have a dual due to PSU limitations or just dont like them,and a single card is preferred,in which case the 280 wins regardless of the price difference.

What exactly is the difference between a GTX280 and 4870X2, performance aside? We dont have power comparisons yet. They are exactly the same size, and probably produce the same heat.

If the GTX280 and 4870X2 had the same performance, same power consumption, same size and same heat. But the 4870X2 was $100+ cheaper. Which would you pick?