Radeon HD 4850 X2 Priced at $399, Claims to Outperform GTX 280

[btarunr]

The battle for supremacy in the current generation of consumer graphics hasn't calmed down as yet. Just as reports came in of NVIDIA giving the GeForce GTX 260 a boost with its shader compute power by enabling 24 shader units, taking on the Radeon HD 4870, GeForce GTX 280 seems to be enjoying its $420~$440 price-tag. For sure it isn't the fastest graphics accelerator but its compelling price tag is what is drawing buyers away from the HD 4870 X2.

AMD had already announced in its press release for the Radeon HD 4870 X2 launch that it would release a HD 4850 X2 at a roughly $400 price range. That moment seems to be coming closer, when ATI has a graphics card for $399, that outperforms the GeForce GTX 280. Three slides from the company have surfaced. The first one lists out its vital specifications, including its maximum power draw, rated at 230W. The memory bandwidth of this card is 128 GB/s, and it ends up with 2 GB of GDDR3 memory.



The second slide shows some company performance figures, which claim that the HD 4850 X2 could be up to 40% faster than the GeForce GTX 280 in some games, with an overall lead across all tests mentioned. The third slide shows how ATI is stacked up against NVIDIA in Q3, however, the entry of the revised GTX 260 could disturb that chart.



View at TechPowerUp Main Site

 

[PVTCaboose1337]

I say FTW! I like this card, very good value. The graphs are made to look like the card is going "uber" faster than the GTX280, but it is only in like micro values.

 

[AlCabone]

the 4850 faster than the 9800 gtx+ ???

 

[Paintface]

the 4850 faster than the 9800 gtx+ ???

without a doubt

 

[jbunch07]

I would like to see a this card paired with a 4870 X2 just out of curiosity.

 

[waver_01]

the 4850 faster than the 9800 gtx+ ???

with high filters, definitely

 

[rampage]

it will be good if this takes off well and forces down the prices of the gtx 280, because then i would go sli

 

[Zehnsucht]

I think this card is going to be my x-mas upgrade paired with a new CPU. My 'ol E6600 and 8800GTX sure feels old now...

 

[DaedalusHelios]

without a doubt

Not unless you crank up the filters. 4850 still has heat issues to the point of not completing furmark without a driver tweak. I can't notice the difference between AAx4 and AAx12 etc.

High filtering doesn't help unless you are using the resolution far higher than the resolution the game engine was built to fully accommodate.

Lets see how it OC's and how it compares to two GTX260's. Lets face it.... Nvidia will freak out and probably make a GTX 260 GX2 that will smoke it at a price that will murder your wallet and the 4870x2.

I got my GTX 280 for $320 so I am not really worried yet. But if they made the 4850x2 only $300, I would then feel like an upgrade to it.

This makes the price of the 4870x2 a little high doesn't it? I wonder what the performance difference will be.

 

[tkpenalty]

4850 in CF thoroughly gives the GTX280 a good run for its money, so this is just AMD being captain obvious .

Obviously the 4850X2 is the smarter choice.

 

[jaydeejohn]

The differences are currently 8-34% in games tested. Any CF or SLI config has a much higher potential seen thru drivers than singles as for seeing improvements. This is a much welcome card, as at this price point, it will have a positive effect on the G280, by dropping its price. A killer card, for under 400$, very nice indeed. This points to the G280 as being way too pricy, and will have to come down in price. Typically, the highest gpu which holds the crown always also holds the highest priepoint, sometimes huge in pricing, so no one knows how expsensive the 4870x2 will be after this. Thats more up to nVidia, as they need to male moves to counter this, and the release of the "new" 260, and how many there are in stock. And if the 4870x2 goes down in price, I say YESSS

 

[DaedalusHelios]

4850 in CF thoroughly gives the GTX280 a good run for its money, so this is just AMD being captain obvious .

Obviously the 4850X2 is the smarter choice.

Well lets see how it compares in reviews rather than slides because we aren't PR guys just yet. I wonder which games will take to the scaling of these two gpu's well. Sandwiching two gpu's etc. makes it a different animal than regular crossfire.I hope it performs better than two 4850s in crossfire because it would be questionable why somebody would buy this card otherwise(if they had a crossfire supported board). Its possible to get two 4850's at around $150 so basic math says $150 + $150=$300 and not $400.

 

[mdm-adph]

Not unless you crank up the filters. 4850 still has heat issues to the point of not completing furmark without a driver tweak. I can't notice the difference between AAx4 and AAx12 etc.

High filtering doesn't help unless you are using the resolution far higher than the resolution the game engine was built to fully accommodate.

Lets see how it OC's and how it compares to two GTX260's. Lets face it.... Nvidia will freak out and probably make a GTX 260 GX2 that will smoke it at a price that will murder your wallet and the 4870x2.

I got my GTX 280 for $320 so I am not really worried yet. But if they made the 4850x2 only $300, I would then feel like an upgrade to it.

This makes the price of the 4870x2 a little high doesn't it? I wonder what the performance difference will be.

#1) Where did you buy a GTX 280 for $320?

#2) I agree -- the price of the 4850X2 needs to be at least $75-100 dollars cheaper. You can buy two 4850's for about $320, give or take. The 4870X2 is a much better deal, comparatively.

 

[DaedalusHelios]

#1) Where did you buy a GTX 280 for $320?

Ask Nflesher....

 

[jaydeejohn]

I agree, the 4850x2 SHOULD be less expensive, but remember what its replacing in the lineup. Itll be the second highest card out. The G260 and the 4870 both have higher pricepoints compared to performance, and theyre currently the second best new cards out now by both companies. Its only natural at the high and higher end, you see diminishing returns on price performance

 

[DaedalusHelios]

I agree, the 4850x2 SHOULD be less expensive, but remember what its replacing in the lineup. Itll be the second highest card out. The G260 and the 4870 both have higher pricepoints compared to performance, and theyre currently the second best new cards out now by both companies. Its only natural at the high and higher end, you see diminishing returns on price performance

Not on equal performance though. Until we see slides the 4850x2 and 4850 x 2 cards are the same performance. So if two offerings by the same company have the same performance and the two cards have $100 in price difference it does make a difference as to the value.

But we won't know for sure how it performs until many reviews are out. Remember early slides of the early phenoms made them look like a good deal and they were anything but that until price cuts. Nowadays when you are dealing with ATi you are actually dealing with AMD. This is the same way you look at stocks, estimates are taken with a grain of salt.

 

[TRIPTEX_CAN]

I hope it performs better than two 4850s in crossfire because it would be questionable why somebody would buy this card otherwise(if they had a crossfire supported board). Its possible to get two 4850's at around $150 so basic math says $150 + $150=$300 and not $400.

You should remember that running 2 4850s in crossfire would still only equal a 512mb frame buffer/GPU. The 4850x2 is sharing 2Gb so in effect it gets a 1Gb frame buffer/GPU.

You would have to buy 2 x 4850 1Gb with dual slot coolers to rival the efficiency here.

This is my new card ....... I only wish they would give some info on the ETA

 

[Baam]

Price is fairly close to what 2 1GB 4850 would cost.

 

[DaedalusHelios]

You should remember that running 2 4850s in crossfire would still only equal a 512mb frame buffer/GPU. The 4850x2 is sharing 2Gb so in effect it gets a 1Gb frame buffer/GPU.

You would have to buy 2 x 4850 1Gb with dual slot coolers to rival the efficiency here.

This is my new card ....... I only wish they would give some info on the ETA

Sure, buffer might help at uber resolutions like 2560x1600 but I only do 1920x1200 and 1920x1440 usually. Also Age of Conan would use it apparently. Those are the only cases I have seen it be very beneficial.

If you have seen otherwise please link me to a review showing it because I am very interested in the card if it actually helps.

 

[TRIPTEX_CAN]

Price is fairly close to what 2 1GB 4850 would cost.

^^^ thats what I'm saying.

Also the 4870x2 is much closer to what 2 1Gb 4870s would cost.

 

[TRIPTEX_CAN]

Sure, buffer might help at uber resolutions like 2560x1600 but I only do 1920x1200 and 1920x1440 usually. Also Age of Conan would use it apparently. Those are the only cases I have seen it be very beneficial.

I remember reading something about Stalker Clear Sky killing cards with less than 1GB on board. If more new games are the same you'll care.

 

[DaedalusHelios]

I remember reading something about Stalker Clear Sky killing cards with less than 1GB on board. If more new games are the same you'll care.

It would be great if they utilize the vram more efficiently, if thats what you are saying.

 

[jaydeejohn]

Id point out that 2 8800gt's cost 240$, while the 9800x2 is 300$.

 

[DaedalusHelios]

Id point out that 2 8800gt's cost 240$, while the 9800x2 is 300$.

The 9800gx2 is two 8800gts's.


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814133231

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814500004

$140+ $140= $280 so thats giving the 8800gts 512mb the mail in rebates and ignoring its obvious shipping costs.

No waiting on rebates and free shipping makes the 9800gx2 look pretty good huh? (those were the cheapest of both on Newegg)

 

[TRIPTEX_CAN]

It would be great if they utilize the vram more efficiently, if thats what you are saying.

At lower resolutions if they could really tap into the extra vram I would be impressed. I hear what your saying about the resolutions though. Until devs start to exploit whats available to them these 1-2Gb cards are only for bragging and +2500x1600 with AA

Since I only play @ 1680x1050 a 1Gb 4850x2 would be a better investment but they dont have one... so I'll buy this when it arrives.