ATi 4xxx Series Review

[Cookie Monster]

Yes, i think the mid range now will soon be transitioning to the G92b chips ala 55nm G92. These chips are roughly similar in size to the HD4800 series, but has less transistors making it pretty damn competitive in terms of production cost (nVIDIA has a slight edge here). Seeing as the HD4850 is roughly 9800GTX performance give or take couple of % i think its too premature to declare a winner. (With 8800GTs selling dirt cheap and 9800GTX priced at $199)

 

[tuteja1986]

Originally posted by: Sylvanas

Originally posted by: Cookie Monster
I wouldn't since the two HD3850 will probably slow down the HD4870. Just like pairing a slower card to a faster card.

Anyway from the Pcper review, it looks like the HD4850 roughly performs in between the 8800GT~9800GTX (where the 8800GT and 9800GTX perform really close). Everything else seems equal, such as power consumption, and due to the crappy cooler on the HD4850 it seems like its abit more hotter than many feel comfortable with. (Can people confirm that 3rd party cooling works with HD4850? e.g does it retain the same mounting holes like HD3870)

Hopefully more reviews can paint the overall picture of how fast this card is.

btw whats the core speed of HD4870? 700MHz or 750?

Well considering I would be getting better performance from three cards than if I were to stick with a single 4870 I would be happy with that. This review demonstrates that a 3850+3870 Crossfire setup performs as you'd expect (just below a 3870+3870 setup) but still very admirably for a 'slow card' that may bottleneck a faster one. Granted, we are dealing with different generations here and I wouldn't expect the same results, but It still allows me to extend my initial investment from a previous generation. Just think, if people realize they don't have to get rid of their current card for a new one (lets say previous 38xx owners) they are more likely to buy an ATI card in the future in which case it's a good move from AMD/ATI, and good news for previous gen owners.

yup , probably buy a 4870 and crossfire it with my current ATI card.

 

[chewietobbacca]

GPUreview's clocks are wrong. The 4870 will be 750 core / 3600 (effective) memory. Yeah not a typo on that, GDDR5 has ridiculous effective clocks

Also, written elsewhere:

Looks like ATI realized that partners were already selling the 4850's in Asia and Europe and some in the US as well so they decided to allow the release of some information:

Basically what?s happened is our partners have started selling the products and in some cases reviewers that we have and have not sampled have already bought and received the product and published stories. We?re not able to control the situation anymore so we need to give the media the ability to publish info.

Source:TechPowerUp article

Looks like NDA materials will cover the actual architecture, slides, and so on from their presentation this past week.

Some previews have popped up:

TweakTown 4850 in CrossFire test
PC Perspective Performance Preview
VR-Zone quick Vantage Tests (single & CF)
Hexus.net Unveiling of Sapphire 4850 Retail

Some interesting results in those reviews on performance numbers!

BTW on the PCPER review, the 8800GT they used was the BFG 8800GT OCX edition which has core at 700MHz and 1728MHz shader so almost 20% OC... looking at those numbers, the 4850 is ~ 8800GTS512 to 9800GTX levels

 

[JPB]

Originally posted by: chewietobbacca
GPUreview's clocks are wrong. The 4870 will be 750 core / 3600 (effective) memory. Yeah not a typo on that, GDDR5 has ridiculous effective clocks

Also, written elsewhere:

Looks like ATI realized that partners were already selling the 4850's in Asia and Europe and some in the US as well so they decided to allow the release of some information:

Basically what?s happened is our partners have started selling the products and in some cases reviewers that we have and have not sampled have already bought and received the product and published stories. We?re not able to control the situation anymore so we need to give the media the ability to publish info.

Source:TechPowerUp article

Looks like NDA materials will cover the actual architecture, slides, and so on from their presentation this past week.

Some previews have popped up:

TweakTown 4850 in CrossFire test
PC Perspective Performance Preview
VR-Zone quick Vantage Tests (single & CF)
Hexus.net Unveiling of Sapphire 4850 Retail

Some interesting results in those reviews on performance numbers!

BTW on the PCPER review, the 8800GT they used was the BFG 8800GT OCX edition which has core at 700MHz and 1728MHz shader so almost 20% OC... looking at those numbers, the 4850 is ~ 8800GTS512 to 9800GTX levels

Thats because Radeon 4850 launch pulled in for today

 

[Aberforth]

HD4870 Scores

CPU: Core 2 Quad Q6600

3D Mark 06: 12,600 @ default settings
Vantage: 7700

More: http://www.fudzilla.com/index....view&id=7973&Itemid=34

 

[allies]

Originally posted by: taltamir

Originally posted by: bryanW1995
across all those games tested, it was BETTER than 9800gtx and, in fact, was better than an ultra! I'd like to see more reviews before rushing to judgement, but that is some pretty impressive stuff. If the AA numbers were correct then I think that we're safe in saying "AA bug? WHAT AA bug?"

better across all those games? that is not what I read.
4850 vs 9800GTX
across all those games it was better with AA
On some games it was better without AA. (usually by a fair margin)
On most games it was worse without AA. (usually by a small margin)

Either way it's performance is very close to the 9800GTX... but it does take less power, and it has a lower MSRP.
So overall a better choice. (unless nvidia lowers their price)

And in some cases it's > GTX 260...

 

[chewietobbacca]

http://whatifgaming.com/ati-ra...eview-show-me-the-ruby

Another one... looks like AA is when the 48xx's really pull away from the G92 cards

Its been a while since we last talked about ATI cards pulling away from Nvidia w/ AA

 

[allies]

Originally posted by: chewietobbacca
Those were UT3 engined games and apparently ATI cards can't get AA enabled for them in DX10 but Nvidia can force it through their control panel

So AA isn't enabled but there still is a performance hit?

 

[SunnyD]

Anyone know if the 48xx's will play nice with the 780/790G parts in Hybrid-CrossFire? I haven't seen any info yet. I'd REALLY like to see some Hybrid CrossFire numbers with a 790G part.

 

[chewietobbacca]

Originally posted by: allies

Originally posted by: chewietobbacca
Those were UT3 engined games and apparently ATI cards can't get AA enabled for them in DX10 but Nvidia can force it through their control panel

So AA isn't enabled but there still is a performance hit?

They didn't test it at all but someone said this has been fixed recently so AA can be forced via CCC

 

[error8]

Originally posted by: Cookie Monster
Yes, i think the mid range now will soon be transitioning to the G92b chips ala 55nm G92. These chips are roughly similar in size to the HD4800 series, but has less transistors making it pretty damn competitive in terms of production cost (nVIDIA has a slight edge here). Seeing as the HD4850 is roughly 9800GTX performance give or take couple of % i think its too premature to declare a winner. (With 8800GTs selling dirt cheap and 9800GTX priced at $199)

Well the 4850 has something that the GTX doesn't: directX 10.1. It really doesn't matter now, but if they are on the same performance level, people could be more attracted by the extra "feature" and buy the ATI card. It's also shorter and has a single slot cooler, another two advantages to buy it.
It's gonna be a big and bloody fight between these two.

 

[Rebel44]

I will have to wait because I want 4870X2

4850 has very impresive performance for 200 $

 

[ajaidevsingh]

AHahahaha My two 4850's came today i cant seem to make CF work!!!

My M/B Asus P35 does not see the other card "4x PCIE slot"!!!

Upgraded to 8.6 from the cd's 8.5 and the computer got a BSOD after installing???

Had to reinstall the old 8.5...!!

 

[Bateluer]

Originally posted by: SunnyD
Anyone know if the 48xx's will play nice with the 780/790G parts in Hybrid-CrossFire? I haven't seen any info yet. I'd REALLY like to see some Hybrid CrossFire numbers with a 790G part.

Most likely they will. It wouldn't exactly be positive press to have AMD's new cards not place nice with AMD's recently released chipsets.

 

[BFG10K]

Apparently there are miracle drivers coming from nVidia that increase performance substantially. My question is where the hell have these drivers been since Nov 06 and why is it they just happen to be finished the minute the 4850 is released?

If true these are the sorts of stunts from nVidia that really piss me off as a consumer.

 

[aldamon]

Originally posted by: BFG10K
Apparently there are miracle drivers coming from nVidia that increase performance substantially. My question is where the hell have these drivers been since Nov 06 and why is it they just happen to be finished the minute the 4850 is released?

Did they rediscover DXTC?

 

[BassBomb]

That is pretty sweet pricing.

I can't believe how cheap it is these days to set up a system

Midrange CPU ~200
Good Board ~150
2GB RAM ~35
Good Video Card ~200

I remember spending

low end cpu ~250
low end board ~100
1gb ddr ~150
midrange video card ~300

So much bang for your buck these days

 

[dadach]

Originally posted by: ajaidevsingh
AHahahaha My two 4850's came today i cant seem to make CF work!!!

My M/B Asus P35 does not see the other card "4x PCIE slot"!!!

Upgraded to 8.6 from the cd's 8.5 and the computer got a BSOD after installing???

Had to reinstall the old 8.5...!!

dude stop trolling...read your manual, search the internet...im sure its not atis fault you cannot set up your computer properly

 

[Genx87]

Looks pretty impressive. Shit for 189.99 I may grab one and pair it with my new E8400 instead of waiting 12 months for the refresh of Nvidia's newest chip and nehlahem(sp).

 

[Genx87]

Originally posted by: error8
9800GTX+. That is a very smart name for another card from Nvidia. Who is running the marketing department, 10 years old kids?

Well maybe ATI fired their marketing team and they were picked up by Nvidia?

What were the model numbers they have had in the past?

X2900XTXTXTXTXTXT super fast edition?

 

[hans007]

Originally posted by: BassBomb
That is pretty sweet pricing.

I can't believe how cheap it is these days to set up a system

Midrange CPU ~200
Good Board ~150
2GB RAM ~35
Good Video Card ~200

I remember spending

low end cpu ~250
low end board ~100
1gb ddr ~150
midrange video card ~300

So much bang for your buck these days

i dont know what year that was, but i dont remember a mid range video card ever costing $300.

or a low end cpu costing $250 in the last i dunno decade or so.

 

[Munky]

German review article:
http://www.computerbase.de/art..._radeon_hd_4850_rv770/

 

[Genx87]

Originally posted by: BFG10K
Apparently there are miracle drivers coming from nVidia that increase performance substantially. My question is where the hell have these drivers been since Nov 06 and why is it they just happen to be finished the minute the 4850 is released?

If true these are the sorts of stunts from nVidia that really piss me off as a consumer.

This happens every time with Nvidia. They have some magical driver that jumps the performance of their hardware when ATi gets a whiff of their(NV) performance ass.

 

[Golgatha]

Originally posted by: error8
9800GTX+. That is a very smart name for another card from Nvidia. Who is running the marketing department, 10 years old kids?

ATI releases HD4850++ x infinity+1 in response.

 

[chizow]

Not bad for the price, looks like ATI finally caught up to G80/G92 after two refreshes. This part would've been a win when G92 launched instead of RV670 but as it is it just makes ATI competitive again in the mid-range.

I think its safe to say now that RV770 isn't going to be 2x as fast as RV670, although it does see nice gains with AA. I'd ask if anyone were able to simulate 4870 clock speeds and performance but it doesn't seem as if anyone can overlock these more than 50MHz even with CCC's limitations due to heat. Still with 4850@$200 and 4870 @$300 it doesn't exactly stand out against G92 at $200 and GTX 260 at $400, they're just lost somewhere in the middle (again).