*** Official 4870 reviews thread ***

[Aurhinius]

Everyone has there preferences but as stated in Anandtech it hits a good price point but don't assume it will put in a Bioshock domination in every game!

Be sensible folks think before you buy

 

[straxusii]

Added hardware canucks (Im sure they wont be biased ) and arstechnica reviews

 

[Final8y]

The only thing Nvidia have to compete funnily enough is the old 8800GT, in SLI it offers incredible performance and bang for the buck. Shame you need a dogs**t nvidia motherboard.

In Anand's review there is a funny with 48X0CF, can someone explain how they get more than a 100% increase when adding a 2nd card:

Both the 4850 & 4870 got more than 100% in COD4 & it looks to be no fluke as it been seen in other reviews as well & was thought to be impossible before now. lets hope it carries on upto tri & quad crossfire

 

[Final8y]

Crysis is important though I run vsync always so anything over 60 fps in other games is useless to me because I cannot stand tearing so the card that can hit over 60 fps comfortably in crysis is truly a great card.
To dismiss crysis because it's badly coded is not right it's a measuring stick with which all cards will be judged for years to come.
Everyone wants to max out crysis and play it through I know I do not to mention I happen to think the online is awesome.
A card that can own crysis is ground breaking a card that can own an overpriced nvidiot card because it can be made cheaper is only ground breaking for ATI's bank balance.
If crysis is so unimportant then why is it in every single benchmark going.

Its not a measuring stick because its a broken stick that does not scale like a measuring stick should & scales like no other game known to man & that why im not buying it until the stick is fixed.

 

[pieman109]

Going by what I've seen on those benchies, it would appear that 2 x 4850 in Xfire gives better performance than 1 x 4870, in crysis at any rate and depending on how much the 4870 retails for, I'd say going with 2 x 4850 gives better value, although I did read somewhere that apparently Xfire doesn't do too well in crysis, but going by the scores I've seen, I'd say it does.

 

[Ezyryder]

I think 1 4870 is going to be cheaper than 2 4850 (may be around £30-£40)

 

[Richdog]

Of course 2x 4850 will be better than 1x 4870... but the price will be a lot higher too.

Personally I see the 1GB 4870 as the sweet spot for this generation, especially those of us that have 1680x1050 monitor... it will last a good while methinks. I won't touch one until availability drives down prices though.

 

[Dutch Guy]

How are these cards noise wise?

Read the Hot hardware review and noise isn't an issue (most likely) but the power usage is much higher than expected

 

[pieman109]

Of course 2x 4850 will be better than 1x 4870... but the price will be a lot higher too.

Personally I see the 1GB 4870 as the sweet spot for this generation, especially those of us that have 1680x1050 monitor... it will last a good while methinks. I won't touch one until availability drives down prices though.

I believe as long as the performance warrants the extra money then its I reckon its gotta be better. That does depend how much the 4870 will retail for and how much the prices drop when the "price gouging " ends.

 

[Emlyn_Dewar]

Crysis is a buggy POS, once Warhead comes out and they remove the spanners from the code then I'll maybe change my tune.

The 4870s... Looking extremely sweet given the (expected) price, far more attractive than the Nvidia option in my eyes. Hopefully it continues a decent ATI comeback.

 

[kkbigal]

Well, that's pretty much confirmed the fact I will be buying a 4870 to replace my defunct 8800 GTX

2 x 4850 is an extremely attractive prospect, but it would mean I'd have to buy a CF-capable motherboard and I don't really want to buy a new board before Nehalem arrives, so a single card solution is the way to go for me

 

[clocka]

the Thermalright HR03-GT FITS

temps with thermy HR03-GT:

 

[Richdog]

Plus I think it's much better to have the option of 4870 crossfire later down the line considering how it's is eye-wateringly quick. I would feel limited by Crossfire 4950... in fact i don't see the point of crossfiring two powerful 512MB cards, only 1GB+ would give you some element of future-proofing imo.

 

[Emlyn_Dewar]

I feel bad that I laughed at the diagram in the anandtech review for the Nvidia method. "I can has vertex data"... What have I become?

 

[Secret_Window]

Well for them to come and admit there was problems with crysis in the first place and to then replace it with warhead, I think that speaks for itself really. Crysis is a b0rked game.

It's not even a good game either.

 

[clocka]

please replace the pcper link with this: http://www.pcper.com/article.php?aid=581&type=expert

this is the FULL review instead of a single page review.

 

[smyth]

the 4870 looks really good, hope the UK price is decent. Finally some proper competition for nvidia in a while

 

[straxusii]

Removed as I wasnt sure if I could say a price I had seen or not on a competitor website.

 

[Devious]

The hothardware review makes Nvidia still look good.

Generally it seems the 4870 isnt that much faster than the 4850, im thinking overclocking some 4850's may be the way to go.

 

[Wiggins]

the Thermalright HR03-GT FITS
img

temps with thermy HR03-GT:
img

Excellent temps.

The HR-03 Rev.A fits also. Looks like I will be re-using mine on a new ATI after all.