is ati cards using less power and less noise since the ati 2900 tx

[rico3]

what are the power consumption on the ati 4870 cards and 4890 cards over the old ati 2900xt

 

[kylew]

what are the power consumption on the ati 4870 cards and 4890 cards over the old ati 2900xt

I think a 4870X2 uses the same power as a single 2900XT, so I'd guess that a 4890 would use about 60% of the power that a 2900 does.

 

[Lightnix]

The 4870 512MB seems to use about 50W less than the 2900 XT at load, but the idle power consumption is actually a little higher, although you can help to alleviate that by modifying the powerplay settings:

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Diamond/HD_4870/21.html

Edit: It's worth noting that the 4890 is a bit more power friendly than the 4870 at idle.

 

[rico3]

The 4870 512MB seems to use about 50W less than the 2900 XT at load, but the idle power consumption is actually a little higher, although you can help to alleviate that by modifying the powerplay settings:

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Diamond/HD_4870/21.html

Edit: It's worth noting that the 4890 is a bit more power friendly than the 4870 at idle.

looks like i can save myself 200 watts or more over my current set up (2 2900xt)
that will be less power and less noise...

 

[drunkenmaster]

Wouldn't be buying now, we're like, 2 days now from the new cards, assuming price gouging at first then price drops on the current 4870's might not be instant, but within a few weeks most the 4XXX series should drop even further in cost as people clear out stocks.

The new cards though, the 5870's etc, have fantastic Idle power usage (supposedly) the 4890 is supposed to be around 90W IIRC, the 5870, which uses a little more than a 4870 at load, only uses 29W at idle(again assuming specs are accurate and powerplay things work properly. Which means, a pretty decent power saving overall with a very slight power increase under load which most people won't be full load all the time.