Wait for 4870 1GB or go with the 512MB ??

[firc_ops_gordo]

That's what I really need to know. Because I don't know how much longer I can wait. We originally heard the 4870 was going to be a 1GB card but it appears that's been cut back due to the shortage of DDR5.

Do I wait ? Will the performance increase by that much with 1GB compared to 512MB ? Any thoughts on how much this will impact price as well ? 'cos if it does then there's always two 512MB card in crossfire for £400.

Any feedback would be appreciated. I was really hoping to get a 1GB card but just don't know how much longer I can wait to get my hands on a 4870 !!!

 

[doomturkey]

I really don't think 1gb is going to make much of a difference unless you like to game at 2560x1600, or 1920x1200 with AA and AF cranked up. Even so, the resolution is so high you barely need to crank the filtering to get decent image quality.

 

[D3LTA09]

I am also in a similar position except Il be crossfiring either 2 512's or 2 1gb's. I dont know if it will have any relevance but maybe someone who bought a 1gb 8800GT could give you a rough idea of what kind of performance increase you will get over a 512 version, if there is one to be seen.

 

[Slobogob]

Right now the difference between 1GB and 512MB is next to nothing. If you upgrade your card next year anyway, i wouldn't wait. If the 1GB card is offered at a reasonable price (ie. only maybe 20 or 30$ more) then i would buy it.

 

[kad]

As far as I know you'll benefit from 1G high bandwidth memory with big size monitor and high resolutions
At 1280X1024 there is no performance difference between two cards, one with 512 and another 1G
Are you sure you can get 2 cards 4870 (512) for 400 pounds???

 

[firc_ops_gordo]

Sorry, should have mentioned I'm using a 24inch monitor at 1900x1200 res.

And yes, I see oc uk has the Powercolor 4870 512MB listed at 199.74 incl. vat. Not immediately available mind you but they say 27 June. ETA.

 

[jamesgoddard]

Sorry, should have mentioned I'm using a 24inch monitor at 1900x1200 res.

And yes, I see oc uk has the Powercolor 4870 512MB listed at 199.74 incl. vat. Not immediately available mind you but they say 27 June. ETA.

ebuyer have Sapphire 4870's for £179

 

[firc_ops_gordo]

ebuyer have Sapphire 4870's for £179

Well there you go then. Man, that's some great power for just £358

Which only confuses me more. I guess a lot comes down to how much extra the 1GB is going to cost.

 

[kad]

Sorry, should have mentioned I'm using a 24inch monitor at 1900x1200 res.

And yes, I see oc uk has the Powercolor 4870 512MB listed at 199.74 incl. vat. Not immediately available mind you but they say 27 June. ETA.

In this case you'll benefit from 2 cards in cross fire
but carefull, does your motherboard has 2 slots X16 or 1X16 and the other X8
And second thing I never heard of this brand " Power Color"
Hope somebody who has tried this brand can feed back

 

[Ogdin]

Why would they only charge 400 for the x2 if a single card is 300?? I think your hoping for a little much. The x2 cards for either side are usually more expensive than 2 single cards because they aren't that easy to make,and they remove the requirement for a sli/crossfire mobo.

 

[firc_ops_gordo]

In this case you'll benefit from 2 cards in cross fire
but carefull, does your motherboard has 2 slots X16 or 1X16 and the other X8
And second thing I never heard of this brand " Power Color"
Hope somebody who has tried this brand can feed back

Well as the guy above mentioned, you can get a Sapphire 4870 for even cheaper. £179 !

I'm on a Maximus Formula so both slots are X16. PCI 2.0 if I'm not mistaken. These cards are the reason I went for the X38 when I upgraded my set up a few months back. I wasn't sure it was going to be the right choice but it seems like a good one now.

 

[firc_ops_gordo]

Why would they only charge 400 for the x2 if a single card is 300?? I think your hoping for a little much. The x2 cards for either side are usually more expensive than 2 single cards because they aren't that easy to make,and they remove the requirement for a sli/crossfire mobo.

We're talking £'s here mate , not $'s.

 

[badgtx1969]

I believe its still in the works maybe by August if not sooner.

T-minus ~60 days, haven't you seen the unofficial 'Unleash Two Tera' countdown

http://www.madpixelz.net/amdnews/2008_06_23/r700_count/

 

[hispeed120]

There isn't a whole lot of difference right now with the 1GB cards (8800GT, 8800GTS, etc) because the memory is limited by the bus size (256MB). Even though the new 4870 will have a 256-bit bus, GDDR5 and the frequencies it operates at allow for a higher data rate than a 256-bit bus with GDDR3.

I'm waiting for the 1GB 4870, though I, nor anyone else I believe, know what it will do until there are more reviews of the GDDR5 4870.

 

[Ogdin]

We're talking £'s here mate , not $'s.

Ah ok.

 

[sailer]

If the 1 gig cards were going to show up within a couple weeks, I'd wait. But as it is, I'd buy a 512mb card and then Crossfire it later on. Of course, that presumes there will be plenty of 512mb cards available in the near future.

 

[TheGreatGrapeApe]

IMO, it depends on your timeframe as well as your resolution/settings.

For a short-term buy 512MB is fine, liekly won't get pushed too hard by toom many apps unless you use larger terxture and highest settings at high resolution with some AA. But even a game like COD4 or Oblivion with texture mods can easily go over 512MB, and on older titles using 8X AA would be a nice bonus if it didn't hurt performance greatly.

Now longer-term there are going to be tougher titles out there as well as different uses for the GPU as both co-processors for things like physics and also for non-gaming applications like video encoding. Those will benefit from more local memory access.

Anywhoo, just like before, many if not most people won't benefit from 1GB over 512MB, however there is definitely a use for it now, and more of one in the future too IMO.

 

[kad]

Well as the guy above mentioned, you can get a Sapphire 4870 for even cheaper. £179 !

I'm on a Maximus Formula so both slots are X16. PCI 2.0 if I'm not mistaken. These cards are the reason I went for the X38 when I upgraded my set up a few months back. I wasn't sure it was going to be the right choice but it seems like a good one now.

That was a wise decision on your mobo
I'm sure now you do not regret it
Congradulations
Maybe if you wait some time prices will drop
Best luck

 

[Darkmatterx]

I'm wondering the same thing. my 24" is 19X12 native res so I'm not sure if I'll be hurt by a 512 card.

The real question is, how long till the 1gb's come out....

 

[kad]

I'm wondering the same thing. my 24" is 19X12 native res so I'm not sure if I'll be hurt by a 512 card.

The real question is, how long till the 1gb's come out....

\
We were expecting 4870 to have 1G
maybe in a couple of month

 

[ovaltineplease]

Speculating: 4870 with 1gb of memory won't be a monumental increase over the 4870 with 512 mem

However, the 4870x2 with 1gb should be - cause it should have the power to utilize that.

The 4870 with 1gb might be worth it if you plan to crossfire - but I think that a single 4870 1gb is probably not anything to go crazy over

 

[Mike145]

im in the same position... but i think there isnt gonna be a huge performance difference, so im probably just going to crossfire 2 4870 512mb. Then in about a years time (or whenever it may be) ATI will hopefully have some more powerfull cards to choose from.

 

[jackbnimble007]

From what I understand, the ASUS 1GB version of the 4870 will feature a new Glacier Heatsink which is supposed to lower temps by 7°C.

"Every ASUS EAH4800 Series graphics card will also soon be equipped with the Glaciator Fansink* – a uniquely designed cooling solution that will keep GPU temperatures up to 7ºC cooler than reference designed boards" - http://www.tweaktown.com/pressrelease/33/asus_announces_radeon_hd_4870_early/index.html

What I'd like to know is:

1) What is the difference between the EAH4870/HDMI/512M and the EAH4870 TOP, and
2) Is the EAH4870/HDMI/512M already equipped with the Glacier Heatsink?

 

[Guest]

ogdin the 4870 x2 isn't supposed to be 400... its supposed to be at 500... and the reason why they are making the 4870 x2 is for better scalability and prices... its supposed to be cheaper than 2 cards... that's the point of making X2s... to maximize performance and decrease costs... now that wasn't the case with the previous X2's but it should be the case with upcoming X2's and X3/4's when scalability really improves

 

[IndigoMoss]

X4? Damn Nvidia might be in trouble with something like that. Just imagine if it scaled as well as an X2, that thing would be able to play Crysis (I know, stupid Internet meme, but I couldn't resist).