4870x2 Performance

G'day everyone. I've been a long time reader of articles on Tom's Hardware, and appreciate the knowledge that some people here have.

I recently bought a Sapphire 4870x2 to use in my new rig. Specs are as follows:

• CPU: Intel Q9550 @ 2.83GHz [stock]
• Mobo: GA-EP45-DS4P
• RAM: 8GB Corsair DDR2 1066 5-5-5-15
• PSU: 1200W GigaByte Odin Pro
• HDD[s]: 1TB Samsung
• OS: Vista x64 SP1
• Drivers: 8.9

Before I received the 8GB RAM, I was using 2GB lent to me from a mate [the supplier shipped the wrong RAM initially]. Wanting to feel the power, I downloaded and fired up 3DMark06. I averaged 12000 marks, which in my expectations looked low. I was told that the RAM will be the problem there, so when I received the 8GB, I tested again and got ~15000 marks [still low imo]

Now to the problems.

• I now get capacitor squeal when the gfx card is under load, and it's quite irritating. Searches on the net have show that it's quite a common problem, and RMA'ing it will not necessarily guarantee acknowledgement by the supplier or replacement with a card that doesn't have the same problem. I don't know whether to RMA it or not.

• Crysis ingame performance is a joke. I know this is a badly written game etc etc, but according to benchmarks done by the guys here, they can achieve 30FPS at 2560 x 1600. I get just below 30FPS at 1152 x 864, which isn't great at all.

• Using ATi Overdrive in CCC, I can see that the card has been underclocked by Sapphire to 507MHz GPU and 500MHz Mem, whereas it should be at 750MHz GPU and 900MHz Mem. I enable overdrive and apply the newer settings for both GPUs, however the display at the bottom of the window under 'Current Clock' still says the old values. Using GPU-Z, I can see that the primary GPU's clocks have been modified, but the second GPU has not changed at all.

The driver CD [version 8.8 I believe] didn't install the graphics drivers as it was supposed to, so I had to download 8.9 from AMD's website.


Thanks for reading; what are your opinions? I'm not exactly thrilled so far.

uninstall drivers, reboot, use driver cleaner, reboot, install 8.9 drivers again ( or 8.9 RC2 drivers) which work exceptionally well, also make sure your PCIE slot is not being limited to 8x or 1x. One last thing, make sure Catalyst AI is enabled in the CCC. BTW those clocks are normal for the 4870X2, it goes into a power saving low-clock mode when not in gaming.

TimeDemo Play Started , (Total Frames: 2000, Recorded Time: 111.86s)
==============================================================
TimeDemo Play Started , (Total Frames: 2000, Recorded Time: 111.86s)
!TimeDemo Run 0 Finished.
Play Time: 67.40s, Average FPS: 29.67
Min FPS: 16.78 at frame 138, Max FPS: 45.46 at frame 980
Average Tri/Sec: -17686060, Tri/Frame: -596051
Recorded/Played Tris ratio: -1.54
!TimeDemo Run 1 Finished.
Play Time: 62.58s, Average FPS: 31.96
Min FPS: 16.78 at frame 138, Max FPS: 50.89 at frame 80
Average Tri/Sec: -18729106, Tri/Frame: -586007
Recorded/Played Tris ratio: -1.56
!TimeDemo Run 2 Finished.
Play Time: 62.57s, Average FPS: 31.97
Min FPS: 16.78 at frame 138, Max FPS: 50.89 at frame 80
Average Tri/Sec: -18602182, Tri/Frame: -581928
Recorded/Played Tris ratio: -1.58
!TimeDemo Run 3 Finished.
Play Time: 62.26s, Average FPS: 32.12
Min FPS: 16.78 at frame 138, Max FPS: 51.57 at frame 61
Average Tri/Sec: -18771556, Tri/Frame: -584390
Recorded/Played Tris ratio: -1.57
TimeDemo Play Ended, (4 Runs Performed)
==============================================================

thats the time demo results although i don' think that gives a proper gameplay result, hopefully comparable though.

=============================================================
TimeDemo Play Started , (Total Frames: 2000, Recorded Time: 111.86s)
!TimeDemo Run 0 Finished.
Play Time: 78.74s, Average FPS: 25.40
Min FPS: 16.20 at frame 1955, Max FPS: 35.34 at frame 859
Average Tri/Sec: -7086814, Tri/Frame: -279019
Recorded/Played Tris ratio: -3.29
!TimeDemo Run 1 Finished.
Play Time: 73.55s, Average FPS: 27.19
Min FPS: 16.20 at frame 1955, Max FPS: 35.93 at frame 1003
Average Tri/Sec: -7264278, Tri/Frame: -267157
Recorded/Played Tris ratio: -3.43
!TimeDemo Run 2 Finished.
Play Time: 73.55s, Average FPS: 27.19
Min FPS: 16.20 at frame 1955, Max FPS: 35.96 at frame 988
Average Tri/Sec: -7233448, Tri/Frame: -266006
Recorded/Played Tris ratio: -3.45

that was 3 runs at 19x12, 4 x aa.

At 1280 x 1024 - 8xAA:
==============================================================
TimeDemo Play Started , (Total Frames: 2000, Recorded Time: 111.86s)
!TimeDemo Run 0 Finished.
Play Time: 61.43s, Average FPS: 32.56
Min FPS: 16.45 at frame 145, Max FPS: 51.76 at frame 991
Average Tri/Sec: -21314604, Tri/Frame: -654697
Recorded/Played Tris ratio: -1.40
TimeDemo Play Ended, (1 Runs Performed)
==============================================================

At 1900 x 1200 - 4xAA:

=============================================================
TimeDemo Play Started , (Total Frames: 2000, Recorded Time: 111.86s)
!TimeDemo Run 0 Finished.
Play Time: 73.17s, Average FPS: 27.33
Min FPS: 17.99 at frame 1955, Max FPS: 36.36 at frame 854
Average Tri/Sec: -9161584, Tri/Frame: -335197
Recorded/Played Tris ratio: -2.73
TimeDemo Play Ended, (1 Runs Performed)
==============================================================


It seems that my framerates basically correspond with yours, so my card seems to be fine in comparison. I guess with better drivers and coding [!] this card should see me through the immediate future.

Oh btw, this was done in full screen mode. 16qAA at 1900 x 1200 runs at the same rate as 4xAA [anti-aliasing on this card creams]

At 1900 x 1200 - 16qAA:

=============================================================
TimeDemo Play Started , (Total Frames: 2000, Recorded Time: 111.86s)
!TimeDemo Run 0 Finished.
Play Time: 71.70s, Average FPS: 27.89
Min FPS: 15.11 at frame 143, Max FPS: 38.85 at frame 885
Average Tri/Sec: -9527718, Tri/Frame: -341557
Recorded/Played Tris ratio: -2.68
TimeDemo Play Ended, (1 Runs Performed)
==============================================================


Just a quick question, how did the reviewers here at TH get 30 FPS at 2560 x 1600? [http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/4870-x2-amd,1992-5.html]
I get the following:

At 2560 x 1600 - No AA:

==============================================================
Beginning Run #1 on Map-island, Demo-benchmark_gpu
DX10 2560x1600, AA=No AA, Vsync=Enabled, 32 bit test, FullScreen
Demo Loops=1, Time Of Day= 9
Global Game Quality: VeryHigh
==============================================================
TimeDemo Play Started , (Total Frames: 2000, Recorded Time: 111.86s)
!TimeDemo Run 0 Finished.
Play Time: 95.45s, Average FPS: 20.95
Min FPS: 13.45 at frame 142, Max FPS: 26.00 at frame 872
Average Tri/Sec: -3784197, Tri/Frame: -180602
Recorded/Played Tris ratio: -5.08
TimeDemo Play Ended, (1 Runs Performed)
==============================================================


Cheers.