- Email |
- Print |
- Comments (66) |
- Share
Best PCIe Card For $320:
Good 1920x1200 performance in most games, 2560x1600 in most titles with some lowered detail
| Codename: | RV770 |
| Process: | 55 nm |
| Universal Shaders: | 800 |
| Texture Units: | 40 |
| ROPs: | 16 |
| Memory Bus: | 256-bit |
| Core Speed MHz: | 625 |
| Memory Speed MHz: | 993 (1986 effective) |
| DirectX / Shader Model | DX 10.1 / SM 4.0 |
In the 4850 CrossFire benchmarks we’ve seen so far, we’ve found that AMD has really learned to squeeze the performance out of its new cards. While a single Radeon HD 4850 performs in the same realm as the GeForce 9800 GTX+, two 4850s in CrossFire mode will beat the dual-GPU GeForce 9800 GX2—and even put the hurt on the more expensive GeForce GTX 280.
Best PCIe Card For $370:
Good 1920x1200 performance in most games, 2560x1600 in most titles with some lowered detail
| Codename: | RV770 |
| Process: | 55 nm |
| Universal Shaders: | 1,600 |
| Texture Units: | 80 |
| ROPs: | 32 |
| Memory Bus: | 256-bit |
| Core Speed MHz: | 750 |
| Memory Speed MHz: | 900 (3,600 effective) |
| DirectX / Shader Model | DX 10.1 / SM 4.0 |
The 4850 X2 differentiates itself from a cheaper 4850 CrossFire setup with a full 2 GB of RAM, which usually allows this card to perform better than Nvidia’s flagship GeForce GTX 280 for less money. While the gains over two 4850s in a CrossFire setup might be minimal, those of you without a CrossFire-compatible motherboard will find the 4850 X2 more convenient—just make sure your case and power supply can accommodate the beast.
Best PCIe Card For Over $400:
Good 2560x1600 performance in most games, some with lowered detail
| Codename: | RV770 |
| Process: | 55 nm |
| Universal Shaders: | 1,600 |
| Texture Units: | 80 |
| ROPs: | 32 |
| Memory Bus: | 256-bit |
| Core Speed MHz: | 750 |
| Memory Speed MHz: | 900 (3,600 effective) |
| DirectX / Shader Model | DX 10.1 / SM 4.0 |
In this author’s opinion, with exponentially increasing prices over $370 offering smaller and smaller performance increases, we have a hard time recommending anything more expensive than two Radeon HD 4850s. While the 4870, GTX 260, and GTX 280 perform impressively in multiple-card configurations, there’s just not enough of a gain compared to a Radeon 4850 X2, unless you’re playing at resolutions beyond 1920x1200.
Then again, while we often recommend against purchasing any graphics card more than $370 from a value point of view, there are those of you for whom money might not be much of an object, who can afford a 30” LCD monitor and who require the best possible performance money can buy. For those of you, we recommend the $500 Radeon HD 4870 X2, the fastest video card on the planet.
- 1 / 4
- Next
-
Sponsored links
Related forums topics
- Westmere @ 32nm :)
- What computers did you own in the old days? Share your story!
- First Attempt Gaming Rig
- Advice needed on new PC
- HTPC and Blu Ray...
- INTEL Q9300 cooling?
- Asus A8V Deluxe - Random reboots in SP2 (DirectX related)
- Buying a new machine
- Recommendation on Motherboards...dont know what to get...
- Worst PC Build Screw Ups
- Motherboard + Memory for overclocking Q6600
- Video Card Wrecked My Motherboard???
- need to run autocad please help
- Dearly need advice on upgrading!
Best offers
|
GeForce 9800 GTX Video Card (512MB,... | $129.99 TigerDirect More info |
|
GeForce GTX 260 Video Card (896MB,... | $214.99 Newegg.com More info |
|
Radeon HD 5770 Video Card (1GB,... | $179.99 Newegg.com More info |
|
896-P3-1255-AR GeForce GTX260 Video... | $223.26 PC Connection More info |
|
Radeon HD 5750 Video Card (1GB,... | $144.99 Newegg.com More info |
- 4850 crossfire benchmark
- 4850 crossfire benchmarks
- radeon hd 4850 benchmarks
- radeon hd 4870 x2 recommended power supply
- geforce graphic card prices
- 4850 crossfire compared to 4850 x2
- gtx 280 crossfire benchmarks
- nvidia 9800 gtx point of view
- radeon hd 4850 crossfire benchmarks
- pcie interface
- the best graphics card in this planet
- compared to radeon 4850
- which is the best graphic card on the planet now
- comparation radeon geforce
- radeon hd 4850 x2 benchmarks
Partners
The Games selection
crazy :
Xiao Xiao 7
A great fight scene from the animation movies Xiao Xiao.
|
action :
Yoyo the Star
Yoyo is a young girl who recently graduated and dreams to become a movie star (don't we all). You'll have to guide her on the path to stardom,...
|
just wanted to say thanks for the update for this month =)
I liked the update thanks
4850 X2 dont you mean 4870 X2?
opps sorry didnt know there was a 4850 X2
4850 X2 dont you mean 4870 X2?
You're kidding right? Why would they put the same card in the $370 and $400+ categories and with a different description?
EDIT: Nvm, I'm too slow to respond.
If the GTX260+ is not labelled any different, then it can't be a different price to the GTX260 can it?
Mistake!! RadeonHD 3870 is 256bit
Thanks for the write up.
Since you are including on-board chipsets on your GPU hierarchy chart, it would be highly appreciated if you could provide detail as to where the Intel on-board GPUs end up on the spectrum.
Another mistake.... According to my knowledge HD4830 has 16 ROPs.
Great article, thanks for the update!
4850 X2 has higher clock compares with regular 4850?
According to your own charts the 9800GTX+ beats the 4850 in nearly all tests. It has a pretty large lead in the overall FPS of all games in that category too. So using this site as a guide to purchase a 9800GTX+ (which I am very happy with) I now wonder why you say "The Radeon HD 4850 will usually best the GeForce 9800 GTX+."
http://www.tomshardware.com/charts [...] 2,766.html
There's a typo, but the leading card is the 4850x2 on that chart. HL2 EP2 @ 1680x1050.
Yes please, as Slomo requested, please add the Intel Graphics Media Deccellerator IGPs to the chart, if only to assist laptop buyers to know if they have any hope of playing games. Thanks.
While the Radeon HD 4830 offers the 8800/8900 GT its first competition in its price class, the card remains a strong contender and is still a viable option. bottom of page 3 typo....last i checked there was no 8900gt...
one quick thing. Radeon HD 4870 1GB probably is not that good unless you play at high resolutions...you might wanna opt for a 512MB versoin if you play at low resolutions.
I hate ties
Me too, so fortunately my job doesn't require that I wear one :-D.
Prices falling for the GTX260 is great. I keep watching it dip below $200. At $150, I'm buying!
Cheers,
As usual, very good article, i read it each month and i love it. If there is one thing i'd like to see, it's in the Graphic's Card Hierarchy Chart. I'd like to see SLI'd card against single card of the same force. For example. 8800 GT in SLI on par with a single 4870. (This is an example)
According to your own charts the 9800GTX+ beats the 4850 in nearly all tests. It has a pretty large lead in the overall FPS of all games in that category too. So using this site as a guide to purchase a 9800GTX+ (which I am very happy with) I now wonder why you say "The Radeon HD 4850 will usually best the GeForce 9800 GTX+."
While the Nvidia 9800 gtx+ and the ATI 4850 have similar specs and price points, It is more expensive to run a pair of 9800gtx in SLI then a pair of 4850's in crossfire. This is due in part to the premium price of the Nforce chipset over a comparable P45 chipset. I think this is why they choose ATI over Nvidia.