Radeon HD 4870: Better Than GTX 260!
Features
published
Test Drive Unlimited
Test Drive Unlimited confirmed the very strong impression the Radeon HD 4870 made with Call of Duty 4. Not only was it slightly ahead of the GTX 260 at all resolutions, but it finished a mere hair away from the GTX 280 at 1920*1200 + antialiasing and even beat the Nvidia card at 2560*1600 + antialiasing (and was playable at that resolution)! This was an impressive performance, especially since the 4870 only has half the onboard memory. Antialiasing seems to have made a comeback with the Radeon 4800 series!
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137 Comments
Comment from the forums
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mpasternak for the pure gamer at heart, the 4870 seems to be a steal.Reply
however, what are the possibilities for a CUDA like processing environment or handling Physics engines? I think AMD has done a great job making a pure video card, but I believe the future will be with unified technologies of having the GPU assist in other tasks as well.
Time will Tell
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eltouristo Would REALLY help alot if there were charts with these new cards and some of the last gen (what's in the desktop charts now) that way I couldReply
see how much I could gain by upgrading. Maybe thats an update to the desktop charts that just hasnt been dont yet? Seems like it would have already been. -
lightfoot__ Under load, the heat sink did its job and the temperature didn’t rise all that much – at least not as much as the little Radeon HD 4850.Reply
The 4850 went up 6* and the 4870 went up 10*... I think the 4870 went up more, but you (Tom's) said it went up less. -
LOL you don't even have your drivers working properly if a 3870 and 3870x2 are matching each other in performance. Crossfire on the card isn't even working properly, check any bench of a 3870x2 vs 3870 in Call of Duty 4 (ATI preferred drivers).Reply
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oafed The real key is what all the prices on these cards are when Nehalem is released.Reply
LOTS of enthusiasts are planning a Nehalem build toward the end of the year. I image they will be getting 4850/4870s or GTX260/GTX280s. All depending on where the prices are I imagine. -
septagent eltouristoWould REALLY help alot if there were charts with these new cards and some of the last gen (what's in the desktop charts now) that way I couldsee how much I could gain by upgrading. Maybe thats an update to the desktop charts that just hasnt been dont yet? Seems like it would have already been.Reply
I agree about the charts. I don't consider buying a 4870 vs an older card like an x1950, but it sure would be nice to see how much it has improved over time.
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timaahhh Thank you ATI. Though I won't be buying your card cause I just bought an 8800 GT maybe this will force nVidia to drop there prices and give me a cheap step up :D.Reply -
eurodj I loved ati since the rage era, im so glad they are back in the game again, i might even consider trading in my 9800gtx sli for a 4850 crossfire down the line, maybe when i setup to ddr3. But for now best bang for the buck cards are the 9800gtx and the 4850 in my opinionReply