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The already familiar black and orange box of huge size is a sure sign that we have a video card from ASUS High-End class in our hands. The front side, compared to the 512-MB version, has not changed much - only instead of the DDR5 inscription, “1 GB” proudly flaunts.
The back side has not undergone any changes at all ...
... as well as the "contents" of the opening "suitcase".
We can't help but praise ASUS for its sense of style - well, it's very nice to get a video card neatly packed in a stylish black and gold box. There is a certain element of selectivity, elitism, high cost.
To enhance these feelings, ASUS bundles the graphics card with an exclusive leather mouse pad. Well, no one canceled the disks with drivers and instructions.
As for the latter, it has been "changed". Look at the bottom line of the list of languages - Ukrainian proudly flaunts there. We are pleased that such a large and respected company as ASUS has included Ukrainian in the list of supported languages.
Other elements are not excluded from the delivery set. Thus, the board comes with:
- Branded leather mouse pad;
- CD with drivers and additional software;
- Paper and electronic manuals for installing and configuring a video card;
- Power adapter from peripheral connectors to 6-pin PCI Express;
- Adapter from DVI to VGA;
- DVI to HDMI adapter;
- Adapter for component TV-Out (HDTV);
- Adapter for TV-Out to composite output;
- CrossFire bridge (standard length).
The appearance of the video card does not show any changes in it. It seemed to disguise itself as an ASUS Radeon HD 4870 512 MB, but we do not give up so easily and resolutely remove the cooling system.
Hmm, and there seems to be nothing unusual. But let's take a little closer look.
The "heart" of the video card is in order. This is the well-known RV770 chip, which operates at the recommended frequencies.
Yep, that's it. Our little spot-the-one-difference game is over. That's the difference - this graphics adapter uses memory chips manufactured by Hynix H5GQ1H24MJR and they have twice the density of Qimonda memory chips used in the ASUS Radeon HD 4870 512 MB. All other characteristics of graphics accelerators are identical.
Well, we just have to fix the received information in the form of a screenshot of the GPU-Z utility and proceed to testing.
When testing, we used the Stand for testing Video cards No. 1
Choose what you want to compare Radeon HD4870 1GB ASUS
Looking at the test results, we came to the conclusion that 512 MB of video memory is enough for modern games. But this is with the condition that the screen resolution will be no more than 1600x1200. The ASUS Radeon HD 4870 1 GB graphics card was able to show a performance increase of more than 10% compared to its 512 MB version only in the game Crysis with all graphics enhancement techniques enabled and at high resolutions.
However, do not jump to conclusions. The fact is that additional memory may be needed when playing at even higher resolutions, especially when combining graphics adapters in a CrossFireX bundle. Be that as it may, the ASUS Radeon HD 4870 1 GB video card demonstrates the high performance characteristic of these cards.
Let's look at monitoring the video card in the nominal mode. Take a look at the temperatures - they are quite high, but still acceptable. On the other hand, in exchange for the high temperatures of the components, we get a quite acceptable noise level - the video card is not audible at all against the background of a quiet system unit in idle time and only a little audible at full load. The picture is spoiled by a slight squeak of the throttle, which sometimes occurs when the video card is under load. In our practice, this is already the second such case - the first was with the Radeon HD 4870 512 MB manufactured by GIGABYTE.
Overclocking
Since at the time of testing we did not yet have utilities that fully work correctly with the Radeon HD 4870, overclocking was carried out using the functions built into the driver, i.e. A.T.I. Overdrive. At the same time, overclocking of the GPU was immediately limited to the maximum possible value of 790 MHz, to which the driver allows you to increase the frequency. But the video memory could not work consistently at the allowed maximum, and its frequency limit turned out to be at the level of 950 MHz (3800 MHz DDR5), which is slightly lower than that of the ASUS Radeon HD 4870 512 MB - 1075 MHz.
Thus, the overclocking of the GPU was only 5.3%, and the bandwidth of the video memory increased by 5.5%. Let's see how this affected the performance of the video card.
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Test package |
Standard Frequencies |
Overclocked graphics card |
Productivity increase, % |
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Serious Sam 2, Maximum Quality, NO AA/AF, fps |
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Serious Sam 2, Maximum Quality, AA4x/AF16x, fps |
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Call Of Juarez, Maximum Quality, NO AA/AF, fps |
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Call Of Juarez, Maximum Quality, AA4x/AF16x, fps |
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Prey, Maximum Quality, NO AA/AF, fps |
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Prey, Maximum Quality, AA4x/AF16x, fps |
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Crysis, Maximum Quality, NO AA/AF, fps |
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Crysis, Maximum Quality, AA4x/AF16x, fps |
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Shouldn't have expected much from such a slight overclocking. However, it is worth noting the ease with which Radeon HD 4870 video cards take the bar at 790 MHz. This suggests that, with the right software, overclocking can be very successful.
This is clearly demonstrated by monitoring the operation of the graphics adapter during overclocking at 100% of the rotational speed of the standard turbine.
Despite overclocking, the temperature of all nodes is at an acceptable level, up to 65 0 C.
Unfortunately, the stock cooling system is as efficient as it is noisy. At 100% rotational speed of the standard turbine, the howl from the video card was comparable only to the howl of a small vacuum cleaner.
conclusions
We can definitely say that the ASUS Radeon HD 4870 1 GB video card showed excellent results in all respects, including performance, noise level and cooling efficiency. It also demonstrates a good theoretical overclocking potential with the appropriate software. Like other products based on the ATI RV770 chip, it is a very successful embodiment of engineering.
The installed 1 GB of video memory opens up even wider prospects for it, providing a performance increase of 10% in heavy modes, which is comparable to the increase in cost. This same improvement will allow you to easily use a pair of these graphics cards in CrossFire mode to create an uncompromisingly powerful gaming system that will be able to run the latest games in FullHD resolutions.
Advantages:
- good price/performance/power consumption ratio;
- HD-Video hardware decoding and HDCP support;
- availability of HDMI support;
- good equipment;
- increased to 1 GB of video memory.
Disadvantages:
- A cooling system cannot be both quiet and efficient at the same time.
We express our gratitude to the company LLC PF Service(Dnepropetrovsk) for the video card provided for testing.
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If we compare the new scheme with the one used in the R600/RV670 chip, the differences are obvious. The texture units in the new chip are tied to stream processors, AMD has seriously redesigned the operation of the L1 and L2 caches built into the GPU, the ROP units have been improved and the number of stream processors has been increased to 800 pieces.
The anti-aliasing system has undergone major changes, as a result of which its speed has increased significantly, and 2x/4x MSAA anti-aliasing is now completely free! In the following articles, we plan to dwell on this point in more detail, as well as compare the quality of anti-aliasing for AMD and NVIDIA video cards. For reference, here is a table with the technical characteristics of the new video cards and compare them with the previous generation:
| ATI Radeon™ HD4870 | ATI Radeon™ HD4850 | ATI Radeon™ HD3870 | |
| Number of transistors, million | 965 | 965 | 666 |
| Those. process, nm | 55 | 55 | 55 |
| Number of stream processors | 800 | 800 | 320 |
| Number of texture modules | 40 | 40 | 16 |
| Number of rasterization blocks | 16 | 16 | 16 |
| GPU clock frequency, MHz | 750 | 625 | 775 |
| Type and effective frequency of video memory | GDDR5, 3600 MHz | GDDR3, 2000 MHz | GDDR4, 2250 MHz |
| GPU computing power, TFlops | 1,2 | 1,0 | 0,497 |
| Tire type | PCI Express 2.0 x16 | PCI Express 2.0 x16 | PCI Express 2.0 x16 |
| DirectX support | 10.1 | 10.1 | 10.1 |
| Tessellation block | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Integrated video decoder | ver. 2.0 | ver. 2.0 | ver. 1.0 |
| ATI PowerPlayTM support | Yes | Yes | Yes |
We will study the Radeon HD4870 on the example of a video card provided to us for testing by HIS.
HIS Radeon HD4870
The packaging of the HIS Radeon HD4870 video card is small in size, made in blue tones. Both sides of the box contain key information about the video card. The video card package contains:- DVI > D-sub adapter;
- DVI > HDMI adapter;
- S-video adapter > tulip;
- adapter S-video > component out;
- bridge CrossFire;
- CD with drivers;
- user manual, memo about available Steam games;
- body sticker;
- branded screwdriver-flashlight-level;
The Radeon HD4870 uses the same RV770 graphics chip as the Radeon HD4850.
GDDR5 video memory chips are manufactured by Qimonda. The nominal effective clock frequency according to the passport for this memory is 4.0 GHz, while the standard one, at which this memory functions on the Radeon HD4870 video card, as we have already said, is 3.6 GHz.
Under load in 3D mode, the graphics chip of the Radeon HD4870 operates at a frequency of 750 MHz, and during idle time, its frequency drops to 500 MHz.
Cooling efficiency and overclocking
Since neither Riva Tuner nor any other program that overclocks ATI/AMD video cards still supports the new Radeon HD4000 family, we will talk about measuring temperature and other indicators in words. During idle, the GPU temperature fluctuates around 78 degrees, while the fan rotates at a speed of 1075 rpm, which is 22% of its maximum possible speed. Under load, that is, during the run of 9 Firefly Forest tests from the 3DMark'06 test package at a resolution of 1600x1200 with 4x anti-aliasing and 16x anisotropic filtering, the graphics chip heated up to 84 degrees. The fan speed increased to 1886 rpm, which is 30% of the maximum possible speed. Note that at this speed, the noise from the cooling system became noticeable. As for overclocking, the only available tool for its implementation at the moment is the ATI Overdrive utility built into the control panel of the video card. Alas, this utility does not provide almost any freedom of action, allowing you to increase the frequency of the graphics chip by only 40 MHz, and the memory by 200 "real" MHz. As a result, the video card Radeon HD4870 was overclocked to 790/4400 MHz, which is not serious. However, we still tested the overclocked Radeon HD4870 in Crysis, and you can see the results of this small experiment at the end of this article.Testing
We will conduct testing on a test bench with the following configuration:Competitors of the new video card Radeon HD4870 from HIS and drivers for them will be as follows:
- GeForce GTX280, ForceWare drivers 177.34;
- GeForce GTX260, ForceWare drivers 177.39;
- Radeon HD4850, Catalyst 8.6 drivers;
Testing at standard resolutions
In 3DMark tests, the new product from HIS scored a much higher number of points than its budget "sister" Radeon HD4850, which allowed it to perform on an equal footing with competitors from NVIDIA. But, as we have said in our previous articles, 3DMark tests do not show the whole picture. Game tests are a completely different matter, so let's move on to them. As usual, we ran these tests with 4x anti-aliasing and 16x anisotropic filtering.
The first gaming test, and the Radeon HD4870 immediately "flexed its muscles". In the game Call of Duty 4, the novelty was able to bypass the GeForce GTX260. But, as we will see later, this will not always be the case.
Here you are. Crysis game running Windows XP. The results of the video card Radeon HD4870 are close, but still slightly less than the results of the GeForce GTX 260.
Under Windows Vista, the situation has not changed much, the Radeon HD4870 is slower here than the GeForce GTX 260.
In the game Need for Speed Pro Street Racing, the situation is slightly different, in two out of three resolutions the new product turned out to be faster than the GeForce GTX 260. The loss at 1600x1200 can be explained by the smaller amount of video memory in the Radeon HD4870.
In the Call of Juarez game, the results of the Radeon HD4870 video card are located between the results of the GeForce GTX 260 and GeForce GTX 280. This game has always been demanding on the performance of the shader unit and "favorable" to AMD video adapters.
After switching to Windows Vista, the situation changes in favor of the GeForce GTX 260, although at a resolution of 1600x1200 the new Radeon HD4870 is still faster. Since the load on video memory increases in Call of Juarez under Windows Vista, it is logical to assume that the GeForce GTX 260 owes its victory at low resolutions to its wide 448-bit memory bus, but with increasing resolution it lacks the power of the shader unit and therefore the Radeon HD4870 turns out to be faster.
We see a similar picture in Need for Speed Carbon, where as the resolution increases, the Radeon HD4870 is even faster than the GeForce GTX 280!
The game Prey shows the same picture: the resolution is growing, and the loss of the Radeon HD4870 to rivals from the NVIDIA camp is decreasing. However, in previous reviews we noticed that the new video cards from AMD feel very comfortable at high resolutions. However, the relatively small amount of video memory in AMD video cards can play a cruel joke with them, which will be discussed later.
High resolution testing
In the Crysis game with high quality settings, the Radeon HD4870 video card lags behind the GeForce GTX 260 as the resolution grows, which is caused precisely by its small video memory by modern standards.
When switching to the highest possible quality settings, the Radeon HD4870 turns out to be at least as good as the GeForce GTX 260 in the first two resolutions. However, at the maximum resolution of 2048x1536, the results drop noticeably. And again, the lack of video memory is to blame. Perhaps the 1 GB versions of the Radeon HD4870 (if any) will show better results. The lag of the Radeon HD4870 behind the "younger" sister of the Radeon HD4850 may be due to the peculiarities of the GDDR5 memory, but we will deal with this issue in detail in the following materials.
It's funny, but it is in Windows Vista, which is more demanding on the amount of video memory than Windows XP, that the Radeon HD4870 feels better, and there is no drop in performance at a resolution of 2048x1536. However, the Radeon HD4870 and Radeon HD4850 video cards have a problem with a resolution of 1920x1200, at which the game works, but there is no image. Apparently, this is caused by a bug in the drivers.
When switching to the maximum possible settings, the speed decreases, but the overall balance of power does not change.
In Call of Juarez running Windows XP, even when going to high resolutions, the Radeon HD4870 is faster than the GeForce GTX 260.
After switching to Windows Vista, the GeForce GTX 260 is faster only at the lowest of the resolutions presented, while the Radeon HD4870 leads at higher resolutions. This once again points to a more powerful shader unit in the video card from AMD.
In Call of Duty 4 at high resolutions, the Radeon HD4870 is on par with the GeForce GTX 260. The situation was almost the same at lower resolutions.
In the game Race Driver: GRID, the new Radeon HD4870 is inferior to its rival GeForce GTX 260 only in the highest resolution. Most likely, the culprit of this was the relatively small amount of video memory.
Tests of overclocked Radeon HD4870 in Crysis
And finally, as we promised, the results of a Radeon HD4870 overclocked to 790/4400 MHz in Crysis:The increase in performance is obvious. It can be seen that a further increase in the clock frequency could make the novelty noticeably faster. But, alas, there are no utilities yet that can do this.
conclusions
The Radeon HD4870 video card turned out to be not only in words, but in fact the most real competitor for the GeForce GTX 260 video card from NVIDIA. We have not seen this for a long time, because the "top" representatives of the two previous families of video cards from AMD could compete with NVIDIA products only in words, but in reality they were too slow. Obviously, the new shader unit with an increased number of stream processors and a changed architecture turned out to be more powerful than the shader unit in the GeForce GTX 260 video card. True, the new product falls short of the GeForce GTX 280, but at the same time it provides comfortable "gameplay" in almost all modern games.With a recommended price of $299, the Radeon HD4870 video card can already be found for 10,663 rubles. At the same time, the GeForce GTX 260 graphics card costs a couple of thousand rubles more. For this amount, you can buy a pair of Radeon HD4850 and put it in a CrossFire bundle, which should be faster in performance than a GeForce GTX 260. Well, a CrossFire bundle from a Radeon HD4870 can be quite opposed to a GeForce GTX 280. By the way, AMD promised significant improvements in the performance of its multi-chip configurations, but this is a topic for our next article.
And again "Crysis", but with DirectX 10. As you can see, only at low resolutions the Radeon HD 4870 can compete with its rival GeForce, but at 1600x1200 it is noticeably inferior. Playing at maximum settings in DirectX 10 consumes a lot of video memory, and it seems that the GeForce GTX 260 benefits from its "extra" megabytes.
Output
In this article, we got acquainted with the modern flagship from AMD and compared it with the younger model on the same graphics chip and with a competitor from NVIDIA. Although the GeForce GTX 260 can be called a direct competitor with a stretch, because the price of this video card is still slightly higher. Initially, when new models began to appear on the market, the difference in price was even greater. But AMD's pricing policy forced NVIDIA to reduce the cost of their new products. And it is no coincidence, because in many tests the Radeon HD 4870 is only slightly inferior to the GeForce GTX 260, and sometimes even outperforms. But more memory and good overclocking potential help the GeForce GTX 260 to confidently hold a leading position in many applications. Additional benefits of the Radeon HD 4870 include lower power consumption.
As for the ratio between the Radeon HD 4850 and Radeon HD 4870, sometimes we see a significant gap between the older model and the younger one. And if the difference in the frequency of the chip they have is not so great, then, no doubt, faster memory helps to achieve such indicators. On the other hand, with a performance difference of 20-30%, the junior card is much cheaper. This was the situation with the Radeon HD 3850 and Radeon HD 3870, and then the price difference between these cards gradually decreased to a very insignificant amount. So the Radeon HD 4850 is without a doubt a pretty good model in its price range.
The Radeon HD 4870 also outperforms its closest competitor on price. Although if a new, slightly cheaper and economical board replaces the GeForce GTX 260, then all the minimal advantages of Radeon will fade into the background. But so far there are no such options, and the Radeon HD 4870 occupies its own price niche. And the answer to NVIDIA's ultra-fast, hot graphics cards at sky-high prices is the Radeon HD 4870 X2 based on two RV770s. And this card will probably rightfully take the place of the leader, because the RV770 has potential, as we have already seen.
Leadership in the Hi-End class of graphics accelerators for the companies that produce them is a matter of prestige. Despite the relatively low demand for the fastest video cards, the cost of which in the last two or three years is almost always higher than 600 or even 700 US dollars, they are a kind of guideline for most users who are more or less interested in games. It is video cards of this class that demonstrate a kind of benchmark performance in modern games. And if products based on graphics processors from ATi or NVIDIA occupy this "throne", then the company itself is considered a leader in a certain period of time, which certainly affects the growth in sales of video cards in all price segments and an increase in the manufacturer's rating.
In my opinion, from the moment the NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTX/Ultra appeared on the market and inclusively until the release of the GeForce GTX 260/280 line, the leadership in the top class of video cards belonged to NVIDIA. For its part, ATi (and later AMD) attempted to regain the top spot by releasing the dual-chip Radeon HD 3870 X2. However, it was not possible to do this in full: problems with drivers, the AFR rendering mode, which had no alternative for ATi, the presence of the GeForce 9800 GX2 on the market, and the new GPU from NVIDIA G200, which arrived very quickly, did not allow HD 3870 X2 win the glory of the fastest video card.
advertising
However, after releasing the undeniably successful mid-range video cards Radeon HD 4850 and HD 4870, ATi's graphics division, now owned by AMD, announces a two-chip Hi-End video card on August 12, 2008 - Radeon HD 4870 X2 with a recommended price of 549 US dollars and with clear claims to absolute leadership. A little later, her younger sister, the Radeon HD 48, should also appear on the market. 50 X2 with a recommended price of up to $ 400, which we will also study and test later. Well, today we present to your attention a review and "speed test" of the Radeon HD 4870 X2, released under the label of Hightech Information System Limited (HIS).1. Overview of HIS Radeon HD 4870 X2 2x1 GB
The design style and dimensions of the box in which the HIS Radeon HD 4870 X2 is supplied have not changed in comparison with the previously reviewed Radeon HD 4850 and HD 4870 from the same manufacturer. Is that the color scheme is now predominantly green:
On the front side of the box, you can find information about the video card model, its interface, the amount and type of installed video memory. The reverse side is replete with lines of board specifications, a description of system requirements, as well as information about the features of graphics technologies embedded in the GPU. Here are the awards of printed and electronic publications (of which there are already more than 600) received by HIS products. The video card is made in China.
Each brand in the electronics market has one unique product that brought fame to its manufacturer and went down in history due to its features. At ATI, such a flagship is the Radeon HD 4870 gaming video adapter. The review, specifications, photos, reviews of the owners in this article will allow the reader to get to know this interesting product better.
Current state of affairs
It should be noted right away that the once popular and very high-performance video card has been occupying the last positions in the ranking of gaming devices for several years, however, as practice shows, the graphics accelerator is not going to give up without a fight. If the reader looks at the system requirements for the latest games released on the market a few months ago, he will certainly see that for a comfortable game, the developers recommend using the Radeon HD 4870, the characteristics of which meet the minimum requirements.
It is clear that this video adapter is unlikely to be suitable for playing at high resolutions in a resource-intensive application, but the graphics accelerator still has potential, especially when it comes to a dual-core representative of the market. But first things first.
Entry level game class
The 4870 video card, unlike other products of ATI's 4000 series of video adapters, received a new RV770 core, and, accordingly, a modern set of instructions supporting all technologies existing at that time. On the area of the crystal core of 256 mm 2, the manufacturer managed to place almost 1 billion transistors. The graphics accelerator has 800 universal processors, 16 rasterization units and 40 texture units. This video card was one of the first to receive an advanced 256-bit GDDR5 bus operating at a frequency of 900 MHz.
The graphics core in the factory version received an underestimated frequency equal to 750 MHz. However, the reader should not pay attention to this indicator, since the final products released under well-known brands have solved the issue with the speed of the GPU. It is better to pay attention to the power consumption of the gaming adapter - 160 watts at maximum load. There is something to think about for all owners of low-power power supplies.
All known technologies
Since performance characteristics are in the first place for the Radeon HD 4870 video adapter, the manufacturer simply had to provide his product with the DirectX 10.1 libraries that were relevant at that time. The OpenGL standard is limited to 3.1, which greatly confuses potential buyers, because at the time of the presentation of the device, OpenGL 4.0 had already been announced. The most interesting thing is that the device received support for the new shaders version 4.1. It is this technology that still allows the video card to remain in demand in the gaming market. The video adapter works with the outdated PCEex16 version 2.0 interface. The maximum power is 16x.
Important for the graphics accelerator is the support for popular video outputs DisplayPort and HDMI. The audio controller integrated on the video adapter also supports the transmission of 7-channel audio. Surprisingly, this technology has been implemented on discrete platforms for both personal computers and mobile devices. It is worth noting that the analog video output is limited to a resolution of 2048x1536 dpi, while this parameter is no better for the digital interface - 2560x1600 dpi.
Double punch
After conducting the first tests of the gaming video adapter in the laboratory, the technologists came to the conclusion that the Radeon HD 4870 video card, the characteristics of which can be improved, can become the flagship of ATI. The changes affected primarily the power supply system and phase distribution. The manufacturer also installed two RV770 graphics cores on the video adapter. As a result, the market saw a new performance champion in tests and games - the HD 4870 X2 graphics card.
All characteristics of the nominal device have actually doubled. Even in lab tests, the video adapter showed identical results to the base unit running in CrossFire X2 mode. The only difference that should be attributed to the advantages is the reduction in power consumption by the device. The manufacturer managed to reduce the consumption of two cores to 280 watts. This looks rather strange. After all, logically, the manufacturer simply had to rebrand single-core chips with high power consumption.
Strike while the iron is hot
Notebook manufacturers also became interested in the gaming graphics core, so ATI presented the market with a mobile solution based on the new graphics core. Since temperature and power consumption are critical indicators for the Radeon HD 4870 chip, the manufacturer was forced to reduce the frequency of the graphics processor to 550 MHz. But these indicators are enough to provide a comfortable game for many users.
All parameters, including the technologies used, migrated to the mobile platform. Naturally, the 256-bit GDDR5 bus with a capacity of 1 GB did not go unnoticed by many potential buyers. As you might expect, many laptop manufacturers have not paid due attention to the cooling system, which is why they have attracted a lot of negativity from mobile device owners. Due to massive user dissatisfaction, manufacturers soon abandoned the Radeon HD 4870.
Direct competitor
AMD started a storm of activity to create a gaming solution after the product of competitor Geforce 9800 GT appeared on the market. The Radeon HD 4870 was supposed to move the market leader in the gaming segment. But, as often happens, the company's technologists overdid it and outperformed the Nvidia graphics accelerator in performance. Many experts in their reviews assure others that this particular chip is the connecting link between the two generations of gaming video cards.
And if we return to the competition, then we can safely say that the Radeon HD 4870 accelerated the emergence of new productive devices on the gaming market. After all, the Nvidia GTX 260 graphics accelerator became the first representative of a new generation of video adapters, which was supposed to outperform all competitors.
Appearance and quality
The plastic protective case and turbofan on the Radeon HD 4870 graphics accelerator (a photo of the device can be seen in this article) indicate that the buyer is a representative of the gaming segment. The video card is made using red textolite, and the heatsink shroud and high-frequency cooler have a bright scarlet color to match the AMD product.
A detailed study of the placement of microcircuits on a graphics accelerator will make it clear to any user that the manufacturer will not sell its products at retail, but will provide this opportunity to the leaders of the computer market. Naturally, the brand that can provide a device with powerful heat dissipation with a decent cooling system will win the performance race.
Chasing the stars
It is better to start the review on the Radeon HD 4870 graphics accelerator with the most productive products from HIS and Sapphire, which used the 4870 X2 chip with two cores to create gaming solutions. Many owners in their reviews note that at the time of the announcement, these video cards simply had no competitors in the market for gaming components for a computer. In addition to high performance, video adapters have a lot of other advantages:
- a unique package that includes a set of necessary adapters and interface cables;
- completely modified power system on a printed circuit board with the addition of several phases;
- replacement of electrolytic capacitors with solid-state capacitances;
- a cooling system of our own production was installed with efficient heat removal from both the graphics core and memory chips.
Returning to the HIS product package, it is worth noting that the manufacturer has equipped its video card with a proprietary device that combines a screwdriver, a level and a flashlight. Also in the box, the buyer will find a coupon for a free download of any licensed game from the Half-Life series.
Affordable product
The best-selling video adapter based on the Radeon HD 4870 chip, which all enthusiasts of the world preferred to compare with, is a product from ASUS. The manufacturer managed to achieve the golden mean in terms of price-performance, forcing many representatives of the initial gaming segment to reduce the cost of their products in order to somehow stay on the market.
The main feature of the video card is the increase in the number of phases by the developer to power the circuits of the printed circuit board. The technologists also developed an efficient open-type cooling system. The core and radiator of the cooler are made of pure copper and are mounted in the device only on the graphics core. The memory chips (the volume of which has been halved and amounted to only 512 MB) are superficially blown by the fan and do not have their own heatsinks to remove heat.
Gaming performance and overclocking potential
Many owners in their reviews note that the performance characteristics of the Radeon HD 4870 1 Gb video card directly depend on the operation of the graphics core. Accordingly, for overclocking, you need to worry about the presence of a powerful cooling system. All products with the HD 4870 chip have some problems with memory modules. Not a single brand could overcome the barrier of 1000 MHz (4000 MHz effective frequency). There is only one conclusion - the printed circuit board has problems when working with fast memory. There is only one advantage - the memory chips do not heat up.
The buyer can safely rely on the performance of the gaming adapter with games such as Crysis 4, World of Tanks and their counterparts that use a common and do not emphasize the potential of a graphics accelerator. As practice shows, it is better to install the Radeon HD 4870 video card with a low-frequency dual-core or 4-core processor.
Driver problems and solutions
After the release of the updated Windows 10 system to the world market, many gamers had problems installing drivers. On the official website of the manufacturer, there is no software support for all devices based on the 4000 series of video cards. Once again, AMD, after updating the operating system, refuses to support its products (the competitor Nvidia has much higher loyalty to the owners of old devices).
To correctly make a connection on the Radeon HD 4870 video card at the software level, you need to use Windows Update. You do not need to expect that the full package of utilities will be loaded, it just needs to be downloaded from the official website of the manufacturer. Microsoft will provide only one driver that will ensure that the graphics accelerator is compatible with the motherboard when connected. This approach of the manufacturer AMD to customers causes a lot of negativity from the owners of all devices based on Radeon.
