ASUS HD 4870 X2 (EAH4870X2) 2GB PCI-E
Conclusion
Published: 19th August 2008 | Source: ASUS | Price: £347 |
Conclusion
Based on the results over the previous pages it's really hard not to fall in love with the 4870X2. Yes it totally lacks in innovation, yes it sucks up power and yes it removes the need for any heating in your home. But for the hardcore gamer or extreme bencher who craves FPS above everything else, the 4870X2 reigns supreme.High resolutions, high quality textures, 8xAA - you name it, the 4870X2 eats it for lunch. Throughout our testing the only game that could present it with a remote challenge was Crysis (surprise, surprise), and even then with 4xAA and V.High textures applied, the 4870X2 still managed to produce a fairly reasonable 30FPS at 1900x1200 while the GTX280 was left running at a slideshow speed of just under 17FPS.
Credit has to be given to ASUS too for the bundle and packaging provided with the card. Even depite it not being from their high-end "TOP" lineup, the card still comes with a whole bunch of cables, adapters, connectors and a CD wallet. Sure this may not sound amazing, but it's better than a kick in the knackers or a £10 price hike to have a game you don't even like included in the box.
At present the 4870X2 may be a tad on the pricey side at just under £350, but considering we're looking at a card with two GPU's and a huge Copper cooler to help tame the temperatures, it's certainly a lot easier to swallow than the insane launch price of the GTX280. However, going on the current pricing, the 4870X2 is actually around £50 more expensive than NVIDIA's best. Interestingly, as our CPF graphs over the previous few pages have shown, the 4870X2 is able to offset its higher price with its exceptional performance scores, actually making it the better buy of the two where high resolutions and AF are a must.
The Good
- Unrivalled FPS results.
- Performance seems unaffected by resolution changes in most games.
The Mediocre
- Performance offsets the high price.
- Mildly noisy, but nowhere near as bad as we were expecting.
- You need a highly overclocked CPU to get the most out of it.
The Bad
- After a few hours of use, you can fry and egg on the blanking plates.
- Power consumption is sky high.
Most Recent Comments
Great review!
Monster card!
I want, but dont need
Monster card!
I want, but dont need
Great review Jim, and good to see that AMD are continuing with the good price performance ratio.
nVidia u can kiss my @$$
Tis an awesoome card, wonder what difference the extra cross bridge will make when enabled in the drivers.
They ahve to have a good reason for holding back 10gbps worth of bandwith direct between the two gpus
They ahve to have a good reason for holding back 10gbps worth of bandwith direct between the two gpus
Would have been nice to include the gx2 too, that way my decision making would have been easier lol.
Sweet review mate, glad you updated the testbed and went with the QX, whoever suggested that is clearly awesome
I get paid in 11 days; I'm toying with one of these, a velociraptor and an e8600 and a 50" samsung series 6
Sweet review mate, glad you updated the testbed and went with the QX, whoever suggested that is clearly awesome
I get paid in 11 days; I'm toying with one of these, a velociraptor and an e8600 and a 50" samsung series 6
Great stuff, I am feeling a little less smug about my purchase.
I wonder how Sli Gtx280s would do in comparison, despite costing the earth, do they dominate?
We shall see :P
I wonder how Sli Gtx280s would do in comparison, despite costing the earth, do they dominate?
We shall see :P
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Originally Posted by name='Mr. Smith'
Would have been nice to include the gx2 too, that way my decision making would have been easier lol.
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In all honesty tho, the GTX280 and GX2 were pretty much on even ground in most benchmarks. The 4870X2 however, suitably blows the GTX280 away. So i think its fairly safe to say the GX2 wouldn't stand much of a chance either.
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Originally Posted by name='Mr. Smith'
Sweet review mate, glad you updated the testbed and went with the QX, whoever suggested that is clearly awesome |
Quote:
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Originally Posted by name='Mr. Smith'
I get paid in 11 days; I'm toying with one of these, a velociraptor and an e8600 and a 50" samsung series 6 |
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Originally Posted by name='anklebiter'
Great stuff, I am feeling a little less smug about my purchase.
I wonder how Sli Gtx280s would do in comparison, despite costing the earth, do they dominate? We shall see :P |
I reckon it's only a matter of days before I give up on waiting for prices to drop and just spanking the Gigabyte card.
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Originally Posted by name='Jim'
-Yeah I would have liked to include it. Unfortunately a certain company are making it REALLY hard to get hold of samples of their cards at the moment. Especially certain high performing ones. In all honesty tho, the GTX280 and GX2 were pretty much on even ground in most benchmarks. The 4870X2 however, suitably blows the GTX280 away. So i think its fairly safe to say the GX2 wouldn't stand much of a chance either. -Taa. Was hoping the QX @ 3.8 would make u happy. Turns out we've got quite a http://forum.overclock3d.net/oc3d/smilies/cussing.gifhttp://forum.overclock3d.net/oc3d/smilies/cussing.gifhttp://forum.overclock3d.net/oc3d/smilies/cussing.gifhttp://forum.overclock3d.net/oc3d/smilies/cussing.gifter here as it needed 1.45v to get there -Wasnt you going to buy a console or something? |
-3.8ghz is quite low for the qx; sucks you have a dog but the higher mhz and better archtecture remove the cpu bottleneck
-Weren't you going to build an orange pc with turbo fans, or was it a phase cooled black ice or was it some other oc3d turbo pc with gx2 sli'd?
lol. I get frustrated with my toys, so I channel my energy into other interests for a bit. I'm currently enjoying my latest interest (camera/gf combo
Home made vids ftw )Quote:
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Originally Posted by name='Mr. Smith'
-Weren't you going to build an orange pc with turbo fans, or was it a phase cooled black ice or was it some other oc3d turbo pc with gx2 sli'd? lol. |
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Originally Posted by name='Mr. Smith'
I get frustrated with my toys, so I channel my energy into other interests for a bit. I'm currently enjoying my latest interest (camera/gf combo Home made vids ftw ) |
haha dirty man 
great review, i'm liking the new fps comparsion flash thing.
great review, i'm liking the new fps comparsion flash thing.
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Originally Posted by name='Brooksie'
great review, i'm liking the new fps comparsion flash thing. |
Another fine review m8.
I'm still not sold on the line graphs tho
I'm still not sold on the line graphs tho
Great review Jim, made me wonder my GFX order now, GTX 280 or this monster...
Always knew this would dominate this gen
If you're an idiot enough to think that SLI/Crossfire is a worthy upgrade of course
Seriously it's a nice card but until a single GPU model can push those kind of figures my 8800GTX will be staying right where it is.
If you're an idiot enough to think that SLI/Crossfire is a worthy upgrade of course
Seriously it's a nice card but until a single GPU model can push those kind of figures my 8800GTX will be staying right where it is.
Idiot??
I'm pushing a bloody GTO at the moment!! I'd say it's worthy!
I'm pushing a bloody GTO at the moment!! I'd say it's worthy!
ouch put away the claws people! hehe anyway I have to say Sli has the cool factor that all you single GPU owners just dont have. Thats why ur a bit bitter...
muhahhaha
Regards
Ollie
muhahhaha
Regards
Ollie
Swish review, with some swish effects
Any1 play at 1280x1024 with a 8xxx+/3xxx+ series card anymore ? *cough* 1680x1050 *cough*
Any1 play at 1280x1024 with a 8xxx+/3xxx+ series card anymore ? *cough* 1680x1050 *cough*
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Originally Posted by name='Kempez'
If you're an idiot enough to think that SLI/Crossfire is a worthy upgrade of course
Seriously it's a nice card but until a single GPU model can push those kind of figures my 8800GTX will be staying right where it is. |
My 8800GTS is performing solidly at 1600X1200 atm. I was initially eying the HD4870 but, why get a new graphics card when your current one does you fine.
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Originally Posted by name='Jim'
So where do i find you on redtube then?
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Originally Posted by name='Jim'
Good stuff. I wanted to test it out on a few reviews and see what people think. It makes things a little more interesting than flat images and eventually I'm hping to get some more interactivity in there
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Originally Posted by name='Thanh55'
Great review Jim, made me wonder my GFX order now, GTX 280 or this monster...
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by name='Kempez'
Always knew this would dominate this gen
If you're an idiot enough to think that SLI/Crossfire is a worthy upgrade of course Seriously it's a nice card but until a single GPU model can push those kind of figures my 8800GTX will be staying right where it is. |
I hear what you are saying re single card monster and I totally agree but untl that happens I'll be getting something worthy like this...
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Originally Posted by name='Mr. Smith'
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Originally Posted by name='Mr. Smith'
I did mean to comment on them, I like them but they seem stolen from another site, as does the cost/fps... They make the site better so who cares! |
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Originally Posted by name='Mr. Smith'
People still use 88GTX? I hear what you are saying re single card monster and I totally agree but untl that happens I'll be getting something worthy like this... |
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Originally Posted by name='Jim'
I did think those toenails looked more like hoofs.
Its actually a bit of software you can buy over the web that generates them, so it's more than likely lots of places are using it tbh. Personally I'll take whatever kicks ass and kills the hostages...even if its got 20 GPU's, requires a dedicated pipe from the national grid and needs to be run in a large shed in your garden. But meh thats just me |
Either way the graphs are nice so thats all that matters!
Y'know me, I always end up buying the good stuff even if my intentions are to wait it out, the only reason I didn't get the 280 was because the gx2 bettered/equalled the 280's performance.
The X2 is on my list... I just need some games to play!
In what department is ur 9800GX2 lacking in atm ?
Having said that u want to get a kick ass screen dont u.
Having said that u want to get a kick ass screen dont u.
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Originally Posted by name='Mr. Smith'
The X2 is on my list... I just need some games to play! |
There was a TV show called Monster Garage, i think this card is one of their products ;]
AAAAAAAAAAmaiiiizzzzziiiiiing performance and look ;]
AAAAAAAAAAmaiiiizzzzziiiiiing performance and look ;]
ATI is back!
wow i want this! but totally unnessary..
im gonna be picking up a 2nd 4850
wow i want this! but totally unnessary..
im gonna be picking up a 2nd 4850
talk about a beast and ati have gone black, not racist or out but ati shud stick to the red
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ASUS HD 4870 X2 (EAH4870X2) 2GB PCI-E