XFX ATI 4000 Series Round Up
XFX HD4890 XXX
Published: 14th April 2009 | Source: XFX | Price: £130 - £330 |
Packaging & Appearance
This is perhaps the first time I have come across such a box design, if indeed you can call it a box. The X shape is very striking to look at and the box design must surely have been developed from a master or Origami as getting an X shape like this must take some doing. The outer design is very appealing being gunmetal Grey and red with fake screws holding the package together.
The front of the box displays the bare essentials such as product name and 1GB of DDR5/ATI CrossfireX technology emblems. Nowhere on the box that I could see though were the usual XXX stickers, something that will no doubt be rectified for retail versions. Flipping the box over we get a more in depth specification list as well as XFX advising you to register the product to take advantage of their industry leading 5-Star Support program.
So here we have another interesting design, the 'box through a box' perpendicular style, again forming an X. This time, it was much easier to get into the contents with one box sliding out from another. The lower box, contained 2 section with the upper section containing the accessories, user guides and the lower compartment holding the graphics card itself.
The accessories are both complete and comprehensive. Two user guides were provided along with a support CD. Sadly the support CD didn't have any drivers on it, instead it simply guides you to the XFX website. While this is a good prompt to use the latest available drivers, I can only hope that the drivers are available on launch as the most recent CAT 9.3's were not compatible. Finishing off the accessory list were a DVI/VGA adapter, an HDMI adapter, 2x6-pin to dual Molex connectors, a crossfire bridge, the included HAWX game and a novelty 'do not disturb' sign.
Despite the 'interesting' (read frustrating) box design, the 4890XXX certainly looks the part. I would have preferred a different cooler design as this, once again, is very loud when at full tilt. For whatever reason XFX also opted to use the standard red PCB design. There is very little to distinguish the XFX version from any other version on the market, even though this card is a XXX version.
Let's take a look at the HD4870x2...
Most Recent Comments
Awesome round up.
Seems like that the 4850 would be a good choice.
All you need now is the 4890x2 to finish off the 48xx series
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Originally Posted by name='zak4994'
Ah finally.
Awesome round up. Seems like that the 4850 would be a good choice. |
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Originally Posted by name='AntiHeroUK'
Great round up Rich. That must have taken a lot of work to put it all together
All you need now is the 4890x2 to finish off the 48xx series |
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Originally Posted by name='prosser13'
Oh wow - great roundup, really nice work
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Originally Posted by name='w3bbo'
Will crossfired 4890's suffice for now?
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Good to see some up to date figures. Just look at the CoD results. The X2 is quite a few frames over doubling the 4870 FPS.. Drivers and memory obviously helping but at least the theoretical power has actually happened in one game.
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Originally Posted by name='AntiHeroUK'
Great round up Rich. That must have taken a lot of work to put it all together
All you need now is the 4890x2 to finish off the 48xx series |
Nice roundup though, interesting results on the 4890
Just a little typo on the first page, the spec table has two "Max Resolution Analog Vertical" rows with different values. but no "Max Resolution Digital Vertical" row.
I've been out of the loop for a bit too long..
The 4870 is on a par with the GTX260 thereabouts, The 4890 is on a par with GTX275 and the 4870x2 is on a par with GTX295. Hope this helps.
CSS Valid
http://www.overclock3d.net/gfx/artic...194913658l.jpg
Full review HERE