XFX HD 4890 XXX 1GB PCIe Graphics Card
Test Setup & System Analysis
Published: 2nd April 2009 | Source: XFX | Price: £240.00 |
To ensure that all reviews on Overclock3D are fair, consistent and unbiased, a standard set of hardware and software is used whenever possible during the comparative testing of two or more products. The configurations used in this review can be seen below:
i7 Rig
CPU: Intel Nehalem i7 920 Skt1366 2.66GHz (@3.8 Ghz)
Motherboard: Gigabyte EX58-UD5
Memory: 3x2GB Corsair DDR3 1600mhz @ 8-8-8-24
HD : Hitachi Deskstar 7k160 7200rpm 80GB
GPU:XFX HD 4890XXX
Graphics Drivers: Supplied by ATI
PSU: Gigabyte ODIN 1200w
CPU: Intel Nehalem i7 920 Skt1366 2.66GHz (@3.8 Ghz)
Motherboard: Gigabyte EX58-UD5
Memory: 3x2GB Corsair DDR3 1600mhz @ 8-8-8-24
HD : Hitachi Deskstar 7k160 7200rpm 80GB
GPU:XFX HD 4890XXX
Graphics Drivers: Supplied by ATI
PSU: Gigabyte ODIN 1200w
To guarantee a broad range of results, the following benchmark utilities were used:
3D / Rendering Benchmarks
• 3DMark 05
• 3DMark 06
• 3DMark Vantage
3D Games
• Crysis
• Far Cry 2
• Oblivion
• Race drive: GRID
• Call of Duty IV
• Unreal Tournament III
• 3DMark 05
• 3DMark 06
• 3DMark Vantage
3D Games
• Crysis
• Far Cry 2
• Oblivion
• Race drive: GRID
• Call of Duty IV
• Unreal Tournament III
Power Consumption
Power consumption was measured at the socket using a plug-in mains power and energy monitor. Because of this, the readings below are of the total system, not just the GPU. Idle readings were taken after 5 minutes in Windows. Load readings were taken during a run of Crysis.
The power consumption figures did not throw up anything out of the ordinary with the overclocked XFX 4890XXX edition consuming slightly more power than the stock Asus card.
Temperatures
Temperatures were taken at the factory clocked speed during idle in Windows and after 10 minutes of running Furmark with settings maxed out (2560x1600 8xMSAA). Ambient temperatures were taken with a household thermometer. As we use an open test bench setup consideration should be given to the fact that the temperatures would likely increase further in a closed case environment.
Temperatures were taken at the factory clocked speed during idle in Windows and after 10 minutes of running Furmark with settings maxed out (2560x1600 8xMSAA). Ambient temperatures were taken with a household thermometer. As we use an open test bench setup consideration should be given to the fact that the temperatures would likely increase further in a closed case environment.
Again, because of the overclock on the XFX 4890, the temperatures were inevitably slightly higher but still well under control and the fan barely spun up at idle. Under load the fan did become audible and at 100% it was very noisy. The reference cooler for the ATI cards have change little over recent releases so if you already own an ATI card with a dual slot cooler you will no doubt be well aware of the whooshing noise this card is capable of.
Overclocking
For overclocking the XFX 4890XXX, I used the ATI Overdrive utility in the Catylist Control Panel.
For overclocking the XFX 4890XXX, I used the ATI Overdrive utility in the Catylist Control Panel.
The XFX4890XXX, being a pre-overclocked card, did not raise my hopes of any extra clocks worthwhile of discussion but the card easily maxed out the Overdrive utility reaching the golden 1GHz GPU clockspeed with ease. The Asus card I reviewed needed a bump in Vcore to reach this speed with any stability so it is a credit to the XFX card that it managed this speed without the help of added voltage. To test the benifits of such an achievement, I ran Call of Duty 4 at different resultions and then compared the results to the stock(overclock) speed.
Call of Duty 4 showed some impressive improvements in frames per second. With almost a 25% increase in FPS at the lowest resolution and significant increases at high and ultra high resolutions, COD4 certainly benefits from the overclock. In the next few pages however we will see just how much benefit the stock overclocked setting gives the card over the reference speeds of the Asus card.
Let's move on to our suite of benchmarks where we pitch it up against the GTX295, ATI 4870x2, ATI4870 XXX and stock GTX285...
Let's move on to our suite of benchmarks where we pitch it up against the GTX295, ATI 4870x2, ATI4870 XXX and stock GTX285...
Most Recent Comments
Nice review!
Might want to check the spelling of hawx as you seem to have it as hawkx. On the last page and first.
Might want to check the spelling of hawx as you seem to have it as hawkx. On the last page and first.
Sorted ta
What a strange shape box...
Still nothing groundbreaking. It's getting to the stage where it might just be worth £200 to upgrade form the 8800 series...
Still nothing groundbreaking. It's getting to the stage where it might just be worth £200 to upgrade form the 8800 series...
nice review!Wish I could afford to upgrade,as Ham says these cards look to be a good upgrade from the 8800's.Did you try these cards in crossfire?I have just read over at tpu that in crossfire they blow away almost everything,can you confirm?
Looks at 4870's and crys, still not used them and now I want these AARRRGGGHHH
Nice review dude.... whats your address again?
Nice review dude.... whats your address again?
Crossfire review will be coming very soon but I got a couple of other fish to fry first. I'll be testing them out asap as it might just top topple the GTX295/4870x2.
My address is of a national security issue I'm afraid
My address is of a national security issue I'm afraid
OMG, 1000 core 1200 mem, that is imprassive. these hd4890's walk all over the gtx 275 for bang per buck, and at this oc the perform on the par with a gtx285! wow.
All i need now is a x48 mobo and xfire a pair of these and spin them at 1000mhz core, that would be sweet.
All i need now is a x48 mobo and xfire a pair of these and spin them at 1000mhz core, that would be sweet.
I still think that its worth waiting for the 5800 range, these are basicaly overclocked die shrunk 4870's. Still if you are in the market to buy now then these can be had pretty cheap 
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by name='cl0ck_ed'
OMG, 1000 core 1200 mem, that is imprassive. these hd4890's walk all over the gtx 275 for bang per buck, and at this oc the perform on the par with a gtx285! wow.
All i need now is a x48 mobo and xfire a pair of these and spin them at 1000mhz core, that would be sweet. |
XFX are giving a price of £240, which I'd take as an rrp, undoubtably the online competitors would look to discount that a bit. Some £34 by Scan's standard.
I look at Scan, and their hottest selling GTX285 from ASUS is £240.
Appreciating that the stock 4890 from XFX is £140 at Scan, which is what I'd expect, and they sell their cheapest in-stock GTX275 for £178. How much bang for buck u get for physx, I dunno.
What exactly is going on here with this XXX edition ? From a stock card £140 to a XXX edition is some £66 ? For an OC ur driverset can give u and a standard cooler.
I would hope XFX are not overpricing these deliberately, as it's not the addition to the AMD family their fans would expect.
Great review, good card, overpriced in comparison to it's own range imo.
Quote:
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Originally Posted by name='Rastalovich'
Appreciating that the stock 4890 from XFX is £140 at Scan, which is what I'd expect, and they sell their cheapest in-stock GTX275 for £178. How much bang for buck u get for physx, I dunno. What exactly is going on here with this XXX edition ? From a stock card £140 to a XXX edition is some £66 ? For an OC ur driverset can give u and a standard cooler. |
Now that really is a weird situation, £160 for the 1Ghz with HAWX.
£206 for the 900Mhz "slower" card.
Have a feeling the black edition isn't going to be restocked tho. But seriously a slower card, £46 more ? XFX's logic is what ?
£206 for the 900Mhz "slower" card.
Have a feeling the black edition isn't going to be restocked tho. But seriously a slower card, £46 more ? XFX's logic is what ?
I've purposely bumped this as I was just looking at Scan's line-up of GTX285 cards with a colleague.
XFX have a XXX 285, 670Mhz, priced £252 - and a 648Mhz priced @ £282.
Something smells.
They going eol with older, quicker cards, and bringing newer slower lines for £30/50 more ? If I were a journalist I'd be asking XFX some serious questions.
XFX have a XXX 285, 670Mhz, priced £252 - and a 648Mhz priced @ £282.
Something smells.
They going eol with older, quicker cards, and bringing newer slower lines for £30/50 more ? If I were a journalist I'd be asking XFX some serious questions.
isn't it scan pricing not xfx? xfx must have madfe loads of the quicker cards to sell them for a cheaper price than the slower
As above, I would think that this was scans pricing not XFX.
I'll see if I can get hold of XFX to get their take on it although I can tell you they will not comment on there distributers pricing strategies.
I'll see if I can get hold of XFX to get their take on it although I can tell you they will not comment on there distributers pricing strategies.
ive just got my 4890 xxx to 1Ghz core clock,and regarding Scan priceing they have always done crazy things like this its best to go instore sometimes as when i got my old AMD dualcore it was was on todayonly for £65 i whent instore and got it for £40 crazy aye
The box look really good
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XFX HD 4890 XXX 1GB PCIe Graphics Card