Twin-gun AMD R700 aims to blow NVIDIA out of the water

Review: Twin-gun AMD R700 aims to blow NVIDIA out of the water

Final thoughts

The following conclusion is based entirely on an early engineering sample. In particular, we expect the power-draw figure to be reduced on shipping models.

ATI knows that the ultra-high-end segment, characterised by graphics cards selling for £300+, is a minute portion of the market, but such is the halo-esque effect of having the top-dog card that it's worth pursuing.

Released later on this month in retail form from a range of partners, the Radeon HD 4870 X2 will become the fastest graphics card of all, but that's a statement laden with pragmatic provisos.

The method by which ATI empowers the HD 4870 X2 is by stitching two Radeon HD 4870s together, complete with per-GPU 512MiB frame-buffers composed of super-fast GDDR5 memory. This twin-GPU recipe, used recently on the Radeon HD 3870 X2, is the only method of overhauling single-GPU GeForce GTX 280 dominance, as evinced in our suite of benchmarks.

Using twin GPUs leads to various foibles: overall performance is predicated on just how good the drivers are able to leverage rendering on GPUs in turn, and this runs from anywhere between 30 per cent to 95 per cent above a single-GPU's. The potential scaling problem can be exacerbated if CrossFire profiles don't exist for certain games, leading to derisory performance. Then there's the power-draw figure, which is some 100W higher than any other card's, and keeping both GPUs cool requires a huge heatsink with a loud fan.

The Radeon HD 4870 X2 is as inelgant as it is powerful. Yes, it's the fastest board of them all, but such is the base performance of the £179 Radeon HD 4870 and £219 GeForce GTX 260, that X2 only comes into its own if you're consistently playing at resolutions of 1,920x1,200 and above.

At an educated guess, £299-£349 is going to buy you frame-rate heaven in the form of the Radeon HD 4870 X2, and, of course, it's a fundamentally niche product, populating the £300+ market. We're just nonplussed by the obvious way it goes about it, via internal CrossFire and a loud cooler. We'd rather opt for two Radeon HD 4870s and place them on an Intel or AMD chipset - they'll give you the same performance, for similar money, but offer quieter cooling and a wider range of display options. CrossFire is CrossFire, after all.

HEXUS Awards

ATI Radeon HD 4870 X2 1,024MiB

HEXUS Where2Buy

TBC.

HEXUS Right2Reply

At HEXUS.net, we invite the companies whose products we test to comment on our articles. If ATI (AMD) chooses to respond, we'll publish its commentary here verbatim.

HEXUS related reading

HEXUS.net- HEXUS.reviews :: AMD (ATI) Radeon HD 4850 and 4870: bloodying NVIDIA's profits
HEXUS.net- HEXUS.reviews :: BFG (NVIDIA) GeForce GTX 280: does it rock our world?
HEXUS.net- HEXUS.reviews :: NVIDIA (BFG) GeForce 9800 GTX. Got £200 for a graphics card? Read this
HEXUS.net - HEXUS.reviews :: MSI vs. ZOTAC: shootout at the GeForce 8800 GTS 512 Corral
HEXUS.net - HEXUS.reviews :: ATI Radeon HD 3870
HEXUS.net - HEXUS.reviews :: ATI Radeon HD 3870 X2
HEXUS.net - HEXUS.reviews :: NVIDIA (ZOTAC) GeForce 9800 GX2 - the champ is back!
HEXUS.net - HEXUS.reviews :: ASUS vs ASUS: GeForce 8800 Ultra vs Radeon HD 2900 XT
HEXUS.net - HEXUS.reviews :: NVIDIA GeForce 8800 Ultra 768MiB

Login with Forum Account

Don't have an account? Register today!

Nice, looking good - but where's that 15% improvement I heard about over xfire 4870s? Oh well, good for me, my investment into two was well spent then. Especially for £350, probably cheaper than what these'll come for initially!

Oh and how come there are reviews for this card so early before release? I would've thought it'd still be under NDA!

Are there 2 versions of this card? I've read 3 previews so far, of which 2 have stated this card only has 1gb RAM total. The other one I read states 2gb total, and there is larger gap between an X2 and CF. Note: of the 3 I've read so far, they all seem to have similar specs.

Link to 2gb review: http://www.driverheaven.net/reviews.php?reviewid=588&pageid=1

Off topic perhaps but I notice that articles keep quoting the 9800gtx as now selling for ~£130. I'd like to know where this price is seen (other than NVidia press releases).

Places like dabs & ebuyer don't get anywhere near this price….more like £180.

Hi Brad,

http://www.scan.co.uk/Product.aspx?WebProductId=787790

9800 GTX for £117.48

Back on topic, well done AMD/ATi for bring the fight back into the high end GPU market :D This really should give Nvidia the kick up the backside they so needed. :)

Competition is good. :mrgreen:

brad
Off topic perhaps but I notice that articles keep quoting the 9800gtx as now selling for ~£130. I'd like to know where this price is seen (other than NVidia press releases).

Places like dabs & ebuyer don't get anywhere near this price….more like £180.

Brad,

That was the price the card was supposed to go down to, in-stock, at most etailers.

However, my annoyance stems from the fact that very few, if any, do have stock, and I'll be criticising NVIDIA for this in the review of the GTX+, which is out soon.