Final thoughts, rating and HEXUS.right2reply
The cost of high-end CrossFireX configurations ensures that dual Radeon HD 5870s remain a pipe dream for many consumers.
Nonetheless, the performance is unmistakable, and the card's sheer throughput is backed with the inherent goodness of DirectX 11 compliance - which, as we've stated before, brings its own bag of goodies to boot, including mandated hardware tessellation and the useful DirectCompute shader for GPGPU duties.
£600 is a big ask, but for the user wanting the very best in AMD graphics - a couple of Radeon HD 5870s is it.
Looking ahead, the benchmarks on the previous pages should provide a good indication of what to expect from the upcoming Radeon HD 5870 X2 "Hemlock". Recent rumours suggest that the 5870 X2 will feature a duo of Radeon HD 5870 GPUs on a single PCB, accompanied by a relatively tasty $599 price tag (roughly £370).
Should those rumours come to fruition, the dual-GPU Hemlock could become the fastest single graphics card of all time. It's expected to reach stores around the same time as NVIDIA's GT300, and the green team will need something impressive to retain performance leadership in the ultra-high-end space.
HEXUS Rating
We consider any product score above '50%' as a safe buy. The higher the score, the higher the recommendation from HEXUS to buy. Simple, straightforward buying advice.
The rating is given in relation to the category the component competes in, therefore a duo of Radeon HD 5870s configured in CrossFireX are evaluated with respect to our 'extreme components' criteria.
Dual Sapphire Radeon HD 5870 1,024MB in CrossFireX
HEXUS Awards
Dual Sapphire Radeon HD 5870 1,024MB in CrossFireX
HEXUS Where2Buy
The Sapphire Radeon HD 5870 graphics card can be ordered now from the following retailers:
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As always, UK-based HEXUS.community discussion forum members will benefit from the SCAN2HEXUS Free Shipping initiative, which will save you a further few pounds plus also top-notch, priority customer service and technical support backed up by the SCANcare@HEXUS forum. |
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HEXUS Right2Reply
At HEXUS, we invite the companies whose products we test to comment on our articles. If any company representatives for the products reviewed choose to respond, we'll publish their commentary here verbatim.
