The new King with ultimate 3D performance-MSI 4870 X2 2GB VS. 4850/4870 CrossFire

[windwithme]

ATI has considered 2008 a very successful year. In the first half year,
the 4800 series is a middle-level product line which comes with the 55nm process GPU and cost around 220 US dollars.
While, the 4870 series is a high-end product line with a price of 330 US dollars and it’s the first to use GDDR5, giving its competitors a head blow.


The 500 US dollars NVIDIA® GTX260 and the 650 US dollars NVIDIA® GTX280 were originally intended to replace the 8800/9800 GTX market,
but they were defeated by the ATI lower price and higher performance 4870/4850.
It was too late for NVIDIA® to cut the prices of 260GTX and 289GTX last month.


ATI is the first to launch the 4800 Series X2 version of VGA in August and wants to be the only one with 3D performance.
MSI, on the other hand, is the first to launch the 4870X2 2G GDDR5 version.


The packaging in high-end products is often a big volume.
MSI representative pictorial in this series is not good look.
I hope that there will be a more attractive product design in the future.


Bundled Accessories
Accessories are simple and practical.
Aside from bundled games, graphics card has generally no accessories that can be included.
Instead of buying the graphics card for the free game, I hope that lowering the price of the graphics card is more practical.


MSI R4870-T2D2G-OC
The physical appearance of MSI R4870-TD2G-OC is longer than the 4850/480 series graphics card.
It has the same of length as NVIDIA’s 260GTX/280GTX series graphics cards.




4870X2 needs an 8-pin plus a 6-pin power supply.
I suggest that you use a 550~600W or above PSU for safety reason.


The rear side of 4870X2
It has a similar plastic case design of 260GTX/280GTX for protection.
The rear side of 4870X2 casing is made of steel.


IO Ports
The DVI ports are located around the middle for TV/HDTV output port.


ATI special cooling design


In order for 4870X2 to have a full test, we also joined the 4850/4870 comparison test.
The representative of the second group is Gigabyte HD4870 CrossFire.


The representative for the third group is HD4850 + MSI 4850 CrossFire.

[windwithme]

Test Platform
CPU: INTEL Core 2 Duo E8300
MB: GIGABYTE P45T EXTREME
DRAM: CORSAIR Dominator TWIN3X2048-1800C7DIN
VGA: MSI R4870X2-T2D2G-OC
HD: Seagate 7200.10 320GB
POWER: Corsair HX1000W Modular Power Supply
Cooler: Thermaltake BigTyp VP/JETART Nano Diamond/Lubic



VGA clock were default
4850 625/900Mhz
4870 750/900Mhz
4870X2 780/900Mhz

3DMARK2003
4850 CrossFire


4870 CrossFire


4870X2



3DMARK2005

4850 CrossFire


4870 CrossFire


4870X2



3DMARK2006

4850 CrossFire


4870 CrossFire


4870X2


4870CF/4870X2 has better performance than 4850CF in 3DMARK 2003/2006 test.
But in the 3DMARK 2005 test, the gap between the three is not too much.
In the 3DMARK test, ATI 4800 series basically has a very high performance for the graphics cards.

[windwithme]

For the actual game clock please refer to the following pages.
Settings:
Resolution 1600 X1200
Details of levels: the highest
The others are default.

4850 CrossFire


4870 CrossFire


4870X2


More games are responding to real graphics card performance.
Although the “Need For Speed Carbon” has been launched for a while.
I can still do a comparison based on the previous test article of NVIDIA® 8800 series.
The 4850 CF is the reference point. The 4850 has a lead of 10% and 4870X2 by 30%. The big winner of this test was 4870X2.


Crysis Benchmark
1920X1200

4850 CrossFire


4870 CrossFire


4870X2


In the Crysis performance, the 4870X2 has beaten the 4870CF.
But the two have a better performance compared to 4850CF.
Although the gaming performance of 4850CF is not good than 4870CF, but the C/P value is higher the others.


Temperature
Environment temperature at room is about 29 to 32 degree.

4850 CrossFire


4870 CrossFire


4870X2


The radiator size and the texture of 4800 series are good.
But the performance of the temperature is barely satisfactory.
The temperature is about 78 to 82 degrees which is similar to the previous test of ATI/NVIDIA high-end graphics card.
But most consumers always prefer the lower temperature of the new technology and new 55 nm process GPU.

[windwithme]

Power consumption
This is the power consumption of the whole system. It shows the difference of the electric consumption of the graphics cards

3DMARK2006 is the test platform.
The power consumption of 4850 CrossFire is about 260~360W.


The power consumption of 4870 CrossFire is about 325~429W.


The maximum power consumption of 4870X2 is 449W.


4850 CrossFire has the lowest power consumption in this test.
The power consumption of 4870CF and 4870X2 are almost the same.
The power consumption of 4870X2 is only higher about 5% than 4870 CF.
I suggest that the 100~150W PSU which is higher than the test is more stable and the minimum use of 550~600W PSU is better.
Of course, if you want to use the 1000W PSU, then you can use the 4870X2 CrossFire.



The performance of the ATI 4800 series is good, especially in terms of price and performance.
Despite using the 55 nm processor, the only drawback of 4800 series is the temperature which is not good than the previous products.
In the test, the 4850 CF has a good performance with high C/P value.
Although the C/P value of 4870 is lower, but compared to NVIDIA’s product line, the C/P value is fairly good coupled with GDDR5.

The price of 4870X2 is about 600 U.S. dollars at this stage which is lower than 4870 CF.
If user only have the none-CrossFire motherboard, 4870X2 is a good solution.

The ATI 4800 product line has gained very good result in the market.
Currently, ATI is around 100 to 150 US dollars.
It mainly relies on its 3850/3870 product line.
If the 48X0 series can be launched to reinforce 70 to 150 dollars in the product line, the ATI product line in the year 2008 will satisfy the consumer’s demand and will be more favorable.


Hope I can finish several testing as below before term begins…

The overclocking champion of MicroATX -DFI LANParty JR P45-T2RS


The enthusiast motherboard support AMD CPU & SLI - FOXCONN DESTROYER


The latest & powerful UMA platform from AMD - GIGABYTE MA790GP-DS4H


Lubic, Japan-style DIY cool stuff – assembling the system case or testing stand on demand


Thanks for your viewing

[CybrSlydr]

Really, really good and informative - thanks!

But I will say you might want to get someone to proofread - the translation is kinda akward.

[vai0]

Love your reviews, nice.

[Witchdoctor]

That's good stuff I am saving ofr my second 4870 as I speak
Looks like the 4870 CF scales pretty good with the X2

[Almost Tactf]

Nice review delivered yet again I am more confident in my decision to save for a second 4870 since it seems that the 4870X2 is only better sometimes and when it is, it's by a few FPS when the FPS is in the noticable range (under 40)

[splave]

I agree as well, cf on the way 2x4870 can be had for $500ish new $450ish used making a better deal if you have a cf board.

[gunbo13]

I would purchase the 4870x2 just for the sideport. It could have fantastic future functionality. The 4870CF configuration is declined this great feature.