Tags : dx10 1   GDDR5   Gigabyte   Graphic Cards   GV R487 512H B   Radeon HD4870   Reviews   RV770 XT  

Introduction Specifications Photos and Pictures The Radeon HD4870 Card and Installation Test Setup and Procedures GPU-Z, Everest and 3DMark Vantage Benchmarks: F.E.A.R. (DX9) Benchmarks: Call of Juarez (DX10) Benchmarks: Crysis (DX10) Benchmarks: 3DMark 2005 Benchmarks: 3DMark 2006 Verdict and Conclusion

Gamers and enthusiasts who think Gigabyte motherboards are good ... will love their Radeon HD4870 too.

 

INTRODUCTION 

AMD/ATI's released their flagship Radeon HD4800 series (RV770) GPU last week, and it wasn't going to be long before we get to see a Gigabyte version. In fact, no sooner had we published a review on Gigabyte's Geforce GTX 280, along comes their Radeon HD4870. The Radeon HD4800 series is one of the most anticipated alternative to Nvidia's Geforce. We already taken a look at the MSI Radeon HD4850, which proved to be a big hit in our labs ... giving mainstream users great performance at a price that's extremely attractive and much cheaper than Nvidia's mainstream cards, such as the Geforce 9600GT and 8800GT .

Gigabyte have made a huge success with their motherboards over the past few years, winning numerous awards and winning the hearts of many enthusiasts. Their motherboards have proven to be extremely stable, energy efficient and offer excellent performance. So, it's not surprising that they've managed to carry these traits over to their graphic cards range too. Again, Gigabyte have given us the opportunity to take a closer look at their Radeon HD4870. It uses AMD/ATI's latest GPU ... the Radeon HD4870 (RV770 XT) and features 55nm technology, 800 stream processor units, and supports GDDR5 ram and DX10.1. In terms of new technologies ... the Radeon HD4800 series has it all. Well, much more than Nvidia anyway.

 

 

It's going to be a tough choice for gamers over the coming months. If you go for a graphics card upgrade in the near future ... do you stick with Nvidia (and the likely chance is that you already own a Geforce card) or take a gamble and choose an AMD/ATI Radeon HD4800 series? Well, for me ... I would choose a Radeon HD4800 series card. There are several reasons for this, but the most important fact which is undeniable, is that the Radeon HD4800 series offers a lot more than Nvidia's Geforce in terms of using newer technologies. Take for example the features found on the Radeon HD4800 series, which include 55nm technology, 800 stream processor units, and supports GDDR5 ram and DX10.1. Also, my experiences of 2-way, 3-way Crossfire configuration yielded better results than with 2-way SLI configuration with a pair of Geforce cards.

It looks like AMD/ATI has finally come up with something that gamers can look towards. It might even be considered as a serious alternative to Nvidia's higher-end Geforce cards. AMD/ATI fans will be arming themselves with these cards and loving every minute of it. 

In this review, we'll be taking a look at the Gigabyte GV-R487-512H-B. The grahics card is based on ATI's reference design and uses their latest Radeon HD4870

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(RV770 XT) GPU, and is equipped with a total of 512Mb of DDR5 ram. Yes, that's right GDDR5 ram ... it's currently the most advanced memory technology being used. The whole card takes up 2 expansion slot space, and looks very similar in size and shape to its predecessor ... the Radeon HD3870. Using GPU-Z, we determined that the Radeon HD4870 (RV770 XT) GPU runs at 750Mhz, while the 512Mb DDR5 ram runs at 1.8Ghz (2x900Mhz). I suspect over the next few months graphic card manufacturers will be releasing super overclocked versions of the Radeon HD4870 with custom cooling solutions.

Last time, in our review of the Radeon HD4850, we were a little disappointed with the cooling performance, and how extremely hot the RV770 Pro GPU can get. However, this time the Radeon HD4870 is equipped with a bigger cooler and does a better job of cooling the card ... still, it does get hot. As far as alternative cooling solutions is concerned ... we'll probably see a lot of after-market coolers available soon over the coming months.

 

             

 

In our tests we'll be benchmarking the Gigabyte GV-R487-512H-B with several GPU intensive DX10 games ... with both 4xAA and 16xAF options enabled, as well as your usual 3D Mark 2005, 2006 and Vantage tests. Our test rig includes an Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 @ default 2.4Ghz, Gigabyte GA-X48 DQ6 motherboard, OCZ SLI DDR2-1066 2Gb Kit, PC Power & Cooling Turbo Cool 860W PSU and a 19" Dell Ultrascan P990 monitor. All-in-all, it's a decently spec'd system for DX10 gaming.

OK, lets not waste any more time and see how well the Gigabyte GV-R487-512H-B will perform against other Radeon HD4800 based cards on the market.

 

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