ATI HD 4000 series

[Yusuf M. Veteran]

Can somebody fill me in because my question still is unanswered. With Nvidia's upcoming line in June/July, won't that just destroy these two new cards from ATI that everybody has been waiting for?

In comparison, I know these two new cards blow away Nvidia's current 9800 GX2, but have they publicly talked about a response to what everybody knows is coming?

It's rumoured that NVIDIA's GTX 280 may cost as much as $600 putting it in a different price range than ATI's HD 4870 which may cost $329. I guess that means the HD 4870X2 will compete with the GTX 280.

Any specs on NVIDIA's next line?

At any rate I am quite excited with ATI's new line. If that early benchmark is any sign of its real performance, then it would be the first major leap since the geforce 8, which now goes back more than a year and a half (november 2006!).

You can check out some rumoured specs for the GTX 280 and GTX 260 here.

I'm just as excited. It's about time we see a boost in graphics hardware performance.

[+Mystic MVC]

It's rumoured that NVIDIA's GTX 280 may cost as much as $600 putting it in a different price range than ATI's HD 4870 which may cost $329. I guess that means the HD 4870X2 will compete with the GTX 280.

You can check out some rumoured specs for the GTX 280 and GTX 260 here.

I'm just as excited. It's about time we see a boost in graphics hardware performance.

So the 2 new rumored cards won't be anywhere near the $300 range? That is what I am likely to spend on my gaming build this summer and I am holding off for as long as July possibly.

By then the 9800 GTX will come down quite a bit in price so maybe the 4870 is more of an option, but I'm still unsure about going ATI again. :(

[+Troll Subscriber¹]

While happy to see the advances in technology I only have one question...

Why are they still including an S-Video port? I understand the Dual-DVI ports and the inclusion of a vga adapter. Does anyone in the target audience of a high end card like these actually use them with S-Video? HDMI would seem more reasonable as a "future proof" port to connect to a TV. And yes, I understand there are HDMI cards out there, but these are the supposed next generation.

Other than that rant, they look wonderful :)

[giantpotato]

While happy to see the advances in technology I only have one question...

Why are they still including an S-Video port? I understand the Dual-DVI ports and the inclusion of a vga adapter. Does anyone in the target audience of a high end card like these actually use them with S-Video? HDMI would seem more reasonable as a "future proof" port to connect to a TV. And yes, I understand there are HDMI cards out there, but these are the supposed next generation.

Other than that rant, they look wonderful :)

They usually come with a DVI-HDMI adapter also, so that's already covered. The cards also have a built-in soundcard so both audio and video is output through HDMI. I'm not sure if nvidia also does this.

The s-video also comes with a adapter which outputs Component video through that port. You can also use an s-video-to-composite adapter.

So basically ALL video-output possibilities are covered. DVI, VGA, HDMI, Composite, S-Video, Component.

[Ayepecks]

I'll wait on the GT200 line from nVidia. After ATI's latest offerings, I've learned not to hope for too much (this coming from a former ATI fan).

[Draconian Guppy]

Yeah I definitely see what you mean, I mean look at the specs of the 2900XT for example, 512 bit memory, insanely fast clock speeds, lots of shaders, and it got spanked by most of nvidias cards.

Agreed there was alot of hype regarding the 2900XT and how it would be an nvidia card killer and in the end it ended up being a power eating monster unable to challenge nvidias midrange cards ( GTS 640 ) in most cases. However If I recall correctly, the 2900XT was a "test card" o some strange stuff ATI, to help them develope the 3xxx, series. So the 4000s Shouldn't turn out a flop like the HD29000

[+shift. MVC]

I'm excited to see how these cards will perform compared to nVidia's next generation. :)

Let's hope it's not as disappointing as the 2900XT had been.

[Yusuf M. Veteran]

So the 2 new rumored cards won't be anywhere near the $300 range? That is what I am likely to spend on my gaming build this summer and I am holding off for as long as July possibly.

By then the 9800 GTX will come down quite a bit in price so maybe the 4870 is more of an option, but I'm still unsure about going ATI again. :(

It seems so. The HD 4870 seems great for its price and NVIDIA's offerings are geared toward ultra high end users. A $329 card that outperforms the GeForce 9800GX2. Who could ask for more at a better price? Also, I can't wait to see how the HD 4870X2 performs against the GTX 280.

[NextGen_Gamer]

Complete specs for both of ATI's and NVIDIA's upcoming cards. ATI is launching on June 16th, with NVIDIA unveiling their cards one day later on June 17th.

NAME .............................. PRICE .......... CLOCKSPEED ....................... ROPs . TMUs . SPs .... MEMORY INTERFACE / CLOCKSPEED

ATI Radeon HD 4870 ...... $329 MSRP .. 850MHz Core / 1050MHz SP ... 16 .... 32 .... 480 ..... 256-bit / 512MB GDDR5 @ 1935MHz

ATI Radeon HD 4850 ...... $229 MSRP .. 625MHz Core / 825MHz SP ..... 16 .... 32 .... 480 ..... 256-bit / 512MB GDDR3 @ 1143MHz

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280 . $649 MSRP .. 600MHz Core / 1300MHz SP .. 32 .... 80 .... 240 ..... 512-bit / 1024MB GDDR3 @ 1100MHz

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260 . $449 MSRP .. 575MHz Core / 1240MHz SP .. 28 .... 64 .... 192 ..... 448-bit / 896MB GDDR3 @ 1000MHz

[Yusuf M. Veteran]

Wow, NVIDIA's offerings are quite expensive. I wonder if it will hurt their sales, especially considering the fact that ATI offers cheaper cards. It might be too early to say but the reviews will tell us everything we need to know. I'm anxious to see what [H]ard|OCP says.

[Yusuf M. Veteran]

According to Fudzilla, the HD 4850 and HD 4870 are set to launch on the 25th of June. Also, it's possible that ATI video cards may support PhysX and perhaps Havok as well for GPU powered physics. Read about it here and here.

[Adam1V]

The last I read the ATI 4870 X2 was likely to have 2x 1ghz GPUs and 2GB of memory (running over 2300mhz), and at the time the nvidia cards were no-where near this.

Without tralling all through these pages, is this still the case? I wouldn?t mind holding on till the 4870 X2?s are released if so.

[Windam]

I wish they would add hdmi to these bad boys already.

It's time

[PixilEyes]

Wonder what wattage the 4850 will require.

Currently my lite on 350w is pulling my 8800 gt (g92 single slot) with no problems and no smoking yet haha.

[Yusuf M. Veteran]

The HD 4850 requires a 450W PSU or greater to function properly. Of course, that's assuming other devices are drawing power from the PSU. I don't exactly know how much managed with a mere 350W PSU and I doubt you'll be able to use an HD 4850 with it. The max power draw from an 8800GT alone is 280W. That leaves you with roughly 70W for other devices. Damn!

[Digitalx]

I wish they would add hdmi to these bad boys already.

It's time

Since 2900 series every ATi card from mid to high range come with HDMI adapters.

[Yusuf M. Veteran]

Click here for a user review on the HD 4850. The results look great. Also, an overclocked HD 4850 (700MHz core) scores P6466 in 3DMark Vantage which is just about the same as an overclocked 8800GTX. All I can say is that you can't go wrong for only $229. Perhaps this could be ATI's "9700 Pro".

Here's an image to give you an idea on how the HD 4850 compares with its siblings:

[Adam1V]

4870 x2 is rumoured to be 2x1055mhz?

[+shift. MVC]

After seeing some initial nVidia benchmarks, I have to say ATI is in a good position to overtake them if their pricing/performance is right.

[ViperAFK]

Toms hardware has an in depth review on the new nvidia cards, I'm not too impressed, they are often outperformed by the 9800gx2 and are more expensive. ati is indeed in a good position.

[+shift. MVC]

Yeah, that's where I gathered my information from as well. The GTX 260 seems to be the most competitive right now. But I'm guessing if ATI 4870/4850 can at least come close in performance and be priced better, then nVidia is in a bit of trouble with their high end cards.

Then again, we could all be just as dissappointed with nVidia as we are with ATI.

[guru]

ATI 4850 is $199 on Amazon and Buy.com

[PixilEyes]

The HD 4850 requires a 450W PSU or greater to function properly. Of course, that's assuming other devices are drawing power from the PSU. I don't exactly know how much managed with a mere 350W PSU and I doubt you'll be able to use an HD 4850 with it. The max power draw from an 8800GT alone is 280W. That leaves you with roughly 70W for other devices. Damn!

Guess no 4850 for me :(

[PixilEyes]

Found for what I was looking for. Looks like I might be able to run it after all.

- HD 4870 X2 ：480sp x2、1050/1800(GDDR5)、1024MB、256-bit、TDP 250W

- HD 4870 X2: 480sp x2, 1050/1800 (GDDR5), 1024MB ,256-bit, TDP 250W

- HD 4870 ：480sp、 1050/2200(GDDR5)、 512MB、256-bit、TDP 150W

- HD 4870: 480sp, 1050/2200 (GDDR5), 512MB ,256-bit, TDP 150W

- HD 4850 ：480sp、 850/1800(GDDR5)、 512MB、256-bit、TDP 120W

- HD 4850: 480sp, 850/1800 (GDDR5), 512MB ,256-bit, TDP 120W

RV740 Middle range

- HD 4670 ：240sp、 1000/1200(GDDR5)、 512MB、256-bit、TDP 100W

- HD 4670: 240sp, 1000/1200 (GDDR5), 512MB ,256-bit, TDP 100W

- HD 4670 ：240sp、 800/1000(GDDR4)、 256MB、256-bit、TDP 80W

- HD 4670: 240sp, 800/1000 (GDDR4), 256MB ,256-bit, TDP 80W

RV710 GPU (Low-end)

- HD 4470： 40sp、 900/800(GDDR3)、 256MB、128-bit、TDP 50W

- HD 4470: 40sp, 900/800 (GDDR3), 256MB ,128-bit, TDP 50W

- HD 4450 ： 40sp、 700/500 (DDR2)、 128MB、128-bit、TDP 30W

- HD 4450: 40sp, 700/500 (DDR2), 128MB ,128-bit, TDP 30W

Edited June 17, 2008 by Pixil Eyes

[Yusuf M. Veteran]

The website for the HD 4000 series is up! UNLEASH ONE TERA!