HD4870 Results

I currently use a 8800GTS 640mb. I bought a HD4870 about a week ago, and I am RMA'ing it soon in all likelihood. After moderate benching, I've decided that it isn't nearly worth a $300 upgrade with the results it has given me. Here are the results of my benchies:

Specs are E6600 (Stock and 3.0Ghz), 3GB DDR2-800, 8800GTS640mb/HD4870, Asus P5n-E SLI, Vista Home Prem 32 bit

At stock settings (E6600 @ 2.4Ghz, GPUs at stock) the difference between the two cards in five tests were:

3dMark05 9.3%
3dMark06 17.1% (8770 to 10583)
Half-Life 2: LC 2.3% (1680x1050, max settings)
Crysis 1280x1024 Avg 19.6% (all high)
Crysis 1680x1050 Avg 30.1% (all high)

Overclocked (E6600 @ 3.0Ghz, 8800GTS 640mb @ 640/955, HD4870 @ 790/1100)
3dMark05 8.9%
3dMark06 13.4% (10762 to 12425)
Half-Life 2: LC 4.5%
Crysis 1280x1024 Avg 22.4%
Crysis 1680x1050 Avg 19.6%

For Crysis and HL2: LC, the measure was average FPS. Crysis and 3dMark were the ONLY applications I tried where there was any discernible difference between the two cards. I don't know if it's because I'm on an oldish mobo or have mid-range specs, but that's what I found. Another thing to note that I've noticed with the HD48xxx series (tried the HD4850 too) is that they tend to have very low minimum frame rates. In these tests the minimum frame rate of the HD4870 usually dropped below the 8800GTS. Their averages are higher and their highs are higher, but their lows are lower. I didn't notice much more scaling with the Hd4870 than the 8800GTS when I overclocked my e6600, so I'm pretty sure it wasn't bottle necked much by my CPU a whole lot moreso than the 8800 (although I'm sure it was to a degree). After going through these tests, I cannot recommend an upgrade from the 8800 series to a single HD4xx card as of this time... Unless you're playing at 1080p resolution. That's when this card shows a bit of muscle. the HD4870 ran Crysis at around 31 FPS average at 1080p on high, which is solid. The other neat feature of the hd series is HDMI audio out. That almost warrants a purchase itself if you have a HDTV as a second monitor as I do. Lastly, this card runs HOT OR LOUD, the choice is up to you. at stock fan speeds, it idles up near 80C in a very-well ventilated case. at 30% it drops down to about 50C idle, low 60's load. However, any fan speed over 35% is VERY LOUD and pretty much sounds like a hair dryer. It does move A LOT of air though, but I don't like this. During the summer months when it is almost 80F in my room I'd prefer to keep the hot air in the case, actually, and dumping all of that scalding air out into the world is annoying. In the winter it would be great, though.

Note: I didn't OC past CCC's limit of 790/1100 (+40/+200) on the HD4870, but I have heard that the headroom on the core clock is pretty low anyway... and it was a diamond card so I'm sure they were saving the "special" parts for their XOC line anyway :P

Conclusion: If you have an 8800 card, you're better off waiting for the next wave of cards, even if it performed as well as website reviews would hae you believe.

Side Note:

This is on a fresh install of Vista and there are no driver conflicts. It's not a power issue, as I have a corsair 620 watt psu. The card wasn't overheating either. Another thing that grinds my gears about the 4xxx series is that powerplay doesn't work a month after its release. My Crysis frames, when overclocked, line up with the benchmarks from various websites stock, which is fine because they use fatty CPUs, but I don't understand why non-Crysis games show no improvement. There are only two other things I can think of, and they are motherboard related. I'm on an old bios (March 2007) and using PCIE 1.1. I have time to sort things out before my 30 day return window closes and I kind of want to see if a bios update would help, but my CPU overclocks with such ease and I'm happy where it's at that I don't really want to play with it and f something up... I've got experience with everything but bios updates :P. IDK I just thought I'd post some real world benchmarks from someone with a typical machine, as opposed to the monster rigs most reviewers use.
By all means if anyone has any suggestions to improve performance, I'm all ears :D I'm going to OC my CPU to 3.2Ghz tonight anyway. Otherwise this baby is going back. Darn Team Red's hair dryer for temping me in the first place :)

Why would you upgrade from an 8800gts in the first place?

It can max a lot of games out and should last for quite a while.

I'll post detailed results after I get my copy of office. And yes, Wesker, because I primarily play at 1680x1050, and therefore that's my most important concern. I also did a crysis test for the HD4870 at 1080p, where it averaged about 31 FPS on high. This card shines in Crysis for me, but in EVERY other game, I get results indistinguishable from my 8800GTS.

Why would I upgrade from it? Becuase it can't max out every game and I make enough money now where I can afford to play beyond medium settings regularly. I'll just send it back and get a revised GTX 260 or see what else comes out within the next few months. I don't recall if I mentioned it, but yes this card is worth a buy if you play at 1080p rez just from that crysis result :P (assuming you don't own a revised 8800 or better card).

I agree with the OP. At the resolutions he played at the 4870 is a waste and dosent get to stretch it's legs. A 8800GT or 8800GTS 512 is good enough for those resolutions for quite some time.

Staryoshi, If you want to know if your pci-e lanes or your q6600 clocks are holding the card back at all at those resolutions i can run in single gpu mode and run some crysis benchies with a e8400 3.825ghz on the HD4870 and compare.

Unfortunately I cant run dx10 as I use xp. Less you were running in DX9 on those tests.

I agree with the OP. At the resolutions he played at the 4870 is a waste and dosent get to stretch it's legs. A 8800GT or 8800GTS 512 is good enough for those resolutions for quite some time.

Staryoshi, If you want to know if your pci-e lanes or your q6600 clocks are holding the card back at all at those resolutions i can run in single gpu mode and run some crysis benchies with a e8400 3.825ghz on the HD4870 and compare.

CreasianDevaili

Thanks for the offer. That's an E6600 though, hence why I was wondering. I don't really think it is too much, though, as the resolutions scaled about the same and the overclock did as well for both cards.

[QUOTE="CreasianDevaili"]

I agree with the OP. At the resolutions he played at the 4870 is a waste and dosent get to stretch it's legs. A 8800GT or 8800GTS 512 is good enough for those resolutions for quite some time.

Staryoshi, If you want to know if your pci-e lanes or your q6600 clocks are holding the card back at all at those resolutions i can run in single gpu mode and run some crysis benchies with a e8400 3.825ghz on the HD4870 and compare.

Staryoshi87

Thanks for the offer. That's an E6600 though, hence why I was wondering. I don't really think it is too much, though, as the resolutions scaled about the same and the overclock did as well for both cards.

Sorry i misread the E for a Q because I didnt pay attention.

Well the reason i mentioned it is because I tried crysis at alot of different settings and AA, with and without the xp very high crack. Another reason I asked to compare is because it is a good setup..especially since your using a E like me. So the quad variable isnt in here. Not gonna force ya. I just find it curious overall.

You were using Fraps I take it since you mentioned office, in relation to excel?

[QUOTE="Staryoshi87"][QUOTE="CreasianDevaili"]

I agree with the OP. At the resolutions he played at the 4870 is a waste and dosent get to stretch it's legs. A 8800GT or 8800GTS 512 is good enough for those resolutions for quite some time.

Staryoshi, If you want to know if your pci-e lanes or your q6600 clocks are holding the card back at all at those resolutions i can run in single gpu mode and run some crysis benchies with a e8400 3.825ghz on the HD4870 and compare.

CreasianDevaili

Thanks for the offer. That's an E6600 though, hence why I was wondering. I don't really think it is too much, though, as the resolutions scaled about the same and the overclock did as well for both cards.

Sorry i misread the E for a Q because I didnt pay attention.

Well the reason i mentioned it is because I tried crysis at alot of different settings and AA, with and without the xp very high crack. Another reason I asked to compare is because it is a good setup..especially since your using a E like me. So the quad variable isnt in here. Not gonna force ya. I just find it curious overall.

You were using Fraps I take it since you mentioned office, in relation to excel?

I recorded all my benchmarks in gdocs, which I'm working on transferring to office to make graphs. I don't have access to office at home until my copy arrives monday :P (have it at work). I want to show the min/avg/max results I got for crysis, because while the HD4870 had higher highs and averages than my 8800, it also had lower lows most of the time. I have all the raw #'s there, too, not just comparison %s. I'll post them as soon as i get office on this PC, as I can't do it from work.

I don't trust FRAPS measures, as the #'s they give me seem higher than the frames I'm seeing on screen. I only compared benchies that didn't require me to use fraps :P

I'm eyeballing a GTX260 or a 9800GTX+ Staryoshi87

Not worth upgrading from 8800 to hd4870 but worth upgrading to either of these cards that are both slower than the hd4870 ? Ok.

[QUOTE="Staryoshi87"]I'm eyeballing a GTX260 or a 9800GTX+ matrixian

Not worth upgrading from 8800 to hd4870 but worth upgrading to either of these cards that are both slower than the hd4870 ? Ok.

Both are faster than my current card and if you'll continue reading I said buy with the intention to step-up. I also said that I should just wait. Another reason I'd consider them is because they aren't POWER HUNGRY MACHINES like the HD4870 load or idle. I especially like what nVidia's done with their idle power draw. Also, I'd put more faith in an OC'd GTX260 than a stock HD4870 when it comes to performance. Performance (lack thereof) isn't the only reason I'm not sold on this HD4870, I hate its mannerisms. When it fires up its fan (hair dryer), when it causes my system not to post (twice), the way it drinks more juice than a 12 year old kid on summer vacation. It's a card with great theoretical performance and high rez performance, but it didn't win my heart.

Oh, and in 3dmark01 it pulled 42k and my 8800GTS pulled 40k, if anyone cares :P

The main purpose of this thread isn't to flame the HD4870, but to share my experience. Just wanted to let people know what they're getting into when they buy one, as it isn't always milk and honey. In Crysis it sure is, though.