Sapphire Radeon HD 4850 X2
Posted 03/19/09 at 02:00:00 PM by Will Smith
Comments
Print
Email
As a general rule, our belief is that pairing two slow-performing cards using SLI or CrossFire is a bad idea—you’re usually better off running a single faster card. However, the Radeon 4850 X2 delivers astounding performance compared to the single-GPU boards in its price range, spanking the Radeon 4870 and the GeForce GTX 280, with none of the pitfalls that have plagued dual-GPU boards in the past.
At the heart of the board is a pair of ATI’s RV770 GPUs running at 625MHz, just like the single-GPU in the 4850 boards. Each GPU features a full complement of 800 stream processors, which are connected to identical 1GB GDDR3 frame buffers running at 993MHz on a 256-bit bus. Although X2 boards are labeled as featuring 2GB of memory, because the contents of each GPU’s frame buffer must be mirrored, applications can utilize only 1GB of video memory.
Like its 4870-powered predecessor, the 4850 X2 sports ATI’s advanced video decode acceleration, allowing you to view fully accelerated picture-in-picture Blu-ray discs. It’s fully compatible with multiple-monitor displays, and we love that this board features four DVI ports for multi-mon madness.
In our performance testing, the 4850 X2 unseated the fastest single-GPU videocards, the GeForce GTX 280 and Radeon HD 4870, in almost every benchmark. The exception to the rule was Crysis at high visual-quality settings and high resolution. When running at 1920x1200 with 4x antialiasing and the visual-quality settings cranked to Very High, we hit the 4850 X2’s memory bandwidth wall. Despite running at a higher clock speed than the 4870-family boards, the GDDR3 on the 4850 transfers half as much data per clock cycle.
With a street price that’s less than $300, the 4850 X2 is a great deal for owners of lower-resolution 22-inch monitors. However, if you use a 24-inch or 30-inch panel, it’s probably worth ponying up for a card with a peppier memory pipeline.
Emeralds
Killer performance for $300. Four DVI ports! Faster than a GTX 280.
Amethysts
GDDR3 hurts memory bandwidth. Four DVI ports leave no room for rear exhaust vents.
Benchmarks
| Sapphire 4850 X2 | Radeon 4870 HD X2 | GeForce GTX 280 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Driver Version | 8.12 | 8.12 | 180.48 |
| Crysis 4X AA/Very High (fps) | 12.41 | 29.6 | 18.35 |
| Crysis No AA/Very High (fps) | 27.87 | 31.6 | 22.28 |
| Call of Duty (fps) | 80.7 | 106.5 | 68.09 |
| Far Cry 1920x1200 (fps) | 60.3 | 68.5 | 52.2 |
| Far Cry 1680x1050 (fps) | 64.9 | 72.2 | 58.7 |
| Vantage Game 1 (fps) | 17.54 | 19.2 | 17.32 |
Vantage Game 2 (fps) | 14.25 | 18.9 | 13.11 |
Best scores are bolded. Benchmarks are run on an Intel Core 2 Quad Q9770 Extreme, with 4GB of memory running Windows Vista. Crysis, and 3DMark Vantage are run at 1920x1200, with 4x AA and 8x anisotropic filtering, unless otherwise noted. Call of Duty is run at 2560x1600 with 4x AA.
Correction
Submitted by nedwards on Fri, 03/20/2009 - 10:36am
Hi all,
The benchmark table has been corrected: somehow the "X2" got left off of the Radeon HD 4870 X2 column. The numbers are correct, however; the 4850 X2 is faster than the GeForce GTX 280, but not as fast as the Radeon HD 4870 X2. But yeah, there's a big difference between the 4870 X2 and the plain ol' 4870.
HUH????
Submitted by mojosico on Fri, 03/20/2009 - 3:50am
if those numbers are correct i think i would spend less money and get the faster 4870 . are you sure these numbers are right ?
lol just noticed the 4870 is
Submitted by the_crowbar on Thu, 03/19/2009 - 5:50pm
lol just noticed the 4870 is beating the 4850x2 in every bench also. This is a pretty bad one guys. Will this be fixed?
Submitted by the_crowbar on Thu, 03/19/2009 - 5:46pm
Yeah, you guys deffinately got some weird stuff going on. I think there is something wrong with the GTX 280 benches. Did this go into the mag?
Please fix the chart
Submitted by hiawg on Thu, 03/19/2009 - 5:33pm
I feel that the GTX 280 is the only correct data.
http://www.maximumpc.com/article/reviews/evga_geforce_gtx_260_core_216_superclocked
Still love the the site and the podcast!
I think you gotta....
Submitted by ghot on Thu, 03/19/2009 - 3:19pm
...bad GTX 280 there guys. On an AMD 5000+ I get better fps on Crysis than you seem to be getting on a quad core. As mentioned below, no way a 4870 beats a GTX 280. Something is seriously wrong here and I don't mean just the table.
Take efficiency, and edit out all the intelligence and what you have left is a post-XP Microsoft operating system :)
funny table
Submitted by wk on Thu, 03/19/2009 - 2:05pm
please correct the table there is something wrong.
MPC is my home page
Submitted by tehR0XX0Rz on Thu, 03/19/2009 - 1:23pm
Funny how 22-inch monitors are considered "low-res." I remember dreaming of owning something that big in the 90's, but they were like $2000. I finally got one in 2003 for about $750, and it was a dream to have. Now, they're low-res!!! Crazy.
Submitted by jacob938 on Thu, 03/19/2009 - 12:47pm
hahahaha the 4870HD beating a GTX 280, god this is classic, i think its supposed to be the 4870x2.
Submitted by MisterK on Thu, 03/19/2009 - 11:37am
I believe you can only run one monitor in Crossfire.
Multiple Monitors
Submitted by CTskifreak on Thu, 03/19/2009 - 11:50am
Crossfire and somewhat recently SLI allow multiple monitors while enabled. ATI had it working a lot earlier than NVIDIA did, but SLI now allows it as well.
On the article itself...I think the tables got messed up. Glad to see TheMurph is still around.
"In our performance testing,
Submitted by TheMurph on Thu, 03/19/2009 - 11:34am
"In our performance testing, the 4850 X2 unseated the fastest single-GPU videocards, the GeForce GTX 280 and Radeon HD 4870, in almost every benchmark."
Huh? On the included benchmark chart, the 4870 HD / HD 4870 beats the 4850 X2 on every single benchmark score.
The Missing Murph
Submitted by Whudunit on Sun, 03/22/2009 - 9:36am
Hey if the Murph is still available to leave comments on MPC stuff, then why the hell does he not drop by the Podcast once in awhile?
Sorry man, but somethng's been missing since you left. I still love MPC and the Podcast, but c'mon do a guest star spot or crash the damn party. If they can get Utah Andy on there, then surely the Great Murph can be on an episode or two once in awhile. Hey maybe you're the big surprise for the 100th episode.
Submitted by TheMurph on Mon, 03/23/2009 - 9:00am
Heh. I appreciate the compliments, but I'm afraid they'll probably fall on deaf ears. I have no idea what's in store for the MPC 100th podcast, save for possibly nuclearbastard like... taking over the show. Or something.
Regardless, I'd love to hop on for a guest appearance. But it's not up to me!
With 4 DVI ports, can you
Submitted by jcollins on Thu, 03/19/2009 - 11:31am
With 4 DVI ports, can you run 2-4 monitors in crossfire mode with this card?
Submitted by MisterK on Thu, 03/19/2009 - 10:48am
Having run exclusively Nvidia cards for the last few years (my last Radeon was a 9700), and stepping up from a pair of 8800's in SLI, I totally agree with the reviewer with regards to the 4850 x2's performance. I have had this card for 2 weeks now, and installed it using the Catalyst 9.2 drivers, which went off without a hitch. I must say that ATI's drivers have MUCH improved over the years, and the Catalyst Control Center's interface is a joy to work with (I could never get Nvidia's nTune or System Tools to properly run an overclocking profile).
The 4850 x2 overclocks nicely, and has a nice system of creating desktop icons to run overclocking profiles. I used to dread Catalyst drivers, but I have no problems yet running Crysis, Fallout 3 or Mass Effect with very high details enabled.
This card is worth every penny!
Rig:
Phenom II 940
ASUS M3A78-T mobo
8G OCZ Reaper memory
2 WD Velociraptors in RAID 1
Creative X-Fi Titanium
Logitech Z-5500 speakers
Lite On 22x DVD/CD burner w/Lightscribe
HEC Zephyr 650 W PSU
Vista Home Premium 64
Submitted by Hawtoldman on Thu, 03/19/2009 - 10:42am
Average FPS for 4850x2 = 34.7
Average FPS for 4870 = 43.3
How can you recommend a more power-hungry board?
To be honest, I question your results seeing as you have the 4870 consistently beating the GTX 280. That's just not gonna happen bro.
Submitted by SEALBoy on Thu, 03/19/2009 - 10:35am
It's amazing how even the driver version of the card is bolded.
Radeon cards can have the
Submitted by windbane on Thu, 03/19/2009 - 10:06am
Radeon cards can have the best fps or best image or whatever, but until they do something about their crappy drivers I'll stick to nvidia cards. Everytime I update the Catalyst drivers on my dads computer, something goes wrong...and their control centre has never worked. My system is almost the same as his but I have an nvidia 8800 gtx and I have yet to have an issue with the drivers for it. AMD can stick 100 GPU's on a board and I still won't buy it.
Could be the system itself
Submitted by Geeksquadmyss on Thu, 03/19/2009 - 11:09am
If your dad's system is an OEM it can result in the Control center not working, happens on my HP. I have used ATI since my first computer and have never had a driver related problem other than the traditional, not having the latest driver. But iv never had a problem updating them.
I also have a machine running a Nvida card and theres nothing really special about there cards, the drivers are no better than ATI, i actually prefer ATI because of the Catalyst Control Center is easy to use and navigate.
Submitted by windbane on Thu, 03/19/2009 - 1:10pm
Yeah his system is a Dell, but thats no excuse for the control centre not to work, even the drivers on Dells site don't install properly. The drivers themselves work no prob, its just the control centre prog that doesn't. Granted his video card is only a Radeon 2400HD, which is more than fine for web surfing and email. I even totally uninstal the drivers and associated programs and re installed but still no joy. I haven't used an ATI/AMD video card since the Rage Pro+ (I think thats what it was called) 12 years ago. I've had Nvidia cards since then (geforce1, geforce3, and now a geforce 8800 gtx), and I think im gonna stick with what I know...
Submitted by Angelman0401 on Thu, 03/19/2009 - 9:56am
Best Scores bolded? So 12.41 frames is better than 29.6? 80.7 is better than 106.5? Thanks...I've been misled because I thought that more frames were better...silly me
Must Read Articles
Feature
Review
Feature
Feature
Feature
Most Popular Articles
This Month's Issue
FEATURE How to Get FREE Programs, Services, Software & MoreFEATURE Digital Photo Printer RoundupHOW TOBuild a 3D CameraFEATUREDIY Arcade PCWHITE PAPERHow TRIM Works
Technology News
Computer Cooling Fans
Computer Cases
PC Game Controllers
PC Games
Computer Hardware
Headphones
MP3 Players
Stream Video
Computer Mouse
Monitors
Motherboards
NAS Storage
Networking
Laptop Computers
DVD Burner
Digital Cameras
Portable Storage
Computer Accessories
Smartphone
Antivirus Software
Sound Cards
Speakers
Computer Systems
Thumb Drives
Video Cameras
Video Card Reviews
Water Cooling
Gadgets
- Keyboards
© 2009 Future US, Inc. All Rights Reserved.