ATI Radeon HD 4870 X2 gets previewed

AMD's ATI Radeon HD 4870 has been a bit of a mystery since word of the card first leaked out alongside the slightly lower-end Radeon HD 4850, but it looks like things are finally clearing up, with AMD itself first getting official about the card and the first hands-on previews of the card now turning up. As [H] Enthusiast reports, it looks like this one was well worth the wait, with it saying that its gameplay experiences with the card were "phenomenal." That includes being able to play Crysis at 1920x1200 with all in-game settings cranked to "high" -- a recipe for disaster on most cards, but apparently more than playable on the 4870 X2 (with some other suitably high end hardware to match, of course). What's more, the site says the card's performance could get even better by the time it's officially released, as its test card was using a beta firmware that still leaves some room for improvement. Until then, you can hit up the link below for all the current numbers.

[Arjy @ Jul 14th 2008 4:35PM]

two of those in xfire sitting on my maximus formula, dang i need some money.

[phanbouy @ Jul 14th 2008 4:40PM]

that sounds dirty somehow

[GadgetTamer @ Jul 14th 2008 4:45PM]

...

I think i might need a new job to pay for ONE of these...

Looks good, i hope that this gets AMD back into the game. NVIDIA needs a challange.

[Justin @ Jul 14th 2008 4:36PM]

Glad to see AMD's back in the GPU game.

[no1youknowz @ Jul 14th 2008 4:37PM]

Woot cant wait!

[Jason @ Jul 14th 2008 4:38PM]

Damn that's a huge bitch.

[andres @ Jul 14th 2008 5:19PM]

thats what he said

[Byrdman @ Jul 14th 2008 5:55PM]

i was just gonna say that this thing looks enormous. i cant imagine having two of these things in at once unless you have a full tower

[initialxy @ Jul 14th 2008 7:13PM]

they should coin the term "video brick".

[Lowest Ranked @ Jul 14th 2008 7:18PM]

Video brick? I'm thinking video car!

[OfflinePK @ Jul 14th 2008 4:42PM]

Look at the size of that thing! God damn! I might need to upgrade to full tower. xD Good looks ATI now just make it cheaper than the GTX 280 and you've got a deal.

[EricR @ Jul 14th 2008 4:50PM]

I for one welcome our crysis-playing video card overlords...

[Mam00th @ Jul 14th 2008 4:58PM]

But will it run?

[The Dude @ Jul 14th 2008 4:53PM]

Long gfx card is looooonnnnnggggg.

[ryan @ Jul 14th 2008 4:54PM]

Holy shit it's like two feet long.

[Mam00th @ Jul 14th 2008 5:02PM]

I bet you wrote this so that someone reply to you saying "That's what shed said"...

[makishima @ Jul 14th 2008 5:05PM]

That's what Mam00th said

[OneLove @ Jul 14th 2008 5:36PM]

shed = epic fail!

[w00t @ Jul 14th 2008 4:56PM]

Nice one!
I'm glad ATi are keeping nVidia on their toes :)

[Mam00th @ Jul 14th 2008 5:00PM]

If Nvidia hadn't lowered the price of their GTX280, the 4870 X2 would have been cheaper yet more powerful.

[Dean @ Jul 14th 2008 5:08PM]

did anyone else think "holy shit that is huge" when they first saw the picture?

I did

[Alex @ Jul 14th 2008 5:11PM]

"It is so large, it must overhang out the front of your case"

[bonedog73 @ Jul 14th 2008 5:17PM]

Newegg's already selling them yo..

[Hamidxa @ Jul 14th 2008 5:30PM]

Don't be a fool, assuming you weren't trying to be facetious.

Are you an Apple user by any chance?
I would expect nothing less from them....no wait, then they wouldn't know about Newegg, only what/where Steve Jobs tells them to shop.

My apologies :)

[alur @ Jul 14th 2008 5:34PM]

These are R700s (4870x2), not 4870s ;)

[Derbeste @ Jul 14th 2008 5:19PM]

Competition = yes please!

[joe blow @ Jul 14th 2008 5:22PM]

I got one of those nVidia 8800GTS 512 a few months back for $350. I wonder if I got hosed? Still, it plays Crysis on all high settings very smooth.

[OneLove @ Jul 14th 2008 5:43PM]

I'll buy it from you for $100 with free shipping.

[thedesolate1 @ Jul 14th 2008 5:23PM]

I guess that answers the only question every1 wants to know...

[0mega @ Jul 14th 2008 5:47PM]

I'm glad when [H] previewed it, they reviewed it, rather than the only other place I saw just showed the card :( (Driverheaven)

Thanks again Kyle :D

[Slim Daniels @ Jul 14th 2008 6:18PM]

I've got a Asus Extreme Radeon HD 4850 card for $190 - best video card I've ever owned. I can't use all the 4850 so I wouldn't even know what to do with all that power. Overclock it the wrong way and it might destroy the planet! @.@

[linusk01 @ Jul 14th 2008 6:25PM]

all i need now is crossfire x support for my 3870. then crysis will be my bitch. i dont even have a 1920 x 1080 (1680 x 1050) but 22" monitors still take a poopload of power... :(

[loosely_coupled @ Jul 14th 2008 8:17PM]

I don't know who the author is, but it's obvious he doesn't really know what he's talking about. I'm sorry, I'm not trying to be totally rude, but this post makes it appear that the 4870 and 4870 X2 are almost the same cars ??

"it looks like this one [4870] was well worth the wait, with it saying that its gameplay experiences with the card were "phenomenal." That includes being able to play Crysis at 1920x1200 with all in-game settings cranked to "high" -- a recipe for disaster on most cards, but apparently more than playable on the 4870 X2 (with some other suitably high end hardware to match, of course)."

That sentence makes sense, but it's odd that you are referring to the 4870, but then suddenly throw in the 4870X2. These ARE NOT very similar cards at all, the X2 has two RV770 GPUS on one board. The 4870 is MUCH MORE SIMILAR to the 4850, than to the 4870X2.

Besides, the 4870 is already out, but the 4870 X2 won't be out for another 4-8 weeks!

[silverblackvoid @ Jul 14th 2008 11:53PM]

finally the 'will it play crysis' comments are obsolete

[apeguero @ Jul 15th 2008 1:04AM]

It's the Mandingo of graphics cards.

If only they would make one for Macs :)

[Shortmoney_gamer @ Jul 15th 2008 5:15AM]

I live in Indonesia, where can I find official store of Radeon in Indonesia?
just tell me the address, i'd like to buy R4870, many stores sell it, but i don't know if the sell some fresh stuf, or a junk from another country. help

[joe blow @ Jul 15th 2008 2:57PM]

OneLove, I'd sell it you you but I can't find anybody who will ship it for free.