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AMD Radeon HD 4870 and HD 4850 Review - Mid-range GPU mix up
Author: Ryan Shrout
Date: Jun 25, 2008
Subject: Graphics Card
Manufacturer: AMD
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Summary

The following is a summary of the more detailed analysis of the AMD Radeon HD 4870 and HD 4850 GPUs. For all the in-depth analysis and testing you'd expect from us, be sure to click this link to get all the details!


Click this link to get the full article

If you were confused into believing that AMD's next-generation architecture, the RV770 design, was supposed to be out MUCH earlier than today, you wouldn't be alone.  We started posting about the RV770 design as far back as late December and the stream of news and rumors about the number of shader processors, memory technologies and more.  Last week we were "gifted" with the early release of the Radeon HD 4850 512MB- one of the products based on the RV770 design, but today we'll walk you through not only both the HD 4850 and HD 4870 graphics boards but also the RV770 architecture itself.

AMD is releasing two new graphics cards with the RV770 today: the Radeon HD 4870 and the Radeon HD 4850; the 4870 will sell for an MSRP of $299 while the 4850 will go for $199. 



First up is the Radeon HD 4870 - the highest end part being released today.  It is a two-slot graphics card with a cooler design that looks pretty familiar to previous designs.  Specifications are as follows:
  • Radeon HD 4870
  • 800 Stream processors
  • 750 MHz core clock
  • 1800 MHz GDDR5 memory clock
  • 512MB frame buffer
  • Max board power 160 watts
While the new HD 4870 is geared up for the sub-$300 market, the HD 4850 is meant for an even more budget-conscious gamer with an MSRP around $199. 



Our Radeon HD 4850 samples came courtesy of MSI; a single slot design makes for one HOT card, but let's look at the specs:
  • Radeon HD 4850
  • 800 Stream processors
  • 625 MHz core clock
  • 1000 MHz GDDR3 memory clock
  • 512MB frame buffer
  • Max board power 110 watts
Let's take a look at some performance from these two new GPUs:









The performances we saw from the Radeon HD 4870 and HD 4850 were not ground breaking - neither was able to take on the newly released GeForce GTX 280 for supremacy of the enthusiast GPU market.  But that is not what AMD was after - instead what AMD created were probably the most impressive $200 and $300 graphics cards we have seen in several years.

The darling of all of this might be the $199 HD 4850 card - even though it is using GDDR3 memory it has a very strong showing in our tests and is itself able to compete with the HD 3870 X2 card.  If it weren't for NVIDIA's recent price drop on the 9800 GTX and 9800 GTX+ cards to $199-229 the HD 4850 would have been the run-away victor; NVIDIA obviously caught wind of the performance of RV770 and made adjustments in pricing to make themselves competitive again though.  In truth the performance of both options is pretty much neck and neck - with a slight edge going to AMD's new RV770-based HD 4850 card.

Pricing and Availability

One thing you won't have a problem finding today is an AMD Radeon HD 4850 card - they were actually sold earlier than AMD expected which prompted our own "previews" of the card last week.  Newegg has a slew of them in stock already:
The HD 4870 512MB card will be a bit more sparse: AMD is still claiming availability this week but we haven't seen anything for sale just yet.  It is no secret that the GDDR5 memory that powers the HD 4870 is more expensive and still somewhat difficult to come by - AMD is the only buyer right now so production is probably pretty limited.  The MSRP for the HD 4870 should be around $299 and if the prices on the HD 4850 are any indication, AMD is dead set on meeting that price.

From NVIDIA that pits these RV770 cards up against the GeForce 9800 GTX/GTX+ cards and presumably the GeForce GTX 260 which should sell for $399 or GeForce 9800 GX2 which is going for just over $420 in some places.  That puts AMD in a great position - if they can get the HD 4870 out in quantity before NVIDIA can deliver on the cheaper GTX 260 they should rake in the sales of these cards. 

Final Thoughts

AMD's and NVIDIA's philosophies in GPU design are obviously splitting in a way they haven't for several generations of GPUs and it will be interesting to see how that plays out.  What matters today is gaming performance for your dollar and AMD has delivered two of the best mid-range cards we have seen in a very long time; the HD 4850 and HD 4870 will no doubt appeal to many gamers looking to take a plunge with a sub-$300 or sub-$200 graphics solution. 


Be sure to use our pricing engine to find the best prices on NVIDIA and AMD graphics cards and anything else you might need:

Click here for the Detailed Review
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