Mixed Quad-fire review: Sapphire 4850 X2 + Sapphire 4870 X2
Ok, finally completed my review. This will most likely be the last review I write involving the 4850 X2. It has been a great card and I can't express that fact enough. And even though I'm selling one of my 4850 X2's, I'm keeping the other one for myself, to continue experimenting with. So enjoy this review and I look forward to writing other video card and CF reviews as I continue to move up the Sapphire Radeon video card ladder.
Installed
Catalyst Control Center (ccc): Graphics hardware info
Primary Adapter
Graphics Card Manufacturer Powered by ATI
Graphics Chipset ATI Radeon HD 4870 X2
Device ID 9441
Vendor 1002
Subsystem ID E89A
Subsystem Vendor ID 174B
Graphics Bus Capability PCI Express 2.0
Maximum Bus Setting PCI Express 2.0 x8
BIOS Version 011.016.000.025
BIOS Part Number 113-AAE89Q-X101
BIOS Date 2008/12/11
Memory Size 1024 MB
Memory Type GDDR5
Core Clock in MHz 750 MHz
Memory Clock in MHz 900 MHz
Total Memory Bandwidth in GByte/s 115.2 GByte/s
Linked Adapter
Graphics Card Manufacturer Powered by ATI
Graphics Chipset ATI Radeon HD 4850 X2
Device ID 9443
Vendor 1002
Subsystem ID E870
Subsystem Vendor ID 174B
Graphics Bus Capability PCI Express 2.0
Maximum Bus Setting PCI Express 2.0 x8
BIOS Version 011.011.000.001
BIOS Part Number 11X-B50102-X06
BIOS Date 10/23/2008
Memory Size 1024 MB
Memory Type GDDR3
Core Clock in MHz 625 MHz
Memory Clock in MHz 993 MHz
Total Memory Bandwidth in GByte/s 63.6 GByte/s
Linked Adapter
Graphics Card Manufacturer Powered by ATI
Graphics Chipset ATI Radeon HD 4850 X2
Device ID 9443
Vendor 1002
Subsystem ID E870
Subsystem Vendor ID 174B
Graphics Bus Capability PCI Express 2.0
Maximum Bus Setting PCI Express 2.0 x8
BIOS Version 011.011.000.001
BIOS Part Number 11X-B50102-X06
BIOS Date 10/23/2008
Memory Size 1024 MB
Memory Type GDDR3
Core Clock in MHz 625 MHz
Memory Clock in MHz 993 MHz
Total Memory Bandwidth in GByte/s 63.6 GByte/s
Linked Adapter
Graphics Card Manufacturer Powered by ATI
Graphics Chipset ATI Radeon HD 4870 X2
Device ID 9441
Vendor 1002
Subsystem ID E89A
Subsystem Vendor ID 174B
Graphics Bus Capability PCI Express 2.0
Maximum Bus Setting PCI Express 2.0 x8
BIOS Version 011.016.000.025
BIOS Part Number 113-AAE89A-X201
BIOS Date 2008/12/11
Memory Size 1024 MB
Memory Type GDDR5
Core Clock in MHz 750 MHz
Memory Clock in MHz 900 MHz
Total Memory Bandwidth in GByte/s 115.2 GByte/s
Catalyst Control Center (ccc): crossfireX configuration
GPU-Z technical info
GPU-Z clock, thermo, and fan speed info
Testbed:
E8300 @ 3.8G & 4.0G
6Gb DDR2
ATI Catalyst 9.5
(2) SAPPHIRE Radeon 4850 X2 2GB (in Quad-fire CrossfireX)
SAPPHIRE Radeon 4850 X2 2GB + SAPPHIRE Radeon 4870 X2 2GB (in Quad-fire CrossfireX)
Testing
3DMark 2006
3DMark Vantage
Call of Duty: World at War
Call of Juarez
Crysis
Devil May Cry 4
Enemy Territory: QUAKE Wars
FarCry 2
Furmark
Left 4 Dead
Sanctuary
S.T.A.L.K.E.R Clear Sky
X3 Terran Conflict
3DMark 2006:
4850 X4 = 19818
4850 X2 + 4870 X2 = 20250
3Dmark Vantage:
4850 X4 = P13784
4850 X2 + 4870 X2 = P14176
Call of Duty: World at War
1,680 x 1,050 4xAA 16xAF, DirectX 9, Maximum Detail
4850 X4 = 180 average fps
4850 X2 + 4870 X2 = 177 average fps
1,920 x 1,080 4xAA 16xAF, DirectX 9, Maximum Detail
4850 X4 = 177 average fps
4850 X2 + 4870 X2 = 175 average fps
Call of Juarez:
1680 x 1050, 4xAA, highest quality settings
4850 X4 = 102 average fps
4850 X2 + 4870 X2 = 107 average fps
1920 x 1200, 4xAA, highest quality settings
4850 X4 = 95 average fps
4850 X2 + 4870 X2 = 96 average fps
Crysis:
1600x1200
4850 X4 = 41 average fps
4850 X2 + 4870 X2 = 41 average fps
1900x1200
4850 X4 = 37 average fps
4850 X2 + 4870 X2 = 37 average fps
2560x1600
4850 X4 = 26 average fps
4850 X2 + 4870 X2 = 26 average fps
Devil May Cry 4:
1680x1050, 8xAA
4850 X4 = 268 average fps
4850 X2 + 4870 X2 = 296 average fps
Enemy Territory: QUAKE Wars
1600 x 1200, DX10, highest settings, 16xAF, 4xAA
4850 X4 = 135 average fps
4850 X4 + 4870 X2 = 129 average fps
1920 x 1080, DX10, highest settings, 16xAF, 4xAA
4850 X4 = 133 average fps
4850 X2 + 4870 X2 = 125 average fps
FARCRY 2:
1680 x 1050, DX10, Ultra high settings, 16xAF, 4xAA
4850 X4 = 62.8 average fps
4850 X2 + 4870 X2 =68 average fps
1920 x 1080, DX10, Ultra high settings, 16xAF, 4xAA
4850 X4 = 58.7 average fps
4850 X2 + 4870 X2 = 67.0 average fps
Furmark:
1440x900
4850 X4 = 287 average fps
4850 X2 + 4870 X2 = 341 average fps
1680x1050
4850 X4 = 232 average fps
4850 X2 + 4870 X2 = 269 average fps
Left 4 Dead:
1680x1050, DX9, 16xATF, 8xAA, V-sync off, Shader: very high, all other settings: high
Difficulty: Expert
Campaign: No Mercy
Mission: 1: apartments
FRAPS settings: 300 seconds
4850 X4 = sorry, did not test
4850 X2 + 4870 X2 = 149 average fps
1920x1080, DX9, 16xATF, 8xAA, V-sync off, Shader: very high, all other
4850 X4 = sorry, did not test
4850 X2 + 4870 X2 = 143 average fps
Sanctuary:
1680x1050
4850 X4 = 194 average fps
4850 X2 + 4870 X2 = 207 average fps
1920x1080
4850 X4 = sorry, did not test
4850 X2 + 4870 X2 = 186 average fps
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Clear Sky:
1680 x 1050, DX10, 16xAF 0xAA
4850 X4 = 64 average fps
4850 X2 + 4870 X2 = 65 average fps
1920 x 1080, DX10, 16xAF 0xAA
4850 X4 = 60 average fps
4850 X2 + 4870 X2 = 60 average fps
X3 Terran Conflict:
1680 x 1050
4850 X4 = 96 average fps
4850 X2 + 4870 X2 = 100 average fps
1920 x 1080
4850 X4 = sorry, did not test
4850 X2 + 4870 X2 = 97 average fps
Conclusion:
Well the Radeon HD 4800 series continues to amaze. Any and all HD 48XX series single or X2 can be crossfired with each other resulting in great performance gains. Again, although quad-fire is incredible, I'm still a big fan of tri-fire. Since tri-fire can achieve ~80-100% the performance of quad-fire, in the quad-fire vs. tri-fire / price vs. performance comparison, tri-fire is the clear winner.