Radeon HD 4830: High-Speed, Cheap CrossFire

[cleeve]

You're right! I saw it dude, I'm sorry and I'm trying to get it fixed.

It's taking a while and you have my personal apology for the delay.

 

[cleeve]

[citation][nom]Narg[/nom]Too close?!?!? The AMD chip blew the overclocked nVidia card away! This reviewer's obviously an nVidia fanboi.[/citation]

Mreh? Dude, I'm the same author of the monthly 'best graphics card for the money' article, in which Ati is currently dominating.

Keep in mind the chart at the end makes things look a little worse for the 8800 GT, because a lot of the 4830's wins came at unplayable resolutions and settings. FOr results over 30 fps, it was closer between the two cards.

I call it like I see it, bro. You might disagree with my analysis, but that doesn't make me a fanboi.

 

[cleeve]

[citation][nom]Proximon[/nom]...stuff like this makes a big difference when I try to sound like I know what I'm talking about. The more recent articles have been very nice.How about getting some Warhammer and AOC benches going though? You would think those guys would throw out some free subscriptions, and both those titles can be challenging. I know one of your competitors have used AOC to bench for a while now.[/citation]

First off, thanks for the kind words, Prox.

As far as the benchmark suggestions, they're a solid suggestion but I can say we've made an effort to steer clear of using MMOs as benchmarks because issues like server lag can have a massive impact on real-world performance, and we like to show people what they can expect.

having said that, we are looking at updating our benches in the near future and I will definitely mention your point of view when we discuss it.

 

[brendin]

fjsdalk;hfasldk;lkasdj;kasdjfRay Adam’s Tray Tools utiwutver

 

[brendin]

wut version of Ray Adam’s Tray Tools utility was used because i tried v1.3.6.1042 and no matter wut clocks i set even stock the system just restarts right away, i have a radeon HD4850 not 4830 and i am trying to go past 700

 

[cleeve]

Ati Tray Tools version 1.5.8

 

[neiroatopelcc]

[citation][nom]Cleeve[/nom]That explains it. The expansion is even more brutal than the original.The benchmark is zoomed in on a player's homebase in Forged Alliance, with everything coverd in semi-transparent shields. It's graphicslly and CPU heavy and I'd wager your dad's machine would get about 5 fps in our benchmark.[/citation]
I'm certain you're right. Tried forged alliance on my pc this weekend. Definetly more effects showing than the original, and appearently the ai is a lot different too, probably costing more cpu.

[citation][nom]Cleeve[/nom]You're right! I saw it dude, I'm sorry and I'm trying to get it fixed.It's taking a while and you have my personal apology for the delay.[/citation]
I wonder why you bother replying to caps noobs? Guess that's why I ain't in charge.

 

[tpi2007]

[citation][nom]neiroatopelcc[/nom]I'm certain you're right. Tried forged alliance on my pc this weekend. Definetly more effects showing than the original, and appearently the ai is a lot different too, probably costing more cpu. I wonder why you bother replying to caps noobs? Guess that's why I ain't in charge.[/citation]


neiroatopelcc: Cleeve does bother because he is a professional. I posted two previous comments abou the same error and nobody at TH seemed to notice. I say that because Cleeve actually answered a few comments after I posted mine (two of them to be precise: on the day the article came out, and the day after.)

Resorting to writing with Caps Lock on seemed to work, so I personnally find it pretty much acceptable as a means of getting TH's attention, given I had tried two times before, without caps, and, alas, without success.

And all of that because the article had been posted for four days at that time, which I simply don't find acceptable in a site like TH.

I only wrote with Caps Lock on, I didn't insult anyone. Now you don't know me, so you should refrain from calling me a noob.

 

[neiroatopelcc]

[citation][nom]tpi2007[/nom]neiroatopelcc: Cleeve does bother because he is a professional. I posted two previous comments abou the same error and nobody at TH seemed to notice. I say that because Cleeve actually answered a few comments after I posted mine (two of them to be precise: on the day the article came out, and the day after.)Resorting to writing with Caps Lock on seemed to work, so I personnally find it pretty much acceptable as a means of getting TH's attention, given I had tried two times before, without caps, and, alas, without success. And all of that because the article had been posted for four days at that time, which I simply don't find acceptable in a site like TH.I only wrote with Caps Lock on, I didn't insult anyone. Now you don't know me, so you should refrain from calling me a noob.[/citation]

By most people using caps is the online equivalent of screaming/yelling. Which by the same people is associated with immature behavour. I'm one of those, and I'm judging by what I see. Nothing else.

 

[tpi2007]

[citation][nom]neiroatopelcc[/nom]By most people using caps is the online equivalent of screaming/yelling. Which by the same people is associated with immature behavour. I'm one of those, and I'm judging by what I see. Nothing else.[/citation]


Well, yes, but not always. There is a second scenario that applies whenever you want to get someone's attention. Writing in capital letters here has the same meaning as writing in, let's say, bold letters, it stands out. That is the purpose here.

When you read "URGENT" or "CONFIDENTIAL" in a report you don't automatically assume someone is yelling those words at you, now do you ? It's just meant to stand out, to make sure you don't miss it. That was my purpose here, since they missed the first two.

But even when someone talks louder than the rest, you can't also automatically assume that person is having an immature behaviour. If you're accidentally about to fall into a hole in a construction site and someone yells at you to protect you, because you aren't aware of the hole, you're going to thank that person for saving you a broken leg, not calling that person immature.

I wasn't trying to make a personal point of view, just pointing out that there was an objective error on a chart.

And to me that is helping someone out. In this case, TH's reputation. That's why they thanked me. Because it's the right thing to do, especially because I had to tell them three times (two in regular letters, mind you) and I appreciate their humbleness for that.

 

[cleeve]

For the record tpi2007, I hadn't ignored you, I actually tried to fix it a number of times but each time I was locked out of the article because someone else was editing it in the content management system. My bad timing is at fault.

 

[tpi2007]

[citation][nom]Cleeve[/nom]For the record tpi2007, I hadn't ignored you, I actually tried to fix it a number of times but each time I was locked out of the article because someone else was editing it in the content management system. My bad timing is at fault.[/citation]


All is sorted out then
I just thought you hadn't noticed because you were very responsive to others' comments.
Thanks for the update!

 

[spearhead]

radeon 4850 and 4830 are great cards. but i still perfer either the stock cooler or either one with a big fan and a copper heatsink. why? i just hate annoying noises thats all and yet the stock cooler dous fine because it wont harm any preformance so far.

 

[Claimintru]

Something that Nvidia and Ati won't advertise: If you plan on using 2+ GPU's at once, alot of games, especially ones released around 3 years ago and older will have glitches. Whether they are small or large, or no noticeable performance gains. Most of the testing for FPS increases = done on applications that are coded to take advantage of such a setup. But 9/10 you'll run into issues somewhere along the line, and wished you had shelled out for a better card from the start instead of 2 mediocre ones that sometimes give you a headache

 

[cleeve]

I'm not so sure, Claimintru.

First off, the applications aren't coded for multiple GPUs so much as the drivers are optimized for specific titles, and those are updated.

Secondly, in three years both a single card or dual card setup will probabkly be due for an upgrade, so I don't think it's that much of an issue.

Singe cards are nice for their convenience, but dual card setups have really come into their own in the last year.

 

[randomizer]

[citation][nom]Cleeve[/nom]Singe cards are nice for their convenience, but dual card setups have really come into their own in the last year. [/citation]
Multi-GPU used to only have it's benefit at the top-end where there simply wasn't a more powerful card. Now it's pushed down into upper-midrange as well. Maybe in 10 years we'll have SLI in office PCs

 

[swankenstein]

Man that o/c 4850 vs 4830 comparison was a train wreck. If you want to replicate the performance difference you'd have a better chance taping cats together

 

[Guest]

I am missing power consumption measurements. Rumors tell that the Sapphire 4830 is much better in idle than any other card of the performance level. Would be a great match for a Game HTPC.
Can you please add power values? Thanks!

 

[JZyb]

How do you test the memory overclock? I noticed that I was able to get well over 1000 on a Sapphire 4830 (as were many reviewers), but when it came to practicality this would show artifacts in a few games, while others - including 3dmark - showed no artifacts whatsoever. I had to back down to 930 MHz.

 

[silicondoc]

Nice to see an ATI card that actually appears to be worth it for once. I checked the egg prices, and it's not too bad, and since it's newer, it's still available.
Thumbs up for the first time in a long time to ATI.

 

[cleeve]

[citation][nom]JZyb[/nom]How do you test the memory overclock? I noticed that I was able to get well over 1000 on a Sapphire 4830 (as were many reviewers), but when it came to practicality this would show artifacts in a few games, while others - including 3dmark - showed no artifacts whatsoever. I had to back down to 930 MHz.[/citation]

That's exactly how you test it! Play your games until you don't see any more artifacts. unfortunately, memory overclocks are a fickle mistress...

 

[Guest]

Cleeve, did you ever try Rivatuner with the Sapphire 4830? I am only curious because I like the fact that it has the low power mode for 2D/idle. Probably doesn't really save that much power though.

I would be even more interested in seeing a comparison of the Power Color 4830 to the MSI 4830 (w/ 4+1 Phase power). Techpowerup did a review and they only took it to 730mhz, although their temp readings were notably lower than what you got in your testing in this article...

 

[Guest]

is the powercolor 4830 that quiet? a review from techpowerup says the fan is very noisy.

 

[Guest]

4830 looks like just another LE card with cheaper heatsink and disabled processors through firmware. has anyone cross-flashed to 4850 already?