Sapphire radeon 4870 1gb for gaming

Status
Not open for further replies.

npowers86

Distinguished
Feb 1, 2011
214
0
18,690
i have a friend that gave me a sapphire radeon 4870 1gb for the new pc i am building.

i was wondering how this game would run on most games
mostly first person shooters.
i will be using a 22 inch LG 1080p monitor.

here is my build

i7-950 (processor was 200 at microcenter)
Asus x58 Sabertooth Motherboard
6gb triple channel corsair memory
OCZ vertex 2 60gb SSD
2 terabyte western digital blue
600 watt OCZ power supply
HAF 932 Case

also would this card help at all with video editing and photoshop?

thanks for any advice you have
 
Solution
Two 4870s = one hd5870 which is still a very strong card. If you have the same OCZ PSU I have (StealthXStream 600w) you will ned more 6-pins. If you buy sapphire they should give you some. Two hd4870s shoudl max out every game out there with DX10 enabled. One hd4870 will be fine for medium to max settings for games like COD series and SC2 and things like that. If you want a serious gaming machine, I would get this: http://cgi.ebay.com/Sapphire-Radeon-HD-4870-x2-/130483761453?pt=PCC_Video_TV_Cards&hash=item1e6170312d#ht_15191wt_1139 You should be able to put that in Tri CF because that card is already a dual card. Please someone correct me if I am wrong. Or this...

Dougx1317

Distinguished
Aug 2, 2008
919
0
19,010
The 4870 is still a decent card, but you won't max out most games. It is about the same performance as a 5770. You can probably play most shooters on moderate settings. You'll also be missing some modern features like DirectX 11 which aren't essential. What games exactly are you wanting to play?

You can also grab another 4870 of ebay for ~$80 for very good performance. This option uses a lot of power and creates a lot of heat though. It would really push your PSU too.
 

npowers86

Distinguished
Feb 1, 2011
214
0
18,690
thanks for the reply i appreciate it. i wanted to play mostly call of duty modern warfare and fallout new vegas. would it play those ok at medium settings?

also if i get another 4870 what card would that be equivalent too? thank you very much for the reply i appreciate it
 

Dougx1317

Distinguished
Aug 2, 2008
919
0
19,010
Both games should play very well with a single 4870. A second 4870 would bring the raw performance up to about a 6970 or GTX570 as this chart shows. But the 4870 won't have all the features or efficiency of these newer cards.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-radeon-hd-6870-geforce-gtx-570,2834-7.html

Here is a benchmark of Modern Warfare 2 in DX9 at high settings and 1920x1200. As you can see, the 5770 does very well at 72 FPS. (Remember the 5770=4870)
http://www.guru3d.com/article/his-5870-v-icooler-turbo-review/10

Here is a benchmark of Fallout New Vegas in DX9 at high settings and 1920x1080. As you can see, the 5770 does very well at 59 FPS. (Remember the 5770=4870)
http://www.hardwareheaven.com/reviews/1067/pg6/xfx-radeon-hd-5770-single-slot-review-fallout-new-vegas.html
 
Two 4870s = one hd5870 which is still a very strong card. If you have the same OCZ PSU I have (StealthXStream 600w) you will ned more 6-pins. If you buy sapphire they should give you some. Two hd4870s shoudl max out every game out there with DX10 enabled. One hd4870 will be fine for medium to max settings for games like COD series and SC2 and things like that. If you want a serious gaming machine, I would get this: http://cgi.ebay.com/Sapphire-Radeon-HD-4870-x2-/130483761453?pt=PCC_Video_TV_Cards&hash=item1e6170312d#ht_15191wt_1139 You should be able to put that in Tri CF because that card is already a dual card. Please someone correct me if I am wrong. Or this: http://cgi.ebay.com/SAPPHIRE-HD-4870-1GB-TOXIC-Edition-/200568977407?pt=PCC_Video_TV_Cards&hash=item2eb2d7b7ff#ht_2826wt_1139 Just make sure you have a CF bridge if you want to CF. If you do not want SAPPHIRE here is a XFX: http://www.bing.com/shopping/xfx-radeon-hd-4870-graphics-card/specs/C51A2ABDE5C91926B414?q=hd+4870&FORM=EE
 
Solution

npowers86

Distinguished
Feb 1, 2011
214
0
18,690


cool i will probly do that and just grab another 4870 (maybe two of them! haha im just kidding) since its not that much to get another one that seems like the best bet just to be safe. thanks alot for the help on this
 

xerxces

Distinguished
Dec 28, 2010
328
0
18,810
I have a 5770 and can play BO maxed out in 1080p with about 110fps and can play BFBC 2 maxed out in 1080p. Not sure whta FPS I am getting in BFBC2 but I have zero stutters even when things get crazy.
 

WHAT CPU ARE YOU USING!? My hd6850 @ 1280x1024 gets around 55FPS average on COD with an AMD Athlon II X3 440 @ 3.5Ghz. I am not sure i believe you. do you have AA and all the AF on?
 

npowers86

Distinguished
Feb 1, 2011
214
0
18,690


im using an i7-950
 

Dougx1317

Distinguished
Aug 2, 2008
919
0
19,010
With a single 4870, you'll have a good machine. With two in crossfire, you'll have a great machine. Remember you can always try out a single 4870 and grab a second one later if you feel like you need it. In any case, I'm sure you'll have no trouble with most games.

I think you can find cheaper 4870's if you buy them used off ebay. Try out the auction style before you go with the "Buy it now" option. I just sold my 4890 for $100, so I expect you can get a 4870 for $80-90 if you try.

@xerxces: I have a 6970 and I get ~50FPS maxed out with full AA on 1920x1200 without Vsync. I don't know if you are correct in your statement.
 

jay_l_a

Distinguished
Feb 15, 2008
576
0
18,990
Still running the 4870 crossfire. I've got to spend a decent amount of money to get faster. (not worth upgrading until I can double the performance for around $300 - $400)
When prices drop I'll crossfire some 6870s or 6970s.

For now I can max out everything at 19x12 except:
Crysis / Warhead
STALKER
Nehrim
Empire Total War
Far Cry 2 (have to lower shadows a bit to get it smooth)
 

npowers86

Distinguished
Feb 1, 2011
214
0
18,690


cool i will try the 4870 and then maybe go with two in crossfire later, been alot of help!
 

xerxces

Distinguished
Dec 28, 2010
328
0
18,810
I am using a AMD 955 BE with the stock clocks. Yes, I am correct. Your card is way better but BO coding sucks so that is probably why. There are lots of people with bas ass systems getting crappy fps on BO to no fault of their own. I have shader warming off and everything else all the way up including anti.. and depth and in 1080p. Honestly, BO is CPU heavy and that could be why. It uses like 80percent cpu and only 20percent gpu which is wack.
 

celpas

Distinguished
Dec 30, 2010
778
0
19,060

At 1280X1024 The load is compltely on your cpu.BFBC2 is extremely and I do mean "extremely" CPU dependant.If you move to a quad core processor your fps will skky rocket.On my GTX 260 paired with a i7920 overclocked to 4GHZ I can play the ggame maxed out with 4XAA and HBAO disabled as it contributes nothing to image quality.At these settings fps never ever drops below 40.I play at 1680X1050
 

Dougx1317

Distinguished
Aug 2, 2008
919
0
19,010

I was talking about BF:BC2. I don't own BO. I do have all of the AA settings turned up including those enhanced through CCC. That might make the difference. As far as it being CPU dependent, I play at 1920x1200 with an i7 860 @3.2Ghz. I'll try setting my CPU to 4.0Ghz tomorrow to see if it improves my framerates.

My settings for BF:BC2 are: All high, 8x AA, 16x AF, HBAO enabled, DirectX 11, 1920x1200
In CCC, the settings are enhanced to: Edge-detect AA to 12xEQ, 64x tessellation, High Quality texture filtering, Super-Sample AA, Triple Buffering
 

npowers86

Distinguished
Feb 1, 2011
214
0
18,690


what graphics card did you say you were using? is it a 4870 or something newer?
 

Dougx1317

Distinguished
Aug 2, 2008
919
0
19,010

I'm using a 6970. It's about equal to two 4870's in crossfire. You won't be able to use DirectX 11 or certain AA settings, but you should get similar quality and performance as my set up with crossfired 4870's. Below is my setup if you're curious. The additional settings I've forced through CCC (Catalyst Control Center) really take a toll on the framerates, but with a card this powerful I'm worried more about image quality.

My System:
Intel i7 860 @ 3.20Ghz
4GB @ 1450Mhz 7-7-7-20
Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD3
XFX 6970 2GB
Two OCZ Vertex 60GB in RAID 0
700W FSP Fortran PSU
Samsung T260HD 25.5" (1920x1200)
 

Griffolion

Distinguished
May 28, 2009
1,806
0
19,960



BC2 is CPU intensive due to frostbite. Also couple in the fact that the Athlon II's have no level 3 cache, something vital for high performance in games, and it's actually no surprise you getting that FPS.
 

npowers86

Distinguished
Feb 1, 2011
214
0
18,690


thats a nice setup. i have an ocz vertex2 60g....i cant imagine one of those in raid 0!
 

Dougx1317

Distinguished
Aug 2, 2008
919
0
19,010
Yeah, the Vertex 2's are great drives. In RAID 0 they are pretty awesome. Nearly 400MB/s read and writes. The garbage collect seems to be working so far, since TRIM is disabled when in RAID 0. You made a great choice on that SSD.

As far as BF:BC2 being CPU intensive, I upped my i7 to 4.0Ghz from 3.2Ghz and it made no difference in that game. I'm not saying it's not a CPU intensive game. I'm just saying that my i7 slightly overclocked has no trouble with it. Of course I have higher settings and a higher resolution than HostileDonut, so I'm probably much more GPU dependent than he is. And an i7 shouldn't have any trouble with current games.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.