When wanting to know if it's worth
it to go with the 1gig of ram over the 512mb of ram, the answer is a
resounding yes. The difference between the cards isn't astronomical
but, when it comes down to picking a graphics card, even the smallest
winning margin is well worth it as it can mean the difference between
playable games and unplayable ones.
The Diamond 4870 1gig card is one
that I can recommend, and since the new 4890 cards have comes out the
prices on these have dropped, making now the time to grab one.
The card runs cool and quiet even
under load, the Sapphire 4870 I have can get very loud when it's
under load, this is apparently the fault of the cooler that's on it.
The Diamond card obviously has the better cooler as it does not have
to work as hard to keep the card cool, so the fan isn't running at
high speed as soon as you start up a game., and your PC doesn't sound
like a small airplane taking off. You can of course go in and change
the fan speed settings etc, but the average user isn't going to do
that, or even know they can, so having a card quiet a stock fan speed
settings is very nice.
DragonSteelMods gives the Diamond
4870 1gig card a 4.5 out of 5 score and our Recommended Award as
well.
Pros:
+Quiet even under load
+Runs cool
+Decent performance
+Nice extras included
Cons:
-Big, heavy card
-Takes up two slots
review# 578
User Comments
Comment by
on 2009-05-29 02:31:48 I make, and use, custom models for my games. These models run on avg. 16X the texture resolution of stock models. When I see reviews of cards stock games are used for comparisons. Fair enough, since it would be difficult to do fair comparisons with modded games. Many people who are real fans of particular games also mod their games, even if they themselves don't make the mods. If you can see improvements in stock games with larger amounts of video memory, I would guess that it's safe to say that with custom models and textures the difference would be even more pronounced. Just thought that it might be worth mentioning for a review that is about the benefit of larger amounts of video memory.
Comment by
on 2009-06-13 14:04:10 Ranting won't change present condition of ati cards. Forget 4770, forget 4870. No Vantage score is possible. open gl game won't play like quake III. They are TERRIBLE Cards. In same vein from same comapny, TRY ATI FIREGL v3700, look for part number with 62 at end NOT 51. Newer model IS Far Improved & same cost, Workstation card about same price. Half speed that works completely IS Work ALL important. You'd think 4870 some defect mistake, yet selling, to naivee public. v3700 is Open GL 3.0 10.1 Dx shader 4.1 etc, all top specs. gET to seller thru ati website.
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