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ATI HD4870 & HD4850 Crossfire Performance Review

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SKYMTL

HardwareCanuck Review Editor
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Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare


This has quickly become one of the most popular games for the PC and with good reason. This is one of the few times I have experienced actual excitement when looking for a good area to record the timedemo. The graphics are amazing and at the same time quite demanding when you get into the higher resolutions.

For this test we recorded a 15 minute timedemo on the Crash multiplayer level and recorded framerates using FRAPS. The maximum in-game framerate was bumped to 999.



1280 X 1024

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1600 X 1200

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2650 X 1600

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Some of you are probably yelling at your screen right now blaming us for posting some absolutely outrageous results but these numbers are 100% true. Yes, Crossfire more than doubled the framerates over a single card in quite a few cases. We discussed this odd phenomenon in our forums where I was able to get a SINGLE card to perform better using COD4’s dual GPU option.

Anyways, one way or another the ATI cards perform extremely well in this game and most surprising was the jump in the minimum FPS in a number of cases.
 

SKYMTL

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Enemy Territory: Quake Wars

Enemy Territory: Quake Wars


Enemy Territory: Quake wars is the latest iteration of the wildly popular Quake franchise from ID Software. While it was met with luke-warm reviews by both the media and the gaming community, it remains an extremely popular online game.

In this test we set up a 15 minute timedemo on the Refinery level while the framerates were recorded in-game.


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While lower resolution isn’t Crossfire’s stomping ground, 1600 x 1200 and above seems to be a real sweet spot in ET: QW where even the HD4850 cards are able to take a commanding lead over the more expensive GTX 280. It is great to see very good scaling once again with Crossfire.
 

SKYMTL

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World in Conflict DX9

World in Conflict DX9


This is one stunning game. World in Conflict has provided us with some of my most memorable gaming experiences since the first Homeworld game was released and it has not stopped wowing me. In its DX9 form it provides eye-popping visuals and pushes most modern GPUs to their limits. However, in DX10 mode this game will cause nearly every graphics card to beg for mercy.

For this test we used the in-game benchmarking tool.


1280 X 1024

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1600 X 1200

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2560 X 1600

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World in Conflict is a very, very CPU limited game in DX9 mode and that can be seen here in literally every test until we hit 2560 x 1600 resolution. Then the Crossfire setups can begin to stretch their legs and begin pulling away from the competition.
 

SKYMTL

HardwareCanuck Review Editor
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Messages
12,840
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Montreal
World in Conflict DX10

World in Conflict DX10



1280 X 1024

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1600 X 1200

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2560 X 1600

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The story with CPU limitation here is much the same as we saw in the DX9 tests but to a bit lesser extent. Once again the Crossfire cards come into their own at higher resolutions with the HD4870s leading the charge and the HD4850s putting up extremely good numbers as well.
 

SKYMTL

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Power Consumption

Power Consumption


For this test we hooked up our power supply to a UPM power meter that will log the power consumption of the whole system twice every second. In order to stress the GPU as much as possible we once again use the Batch Render test in 3DMark06 and let it run for 30 minutes to determine the peak power consumption while letting the card sit at a stable Windows desktop for 30 minutes to determine the peak idle power consumption.

Please note that after extensive testing, we have found that simply plugging in a power meter to a wall outlet or UPS will NOT give you accurate power consumption numbers due to slight changes in the input voltage. Thus we use a Tripp-Lite 1800W line conditioner between the 120V outlet and the power meter.

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While performance of these cards was simply astonishing, we were gobsmacked by the amount of power these cards need. The load numbers are acceptable considering there are a pair of cards working behind the scenes but it is the idle power consumption that had us shaking our heads. It seems like ATI’s much-ballyhooed PowerPlay feature is completely out to lunch in another dimension. Sorry ATI, but when the idle power consumption of your higher-end Crossfire solution comes close to matching the full load power requirements of a 9800GTX, you know there is an issue somewhere. Especially in this day and age of cutting down on one’s carbon footprint.

So, what kind of power supplies would we recommend. Well, considering these tests put full load on the graphics card with very little load on the rest of the system we would recommend a quality 700W or higher power supply for a HD4870 Crossfire system and a 600W or higher PSU for a HD4850 Crossfire setup.
 

SKYMTL

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Performance Analysis

Performance Analysis


HD4870 Crossfire

The performance offered by a pair of HD4870 cards is simply stunning but with a price of around $540 in the best of cases, it doesn’t come cheap. To be honest with you, this configuration will blow a single GTX 280 straight out of the water and should be without a doubt the arsenal of choice for those of you with high-powered Intel-based systems. One important thing to remember here is that in some cases we experienced a fair amount of CPU bottleneck at anything under extreme resolutions and this was with a processor running faster than any stock-clocked CPU on the market today. This means that you will need some serious horsepower to really benefit from a pair of HD4870s in Crossfire if you are playing at anything under native 24” resolution with high AA and AF enabled.

There is however some minor sticking points about this setup that should be brought up right away. First of all while the performance may be quite good, we all have to remember that the R700-based cards are right around the corner. So, before you go this route make sure that you take a good, long hard look at what ATI has in store for us in the next little while.

There is also the small matter of some games just not benefiting much from Crossfire but we did not experience any of these cases in the games we tested. This goes for every combination tested here but more so when a setup costs you north of $600. At this point there isn’t a game out there that a single HD4870 doesn’t already eat for breakfast at 1920 x 1200 resolution even with AA and AF turned up quite high. So, while Crossfired HD4870 cards may put up some very impressive numbers, you should seriously weigh the benefits of $600+ worth of graphics cards against the negatives before taking the plunge.


HD4850 Crossfire

In our opinion a pair of HD4850 cards really hits a sweet spot in the price / performance category. This combination offers performance which in most cases is equal to or greater than that of a GTX 280 while retailing for less money. Even though it may not be quite up to par in notoriously Crossfire-hating games like Crysis, it literally shines everywhere else.

To be honest with you, if you have a Crossfire-enabled motherboard with an X48, X38 or P45 chipset and are on a bit of a budget, we would recommend going with Crossfired HD4850 cards. The price is right, the performance is there in spades and you will pretty much be guaranteed smooth performance in upcoming games. We feel that this is the combination which will bring Crossfire to the most customers possible and indeed there has already been numerous people in our forums and others who are leaning towards buying a pair of these cards. Without a doubt, we highly recommend a pair of HD4850s in Crossfire over any other dual card solution we tested here today.


HD4870 + HD4850 Crossfire

Even though the internet is a great place to find a ton of information, some of it isn’t always accurate and while some claim to have seen performance increases of mixed Crossfire over a pair of HD4850 cards, it wasn’t meant to happen. While performance was marginally better (and we are talking about a difference which was well within the usual margin of error when benchmarking) than a pair of HD4850 cards in Crossfire, we really wonder what the use of mixed Crossfire is.

The problem with this type of configuration is the fact that the faster of the two cards will always downclock to keep pace with the slower card. This means that the core speed of 750Mhz and blistering memory speed of 3.6Ghz on a HD4870 means absolutely squat when paired up with a HD4850 running at 625Mhz / 1.986Ghz. We have a screenshot below to accurately illustrate what is happening as we looped a 3DMark 06 Batch Size test which should theoretically load both cards at 100%.

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Click Image to Enlarge

As you can see, the HD4870 on the top two GPU-Z screenshots has less than 100% load on both the GPU and the memory while the HD4850 (bottom) easily hits 100% when asked to render.

In all reality, we really can’t recommend going this route and can’t figure out why someone would really want to in the first place. Granted, if you win a HD4870 in a contest and then don’t want to spend the money to pair it up with a similar card this is a perfectly fine route but other than that, what’s the use? You could buy a pair of HD4850 cards and have the same performance for $100 less.
 
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SKYMTL

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Potential Issues

Potential Issues


As with many things in life, installing Crossfire and actually getting it to run properly isn’t always a walk in the park. There may be times that you will like nothing more than to take your newly bought cards and send them for a swim in your pool. On the other hand, many of you may go through the whole driver installation process and have your cards purring along like a dream come true in no time at all. It is the vast majority of you who will encounter next to no issues of performance drop-offs but there are always the few who will experience problems through Windows problems, hardware conflicts and the odd driver issue. While the following section of this review may make it sound like there are an incredible amount of problems with Crossfire, let me put that thought to rest right away. For the most part the new 8.7 drivers run without a problem but we just wanted to give you guys a heads up regarding what may arise.

I won’t mince words with you here and hold my nose in the air while claiming the Crossfire testing went absolutely smoothly. That would be easy to do since as you probably saw in our tests, even with the direct help of ATI, we had some issues with the HD4850 cards in 3DMark Vantage due to a BIOS issue which seems to affect some very early review samples. We have direct access to ATI for trouble shooting but we don’t go running to them like sissies right away if something goes wrong. Rather, we look for a solution and if we find said solution we report it to you so you can benefit as well if faced with the same obstacles. I’m not going to pretend like nothing untoward happened throughout our experience with Crossfire since issues did pop up and you readers should know about them and the solutions we found…no matter how odd they are. Simple as that.

So, without further ado lets take a look at the some of the problems you may encounter and the solutions which may (or may not) work.


The Telltale Signs of Problems

Let’s take a look at some of the warning signs that tell you there is something wrong with your drivers or potentially your hardware. After your get any of this it is time to take a serious look at the rest of our troubleshooting section below. These are all issues we encountered during testing.

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Click on image to enlarge

Yes, here we have the most famous of the warning messages you may get in the form of a lost device which which usually accompanied by Windows telling you that the Display Driver has just recovered from an error. This signifies a TDR (Timeout Detection Recover) or what Windows XP recognizes as a VPU Recover which means Windows has detected an error and has had to restart the driver. This could either usually signifies that there is a hardware or software problem which means the first thing you should do is check the stability of your cards. To do this you should install card each separately and run through the test in which you encountered the error the first time. If it happens again for one card and not the other it is time to start thinking about an RMA. If it doesn’t happen then it is time to do some additional Crossfire troubleshooting.

Also remember that these messages are sometimes replaced with your screen going into Standby mode if the driver cannot recover.

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Click on image to enlarge

The next way to tell that there may be something amiss is a little bit less in-your-face than a VPU Recover message but it could be the prelude to more widespread problems in the games you play. You will see that the Catalyst AI control panel in the Catalyst Control Center (CCC) will constantly say “loading”. When we had this come to the forefront, every game would work without a problem except Crysis and Medieval II: Total War (a game I love playing but don’t benchmark anymore). This was interspersed with another issue…

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Click on image to enlarge

As you can see, sometimes there is no Crossfire option in the CCC which can sometimes be taken care of by a simple reboot. However, we have had perfectly fine Crossfire performance without the option being available until we hit one game or another and would get some pretty glaring issues like VPU Recovers, stuttering framerates and reboots. You will also see that there is sometimes (but not always) a lack of a Crossfire option when the Catalyst AI constantly says “loading” as seen above.
 

SKYMTL

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Troubleshooting the Issues

Troubleshooting the Issues


Now that we have seen some of the potential problems you may have, here are some of the options you may want to try in order to alleviate your Crossfire woes.


It’s All about Windows

Before we go too far into troubleshooting, there is a one-stop-shop solution for fixing almost any display driver issue on the face of this planet but it is the one solution almost everyone cringes at hearing: reinstalling Windows. Let’s face it, no matter how good your driver cleaning program is, there is always the chance that some last vestiges of a previous driver will come back to haunt you. To us, installing one driver over another is like trying to paint a masterpiece over a paint by numbers done by a three-year-old; we just don’t do it. I am sure there are plenty of you rolling your eyes at the ceiling right now at the thought of reinstalling Windows and loosing all those carefully downloaded cracks for your favourite programs but it is without a doubt the best way to solve problems with both Nvidia and ATI drivers.


Properly Uninstalling Past Drivers

Many problems with graphics cards are caused by improperly uninstalled drivers. To us, it doesn’t matter if you are going from ATI to ATI, Nvidia to ATI or from ATI to Nvidia since one thing stays constant: you must ALWAYS uninstall your presently-installed driver. While we already discussed how to properly uninstall an Nvidia drivers (use the Control Panel, go into Device Manager, right click on the Nvidia card, uninstall and use Driver Cleaner in Safe Mode) up to the point of having to reboot, the real bag o’ tricks are needed when uninstalling the ATI drivers.

While you could go through the same process of going into the Device Manager, we have found this could cause problems down the road even after using a driver cleaning program. Rather, go about the process of INSTALLING the old ATI drivers and instead of hitting Install, click on Uninstall. Like so:

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Click to enlarge

Then you can click on Express Uninstall and go through the process of uninstalling the ATI drivers through the Catalyst Install manager.

After this it is time to reboot into Safe Mode and use a driver cleaning program to get rid of every last little bit of the drivers.


The Right Way to Install Drivers

Now that we have seen how to properly uninstall the old drivers, let’s go through the process from start to finish for installing Crossfire’d ATI card. Here we go:

Uninstall Drivers through either Device Manager (Nvidia) or Catalyst Install Manager (ATI)
Reboot to Safe Mode
Completely clean system (Driver Cleaner Pro recommended)
Shut Down
Install both cards (with Crossfire bridges)
Start Up
Install drivers
Reboot
Start Windows
Reboot again
Ensure CF is enabled via a pop-up or through the CCC

This should properly install the drivers for both cards and while we understand that some of you will already have a single card installed while hoping to just add another one, we recommend going through this process anyways. It is possible to have one card installed and then install another but if you don’t completely reinstall the drivers we have found it leads to more issues than we would like.

If after this whole process of installing your cards results in the problems mentioned earlier in this section, don’t fear since there is still some hope for you.


Delete those Hangers-On

I want to make sure that you understand that we are now getting into things you should only try if you went through all of the other steps mentioned above and are still getting error messages.

Like a bad rash, there are parts of the ATI install package that stick around no matter what program you use to uninstall and clean the old drivers with. These include the ATI Technologies folder in your main drive directory as well as running programs (like MOM.exe) which for some reason like popping up at the most inopportune moments. While it isn’t recommended, if you are on your last shred of sanity you can go ahead and delete these during the uninstall process.

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Click to enlarge

In the above picture you can see that we are in the Programs and Features window in Vista which can also be accessed through the Add / Remove Programs window in XP. You can go here to uninstall any last parts of the ATI installers or programs which piggyback on the ATI drivers and CCC.

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Click to enlarge

Here we see that there is an additional ATI Technologies folder in our main drive directory (C: in this case) which is left untouched even after cleaning with Driver Cleaner and Driver Sweeper. If you are having issues installing the ATI drivers and enabling Crossfire or if you have some driver error messages regarding the .exe files contained herein, you can delete this folder but PLEASE use this as a last resort.


The Band-Aid Solution

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Click to enlarge

Many of you remember that within the ATI Catalyst Control Center there is a section called Catalyst AI. If after going through all of the suggestions above there are still issues with one game in particular, you can try disabling Catalyst AI. Just remember that this in effect turns off Crossfire which results in lower performance as well so it should only be used as a last resort. All you have to do is click on the “Disable Catalyst AI”, click Apply and exit the CCC.


Just remember that even after all of these suggestions there may still be problems here and when all else fails…..reinstall Windows.
 

SKYMTL

HardwareCanuck Review Editor
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Messages
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Conclusion

Conclusion


After now using Crossfire for the better part of two months with the HD4800-series we can safely say that ATI’s multi card solution has come a long way since its inception with the X800-series. Not only have the drivers and game profiles improved in leaps and bounds but the price you pay for living the Crossfire dream is now more affordable than ever. Since we have been using a number of drivers (five different ones to be exact) for the 4800-series in Crossfire since their release to reviewers, one thing has struck us as beyond impressive: with every revision to the drivers, Crossfire performance has increased. This means that as time goes on, the performance of the 4800-series will continue to increase so the benchmark numbers you saw in this review will probably only be the beginning. And what a beginning it is!!

With the HD4800-series it seems that Crossfire has finally matured to a point where it is a perfectly good option for those of you running a Crossfire-enabled chipset while wanting a significant boost in performance over a single card. A pair of HD4870 cards is a good option if you are looking for the best of the best to go with your Intel-based motherboard but with a price of at least $540, it is a bit too expensive to outright recommend. Especially with the imminent release of the R700. On the other hand, the HD4850 presents consumers with the perfect Crossfire card since it is relatively cheap even when you buy a pair of them (under $400 in some cases) and they perform amazingly against the similarly priced GTX 280. Finally we have mixed Crossfire which to be honest with you is a bit pointless for the vast majority of consumers. It works like a charm but there performance is disappointing when the more powerful card is forced to downclock.

All in all, baring a few games here and there it seems that Crossfire scales very, very well from one game to the next. In Call of Duty 4 we say some pretty amazing performance increases while even Crysis saw some noticeably higher framerates with Crossfire enabled. There is however one small caveat: you need a hell of a processor to take advantage of the extra horsepower a HD4800-series Crossfire setup brings to the table.

With rumors of the 790i boards being gradually pulled from production by several large manufacturers and 780i boards not really providing much incentive to buy them, building a new SLI system seems to be nothing but an afterthought in the minds of many consumers. However, with the current crop of Intel chipsets supporting only Crossfire, it seems ATI’s multi card setups are gaining popularity very quickly. While with two cards running at full tilt power consumption naturally increases to pretty astounding levels, this in itself is not a reason to discount Crossfire.

When push comes to shove, based on the current crop of high-priced Nvidia SLI motherboards and the wide variety of Intel boards supporting Crossfire, we would give the ATI solution the edge over SLI in terms of market exposure. It should also be interesting to see what AMD has up their sleeves in terms of upcoming Crossfire chipsets. So with great performance, support from Intel and well-priced cards, the future is definitely bright for Crossfire.

So, what should we look forward to next? We will see….


 
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