ATI Radeon HD 4890 ROUNDUP Comment Thread

[SKYMTL]

Our HD 4890 Roundup is FINALLY live. Boy did this turn into an interesting "little" article and I am sure you can agree.

You can read the full roundup here: ATI Radeon HD 4890 Roundup (ASUS, Diamond, HIS, Sapphire, XFX)

Please use this thread to post your questions and comments.

ENJOY!!!

[Soultribunal]

Great Review SKY,
Its sad when a Company I held in high regard falters like that.

It really is one thing to have a Problem with a Product. Its another thing altogether when there is no communication or verification from the Vendor or any support for that matter.

I guess HIS, you won't be in my Recommendation Folder any more.

ST

[Cowboy]

Great Review! Really well done and worth the wait.

Looking forward to more like this. (with the next gen of cards of course )

[Eagle Eye]

Great review sky, thanks for all the hard work.

Anything yet from HIS?

The Sapphire Atomic certainly impressed me, I have never seen so many awards attached to just one product. Whats your take, do think Sapphire allotted only so many Atomic editions or could they run into binning issues. I mean judging from the review most cards didn't have any issues breaking 1000MHz core clock.

Regards,

EE

[SKYMTL]

I don't think it is binning issues since almost every HD 4890 card I have come across will break 1Ghz without an issue if you push 1.35 - 1.37 volts through it.

Personally, I think it is allocation at this point. The HD 4890 is in HIGH demand but I wold expect retailers to get the Atomic within the next 2 weeks or so.

As for the awards, I hate handing them out so for one product to win 3 is incredible.

HIS: silence is golden as they say.

[YukonTrooper]

Originally Posted by Soultribunal

I guess HIS, you won't be in my Recommendation Folder any more.

ST

I also had the same problem with BFG; bought a Maxcore OC that came with reference GTX 260 216SP clocks. What's funny is that BFG doesn't even have a GTX 260 with reference clocks, with the OC edition being the least overclocked card in the lineup. I guess there were quite a few others who had the same issue. I asked them if it was OK that I did a BIOS flash myself, but of course they said, "No whey, hax0r, yull loose yor warranteez!!11!" They said return it to NCIX for a replacement, but I decided screw that, cause not only will I have to pay return shipping, but I'll probably just get another card with reference clocks. So, l just overclocked it at the driver level, but after awhile those clocks started giving me PSOD's (go figure). I think now that the 30 day RMA is long gone with NCIX, I'll do an RMA with BFG and hope for a better clocker, or perhaps even a GTX 275.

[IRQ Conflict]

"No whey, hax0r, yull loose yor warranteez!!11!"

I just pictured a lol kitty when i read that.

Great review Skymtl. I think I'll sell the vanilla and get the Toxic if the X2 that comes out is capable of those speeds.

[MonsterSound]

Another great review / roundup. Thanks.
The Sapphire 4890 Atomic seems to get it all together right.

[sectorz]

Good review , but some card miss, PowerColor LCS and PCS+ can be good opponent :).With the GTX 285 price drop, a FTW version 2GB from EVGA or Black Edition from XFX will be good too include next time.

[VenomousDesigns]

BRILLIANT REVIEW!

As mentioned above, would to have loved to seen a comparison to the 4870x2 or OC'd 285's.

Could anyone comment on how they would rank up against these - I'm currently torn between purchasing a Asus 4870x2 Tri-Fan or Sapphire 4890 Toxic and OC'ing to Atomic speeds.

-VD

[bojangles]

This was a very good review. I couldn't imagine all the retakes of tests...

I think that roundup reviews are the best way to pinpoint exactly which brand to buy because they help sort out the information all in one review. It makes sense for not only the novices, but for the professionals as well. Of course, don't stop doing the single reviews, but to make life easier you could simply put them all together in the fashion you have.

Go have some fun! Thanks SKY.

[sswilson]

Great review SKYMTL!!!

With this and the 275 roundup down range, it really looks like the high/mid GPU market is at the best postion for consumers that it's been for years. The performance of these cards makes it hard to call a clear winner in the ATI/Nvidia battleground which makes for a good environment WRT price/feature when it comes to chosing between the two.

From a personal perspective, I was pleasantly surprised with Sapphire's showing. For years they've been on my **itlist, but it looks like somebody has been listening and they're putting out a quality product.

As far as the lack of Molex - PCIe power adapter goes... I'm surprised that manufacturers are still including them at all with higher end cards. When you think of it... how many of the PSUs out there which don't have the required connectors should actually be powering these newer cards? If you can afford a $300+ vid card, it's probably time to upgrade the PSU. :)

[Soultribunal]

Originally Posted by VenomousDesigns

BRILLIANT REVIEW!

As mentioned above, would to have loved to seen a comparison to the 4870x2 or OC'd 285's.

Could anyone comment on how they would rank up against these - I'm currently torn between purchasing a Asus 4870x2 Tri-Fan or Sapphire 4890 Toxic and OC'ing to Atomic speeds.

-VD

Welcome to the Forums VD,

The only Problem I forsee with comparing the 4890 to the 4870x2 is the Single vs Dual GPU configuration difference.
This is after all the Highest end Single GPU solution that ATi has on the table right now, so it is best left comparing it to similar Cards, not ones that have such differences.
Thats at least, how I look at it.

Regards,
ST

[SKYMTL]

Originally Posted by sectorz

Good review , but some card miss, PowerColor LCS and PCS+ can be good opponent :).With the GTX 285 price drop, a FTW version 2GB from EVGA or Black Edition from XFX will be good too include next time.

I was willing to buy SOME cards. Since we have no contact with Powercolor, I didn't want to give too many companies free PR.

[SKYMTL]

Originally Posted by VenomousDesigns

BRILLIANT REVIEW!

As mentioned above, would to have loved to seen a comparison to the 4870x2 or OC'd 285's.

Could anyone comment on how they would rank up against these - I'm currently torn between purchasing a Asus 4870x2 Tri-Fan or Sapphire 4890 Toxic and OC'ing to Atomic speeds.

-VD

That is actually an EXCELLENT question. Even though I didn't include it, from my past experiences, the HD 4870X2 has some issues with minimum framerates every now and then. Personally, from a price / performance standpoint, I see no point in spending more than $400 on a GPU right now.