Gainward Radeon HD 4870 1GB Golden Sample

Zardon

Read The Review Here
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On our test bench today is Gainward’s Golden Sample version of the latest high end video card to be released by ATI, the Radeon HD 4870 1GB. Rumours and news about this particular model have been around since before the 512MB version made it to launch but it has taken some time for the 1GB model to reach the marketplace and it enters into a slightly more crowded segment than it would have three months ago. The main reason for this is the release of the 216 unified shader GTX 260 within the last fortnight.

Erroneus

Sweet review of a crazy good card. Those HD 4870 1GB cards are very good value, ipressive card from AMD.

diegobah

This pcb/hsf design is the same used by palit and xpertvision 4870's. Its the hsf from sonic.

I originally bought a 512MB 4870 xpertvision sonic but returned it due to a fault with one of the dvi ports. However what caused me to pursue a return for credit, which I got rather than a straight rma was the smaller fan on the sonic cooler making RIDICULOUS amounts of noise.

The small fan speed was constant with only the larger fan changing based on card temps. The small fan whinned really loud, and it changed depending on air pressure in the case so the noise wasnt even constant which made it even more annoying.

There is no mention in this review of fan noise. I think its one of the most important considerations when buying a vid card and should never be omitted from a review.

Was there a fan noise issue with this card or did I just get a somehow dogy implementation of the sonic cooler on my card?

I have seen people posting on the net asking questions if this gainward version would have adjustable fan speeds for the smaller fan.

Veridian3

Hi, we have covered the Gainward/Palit relationship in the past and so felt it was not worth covering again here.

As for the noise levels, the Gainward card is slightly quieter than the reference model with no strange noises. If there is anything out of the ordinary going on with the fan we always mention it but on this occasion the noise levels are not really different enough to comment on, temperature levels on the other hand... they are noticeably different.

sammorris

Noise level is difficult to measure accurately without an anechoic chamber, which no site seems to employ other than silentpcreview, the rest use cheap audio level meteres positioned at an arbitrary distance from the card (usually very little) which tells you nothing.

Falstaff

good review...
I look forward to cards of this caliber being within reach of the average consumer..
or am I too optimistic?

Blacklash

Nice review.

ATi's got a bunch of good options this round. Some of my favorites are HD 4850 Crossfire, HD 4870 1Gb, and of course, the X2.