Sapphire HD4870 Toxic 1GB @ DH

***craig5320*** · Jan 7, 2009, 08:03 AM

Sapphire HD4870 Toxic 1GB Review
_____________________________

Originally released to compete with Nvidia’s GTX260, the 4870 was a massive success for AMD and its partners and helped them to re-establish them as a dominant force in the high end marketplace.

Sapphire are the biggest AMD graphics card partner and a few months ago they released an overclocked version of the 4870 (Toxic edition) carrying a custom cooling solution. However, that version only shipped with 512MB of GDDR5 memory which wasn’t ideal for the growing demands of high end enthusiast users.

Today we’re looking at a new offering from Sapphire based on the original 4870 Toxic. This edition now brings 1GB of memory to the table to combine with the pre-overclocked frequencies.

lepel · Jan 7, 2009, 09:12 AM

Nice review. I'm just wondering, but are there 4870x2's with custom (quieter) aircooling?

*CyberpowerUK* · Jan 7, 2009, 10:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lepel

Nice review. I'm just wondering, but are there 4870x2's with custom (quieter) aircooling?

No although there are Liquid all-in-one solutions. Or water blocks.

I'm not totally convinced they're even that loud if kept below 40%. But my hearing's a bit knackered from years of DJ'ing.

Nice review, Crysis scores are very good. Nice overclock as well

Do have data for the overclocked temps? Wondering whether it could handle a little volt modding at max speed

Mike

**NathanMarks** · Jan 7, 2009, 10:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lepel

Nice review. I'm just wondering, but are there 4870x2's with custom (quieter) aircooling?

Hey there,

We actually looked at two 4870 X2s recently with custom cooling solutions
http://www.driverheaven.net/reviews.php?reviewid=687

Palit also offer a 4870 x2 with a 3 slot cooler as the Gainward we reviewed has

Cheers!

**NathanMarks** · Jan 7, 2009, 10:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CyberpowerUK

No although there are Liquid all-in-one solutions. Or water blocks.

I'm not totally convinced they're even that loud if kept below 40%. But my hearing's a bit knackered from years of DJ'ing.

Nice review, Crysis scores are very good. Nice overclock as well

Do have data for the overclocked temps? Wondering whether it could handle a little volt modding at max speed

Mike

Hey mate, in Crysis at the overclocked temperatures the GPU still wasn't breaking 70

lepel · Jan 7, 2009, 11:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NathanMarks

Hey there,

We actually looked at two 4870 X2s recently with custom cooling solutions
http://www.driverheaven.net/reviews.php?reviewid=687

Palit also offer a 4870 x2 with a 3 slot cooler as the Gainward we reviewed has

Cheers!

Ty, mate!

Goty · Jan 7, 2009, 12:43 PM

Is this the same cooler used on Sapphire's "other" 4870 1GB? I'm asking because, without actually removing my own cooler to check the base and such, it looks nearly identical with the exception that my heatpipes are nickel plated and I don't have the metal brace on the back of the card.

If this is the same cooler, then you should really do the temperature tests with FurMark! I've gotten my card over 104C with the fan speed set to Auto running at 1920x1200 w/ 8xAA. =P

**NathanMarks** · Jan 7, 2009, 04:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Goty

Is this the same cooler used on Sapphire's "other" 4870 1GB? I'm asking because, without actually removing my own cooler to check the base and such, it looks nearly identical with the exception that my heatpipes are nickel plated and I don't have the metal brace on the back of the card.

If this is the same cooler, then you should really do the temperature tests with FurMark! I've gotten my card over 104C with the fan speed set to Auto running at 1920x1200 w/ 8xAA. =P

The cooler is not the same as the regular Sapphire 4870 1gb card, but I'm sure I could get the core higher still. However, the testing we do here at DH tends to be more "real world". Its the same as using cinebench vs prime95 for CPU stress testing and is really open to debate. Personally, I don't see many people stressing their GPU past hours and hours of Crysis playing combined with other high end games (including those with 8xAA).

Just out of curiosity though, what chassis have you achieved those temperatures inside?

Goty · Jan 7, 2009, 05:36 PM

This was inside a Rocketfish case (rebadged Lian-Li), though the side panel was off at the time I recorded the temperature.

For reference, this is the exact card I have:

Newegg.com - SAPPHIRE 100259-1GL Radeon HD 4870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards

The cooler looks to be identical with the exception of the "Toxic" sticker and my load temperatures while gaming certainly never top 80C. I might just have to pop it off and take a look underneath.

***Mac Daddy*** · Jan 7, 2009, 07:16 PM

Nice review Nathan and this series definitely looking better for sure as far as cooling. The cooler is very similar to the one on my Diamond but it is 512 not 1G .. although I am getting 32C idle and around 52C load @830/1100 with fan set on auto.

On Crysis will all settings set to very high and the AA set to the 32QAA or whatever it is the temps have never gone over 60C ...

***Zardon*** · Jan 8, 2009, 04:07 AM

if anyone is seeing over 100c with a 4870 card then they need to start doing some manual settings. Although this directly relates to the X2 there are a few things in this thread which could be applied to the 4870

How To: 4870X2 Temperature Control and Overclocking Profiles

Goty · Jan 8, 2009, 08:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zardon

if anyone is seeing over 100c with a 4870 card then they need to start doing some manual settings. Although this directly relates to the X2 there are a few things in this thread which could be applied to the 4870

How To: 4870X2 Temperature Control and Overclocking Profiles

Please do realize that this was under one, particularly stressful, benchmark and not under realistic usage. Also, I don't think fan profiles are going to help me that much, the fan was spinning at 100% =P

***Zardon*** · Jan 8, 2009, 08:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Goty

Please do realize that this was under one, particularly stressful, benchmark and not under realistic usage. Also, I don't think fan profiles are going to help me that much, the fan was spinning at 100% =P

100%? thats a hell of a temperature, even if its not normal gaming (I dont even see 80c with 3 overclocked 280 gtxs in SLI!). whats the noise like with the cooler? might be worthwhile going for a 3rd party cooler (or using new paste to see if it helps)....

Goty · Jan 8, 2009, 08:33 AM

It's noisy, and I don't think I need a 3rd party cooler nor do I need to replace the paste. Like I said, I believe my card uses the same cooler as the one reviewed here today, I'm just using it under much different circumstances.

Alex · Jan 8, 2009, 08:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Goty

It's noisy, and I don't think I need a 3rd party cooler nor do I need to replace the paste. Like I said, I believe my card uses the same cooler as the one reviewed here today, I'm just using it under much different circumstances.

Well I think what Zardon meant was the link he showed you showed how to put new higher grade paste on the core (as well as the profiles you dont need) and that if you did add a 3rd party cooler that temps might drop a good 5-10c even if you are playing games - sometimes gfx companies are sloppy with paste. 80c+ is pretty hot at 100% fan if thats what you said you got.

longhorn1000 · Jan 8, 2009, 08:39 AM

ive a 4870 and it doesnt hit 100c or anywhere near it, even with furmark.

I normally peak around 70c load, but I modded my cooler with arctic silver 5 as I found there was very little paste on mine and the cooler didnt seem to be bolted down right.

**NathanMarks** · Jan 8, 2009, 08:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mac Daddy

Nice review Nathan and this series definitely looking better for sure as far as cooling. The cooler is very similar to the one on my Diamond but it is 512 not 1G .. although I am getting 32C idle and around 52C load @830/1100 with fan set on auto.

On Crysis will all settings set to very high and the AA set to the 32QAA or whatever it is the temps have never gone over 60C ...

Yeah I noticed that the older toxic with 512 ran a lot cooler with the same heatsink as well.

I even reapplied the thermal paste to see if the temps would drop but they didn't, the card just seems to run quite hot. Thank god it has a decent cooler on it!

Goty · Jan 8, 2009, 11:22 AM

I think some people misunderstood what I'm saying.

I CAN hit over 100C with my Sapphire 4870 1GB running FurMark fullscreen (important) at 1920x1200 (important) with 8xAA (also important), at which point the fan spins up to 100%. You aren't going to hit those temperatures at lower resolutions, lower levels of AA, or in windowed mode.

During normal gaming I almost never hear the fan and when I do, the sound tells me the card is maybe at 70-80C.

***Mac Daddy*** · Jan 8, 2009, 08:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NathanMarks

Yeah I noticed that the older toxic with 512 ran a lot cooler with the same heatsink as well.

I even reapplied the thermal paste to see if the temps would drop but they didn't, the card just seems to run quite hot. Thank god it has a decent cooler on it!

Odd considering the GPU essentially hasn't changed just the amount of GDDR5 ram. I am wondering perhaps if the heatspreader might need to be modified to allow for the RAM change?

***Mac Daddy*** · Jan 8, 2009, 09:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Goty

I think some people misunderstood what I'm saying.

I CAN hit over 100C with my Sapphire 4870 1GB running FurMark fullscreen (important) at 1920x1200 (important) with 8xAA (also important), at which point the fan spins up to 100%. You aren't going to hit those temperatures at lower resolutions, lower levels of AA, or in windowed mode.

During normal gaming I almost never hear the fan and when I do, the sound tells me the card is maybe at 70-80C.

I am not running a 4870 1G but a 512M with a similar cooler. I ran the fur test with the parameters you mentioned and came out quite a bit cooler.

As I mentioned on my reply to Nathan perhaps they need to modify or perhaps remove the heat spreader from the RAM as they do with the Accelero coolers. The GPU and RAM operate at different frequencies and inherently transfer heat differently so why do they share the same heat spreader?

Anyhew ran your test @1920x1200 and AA@8X with fan set to auto on my 4870 512

Chaos · Jan 8, 2009, 09:42 PM

I wouldn't mind grabbing the 1GB version but I've yet to find one in Canada. Also good job on the review Nathan keep them coming

Goty · Jan 8, 2009, 10:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mac Daddy

I am not running a 4870 1G but a 512M with a similar cooler. I ran the fur test with the parameters you mentioned and came out quite a bit cooler.

As I mentioned on my reply to Nathan perhaps they need to modify or perhaps remove the heat spreader from the RAM as they do with the Accelero coolers. The GPU and RAM operate at different frequencies and inherently transfer heat differently so why do they share the same heat spreader?

Anyhew ran your test @1920x1200 and AA@8X with fan set to auto on my 4870 512

Did you rename furmark.exe? ATI evidently retards performance under furmark in order to keep heat in check.

*EDIT* I forgot to mention that I'm also running in "xtreme burning mode" =/

**NathanMarks** · Jan 9, 2009, 04:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mac Daddy

Odd considering the GPU essentially hasn't changed just the amount of GDDR5 ram. I am wondering perhaps if the heatspreader might need to be modified to allow for the RAM change?

Yeah, could be a possibility. There doesn't seem to be a concrete reason available. However, I've got another overclocked 4870 1gb model here which runs at the same temperatures and also has a custom cooling solution.

***Mac Daddy*** · Jan 9, 2009, 06:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Goty

Did you rename furmark.exe? ATI evidently retards performance under furmark in order to keep heat in check.

*EDIT* I forgot to mention that I'm also running in "xtreme burning mode" =/

How is ATI going to retard the operation of another piece of software .. never heard of that? The fan on Auto never went over 85 percent and the temps over 60C so why would it anyway its not even O/Ced ...

Can you show the exact program, version and settings, etc and I will run it again

EDIT: Or if you or anyone else knows of benchmarks that will run the GPU hotter than this let me know I am testing .. thanks!

Cow_160483 · Jan 9, 2009, 06:59 AM

Nice review Nathan that one slick card

Goty · Jan 9, 2009, 09:39 PM

I'm running FurMark v1.5 @ 1920x1200 w/ 8xAA as a stability test with "Xtreme Burning Mode" enabled. Here's a screenie:

As for retarding performance, evidently that was limited to the Catalyst 8.8 drivers. As for how they did it, I believe they scaled back the clocks. Renaming the exe resulted in higher temps and a higher score. There's an article about it over at TechPowerUp; I'll have to find the link here in a second.

*EDIT* Found it =D

http://www.techpowerup.com/index.php?69799

***Mac Daddy*** · Jan 9, 2009, 10:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Goty

I'm running FurMark v1.5 @ 1920x1200 w/ 8xAA as a stability test with "Xtreme Burning Mode" enabled. Here's a screenie:

As for retarding performance, evidently that was limited to the Catalyst 8.8 drivers. As for how they did it, I believe they scaled back the clocks. Renaming the exe resulted in higher temps and a higher score. There's an article about it over at TechPowerUp; I'll have to find the link here in a second.

*EDIT* Found it =D

techPowerUp! News :: ATI Deliberately Retards Catalyst for FurMark

Thanks for the info and will check it out tomorrow .. Cheers Bro