For some history:
1) I'm not an extreme overclocker. My E6850 is running decently cool @ 3.46G on stock cooling with no voltage adjustments.
2) I am not a benchmarker, all observations are based upon a standard desktop system with a bunch of gunk running in the background and my "regular user" based opinion.
3) I questioned whether upgrading from my MSI 8800GT would be worth it, I don't game much (no time) but really enjoy it when I do.
Now for a generic user review of the Visiontek 4870...
Ordered this from "The Egg" and, for the first time, was SLIGHTLY disappointed (the Egg has spoiled me with ship times). Price was $10 USD over MSRP but that seems to be the norm and a much better markup compared to when I bought my 8800GT 7 months ago.
Received it today so here are my initial impressions...
Packaging:
Came in a pretty 4 sided box with a bunch of labels (including a "Max Effect" hint but, as others have said, no game). Inside was a black 6 sided box...
Inside the black 6 sided box was the card in a non-sealed static bag and the normal adapters (DVI to HDMI, DVI to VGA, and a component adapter. Also included were two double four pin molex to 6 pin PCI-E power adapters a video out to composite adapter and a Crossfire bridge.
The card itself was very vanilla, not only was there no "Visiontek" sticker (despite the pictures I've seen in reviews) there wasn't even a "Radeon" sticker, just a clear red cooler shroud and an ATI sticker on the squirrel cage fan. I must say I liked this however as the cooler looks kinda' cool and I don't have a side window on my case anyway so it doesn't matter.
In short; the packaging is vanilla and doesn't speak much to "customer appeal". I guess I've been spoiled by the likes of XfX, EVGA and the Nvidia resellers but it seems, with PowerColor, VisionTek, Diamond etc that the "presentation" and bundle has been lost on ATI/AMD resellers.
Performance:
NOTE I installed nothing from the CD, I installed the Catalyst 8.7 beta directly.
I was worried that I would not see a great performance increase upgrading from the 8800GT but I was wrong. I got a ~2k increase across the board (Vantage and '06) in the Futuremark benches but I have noticed a big leap in gaming smoothness. I can't quantify this but it's my perception and since it's my money
. All said I think it was worth it.Games played: Hellgate London (induced my first RSOD crash under Vista 64 EVER), CoD4, HL2, Guildwars, Bioshock etc...
Brief examples (don't have the 8800GT runs to compare unfortunately)
Example 1 - Crysis Demo, Very High settings, 1680x1050, 2x AA
Play Time: 107.58s, Average FPS: 18.59
Min FPS: 8.82 at frame 1926, Max FPS: 21.30 at frame 866
Example 2 - Crysis Demo, Very High settings, 1920x1080, No AA
Play Time: 100.33s, Average FPS: 19.93
Min FPS: 14.67 at frame 1938, Max FPS: 22.75 at frame 874
Example 3 - Crysis Demo, High settings, 1920x1200, 2x AA
Play Time: 72.71s, Average FPS: 27.51
Min FPS: 14.49 at frame 1306, Max FPS: 31.88 at frame 1002
I'm not a big Crysis guy but I have heard that it eats video cards for lunch so I don't think the above is too bad. In actually playing a bit of the demo in example 1 and 2 it seems pretty fluid and playable to me. I have seen all of my other games show definite improvement at higher res and quality settings.
Please keep in mind that this a user configured system with minimal process tweaking and a bunch of stuff running in the background.
Pros:
- Danged fast for a $300 card.
- Relatively quiet (the 8800GT was a real screamer under load).
- Dual slot doesn't heat up the case as much.
- Price/Performance is great
Cons:
- HOT! HOT! HOT! at idle. Mine idles at 77-78C just sitting at the desktop but doesn't go over 83C under load, need to look at the manual fan adjustment mod ;)
- Still like NV resellers better. I just get a better "consumer feel" from the likes of EVGA and XfX than I do Sapphire, Powercolor, or Visiontek.
- Vanilla bundle and no "Mass Effect" in the box despite the sticker on the front. To be fair the "What's Included" on the box is pretty clear but the packaging could be misleading.
All in all I am pretty happy with this upgrade especially at the price. My old (a whopping 7 months) 8800GT was a very capable card in it's own right but I think AMD/ATI has a winner on it's hands with the 770
I think the 8800GT will be selling soon.
