ATI 4850 discussion,tweaks & Info

[H1TMAN]

I recently bought an Asus EAH4850 512MB and this card is extremely awesome! the discussions in this thread is for people who have this card or for those who intend buying it.

Hopefully it will help give people a better understanding of this card.
If you have this card then how is it performing in your rig ?
Do you have any issues?
What are your scores or frame rates in general games?

You can pick up this card for R1900 to R2600 in South Africa . The 1 gig version being the more expensive one.

Let this thread be about the graphics card and not pricing and trolling please.

A few places to pick up this card at a very good price is PCInternational for R 1936.86 incl VAT. hears there website. www.pcint.co.za . I am only posting about this 1 shop because they are the cheapest in South Africa THAT I COULD FIND.

What do you guys have to say about this card ? :) I look forward discussing it with everyone.

[Frozenfireside]

What are your temps? Idle and in game pweaz.

[CrashHelmut]

Can I ask out of interest (I'm not upgrading for another year at least) what is the card's cooling performance like? I'm especially interested in the loudness and pitch of the fan. Is it audible when idle?


Let this thread be about the graphics card and not pricing and trolling please.
Why not discuss pricing?

[ReinHer]

PUT your fans speeds up to 35%! I had to change the profile .cfg for the CCC, if you leave it at about 26% it will run at 80C idle. After upping mine to 35% I idle at 60C, which is still high, but better than 80C.

The new 8.8 drivers help a lot with power efficiency.

[Domanskip]

^^
Yes, I had to help my friend because he just built a new PC and is running a 4850 and it was idling at 90C. Had to tweak the fan speed to get it to a point where it was <60C. Very noisy at that speed, but thats a sacrifice that had to be made.

[CrashHelmut]

^^
Yes, I had to help my friend because he just built a new PC and is running a 4850 and it was idling at 90C. Had to tweak the fan speed to get it to a point where it was <60C. Very noisy at that speed, but thats a sacrifice that had to be made.
Unfortunately that would be a deal breaker for me. I like quiet computing.

However I see that any HD3870 series aftermarket cooler should work with a HD4850 or HD4870. In fact these (http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum/hardware-canucks-reviews/8162-palit-radeon-hd4870-512mb-graphics-card-review-21.html) guys used a Thermalright HR-03 GT (R520 from Prophecy) and a Zalman 90mm fan to great effect on a HD4870 (43C load, 33C idle).

Does mean that if you are like me, you need to add an additional R600ish for a decent cooler. But that is part of the fun. (Not the extra cost, but customising the rig.)

[H1TMAN]

What are your temps? Idle and in game pweaz.


What are your temps? Idle and in game pweaz.

Ok when I installed this card , the Idle temps were 75*C and at load temps (eg. crysis for an hour) i was hitting 90*C which is freakin HOT but these cards can handle that temp. It would however be much better if temps are lower obviously and I have found a simple solution to that. After searching on the net , I came across a few places where people edited a certain file and walaaaah! temps were as low as 45 and 50. i'll explain now : for both 4850/4870

DO this at your own risk however No reports have been made about the card being damaged etc.. its simply increasing the fan speed a little.

First of all :
1) Install Ati catalyst Driver 8.8 (good to have latest drivers)
2) Then Enable ATI Overdrive in the Catalyst Control Center.
3)Then Create a New profile using the profile manager and make sure you save "All Catalyst Control Center settings" is selected.
For XP : go to this location : "C:\Documents and settings\local settings\application data\ATI\ACE\Profiles\your CCC profile.XML the XML file will be named to whatever you named it when creating the profile.
5) Right click and edit this file (open with notepad)

For Vista
For Vista users that want to change there fan speed like the XP users above : location to find XML file :

"C:\Users\YourWindowsID\appdata\local\ATI\ACE\Prof iles\Your CCC Profile.XML .right click and edit etc...



For 4850\4870 - within the XML file. Read this entire post before you do anything! this is what you'll see in the XML file:

<Profile>
<Caste name="Graphics">
<Groups>
<Group name="Overdrive5">
<Feature name="TimeUnlocked" />
<Feature name="OverclockEnabled">
<Property name="OverclockEnabledProperty" value="False" />
</Feature>
<Feature name="CoreClockTarget_0">
<Property name="Want_0" value="50000" />
<Property name="Want_1" value="50000" />
<Property name="Want_2" value="62500" />
</Feature>
<Feature name="MemoryClockTarget_0">
<Property name="Want_0" value="75000" />
<Property name="Want_1" value="75000" />
<Property name="Want_2" value="99300" />
</Feature>
<Feature name="CoreVoltageTarget_0">
<Property name="Want_0" value="1046" />
<Property name="Want_1" value="1046" />
<Property name="Want_2" value="1123" />
</Feature>
<Feature name="MemoryVoltageTarget_0">
<Property name="Want_0" value="0" />
<Property name="Want_1" value="0" />
<Property name="Want_2" value="0" />
</Feature>
<Feature name="FanSpeedProtocol_0">
<Property name="FanSpeedProtocolProperty" value="Percent" />
</Feature>
<Feature name="FanSpeedAlgorithm_0">
<Property name="FanSpeedAlgorithm" value="Automatic" />
</Feature>
<Feature name="FanSpeedRPMTarget_0">
<Property name="Want" value="0" />
</Feature>
<Feature name="FanSpeedPercentTarget_0">
<Property name="Want" value="22" />
</Feature>
</Group>
</Groups>
<Adapter name="PCI_VEN_1002&amp;DEV_9442&amp;SUBSYS_024E1043&amp;REV_00_4&amp;70B CEE6&amp;0&amp;0008A">
<Aspect name="Overdrive5" />
</Adapter>
</Caste>

:) read on : there are two things that you need to change.
1) as you see in bold "Automatic" must be changed to "Manual"
2) and the fan speed percent which for my card was at 22 can be changed to 35 or whatever speed of the fan that you desire to set it. ( i dont recomend setting it higher then 45.
3) Save the file and close it.
4) Reload the Catalyst Control Center and activate your profile

I changed the first one as stated to "Manual" and i set the percent to "35" - my temps are now idle at 55*C (as I type this) and at load it goes up to 65*C-75*C (Crysis for 2 hours got up to 80*C load temp) this is awesome considering it use to Idle at 75 and load up to 90!!!

let me know if you are having problems changing anything .

[H1TMAN]

Can I ask out of interest (I'm not upgrading for another year at least) what is the card's cooling performance like? I'm especially interested in the loudness and pitch of the fan. Is it audible when idle?


Why not discuss pricing?

because the other thread that I made was full of people discussing pricing of this card in a Country we all know that likes to rip us off . but we can discuss it abit if you like :)

[CrashHelmut]

because the other thread that I made was full of people discussing pricing of this card in a Country we all know that likes to rip us off . but we can discuss it abit if you like :)
Nah, just wondering. I'd rather discuss cooling. :)

[H1TMAN]

Nah, just wondering. I'd rather discuss cooling. :)

Yeah cooling is a Must for any Gcard these days. That solution above that I posted worked really well. and I can hardly hear the card fan at all . my case is on the floor , not on the table or next to my screen so different stups will hear there card , depending how close it is to you. I'm looking for a decent cooler but i'm not willing to pay more then 350rand for one. For now I'll survive at 55 idle and 70 load

[Frozenfireside]

Pity we can't get Arctic Cooling here at their recommended price.

Their entry level cooler which is very decent and designed to work without a fan is 14 quid ex delivery.
Here that same cooler would be R650 +-. Complete ripoff.

PS I'm sure some updates to the drivers will sort out the cooling settings. Seems all you need is a good balance between fan speed and noise but other then that it's fine.

[H1TMAN]

Sorry for Double Post. here is the location for Vista users that want to change there fan speed like the XP users above : location to find XML file :

"C:\Users\YourWindowsID\appdata\local\ATI\ACE\Profi les\Your CCC Profile.XML .right click and edit etc...

Always make a Backup of the file first

[Frozenfireside]

You might want to mention that in the original post H1TMAN.

[ReinHer]

Well if you really must have quiet computing, AMD said that the GPU is designed to run at very high temps. 80C idle is just a little too scary to me. I guess it also depends on your system cooling.

[Boggle24]

Ah yes, I just posted in the other thread but I guess this would have been a better place.

So I need to get a new Graphics card (amongst other things) and these 4850s have struck my fancy.

apart from these files I need to alter and so forth (which I'm not too keen on) I would also love to have a quiet PC.

Is there any version of the card that has a decent cooling system yet ?, I don't mind if it's a little above the ~R2000 that the card costs these days.

[H1TMAN]

Ah yes, I just posted in the other thread but I guess this would have been a better place.

So I need to get a new Graphics card (amongst other things) and these 4850s have struck my fancy.

apart from these files I need to alter and so forth (which I'm not too keen on) I would also love to have a quiet PC.

Is there any version of the card that has a decent cooling system yet ?, I don't mind if it's a little above the ~R2000 that the card costs these days.

ok if you dont wish to alter that file then I suggest you buy the Asus make because It comes with the "smart doctor program that allows you to change the fan speed at will. This is the first 4850 to come with a fan speed controls. Its your best bet or you could just wait a week or so until Rivatuner 2.10 is out which will support The latest ATI and you could change any cards fan speed without altering that file.

Your last option would be to buy an aftermarket cooler which is abit pricey

[Boggle24]

Ok thanks, Machine mentioned the ASUS EAH4850/HTDI/1G in the other thread, but I can't find the pricing for it, except for in Australian dollars. :/

[H1TMAN]

Ok thanks, Machine mentioned the ASUS EAH4850/HTDI/1G in the other thread, but I can't find the pricing for it, except for in Australian dollars. :/


You can check this site : www.zaps.co.za , they have a 1 gig asus . There really is no use for 1 gig unless you running 2 screens etc... 512mb is perfect and at a decent price . Check that shops gcards and decide . The cheapest place to buy a 4850 would be www.pcint.co.za for 1900rand .but its not an asus make . If you going to pay more then 2500rand then you might as well take the 4870 . For 2200rand 4850 check www.computersonly.co.za . Sorry i couldnt find any other places . Dont waste your time thinking of importing ,it works out too much .


If you have a crossfire motherboard with 2.0pciX , 16X or both 8x slots then i suggest taking :)2:) of the cheapest 4850 and crossfire them both . Its pure Awesome

[Boggle24]

Yeah it's just that the 1G version of the Asus seems to have a good cooler already installed, but it's R1000 more so I'm unsure about it.

I saw these at Prophecy shop.

Gecube HD4850 512mb: R2014 inc vat

In Stock! Gecube HD4870 512mb: R3000 inc vat

In Stock! Force3D HD4850 512mb: R2300 inc vat

In Stock! Force3D HD4870 512mb: R3000 inc vat

at those prices I might as well get the Gecube 4870 instead of the 1G 4850, then again I don't think I'll be spending much more then R2000 on the card so I'll probably end up with a normal 4850 and use the Rivatuner like you mentioned.

How are the 9800GTX+ and 9800GTs ?
they seem to be around the same price point and might not run as hot.

[Gambit]

Yeah it's just that the 1G version of the Asus seems to have a

How are the 9800GTX+ and 9800GTs ?
they seem to be around the same price point and might not run as hot.

I stand corrected but I don't think the 9800GT should be mentioned in the same breath as an HD4850. The 9800GTX+ Yes, but ATi are still the ones to beat at the moment.

[Chevron]

How are the 9800GTX+ and 9800GTs ?
they seem to be around the same price point and might not run as hot.

The 4850 has around the same performance as the 9800gtx+.

If you're so worried about cooling just make sure the airflow in your case is up to scratch. An extra case fan is a lot cheaper than an after market cooler.


I stand corrected but I don't think the 9800GT should be mentioned in the same breath as an HD4850. The 9800GTX+ Yes, but ATi are still the ones to beat at the moment.

The 9800gt is just a 8800gt with a new sticker on the box. Although the 55nm versions support hybrid power and hybrid sli.

[H1TMAN]

Yeah you cannot compair anything less then a 9800gtx + to the ati 4850 . The 4850 is no doubt the best price/performance card that you will pick up for the next few months atleast . A single 4850 does alot on its own and when in crossfire (2 gcards) they beat the nvidia 280 GTX which is around R6000 .
If you on a budget like i was ,then take a 4850 below the 2400rand range . Trust me , you will not regret it . Check out www.guru3d.com ,they have plenty reviews which will convince you in seconds :)

[Machine]

Man, with my current savings scheme I can only afford to get a new card in December. The pain of the wait is already beginning to get to me. WANT 4850... SO... BAD...


I have a question for any knowledgeable techies out there...

I currently have an Intel Core2Duo E6400 @ 2.13Ghz (wont overclock) on an Asus Commando (P965 chipset) with 2GB of DDR2 800Ghz RAM.

Will my current rig hold back the ATI 4850???

[Gambit]

Man, with my current savings scheme I can only afford to get a new card in December. The pain of the wait is already beginning to get to me. WANT 4850... SO... BAD...


I have a question for any knowledgeable techies out there...

I currently have an Intel Core2Duo E6400 @ 2.13Ghz (wont overclock) on an Asus Commando (P965 chipset) with 2GB of DDR2 800Ghz RAM.

Will my current rig hold back the ATI 4850???

Should be all good to rock. Maybe between 1-5% because you don't have PCi-Express2 and you're CPU is below the 2.6Ghz standard for duals to function nicely - you might want to consider overclocking. :) But you should be good. (<EDIT> If anything it will be your CPU that holds down overall framrates.)

[Chevron]

Man, with my current savings scheme I can only afford to get a new card in December. The pain of the wait is already beginning to get to me. WANT 4850... SO... BAD...


I have a question for any knowledgeable techies out there...

I currently have an Intel Core2Duo E6400 @ 2.13Ghz (wont overclock) on an Asus Commando (P965 chipset) with 2GB of DDR2 800Ghz RAM.

Will my current rig hold back the ATI 4850???

Yes, but not by much. How much depends on what res you are running. The lower the res the more the cpu is holding back, the higher the res the less the cpu holds back.

I think it's still worth it getting it.

[Chevron]

Should be all good to rock. Maybe between 1-5% because you don't have PCi-Express2 and you're CPU is below the 2.6Ghz standard for duals to function nicely - you might want to consider overclocking. But you should be good.

The interface won't give a bottle neck. Especially if it's a 16x pci express slot.

[H1TMAN]

Man, with my current savings scheme I can only afford to get a new card in December. The pain of the wait is already beginning to get to me. WANT 4850... SO... BAD...


I have a question for any knowledgeable techies out there...

I currently have an Intel Core2Duo E6400 @ 2.13Ghz (wont overclock) on an Asus Commando (P965 chipset) with 2GB of DDR2 800Ghz RAM.

Will my current rig hold back the ATI 4850???

Trust me , your Rig is 100% . Just save up for the card. I say 100% because I'm comparing it to my current system. I'll only be upgrading in november. I currently have LOL an ASRock 939 Mobo with pci16x which is fine . but I also have 1gig DDR 400 Ram (very old) as well as a SINGLE CORE! AMD 4000+cpu which is holding back the Gcard alot!

Despite this setbacks that I have . I still get MAXED out .everything on extreme settings with 60 frames in Devil may Cry 4! . I get min. 30 frames playing crysis with med/high settings (High-Shaders,textures,Shadows) which is pretty sweet. All on a 20" lcd @ 1680X1050 res :)

Assassins Creed give me 31 frames outside and maxed 60 frames indoors with medium (3 of 4 level) settings and multisampling on level 2

older games like painkiller overdose is maxed out 60 frames and without the limiter it goes well over 100frames.

All I need is a CHEAP dual core and 1 gig ddr2 ram and i'll be sorted (Nov.)

So dont stress . you should have a clear Idea of the EPIC frame rates you'll be getting soon :)

oh and if you have PciX 2.0 then you are totally fine , even pciX 16 as well as (crossfire 8x ,8x) is perfect . AVOID a motherboard with anything less then 8X PciX.

[Chevron]

All I need is a CHEAP dual core and 1 gig ddr2 ram and i'll be sorted (Nov.)

So dont stress . you should have a clear Idea of the EPIC frame rates you'll be getting soon :)

If you start looking for a socket 939 cpu now you might find one by Nov.

[H1TMAN]

I wouldnt mind buying an amd dual core now but its extremely hard to find a socket 939 dualcore . I have the normal (older) socket athlon 64 FX 939 . NOT AM2 . :( i wish i could find a 4400 dual core . Because thats really 90% of what I need now . Otherwised i'll just be saving up for an uber pc end of the yr. If anyone knows anyone selling a dual core or any place that I could find a dual core for my mobo then please let me know . Thanx

[Machine]

I run all my games at 1680x1050. Thanx for the advice, everyone.

I'll try to overclock my CPU a bit when i do eventually get the new card. I tend to reach instability even at 2.6Ghz, even if I push lots of volts into that CPU. I have a Zalman CNPS9700 (the big CPU cooler) and I get good low temps even at high voltages... but I can never get the CPU over 2.5Ghz without applications crashing.

MY specific CPU is a bad one, it doesn't like being overclocked. I'm serious.

[Chevron]

I wouldnt mind buying an amd dual core now but its extremely hard to find a socket 939 dualcore . I have the normal (older) socket athlon 64 FX 939 . NOT AM2 . :( i wish i could find a 4400 dual core . Because thats really 90% of what I need now . Otherwised i'll just be saving up for an uber pc end of the yr. If anyone knows anyone selling a dual core or any place that I could find a dual core for my mobo then please let me know . Thanx

Well from take2:

AMD Athlon64 x2 4800+ Dual Core CPU - Socket AM2 (http://www.take2.co.za/electronics-amd-athlon64-x2-4800-dual-core-cpu-socket-am2-1763378.html)
Price: R 673

Biostar AMD MCP6P-M2 Motherboard - Socket AM2 (http://www.take2.co.za/electronics-biostar-amd-mcp6p-m2-motherboard-socket-am2-3905577.html)
Price: R 460

Total: R 1133

Then your pc is back up to spec with the least amount of cash and you'll be able to reuse your ram.

[GeometriX]

Socket AM2 uses DDR2, whereas S939 uses DDR 400.

[Chevron]

Socket AM2 uses DDR2, whereas S939 uses DDR 400.

Oh yes. My word. How did I forget that?

Kingston ValueRam Memory - DDR2-800MHz - 2GB (http://www.take2.co.za/electronics-kingston-valueram-memory-ddr2-800mhz-2gb-3424685.html) Price: R 518

So complete total for cpu, ram and board is: R 1 651

[Phantom_ZA]

I'm currently in a similar situation to Machine as I'll also only be able to acquire the 4850 at the end of the year. My CPU seems to be adequate. I have an E7200 2.53ghz which is currently at stock clock however, when I do acquire a more capable case and CPU cooler, I will attempt reaching 3.0ghz and beyond. Although, I do suspect prices to decrease by November and I might even pick up a 4870 if its below the R3000 mark.

[Splendid]

wow im amazed there hasnt been any nvidia fanboys jumping in a saying no buy this card its more expensive and performance is less but buy it its awsome! anyway this card is great puts most other cards to shame

[H1TMAN]

wow im amazed there hasnt been any nvidia fanboys jumping in a saying no buy this card its more expensive and performance is less but buy it its awsome! anyway this card is great puts most other cards to shame

LOL , yeah i'm glad AMD came back strong this time and took the crown . I love this kind of competition . If you going to buy a card during the next 6months then look no further then the 4850/4870 . Not only is it extremely good , its also based on the new 55nm process . Which means a much better card at the end of the day . I was once with nvidia but this time i'd like to join the Red team ;)

[Splendid]

LOL , yeah i'm glad AMD came back strong this time and took the crown . I love this kind of competition . If you going to buy a card during the next 6months then look no further then the 4850/4870 . Not only is it extremely good , its also based on the new 55nm process . Which means a much better card at the end of the day . I was once with nvidia but this time i'd like to join the Red team ;)

its just kewl that ppl start choosing what is better for money or what u need instead of buying the name

[H1TMAN]

^^ true true , at the end of the day you buy what you can afford . And this happens to be the best price/performance out there.

[H1TMAN]

Does anyone have a problem when Installing vista 32bit or 64bit with this card ? As soon as I install Vista and apply the latest 8.8 drivers ,the pc gives me the blue screen of death and "starts dumping memory" as soon as it finishes dumping the memory it will restart and go back into windows . Once in windows it will do the same thing a few seconds later . This happens EXACTLY after I install the driver (8.8 , 8.7 , 8.6) . Does anyone know how to fix this ?

Vista ran on an older geforce so I know theres nothing wrong with vista . I have tried latest drivers for EVERYTHING as well as sp1 for vista . Can anyone help me ?

[Gambit]

Does anyone have a problem when Installing vista 32bit or 64bit with this card ? As soon as I install Vista and apply the latest 8.8 drivers ,the pc gives me the blue screen of death and "starts dumping memory" as soon as it finishes dumping the memory it will restart and go back into windows . Once in windows it will do the same thing a few seconds later . This happens EXACTLY after I install the driver (8.8 , 8.7 , 8.6) . Does anyone know how to fix this ?

Vista ran on an older geforce so I know theres nothing wrong with vista . I have tried latest drivers for EVERYTHING as well as sp1 for vista . Can anyone help me ?

You do know you only have to install the latest driver package right (Not all in sequence)?

1. Uninstall all traces of Ati drivers from your system. (From add and remove programs.)
2. Delete the folder called 'ATI' on your c drive.
3. Reinstall Driver

Are running an overclocked GPU or CPU?
Have you tried re-downloading the driver package? It might be corrupt!

[H1TMAN]

I installed the latest driver (8.8) after a fresh format . But 64bit and 32 bit vista does the exact same thing . There must be a simple solution to this:( any1 running this card in vista ?

[Chevron]

Vista ran on an older geforce so I know theres nothing wrong with vista . I have tried latest drivers for EVERYTHING as well as sp1 for vista . Can anyone help me ?

This might be totally unrelated but what psu do you have?

[H1TMAN]

^ I have an Isonic 620wat psu . I doubt its the powersupply . Its a decent make and just a few months old . I'm not exactly sure of the voltages and railes etc.. I'l have to check that up. Windows just starts dumping memory and at 100% dumped it restarts. . but thanks for trying. I'll just save up for a better pc . I put XP back on now and everything is fine.

[ReinHer]

^ I have an Isonic 620wat psu . I doubt its the powersupply . Its a decent make and just a few months old . I'm not exactly sure of the voltages and railes etc.. I'l have to check that up. Windows just starts dumping memory and at 100% dumped it restarts. . but thanks for trying. I'll just save up for a better pc . I put XP back on now and everything is fine.

I got a blew screen the other day, but I think it's unrelated. I have gotten some WEIRD graphical anomalies the other night, followed by a atikmdag driver stopped responding error, but that's all gone now. Also I installed the card after vista. I used Driver cleaner to remove all of the old Nvidia drivers.

[CrashHelmut]

ReinHer made a point there. If you are going from a ATI to NVIDIA or vice versa, make sure you properly clean off the old drivers.

It has happened to me that simply choosing uninstall was not good enough. There were still some settings and files left behind by the old drivers that did not get cleaned up. Had enormous trouble until I reformatted everything and installed again.

[H1TMAN]

So even after a fresh format i still have to clean older drivers out ??? That should be gone with the format . And that problem you were having "atikmdag" is a VERY common problem . I seen tons of people with that problem as i was searching for a solution to my vista . I'll go back and see what they did to solve it , jus to be safe . So you dont get it again .

[ReinHer]

So even after a fresh format i still have to clean older drivers out ??? That should be gone with the format . And that problem you were having "atikmdag" is a VERY common problem . I seen tons of people with that problem as i was searching for a solution to my vista . I'll go back and see what they did to solve it , jus to be safe . So you dont get it again .

No, I thought that you did a clean format which is why I didn't actually recommend using driver cleaner.

Are you sure you downloaded all of the new updates? For DX as well?

[biffman]

I have started to get blue screens ever since I installed a MSI 8600 Gt 512MB.
Any suggestions?

[H1TMAN]

Wait wait wait , @ ReinHer , you say DX drivers ? I just did a format and installed vista . Then applied my normal Mobo (vista) drivers and then the Ati CCC 8.8 Driver. I didnt install anything else . Do you mean there are extra DX drivers ? For DX 10.1 ? How did you go about installing vista ?

[Frozenfireside]

Erm can we get some 3dmark scores form you guys?

[H1TMAN]

I'll Run 3dmark 06 in a few min. and post my scores .

[Gambit]

I'll Run 3dmark 06 in a few min. and post my scores .

Cool, just post all your specs again as well.

[H1TMAN]

Sorry for the late reply. Heres my specs first :

3Dmark 06 (default settings)
AMD Athlon64 socket-939 4000+ (2.66Ghz) (single Core:()
ASrock Motherboard (Pci- 16X)
1gig DDR400 ram (dual channel)
Windows XP 32bit
Card: Asus 4850 512MB - 625/1000

Final Score : 6902

SM2.0 - Score 3461
HDR SM3.0 - Score 4409
CPU Score - 1026

I dont think my score should be taken very seriously as I'm running an old system with a single core. So untill I upgrade in 2months time, this will be my current score.

[Gambit]

Sorry for the late reply. Heres my specs first :

3Dmark 06 (default settings)
AMD Athlon64 socket-939 4000+ (2.66Ghz) (single Core:()
ASrock Motherboard (Pci- 16X)
1gig DDR400 ram (dual channel)
Windows XP 32bit
Card: Asus 4850 512MB - 625/1000

Final Score : 6902

SM2.0 - Score 3461
HDR SM3.0 - Score 4409
CPU Score - 1026

I dont think my score should be taken very seriously as I'm running an old system with a single core. So untill I upgrade in 2months time, this will be my current score.

Agreed - if the rest of your system was up to date we would be looking at a score of around 12000+ (Assuming Core2Duo 2.6Ghz+ DDR2 800Mhz+)

[H1TMAN]

Yeah i'm just waiting for the quad core price to come down abit more by november then i'll shop it . But i'm very surprised already at the frame rates that i'm getting with this current setup . Maxing out most game settings at 1680x1050 .

Does any1 have a quad core or dual core with this card ? Please post your scores . Thanx

[Gambit]

Well looking at some of the reviews around:

Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 @ 3.6 GHz
Gigabyte P35C-DS3R
2x 1024MB A.DATA DDR2 1066+ CL4

Your looking @ 11455 (3dMark 06 Default setting 1280*1024 0*AA 0*AF)

techpowerup.com (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Powercolor/HD_4850/20.html)

[H1TMAN]

^ lol almost double my score . I wana see what a quad core does with this card ? Have u seen any reviews with a quad core ? Coz i cant find any

[GeometriX]

Well looking at some of the reviews around:

Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 @ 3.6 GHz
Gigabyte P35C-DS3R
2x 1024MB A.DATA DDR2 1066+ CL4

Your looking @ 11455 (3dMark 06 Default setting 1280*1024 0*AA 0*AF)

techpowerup.com (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Powercolor/HD_4850/20.html)
I've gotta say, 11455 is seriously unimpressive, there must be something holding that score back. If I can get 12330 on my E6750@3.6 with DDR2 running at 900 CL5 and my piddly 8800GT 256MB @700/1750/1980, then there's something wrong going on there.

[Machine]

my current system gets around 8500+- on default 3DMark06 settings. A 4850 is definitely my next buy ;)

[Phantom_ZA]

my current system gets around 8500+- on default 3DMark06 settings. A 4850 is definitely my next buy ;)

What card are you currently running?

[H1TMAN]

my current system gets around 8500+- on default 3DMark06 settings. A 4850 is definitely my next buy ;)


I feel the need to slap this card in Crossfire. This card is worth it. The 4850 my be getting low 3d Mark scores due to crappy drivers also so be patient . Give AMD a month to fix all the problems and things will be fine i'm sure.

You cant judge any card these days on 3dmark alone . Look at in-game performance also . theirs allot this card offers. I just hope we get solid drivers soon.

[Frozenfireside]

erm my mate just got his 4870 and I think there's something wrong.

E8500, X48 chipset, 4870 stock, 2gigs DDR2-800
Score in 06: 12 000+- which I will adjust when he tells me the exact figure.
His old score was 4000 :D so he's damn happy. Triple the score. Next month I'll help him 'clock his system.

[Gambit]

Toms hardware confirms that the HD4850 is the best price/performance card in the world:

The Fastest 3D Cards Go Head-To-Head : Taxing Modern CPUs With Powerful Graphics (http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-geforce-comparison,2007.html)

[-Bouncer-]

Okay, so I've been missing out on a few posts lately.... I got this card about a month ago and I haven't looked back since. This card is really great value for money. I got the latest Ati driver only last night. My current system is: AMD 9850 Black Edition, Sapphire 4850, 2x 2Gig Patriot PC2-6400 (800mhz) RAM, Asus M3A78-Emh HDMI Motherboard with a 720w Gigabyte PSU.

[Chevron]

Okay, so I've been missing out on a few posts lately.... I got this card about a month ago and I haven't looked back since. This card is really great value for money. I got the latest Ati driver only last night. My current system is: AMD 9850 Black Edition, Sapphire 4850, 2x 2Gig Patriot PC2-6400 (800mhz) RAM, Asus M3A78-Emh HDMI Motherboard with a 720w Gigabyte PSU.

3Dmark score?

[-Bouncer-]

3DMARK 2006: 8 721 (Default settings)

3DMARK VANTAGE: 6 213 (Performance settings)

I havn't overclocked anything yet, nor have a changed the mutliplayer for my CPU. Anybody got any advice to increase the score a bit?

[Gambit]

3DMARK 2006: 8 721 (Default settings)

3DMARK VANTAGE: 6 213 (Performance settings)

I havn't overclocked anything yet, nor have a changed the mutliplayer for my CPU. Anybody got any advice to increase the score a bit?

Dude that is wrong - I get 10100 on an E6750 @ 2.66 and 2GB matched pair Corsair with an 8800GTS 320?

[Chevron]

3DMARK 2006: 8 721 (Default settings)

3DMARK VANTAGE: 6 213 (Performance settings)

I havn't overclocked anything yet, nor have a changed the mutliplayer for my CPU. Anybody got any advice to increase the score a bit?

Do you by any chance have 3d mark scores under xp?


Dude that is wrong - I get 10100 on an E6750 @ 2.66 and 2GB matched pair Corsair with an 8800GTS 320?

Maybe the vista drivers aren't 100%?

[Gambit]

Do you by any chance have 3d mark scores under xp?



Maybe the vista drivers aren't 100%?

Possibly... but I am running Vista and even with some relatively outdated drivers his 3dMark score should not be that poor.

[Gambit]

3DMARK 2006: 8 721 (Default settings)

3DMARK VANTAGE: 6 213 (Performance settings)

I havn't overclocked anything yet, nor have a changed the mutliplayer for my CPU. Anybody got any advice to increase the score a bit?

Try and update every single driver on your system - MOBO, GPU, sound and add Vista Service Pack 1 also check that you don't have some app running that's ****ing with your system. (Like Norton doing a scan or something similar.)

[Chevron]

link (http://service.futuremark.com/search/3dmark06.action?product=3dmark06.action&doSearch=true&page=&receiver=%2Fajax%2Fsearchresult3dmark06.action&cpuId=208&cpuSpeedFrom=2500&cpuSpeedTo=2500&logicalProcessors=-100&physicalProcessors=-100&hyperthreading=-100&gpuId=452&gpucorespeedFrom=&gpucorespeedTo=&gpumemoryspeedFrom=&gpumemoryspeedTo=&gpuMemory=-100&shadermodel=-100&cooperativeGpus=-100&graphicsdriver=3&operatingsystem=561)

The gpus are overclocked, although cpus are at your cpu speed.

[Gambit]

link (http://service.futuremark.com/search/3dmark06.action?product=3dmark06.action&doSearch=true&page=&receiver=%2Fajax%2Fsearchresult3dmark06.action&cpuId=208&cpuSpeedFrom=2500&cpuSpeedTo=2500&logicalProcessors=-100&physicalProcessors=-100&hyperthreading=-100&gpuId=452&gpucorespeedFrom=&gpucorespeedTo=&gpumemoryspeedFrom=&gpumemoryspeedTo=&gpuMemory=-100&shadermodel=-100&cooperativeGpus=-100&graphicsdriver=3&operatingsystem=561)

The gpus are overclocked, although cpus are at your cpu speed.

Wow pretty weird to see crossfire only adding about 200points, must be a driver issue.

[Frozenfireside]

My PC scores 11 394 with the following:
8800GT
2gigs DDR2-800
E6300 @ 3ghz.

Now you guys are getting very low scores but I'm sure with a few tweaks it should come around.

[Gambit]

My PC scores 11 394 with the following:
8800GT
2gigs DDR2-800
E6300 @ 3ghz.

Now you guys are getting very low scores but I'm sure with a few tweaks it should come around.

Stop being a ****ing show of. :)

[H1TMAN]

erm my mate just got his 4870 and I think there's something wrong.

E8500, X48 chipset, 4870 stock, 2gigs DDR2-800
Score in 06: 12 000+- which I will adjust when he tells me the exact figure.
His old score was 4000 :D so he's damn happy. Triple the score. Next month I'll help him 'clock his system.


Okay, so I've been missing out on a few posts lately.... I got this card about a month ago and I haven't looked back since. This card is really great value for money. I got the latest Ati driver only last night. My current system is: AMD 9850 Black Edition, Sapphire 4850, 2x 2Gig Patriot PC2-6400 (800mhz) RAM, Asus M3A78-Emh HDMI Motherboard with a 720w Gigabyte PSU.


Do you by any chance have 3d mark scores under xp?



Maybe the vista drivers aren't 100%?


3DMARK 2006: 8 721 (Default settings)

3DMARK VANTAGE: 6 213 (Performance settings)

I havn't overclocked anything yet, nor have a changed the mutliplayer for my CPU. Anybody got any advice to increase the score a bit?

Wow... you have some nice hardware Bouncer, but a crazy score sadly. My pre-historic single core system gets me just about 7000 3dmarks06 and you getting 8721 marks on a quad core. there is something very wrong with your setup . The only solution for you is a Major DRIVER update like the others said. For everything , mainly the CPU and Mobo , check out those first . the 4850 needs NO overclocking at all in my point of view. You will be getting awesome frame rates so quickly check for drivers. If you cant find any then let me know and i'll help you look. G'luck

[H1TMAN]

Wow pretty weird to see crossfire only adding about 200points, must be a driver issue.

thats very old (link) dated at 16 august. Rather Check www.guru3d.com and their crossfire reviews and you'll see how well crossfire scales , especially in-games where there is a 50 to 70% improvement .

[Frozenfireside]

Stop being a ****ing show of. :)

Can't. 3ghz makes me :_) with joy.

:-p

[Phantom_ZA]

Frozen, how far do you reckon I should overclock my E7200? And I have heard that it can easily reach 3.6ghz.

[FF-Freak]

!!! i have to flash a custom BIOS if i wish to Overclock -.- or get a new MOBO , as my old one broke , and the one i got , cant change most of the BIOS settings i need for overclocking -.-!!!

[-Bouncer-]

Do you by any chance have 3d mark scores under xp?



Maybe the vista drivers aren't 100%?

Nope... Don't have the XP scores.... I am running Vista but I've only installed SP1. My anti-virus that I have is Bitdefender. And no, I have yet to update my mobo and cpu.

[Frozenfireside]

Frozen, how far do you reckon I should overclock my E7200? And I have heard that it can easily reach 3.6ghz.

hey if it's possible and you have good cooling then why not? just know that it might reduce the life span of the CPU. I would probably take it up to 3.4ghz and see if that makes you happy.
You may just need someone to show you NB volt modding though. Especially at 3.6.

[H1TMAN]

hey if it's possible and you have good cooling then why not? just know that it might reduce the life span of the CPU. I would probably take it up to 3.4ghz and see if that makes you happy.
You may just need someone to show you NB volt modding though. Especially at 3.6.


Depends on how good your ram is also . FSB's etc.. could hold you back. I dont recommend overclocking that CPU, Sell it rather and buy a e8400 (1500rand) or an 8500(2000rand) . they are much better cpu's to overclock

[Phantom_ZA]

hey if it's possible and you have good cooling then why not? just know that it might reduce the life span of the CPU. I would probably take it up to 3.4ghz and see if that makes you happy.
You may just need someone to show you NB volt modding though. Especially at 3.6.

Apparently there is a certain setting in the bios that would increase the clock to 3.0ghz without increasing any voltages. I'd be satisfied with 3.0ghz. Any recommendations on how I should go about this though? Could you give me simple bios instructions. I have 2gb of DD2 800 ram btw.

[-Bouncer-]

Ok, I'm having trouble updating my pc. The Ati driver is 8.8 so no problem there. I can't seem to update my motherboard or chipset? I installed ASUS Update and it finds new drivers but when I click on next, it says that it is updating but it freezes at the end and then I can only cancel it... Any ideas? :?

[GeometriX]

@Phantom_ZA: If you're only looking to increase the CPU clock, the only setting you have to change is the FSB - just increase it until you get to your desired clock speed (You'll need to set your FSB from 266 to 315 at its current multi to reach 3Ghz). You can usually get away with quite a bump in clock speed on default volts. Anything up to 3Ghz will be fine at stock.

Just make sure you turn down the memory speed as you increase the FSB. Your final RAM speeds are linked directly to your FSB through a divider, which will need adjustment as you OC.

@-Bouncer-: Just download the exact drivers you need off the ASUS website, getting the absolute latest drivers for your motherboard according to the OS you have. Don't bother with auto-updates, serios.

[-Bouncer-]

So I've updated Vista and it was a few updates that I had to do. Now my 3Dmark 2006 score is 9785. Still need to update the other hardware though...

[Chevron]

That's a very nice boost.

[H1TMAN]

Yeah with a simple update you got an extra 1000+ marks , thats awesome . Check for a bios update as well for you mobo

[Phantom_ZA]

So I overclocked my cpu to 3.0ghz. Ran 3Dmark 06, results are as follows. Take into consideration that I am running a 7900GT at stock speeds.

SM 2.0 Score 1876
SM 3.0 Score 1845
CPU Score 2626

I am really in need of a new card.

[Frozenfireside]

Depends on how good your ram is also . FSB's etc.. could hold you back. I dont recommend overclocking that CPU, Sell it rather and buy a e8400 (1500rand) or an 8500(2000rand) . they are much better cpu's to overclock

I unlocked my CPU RAM link. Was pushing harder and harder and my RAM gave up with a 10mhz speed increase.


So I overclocked my cpu to 3.0ghz. Ran 3Dmark 06, results are as follows. Take into consideration that I am running a 7900GT at stock speeds.

SM 2.0 Score 1876
SM 3.0 Score 1845
CPU Score 2626

I am really in need of a new card.

No kidding. Ouch dude. Still the increase in CPU mhz should help a little.

[H1TMAN]

^ you gota good cpu score hey . The 4850 will serv u well ;)

[Boggle24]

Ok so I've ordered the Force3D HD4850 from Prophecy, so now I need to get a motherboard and Processor.

So far I'm going to buy a E6750 and the Asus P5N32-E SLI, because I can get them almost instantly. Will they do ?

I'm a -little- worried because I heard the P5N32-E runs pretty hot, but keep in mind I'm never in my life going to overclock anything.

[Phantom_ZA]

Ok so I've ordered the Force3D HD4850 from Prophecy, so now I need to get a motherboard and Processor.

So far I'm going to buy a E6750 and the Asus P5N32-E SLI, because I can get them almost instantly. Will they do ?

I'm a -little- worried because I heard the P5N32-E runs pretty hot, but keep in mind I'm never in my life going to overclock anything.

How much are you paying for the processor? I recommend that you rather buy the E8400.

[Frozenfireside]

I owned a Asus P5N32-E SLI. It's an odd board. Mild overclocking abilities but lots of features.
If I was you, I would go for an p35 or something with crossfire since you are going ATi.

I traded my P5N32-E sli for the P5N-T deluxe 780i chipset and it's much better.

My mates new '06 score 13 149 (http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o269/frozenfireside/3DMark.jpg)
E8500, 4870, 2gigs DDR2-800, X48 chipset

[Boggle24]

Ok remember the thing is I need to get my PC up and running ASAP.

I can get both my processor and Mobo tomorrow, the Processor is R1500 the motherboard too.
I just want to know if it'll cause any problems to an average Joe like me who never does any overclocking of any sort.

Note I'm already paying more than I want to, so I'm not paying more for a processor, I was going for a E4500 (or E4600) from PC palace, but they're really tardy lately, so I decided on teh Mobo and CPU I can get like right away.

[Chevron]

While not everyone might agree i say that since you do not intend in overclocking and that you're on a tight budget you can get a phenome tri core at 2.3Ghz for 1500 or one at 2.1 Ghz for 1100 and an amd board with 6sata slots for 1100. Then you save 400 or 800 bucks and get an extra core. If you want i'll post specifics tomorrow morning.

[H1TMAN]

Ok remember the thing is I need to get my PC up and running ASAP.

I can get both my processor and Mobo tomorrow, the Processor is R1500 the motherboard too.
I just want to know if it'll cause any problems to an average Joe like me who never does any overclocking of any sort.

Note I'm already paying more than I want to, so I'm not paying more for a processor, I was going for a E4500 (or E4600) from PC palace, but they're really tardy lately, so I decided on teh Mobo and CPU I can get like right away.


N0ooooo! 1500 for that cpu and mobo is tooo much i'm serious . Did u pay for it already ? Check out www.pcint.co.za or www.computersonly.co.za . Pcint have very very good prices . Dont pay so much for an old cpu

[H1TMAN]

The new Rivatuner is OUT!!! Go get it : 2.10

http://downloads.guru3d.com/RivaTuner-v2.10-download-163.html

It supports the Latest ATI cards with a whole lot of features .

[FTB_Screamer]

Just so you guys can compare, here my score. :)

http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q270/FTB_Screamer/th_overclock3.jpg (http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q270/FTB_Screamer/overclock3.jpg)

[Chevron]

Just so you guys can compare, here my score. :)

Yet, no cpuz shot?

What speed you running your Q6600 at?

[Gambit]

Yet, no cpuz shot?

What speed you running your Q6600 at?

You can see in the screenshot - it's seems to be running at 3.6GHz

[FTB_Screamer]

Yet, no cpuz shot?

What speed you running your Q6600 at?

CPU-z conflicted with HardwareMonitor for some reason.

@3.6 GHz, its says there under 3Dmark's details section. :)

[Gambit]

@ FTB_Screamer what case/and other cooling are your running? Cause your temps look nice and solid for such a relatively highly overclocked system.

[Gambit]

CPU-z conflicted with HardwareMonitor for some reason.

@3.6 GHz, its says there under 3Dmark's details section. :)

But try and post just you CPU-Z and validation id for us otherwise we won't believe you. ;p

[FTB_Screamer]

I got a cheap handle case, but it's got two 80 mm fans right by the I/O slots, next to the CPU, which help a bit I think. But the main thing is I have a Thermalright Ultima-90 heatsink with a Zalman 120mm fan. It made a huge difference compared to stock HSF.

[Gambit]

I got a cheap handle case, but it's got two 80 mm fans right by the I/O slots, next to the CPU, which help a bit I think. But the main thing is I have a Thermalright Ultima-90 heatsink with a Zalman 120mm fan. It made a huge difference compared to stock HSF.

Well it would but how the **** do you keep the rest of your system i.e. GPU and northbridge cool? Do have an air conditioned room?

[FTB_Screamer]

Nope no air conditioning, but it was cold that night +- 18C :). I haven't done anything else to system, my Mb is a PSI P35 Platinum which has a "roller coaster" heatpipe solution, which seems to work very well for the northbridge, and my MSI 260GTX OC runs very cool @stock, it has never been over 74C.

[H1TMAN]

I ran riva tuner 2.10 and kept an eye on the temps:
72?c at load playing TF2 for 2 hours . It never went above 72 which is great for the stock fan @ 33%

[Phantom_ZA]

I ran riva tuner 2.10 and kept an eye on the temps:
72?c at load playing TF2 for 2 hours . It never went above 72 which is great for the stock fan @ 33%

Yeah, however, would it damage the fan or shorten its life span if one were to set it to 100% and run it at full speed the entire time?

[Frozenfireside]

Yeah, however, would it damage the fan or shorten its life span if one were to set it to 100% and run it at full speed the entire time?

It certainly won't do any good.

[H1TMAN]

^ ^ you will ware out the fan in a years time and your card will overheat causing it to pop :p seriously ,the highest you should leave it on is 40% . It becomes too loud anyway after that . I intend changing the stock fan next year when better Vga coolers are out .

As long as your card doesnt stay on 80?c load then it should be fine for a while .

I'll take a pic of my setup in the case and you can see my fan setup.

[Frozenfireside]

Meh I have a dual fan card that helps the original fan to pump air.

Three fans on 30%=90% of original air flow so none of them wear out but my GPU stays cool.
Plus it's dead easy to get a replacement of the card.

[CrashHelmut]

^ ^ you will ware out the fan in a years time and your card will overheat causing it to pop :p seriously ,the highest you should leave it on is 40% . It becomes too loud anyway after that . I intend changing the stock fan next year when better Vga coolers are out .

As long as your card doesnt stay on 80?c load then it should be fine for a while .

I'll take a pic of my setup in the case and you can see my fan setup.

From my post earlier in the thread:


However I see that any HD3870 series aftermarket cooler should work with a HD4850 or HD4870. In fact these guys used a Thermalright HR-03 GT (R520 from Prophecy) and a Zalman 90mm fan to great effect on a HD4870 (43C load, 33C idle).

[RaPtEr]

Hi all...

I neet to know some coments on this card...

Is the Radion 4850 1 Gig a better buy than the GeForce 280???
Im realy a ATi FAn, but I want the most and best preformance
for my PC aswhell.

Give me ur coments on that plzz.

THNX.......

[H1TMAN]

I believe the GTX 280 is a complete waste of money . Heat and power issues just adds on to the price. Long story short : if you have a fast enough dual or quad core that wont bottleneck your 4850 then you wont even notice a difference in performance . And 1gig is too much unless you have 2 monitors or you want that custom cooler.
Anyway stick with a 4850 or 4870 . And crossfire it later :D

[Chevron]

Hi all...

I neet to know some coments on this card...

Is the Radion 4850 1 Gig a better buy than the GeForce 280???
Im realy a ATi FAn, but I want the most and best preformance
for my PC aswhell.

Give me ur coments on that plzz.

THNX.......

If you have that much money to waste rather get a 4870.

[Machine]

Remember the ATI 4870 is less powerful than a Nvidia GTX280. If you have loads of cash to throw around then invest in an ATI 4870X2, that'll beat a GTX280 I'm sure.

Basically... ATI 4850 < Nvidia GTX260 < ATI 4870 < Nvidia GTX280 < ATI 4870X2


(Did I get those "arrows" right?)

[Chevron]

Remember the ATI 4870 is less powerful than a Nvidia GTX280. If you have loads of cash to throw around then invest in an ATI 4870X2, that'll beat a GTX280 I'm sure.

Basically... ATI 4850 < Nvidia GTX260 < ATI 4870 < Nvidia GTX280 < ATI 4870X2


(Did I get those "arrows" right?)

Yes you did. The point I'm trying to make is he'd probably be able to afford 2 4870s for the price of 1 gtx280. The price difference isn't warranted by the performance difference.

Don't forget that the 4870 is DX10.1 while the gtx 280 is DX10.0.

[Machine]

Yes you did. The point I'm trying to make is he'd probably be able to afford 2 4870s for the price of 1 gtx280. The price difference is warranted by the performance difference.

Don't forget that the 4870 is DX10.1 while the gtx 280 is DX10.0.

I concur.

I was only talking about "singe card" solutions but it depends if the motherboard supports crossfire x properly.

[Frozenfireside]

My mates getting another 4870 soon. I hate him.
Twin 4870s are 25% better (on average of all benchmarks) then the 280 but roughly the same price.

[Chevron]

My mates getting another 4870 soon. I hate him.
Twin 4870s are 25% better (on average of all benchmarks) then the 280 but roughly the same price.

No one needs two cards. Rather get one 4870 save the cash you'd use for the other one and get a 5870 when it's released.

[H1TMAN]

yip , he is wasting money getting another 4870 , rather sell the current 1 and get the 4870X2 , it should last for a while and even compete with the Future Gcards

[Higushi]

Just thought I'd jump in here and brag about how cool the Sapphire HD4870 is. :p

3DMark06 score (with default settings): 12612 and 13041 (over clocked) [with Intel Q6600 at 2.4ghz] I got the same (or very similar) scores with Vista and XP.

Loving it! :D

[Machine]

Just thought I'd jump in here and brag about how cool the Sapphire HD4870 is. :p

3DMark06 score (with default settings): 12612 and 13041 (over clocked) [with Intel Q6600 at 2.4ghz] I got the same (or very similar) scores with Vista and XP.

Loving it! :D

Hmmm... What kind of RAM do you have?

What speed is your RAM running at?

How much RAM do you have?

[Higushi]

I have 2x1GB Patriot DDR2 800 and another 2x1GB Transcend Jetram DDR2 800. So, 4GB DDR2 800 basically. Do you think its okay to mix the two types?

When I still only had 1GB of DDR2 800 RAM, I got very similar scores. I can't remember exactly, but it was around 12300 on default settings in Vista. So I don't think RAM plays a big role in 3D benchmarking.

I just over clocked my quad CPU to 2.7ghz. I'm going to see what difference that makes.

EDIT: After running 3DMark06 again, with both the CPU and Graphics over clocked, the score was 14010! :D

[Gambit]

I have 2x1GB Patriot DDR2 800 and another 2x1GB Transcend Jetram DDR2 800. So, 4GB DDR2 800 basically. Do you think its okay to mix the two types?

When I still only had 1GB of DDR2 800 RAM, I got very similar scores. I can't remember exactly, but it was around 12300 on default settings in Vista. So I don't think RAM plays a big role in 3D benchmarking.

I just over clocked my quad CPU to 2.7ghz. I'm going to see what difference that makes.

1. No generally it is not recommended
2. Yes it does - your CPU needs memory bandwidth and if you are running Vista I can't see you getting a great score running only 1Gig.

[nX3lemZ]

A side question how accurate is the Windows experience thing? A friend of mine just bought a Core2 @ 3.0GHz and it gave him a CPU score of 5.0. Now I have a Pentium D @ 3.4GHz and I get 4.9! I mean you would expect his CPU to be much faster wouldn't you?

[Chevron]

1. No generally it is not recommended


If you're mixing them up while running dual yes. But if you run same with same in dual it should be fine.

[Higushi]

If you're mixing them up while running dual yes. But if you run same with same in dual it should be fine.

Usually RAM slots are colour coded as to which two would be synchronizing together, right? So I have the two Patriot RAMs in one colour and the Transcend in another. Is this what you are talking about? And something else, since the Patriot RAM is faster than the Transcend RAM and 2GB is enough to run a system smoothly, would the extra 2GB of Transcend RAM only be slowing me down? Could I get a faster speed with just the 2GB of Patriot?

[Gambit]

Usually RAM slots are colour coded as to which two would be synchronizing together, right? So I have the two Patriot RAMs in one colour and the Transcend in another. Is this what you are talking about? And something else, since the Patriot RAM is faster than the Transcend RAM and 2GB is enough to run a system smoothly, would the extra 2GB of Transcend RAM only be slowing me down? Could I get a faster speed with just the 2GB of Patriot?

In all things computers you are only as fast as your slowest part - so in your setup the faster ram will slow down to the speed of the other ram modules.

On the color code thing - that is their to indicate which banks work together in dual channel mode.

[Chevron]

While gambit is correct. More ram will always give you a bigger performance boost than slightly faster ram but only half of it.

[RaPtEr]

I concur.

I was only talking about "singe card" solutions but it depends if the motherboard supports crossfire x properly.

See I have the ASUS m2n32 Sli/deluxe WiFi Edition. So crossfire will not be supported like it is suppose to. I have a GeForce 8800 GTX, its more than enough for rAge, but I like to find out what your opinions is.

Thanks for the advice, I'll Keep it in mind that ATi is still the favorite among the people.

[Chevron]

The 4850 is roughly equal to the 9800gtx+. I say don't upgrade yet. Wait for the 5870.

[Frozenfireside]

No one needs two cards. Rather get one 4870 save the cash you'd use for the other one and get a 5870 when it's released.

Depends. He does have a 22" widescreen but I agree so I told him to get car sound and a CPU cooler first.

[Gambit]

The 4850 is roughly equal to the 9800gtx+. I say don't upgrade yet. Wait for the 5870.

What's all this talk of the 5870 - is their any information available yet?

[Chevron]

What's all this talk of the 5870 - is their any information available yet?

Lol. No. Just trying to illustrate that one current gen card then one next gen card will last longer than two current gen cards.

[Chevron]

ATI working on RV770 LE

http://www.fudzilla.com/images/stories/Logos/ati08.gif

Crippled 48x0 card

ATI will introduce one more card based on the RV770 core. This time its the cheapest of them all, a card based on RV770LE chip and this product should be available in October.

It is a crippled version of the Radeon 4850 and it should end up way slower and cheaper than its stronger brother, while at the same time it aims to make Nvidia's life even tougher.


The memory bandwidth will be cut to 192 bits while the original RV770 has a 256-bit memory interface and both clocks and Shaders will be slower compared to RV770PRO. At the same time RV770LE will end up significantly slower than RV770PRO but this is something that doesn't surprise us.

http://www.fudzilla.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=9250&Itemid=1

[Phantom_ZA]

http://www.fudzilla.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=9250&Itemid=1

This should prove interesting. I suppose this would be aimed at competing with nVidia's 8800GT and 9600GT?

[RaPtEr]

Check this guy's... I like where this is going.


http://www.fudzilla.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=9003&Itemid=40

[Boggle24]

Ok so, where do I go to look at my temps for my GPU ?

I'm using Rivatuner 2.10 and when I go to "Hardware Monitoring" the core temperature hovers around 38 - 42.

is that supposed to be the GPU's temperature ?

because that's pretty damn good, I was expecting it to run really hot like you all have been saying it would.

[Higushi]

Ok so, where do I go to look at my temps for my GPU ?

I'm using Rivatuner 2.10 and when I go to "Hardware Monitoring" the core temperature hovers around 38 - 42.

is that supposed to be the GPU's temperature ?

because that's pretty damn good, I was expecting it to run really hot like you all have been saying it would.

That is a good temp. My HD4870 was running at 78 before I manually set up the fan, now its running at 48 - 51, but it can go lower at the price of some noise pollution.

ATI has a neat control panel (catalyst control center) which has everything you need to check temperatures and easily overclock your card. But unfortunately you have to manually edit a profile file to set fan speeds.

[ReinHer]

The catalyst control center caused a lot of problems on my pc. Like crashing games. Now I use the ATi tray tools. The same features but with less hassle and it uses less resources.

[Higushi]

The catalyst control center caused a lot of problems on my pc. Like crashing games. Now I use the ATi tray tools. The same features but with less hassle and it uses less resources.

Hey, thanks man. :) This looks like a sweet tool. Do you know if it fully supports the HD4870? On wikipedia it says it supports up to HD3xxx, but it seems to be working fine.

[H1TMAN]

Are you sure that you checking your GPU temps ? All these cards have High Temps . I just recently Installed a Force3D 4870 and the idle temp was 81c. After the Fan Hack it went down to 55c. Double check on the CCC .

Does traytools work with the 48xx series ? I never used it before so should it replace the CCC ?

[Boggle24]

Are you sure that you checking your GPU temps ? All these cards have High Temps . I just recently Installed a Force3D 4870 and the idle temp was 81c. After the Fan Hack it went down to 55c. Double check on the CCC .

Does traytools work with the 48xx series ? I never used it before so should it replace the CCC ?

Yup, checked on my Catalyst Control Center as well, my GPU temps hover around 38 - 42.

I think it's my case, I made sure to get one with some proper cooling (stock cooling, but properly done).
I have two 120mm fans, one at the back and one at the front and one of those fans on the side panel with the cone on top of the CPU, the airflow is excellent.

oh, I have the Force3D HD4850, if anyone wanted to check them out.

Something strange happened yesterday though, the drivers I got with the card are 3.6, so I decided to install the 3.7 set I got on the NAG DVD.
This completely screwed my PC over and changed everything to 4bit color and 640 X 480 resolution. I couldn't change it back either, afterwards I installed the 3.6 drivers again and it gave me a blue screen, so I restarted, and now things are back to normal.

I just thought that was odd.

[Higushi]

This completely screwed my PC over and changed everything to 4bit color and 640 X 480 resolution. I couldn't change it back either, afterwards I installed the 3.6 drivers again and it gave me a blue screen, so I restarted, and now things are back to normal.

Yeah, same thing happened to me. It was a blast from the past! :p I just reinstalled the drivers again, in that crappy mode, and after restart all was perfect again.


Does traytools work with the 48xx series ? I never used it before so should it replace the CCC ?

Yes, I'm thinking it replaces CCC as it has all the options provided by CCC and more, plus I think the whole point of running Tray Tools is to avoid using CCC which could cause a crash in some games, apparently. I'm using it, I have the 4870, and its working perfectly. I'd expect the same for you. I'll post here if I find any problems.

[ReinHer]

For some reason, I can't overclock in traytools, I think it's specific to my pc though. When I try I get a BSOD.

Here (http://www.tweakguides.com/ATICAT_9.html) is the tweak guide for ATi cards. the advanced tweaking section is for Tray tools and the standard tweaking section is for CCC.

EDIT

I really recommend the Anti-aliasing and Anisotropic optimizers on. When I turned these on I could play Crysis with 4x antialiasing without a massive hit to performance!

[Higushi]

I really recommend the Anti-aliasing and Anisotropic optimizers on. When I turned these on I could play Crysis with 4x antialiasing without a massive hit to performance!

I think the reason for this is that turning the anti-aliasing on, in CCC or Tray Tools, clashes with the in-game (application) settings and ends up turning it off altogether. This is what happened to me with GRID. Look closer and see if it really is on. I recommend just using default application settings when playing the latest games.

EDIT: I confirmed my analysis by playing Crysis. The performance boost is real, but the anti-aliasing, sadly, is not.

Thanks for the tweak guide, will be useful.

[Boggle24]

Is there a way to uninstall the CCC ?

Some have mentioned it can cause crashes with some games, I used to install the normal drivers only, without the CCC, but not sure how I will do that now after having installed the drivers that come with the CCC.

[ReinHer]

Oh my AA was real. Wait let me get a screenshot.

I can see it quite clearly.
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z187/Reinher/final.jpg

[Higushi]

Oh, my mistake. I thought you were talking about setting the actual anti aliasing outside of the game in CCC or TT, but optimization is something else. I tried it and it didn't seem to make much of a difference for me, but I'll keep it on anyway.


Is there a way to uninstall the CCC ?

You should be able to remove it using Add/Remove Programs, or CCleaner. Its listed as ATI Catalyst Control Center. I'm keeping it on (just in case) but removing it from my startup options (CCleaner) so it doesn't run anymore.

[Frozenfireside]

With exponentially increasing prices over $350 offering smaller and smaller performance increases, we have a hard time recommending anything more expensive than two Radeon HD 4850s. While the 4870, GTX 260 and GTX 280 perform impressively in multiple card configurations, there’s just not enough of a gain compared to two 4850’s in Crossfire mode unless you’re playing at resolutions beyond 1920x1200. But for now, the power of two 4850’s in Crossfire is our top recommendation for price/performance
You just won the game
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/Best-Graphics-Card,review-31315-4.html