Radeon HD 4870: review, specs, photo, reviews

Each brand in the electronics market has one unique product that has brought glory to its manufacturer and made history thanks to its features. ATI has such a flagship video game adapter Radeon HD 4870. Overview, features, photos, reviews of owners in this article will allow the reader to get to know this interesting product more closely.

Current state of affairs

It should be noted right away that once popular and very high-performance video card has been occupying the last positions in the rating of gaming devices for several years, however, as practice shows, the graphics accelerator is not going to give up without a fight. If the reader looks at the system requirements for the latest games presented on the market a few months ago, he will certainly see that for a comfortable game developers recommend to use the Radeon HD 4870, the characteristics of which meet the minimum requirements.

It is clear that for a game at high resolutions in a resource-intensive application, this video adapter is unlikely to be suitable, but the potential for a graphics accelerator still exists, especially when it comes to a dual-core market representative. But about everything in order.

The initial level of the game class

Radeon HD 4870 video card, unlike other products of the 4000 series of ATI video adapters, received the new RV770 core, and, accordingly, a modern set of instructions supporting all the technologies that existed at that time. At the core area of the crystal 256 mm ^{2, the} manufacturer managed to place almost 1 billion transistors. The graphics accelerator has 800 universal processors, 16 blocks of rasterization and 40 texture units. This video card was one of the first to receive an advanced 256-bit GDDR5 bus, operating at 900 MHz.

The graphic core in the factory version received an understated frequency equal to 750 MHz. However, the reader should not pay attention to this indicator, since the final products released under the well-known brands solved the issue with the speed of the graphics processor. Pay attention to the power consumption of the game adapter - 160 watts at maximum load. There is something to think about for all owners of low-power power supplies.

All known technologies

Since for the video card Radeon HD 4870 the performance characteristics are in the first place, the manufacturer simply had to supply its product with the relevant DirectX 10.1 libraries at the time. The OpenGL standard is limited to 3.1, which greatly confuses potential buyers, because at the time of the presentation of the device, it was already announced OpenGL 4.0. The most interesting thing is that the device received support for new shaders version 4.1. It is this technology that still allows the video card to remain in demand on the gaming market. The video adapter works with the outdated PCEex16 interface version 2.0. The maximum degree of anisotropic filtering is 16x.

Important for the graphics accelerator is support for popular video outputs DisplayPort and HDMI. The integrated audio controller on the video adapter supports and transmits 7-channel audio. Surprisingly, this technology was implemented on discrete platforms for both personal computers and mobile devices. It is worth noting that the analog video output is limited to a resolution of 2048x1536 dots per inch, and for a digital interface this parameter is by no means better - 2560x1600 dpi.

Double punch

After the first tests of the video game adapter in the laboratory, the technologists came to the conclusion that the Radeon HD 4870 video card, the characteristics of which can be further developed, could become ATI's flagship. Changes primarily concerned the power supply and distribution of phases. Also, the manufacturer installed two graphics cores RV770 on the video adapter. As a result, the market saw a new champion in performance in tests and games - the HD 4870 X2 graphics card.

All characteristics of the nominal device have actually doubled. Even in laboratory studies, the video adapter showed identical results of the base device operating in the CrossFire X2 mode. The only difference, which should be attributed to the merits, is a reduction in power consumption of the device. The manufacturer managed to reduce the consumption of two cores to 280 watts. It looks rather strange. After all, logically, the manufacturer simply had to make rebranding of single-core chips with large power consumption.

Strike while the iron is hot

The game graphics core was also interested in laptop manufacturers, so ATI introduced the mobile solution on the new graphics core to the market. Since the temperature and power consumption are critical for the Radeon HD 4870 chip, the manufacturer was forced to reduce the GPU clock speed to 550 MHz. But these indicators gaming laptops enough to provide a comfortable game for many users.

All parameters, including the technologies used, migrated to the mobile platform. Naturally 256-bit GDDR5 bus with 1 GB volume has not gone unnoticed by many potential buyers. As you might expect, many notebook manufacturers have not paid enough attention to the cooling system, which is why they attracted a lot of negativity from the owners of mobile devices. Because of the massive discontent of users, manufacturers soon abandoned the Radeon HD 4870.

Direct Competitor

AMD Company started a stormy activity to create a game solution after the product appeared on the market competitor Geforce 9800 GT. Radeon HD 4870 was supposed to move the market leader in the gaming segment. But, as often happens, the company's technology overdid and outperformed the graphics accelerator Nvidia. Many experts in their reviews assure others that this particular chip is the connecting link between two generations of video games.

And if we return to the competition, we can safely say that the Radeon HD 4870 accelerated the appearance of new production devices in the gaming market. After all, the graphics accelerator Nvidia GTX 260 and was the first representative of a new generation of video adapters, which was to surpass the performance of all competitors.

Appearance and quality

Plastic protective case and turbofan on the Radeon HD 4870 graphic accelerator (the photo of the device can be seen in this article) indicate that the representative of the game segment is in front of the buyer. The circuit board of the video card is created using red textolite, and the radiator hood and high-frequency cooler have a bright scarlet color to match the AMD product.

With a detailed study of the placement of chips on a graphics accelerator, it becomes clear to any user that the manufacturer will not sell its products at retail, but will provide this opportunity to the leaders of the computer market. Naturally, the performance race will be won by the brand, which can provide a device with a powerful heat generation with a decent cooling system.

In the pursuit of the stars

Starting on the graphic accelerator Radeon HD 4870 review is better with the most productive products from the companies HIS and Sapphire, which for the creation of game solutions involved a chip 4870 X2 with two cores. Many owners in their reviews note that at the time of the announcement these video cards simply had no competitors in the market of gaming components for the computer. In addition to high performance, video cards have a lot of other advantages:

• A unique complete set, including a set of necessary adapters and interface cables;
• Completely modified power supply system on a printed circuit board with the addition of several phases;
• Replacement of electrolytic capacitors by solid capacitances;
• Installed a cooling system of its own production with efficient heat removal from both the graphics core and memory chips.

Returning to the HIS product bundle, it is worth noting that the manufacturer provided its video card with a proprietary device that combines a screwdriver, level and flashlight. Also in the box, the buyer will find a coupon for a free download of any licensed game from the Half-Life series.

Affordable product

The most sold video adapter on a Radeon HD 4870 chip, compared to which all enthusiasts of the world preferred to compare, is the product of ASUS. The manufacturer managed to reach the golden mean in the price-performance criteria, forcing many representatives of the initial game segment to lower the cost of their products in order to somehow stay on the market.

The main feature of the video card is the increase in the number of phases for the supply of PCB circuits by the developer. Also, technologists developed an effective cooling system of an open type. The core and radiator of the cooler are made of pure copper and are mounted in the device only on the graphic core. Memory chips (the volume of which was halved and amounted to only 512 MB) are fan-blown superficially and do not have their own heat sinks.

Performance in games and potential for overclocking

Many owners in their reviews note that the video card Radeon HD 4870 1 Gb performance characteristics directly depend on the work of the graphics core. Accordingly, for the overclocking, you need to worry about the presence of a powerful cooling system. With memory modules all products with a chip HD 4870 have some problems. Overcome the barrier in 1000 MHz (4000 MHz effective frequency), no brand could not. The conclusion suggests one - the PCB has problems when working with fast memory. The only advantage is that the memory chips do not heat up.

The buyer can safely rely on the performance of the game adapter with games such as Crysis 4, World of Tanks and their counterparts that use the total power of the computer, rather than focusing on the potential of the graphics accelerator. As practice shows, the video card Radeon HD 4870 is better to install with a low-frequency dual-core or 4-core processor.

Problems with the drivers and their solution

After entering the world market of the updated system Windows 10, many game lovers had problems with installing drivers. On the official website of the manufacturer there is no software support for all devices based on 4000 series of video cards. Once again, AMD, after updating the operating system, refuses to support its products (in the case of Nvidia's competitor, loyalty to the owners of older devices is much higher).

To properly make a connection to the Radeon HD 4870 video card at the software level, you need to use the Windows Update Center. Do not expect that the full package of utilities will be downloaded, you just need to download it from the official website of the manufacturer. Microsoft will provide only one driver, which will ensure the compatibility of the graphics accelerator with the motherboard when connected. This approach of the AMD manufacturer to the buyers causes a lot of negativity from the owners of all devices based on Radeon.

User Reviews

Losing sight of the problem with the drivers, the buyer may find that the video adapter has a problem and is more important. Concerning the graphics accelerator based on the Radeon HD 4870 chip, the owner's feedback contains a lot of negative about the power consumption of the device (still 160 watts). Considering the game processor, memory modules and several hard drives, a power supply unit with a capacity of 600-750 watts is at hand. And this is only one-time costs, and in fact many people forget about monthly electricity consumption.

The competitor Nvidia with power consumption problem disappeared in 2011, when the manufacturer switched to 11-nm technology, opening a new era of economical devices. There is something to think about not only potential buyers, but also the owners of gaming devices, which in search of the golden mean are not very versed in financial calculations.

Finally

Regarding the video adapter Radeon HD 4870 is a dual opinion. On the one hand, this is a high-performance device, which for several years of sales has not lost its relevance due to the great potential of productivity laid down at the factory. On the other hand, one should not turn a blind eye to the negative reaction of users, which the video display adapter forced to purchase a powerful power supply and to monthly electricity consumption. And after the release of Windows 10, in general, many potential customers simply turned their backs on AMD products, because it's logical to assume that with the release of the 11th version of the operating system, support for the 5000th line of gaming graphics cards can end.