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Brand | SAPPHIRE |
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Model | 100259-1GL |
Interface | PCI Express 2.0 x16 |
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Chipset Manufacturer | ATI |
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GPU | Radeon HD 4870 |
Core Clock | 750 MHz |
Stream Processors | 800 Stream Processors |
Effective Memory Clock | 900MHz (3.6Gbps) |
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Memory Size | 1GB |
Memory Interface | 256-Bit |
Memory Type | GDDR5 |
DirectX | DirectX 10.1 |
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HDMI | 1 x HDMI (via Adapter) |
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DVI | 2 x DVI |
TV-Out | HDTV / S-Video Out |
RAMDAC | 400MHz |
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Max Resolution | 2560 x 1600 |
CrossFireX Support | Yes |
Cooler | With Fan |
System Requirements | PCI Express based PC is required with one X16 lane graphics slot available on the motherboard 500 Watt or greater power supply with two 75W 6-pin PCI Express power connectors recommended (600 Watt and four 6-pin connectors for ATI CrossFireX technology in dual mode) Certified power supplies are recommended. Refer to http://ati.amd.com/certifiedPSUfor a list of Certified products 1GB of system memory Installation software requires CD-ROM drive DVD playback requires DVD drive Blu-ray / HD DVD playback requires Blu-ray / HD DVD drive |
Power Connector | 2 x 6-Pin |
Dual-Link DVI Supported | Yes |
Windows Vista | Certified for Windows Vista |
HDCP Ready | Yes |
Package Contents | 100259-1GL Driver Disk User's Manual HDTV Cable Power Cable DVI to VGA/D-sub Adapter DVI to HDMI Adapter CrossFire Bridge S-Video to Composite Adapter |
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Date First Available | October 20, 2008 |
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Pros: Runs everything I'm throwing at it with no issues. World of Warcraft runs at 60 fps with all settings at high besides shadows, which I turn down a couple notches. In a loaded Wintergrasp or in wide open areas (flying over Ice Crown zone), frames can go as low as 30fps... Dalaran is crazy as we all know, so I only get 15-20 fps there. All raid zones, even Ulduar and Naxx are at or around 45-50fps in 25-man. Call of Duty 4 runs everything maxed out with no frame rate issues in single or multi-player online. Both WoW and COD4 look great too. I've been watching the GPU's heat very closely as I've read that can be a concern with this card. The fan auto-adjusts speed depending on load, and I never go above an average at load temp of 51-53C. Once, after playing COD for 5 hours, it was at 60C. So I'm happy to report no real issues there.
Cons: I originally installed Catalyst with the drivers, but I was getting much lower fps in WoW initially. After reading the tech support forums for WoW, it sounds like WoW - among many other applications - doesn't like the Catalyst program. I went from 40fps max in WoW to 60fps in many areas just by uninstalling Catalyst and then re-installing the drivers without Catalyst. Also, hopefully ATI will improve their drivers as it does suffer some frame rate performance issues in those wide open areas I was talking about earlier (i.e., flying over Ice Crown). I've been told by people online with nvidia cards of the same gen as mine that they don't notice a big slow down like I do (from 60fps to 30fps) in that zone. I'm guessing this is driver related as this card has plenty of power to handle these challenges you would think...
Overall Review: System Info: Gigabyte MA790GP-UD4H Corsair VX550W 550 Watt Power Supply AMD Athlon X2 7850 OCZ 2x 2GB DDR2 800 Seagate Barracuda 250GB Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 4870 1gb DDR5 Sony CD/DVD RW Drive Windows XP 32 bit (waiting for Windows 7) Coolermaster Centurian 5 ATX Case