Radeon HD4870x2

[Jason Matthews]

I am running MaxDesign 2010, Vray, Revit 2009 and Photoshop and I am looking for a great card for all of these applications. I am running a dual quad server machine with only one PCIx16 slot. I have read the reviews that were posted a while back but nothing current. It appears to be a great option for those who want to run a dual graphics card system but do not have 2 PCIx16 slots. The downside is that the cooling is less than desireable and apparently the drivers are horrible. In addition the card would be outstanding if you put two of these puppies together.

 

Here are my questions:

 

1. Has anyone heard much about this card?

2. Can anyone recommend a card that can deliver this kind of performance or better while keeping the cost down?

3. Which is better crossfire or SLI?

4. Which numbers mean the most? Clock speed? Memory? GDDR4 vs GDDR5?

 

Thanks for the education.

[ihabkal]

I have a 3870 X2, I think the secong GPU is not used by 3dsmax for lack of software integration and drivers for that application, but it is great, faster than a quadro FX 1500. The 4870 is even better than my 3870 but ask around to make sure, you could save a bundle by getting only one GPU card for max.

[Jason Matthews]

I have a 3870 X2, I think the secong GPU is not used by 3dsmax for lack of software integration and drivers for that application, but it is great, faster than a quadro FX 1500. The 4870 is even better than my 3870 but ask around to make sure, you could save a bundle by getting only one GPU card for max.

 

I was wondering of Max would take advantage of the second GPU. Does anyone know if Revit can use it?

[Elliot]

Hello

 

I have several computers with Quadro 1100 and 1500. The last workstation is an I7-965 with an Radeon 4870-x2. The computer is dual boot to Vista 64 and Windows 7 RC.

 

I no longer read the reports. If it feels OK then it will be OK for me. This workstations feels OK. I use AutoCAD 2010 MEP, Revit 2010 MEP, 3DS Max 2010 and SolidWorks 2008 plus the Adobe's. They all work very fine. This is currently my best desktop.

 

The card seems to be OK.

 

My dual Opteron desktop with Windows 7 and a Quadro 1500 is not working very good.

 

Good Luck

[martincg]

3d max /mostly 3d programs/ is working only with one GPU, so SLI, CROSSFIRE or x2 cards are wasting your money

 

- ati 4870, 4850 or nvidia 260, 280 are in same category, so you can compare price and take the cheapest

 

- if you are working with heavy geometry take card with bigger memory

 

4870x2 has 2gb ram, but one gpu is using only 1gb

[Jason Matthews]

Hello

 

I have several computers with Quadro 1100 and 1500. The last workstation is an I7-965 with an Radeon 4870-x2. The computer is dual boot to Vista 64 and Windows 7 RC.

 

I no longer read the reports. If it feels OK then it will be OK for me. This workstations feels OK. I use AutoCAD 2010 MEP, Revit 2010 MEP, 3DS Max 2010 and SolidWorks 2008 plus the Adobe's. They all work very fine. This is currently my best desktop.

 

The card seems to be OK.

 

My dual Opteron desktop with Windows 7 and a Quadro 1500 is not working very good.

 

Good Luck

 

I have been running a Quadro 1500 on my machine and it has some good things and bad things with it.

Edited July 9, 2009 by Saturn

[Elliot]

Last night I purchased a 4870 Single, I already have a 4870x2. I don't notice that much difference between the two of them. They behave more or less the same.

 

One thing I do notice, My 3D files rotate more smooth on the Wind XP-32 bits and Win 7-64 bits. On the Win Vista-64 bits the movement of these 3D files is jumpy and jerky.

 

The machine with the 4870x2 is the Win Vista-64 bits.

 

Interesting......

 

Elliot