Product Description

Believe it or not - the best just got better. For the first time ever, 2.4 teraFLOPS of graphics horse power, 1600 stream processors and 2 GB of GDDR5 memory have been combined to create the fastest and most powerful graphics card available today.

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Product Details

• Brand: Sapphire
• Model: 100251SR
• Platform: Windows XP
• Format: CD
• Dimensions: 15.00" h x 4.00" w x 9.75" l, 5.00 pounds

Features

• PCI-Express x16 bus interface
• 256-bit DDR5 memory interface
• Microsoft DirectX 10.1 support
• OpenGL 2.0 support
• Unified Superscalar Shader Architecture

From the Manufacturer

Believe it or not - the best just got better. For the first time ever, 2.4 teraFLOPS of graphics horse power, 1600 stream processors and 2 GB of GDDR5 memory have been combined to create the fastest and most powerful graphics card available today.

 

Redefine HD Gaming

• 2.4 teraFLOPSof compute power
  This is the most powerful graphics card available today with nearly two billion transistors and 1600 stream processors. 1

• 2GB GDDR5 Memory
  With 2GB of GDDR5, the fastest and most advanced memory technology available today, the ATI Radeon HD 4870 X2 delivers almost two times the memory bandwidth of the previous generation.2

• Extreme DirectXR10.1 Performance
  Play today while preparing for tomorrow with state-of-the-art DirectX 10.1 graphics capabilities.

• Unparalleled Anti-Aliasing & Anisotropic Filtering
  High performance anisotropic filtering and 24x custom filter anti-aliasing (CFAA) smooth jagged edges and create true-to-life graphics, for everything from grass to facial features

• Superior Scalability with dual mode ATI CrossFireX™ Technology
  ATI CrossFireX™ technology with quad GPU support in dual mode offers superior scalability so you can take your game to new heights.

1 As of August 12th, 2008, the ATI Radeon™ HD 4870 X2 is the fastest, most powerful graphics card based on the 3DMark Vantage v.101 extreme top score of 6920.
2 The ATI Radeon™ HD 4870 X2 with GDDR5 memory has memory bandwidth of 230GB/sec in comparison with the ATI Radeon™ HD 3870 X2 with GDDR3 memory with a memory bandwidth of 128GB/sec.
3 AMD’s product warranty does not cover damages caused by overclocking, even when overclocking is enabled via AMD OverDrive™ software.

Go Beyond HD Video

Add an ATI Radeon HD 4870 Series GPU to your PC and watch the latest Blu-ray and HD movies play with incredible fidelity –upscale to nearly twice the display resolution of HD content.* Take full advantage of Blu-ray functionality with dual-stream, picture in picture (PIP) capabilities. Sophisticated new features within ATI Avivo™ HD technology provide a truly responsive experience. Support for the latest audio visual interconnects ensures you can take advantage of the latest display technology.

• Unified Video Decoder 2
  Unified Video Decoder 2 frees up your CPU for other tasks so you get The Ultimate Visual Experience™ for even the most processing-intensive content, including VC-1, H.264 and now MPEG-2. Also, take full advantage of Blu-ray functionality with dual-stream, picture in picture (PIP) capabilities.

• Upscale Beyond 1080p
  Watch the hottest Blu-ray movies or other HD content at full 1080p display resolution and beyond.

• On-chip HDCP
  On-chip HDCP (High-Bandwidth Digital Content Protection) makes life easier by allowing you to playback HDCP protected content.**
  

• HDMI
  Enjoy the latest audio technologies using HDMI with 7.1 digital surround sound support. Also, xvYCC support allows the user to enjoy a wider range of color when connected to a capable HDTV.
  

*Note: HD capable monitor required

** Note: Playing HDCP content requires additional HDCP ready components, including but not limited to an HDCP ready monitor, Blu-ray or HD DVD disc drive, multimedia application and computer operating system.

Break-through Efficiency

• Dynamic Power Management
  The ATI Radeon™ HD 4870 X2 graphics cards feature ATI PowerPlay™ technology and provide the best of both worlds, delivering high performance when needed and conserving power when the demand on the graphics processor is low.1

• Energy Efficient Manufacturing Process
  Second generation 55nm chip uses the industry's most energy efficient manufacturing process.

• Best Performance Per Watt
  The ATI Radeon HD 4870 X2 graphics cards deliver up to 2x the performance per watt of the previous generation.2

1 ATI PowerPlay™ technology consists of numerous power saving features. Not all features may be available in all ATI Radeon HD 4800 Series graphics cards.
2 The ATI Radeon™ HD 4870 X2 delivers 8.8 GigaFLOPS per Watt, compared with the ATI Radeon HD 3870 X2 which delivers 4.8 GigaFLOPS per Watt.

System Requirements

–PCI ExpressR based PC is required with one X16 lane graphics slot available on the motherboard

–650 Watt or greater power supply with one 2x3-pin PCIeR power connector and one 2x4-pin PCIeR power connector is required (1K Watt with two 2x3-pin and two 2x4-pin connectors for ATI CrossFireX™ technology in dual mode)1

–Certified power supplies are recommended. Refer to http://ati.amd.com/certifiedPSUfor a list of Certified products

–Minimum 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

–For a complete ATI CrossFireX™ system, a second ATI Radeon™ HD 4870 X2 graphics card, an ATI CrossFireX Ready motherboard and one ATI CrossFireX Bridge Interconnect cable per graphics card (included) are required

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Customer Reviews

ATi's return to Glory
This is mind-blowing performance, folks...it chews up every game you throw at it, and was the only card that let me play Crysis at the detail settings that I wanted to. Held out from playing until now...and man, was I glad that I did.

Anti-aliasing comes almost free of any performance hit, and resolutions/quality settings previously considered ridiculously intensive for gaming are suddenly not that extravagant anymore. CFAA, especially Edge-Detect AA, deserves mention, as it is ATi's custom AA mode that kicks in at the shader level, and can thus be applied to almost any game.
COD 4 at 24x CFAA is indeed a sight to behold, and can be played with buttery smoothness.

The downsides to this card? First of all, it's comes at a price premium due to it's market leading performance. Secondly, 2 GPUs on one card can produce a lot of heat...you will need a case with good airflow, and plenty of room to install as well.

Lastly before buying, a PSU of at least 600W is required...BARE MINIMUM. Recommended PSU should be between 700W - 800W for a fully loaded system.

Happy gaming! :)

Blazing fast video card
I purchased the Sapphire Radeon HD 4870x2 about a month and a half ago. The card is a full length card. If you have a small mid-tower it might not fit in your case. Also make sure that you have a good power supply. This card requires two power connections. In addition, make sure that you case is properly ventilated (my case temperature hovers around 26c idle and 31c). However, once the requirements above are met get ready for some serious eye-candies.

There is nothing you can throw at it that it will not handle. By the way, I have a 24" monitor and I run everything at 1920x1200 resolution. Blu-ray movies look incredible. I do not have the words to describe how beautiful the images are. A lot of people get caught up by the number of frame per second (fps)to purchase graphic cards. Remember that movies are shown at 24fps, so any card that can provide 24fps on an application or game will look extremely good. Why spend that much money on a graphic card? Peace of mind. For the next 2 to 3 years, if not more, I will not have to worry about not being able to run any game or application that come to the market, and in a couple of years, when the price of this particular card hits its lowest possible level, I will throw in a second one in a crossfire arrangement for a more powerful graphic sub-system.

I remove a star for the price.

I purchased this card for a bleeding edge gaming computer I
made. I will not comment on the performance as others have done that.

Other:
Pro's - Well . . . extremely high performance and easily configurable through the Catalyst Utility with many options. All the options you could want.
Con's - Extremely long. Carefully pick your box. I installed it in the Thermaltake Spedo Advance Package VI9001W2Z Full Tower Gaming Case with Max Airflow and See Through Window (Black)I purchased from amazon.com which has a huge interior (I highly recommend this box) and it barely fit lengthwise. It runs extremely hot . .. . so hot in fact that the heat conducted through the PCI-e 2.0 slot on to my motherboard and increased the MoBo heat to a level I previously had not seen in a MoBo . . . not dangerous but noticeable. To keep the heat down, the fan has to be set at a noisy level. The heat coming from the exhaust port in back will heat your room. I strongly suggest using water cooling on this baby. The Thermaltake Spedo I mentioned has two eight inch fans and 3 five inch with two others possible; and it is already set up with holes in the case for a water cooling system. Do not use the drivers that come with the card. Later drivers are available so you will have to uninstall them and the Catalyst Control Center will get screwed up and mess your drivers up when you try and install the newer drivers. Tech support tried to be helpful but couldn't figure it out. When I shipped my box to Sun City, this card ripped out of the PCI-e slot and ruined my MoBo, so now I am building a new computer and choose to use the XFX HD489AZDEC Radeon HD 4890 XT 1.0 GB DDR5 PCI-E 2.0 Graphics Card sold by amazon.com of course. There is no complaint of noise from this card and it is Crossfire so if I need more power I can add another one.

Would I have been happy with this card . . . I think so although there are driver issues reported (will ATI be able to solve them or will they give up like NVidea did with the beeping nvata.sys driver fiasco on the NForce 4 chipset drivers). Will I be more satisfied with the XFX HD489AZDEC Radeon HD 4890 XT 1.0 GB DDR5 PCI-E 2.0 Graphics Card? I'll edit this post latter and tell you if I am.

BTW, for you real maniacs out there, this is a Crossfire card, so make sure your MoBo supports it if you are loony enough to want two of these in your box. Pick your MoBo carefully though, as you may take a bandwidth hit in the second PCI-e 2.0 socket. A card like this needs and deserves the best MoBo money can buy.