Sapphire 5870 2gb review up on Hexus...

[bahnzii]

I'm still going nutz waiting to order a 5870/2gb or a 5970/4gb, but until them here is a recent review I found.
Note: they review it as normal video card, no eyefinity testing :shock:

http://www.hexus.net/content/item.php?item=23079

[Paradigm Shifter]

Note: they review it as normal video card, no eyefinity testing :shock:

There seem to be only two places that actually care about EyeFinity - the WSGF and HardOCP.

Almost everywhere else I've seen seems to treat it as a gimmick. :roll:

[Sideeffect]

Yes just as the extra RAM starts to show an increase in performance due to the resolution they stop raising the resolution...

[skipclarke]

I have my Eyefinity6 reviewing waiting until the embargo lift. I tested the 5870 and the 2GB 5870 Eyefinity6 all the way up to 3x1920x1200. I also tested at 3x1200x1920 (landscape) and 3x1920x1080, to compare the impact of the changing aspect ratios. I also tested a 5970, and the E6 in CFX. So, we've got a full range of options to compare. Just a few more days to wait.

[bahnzii]

^ so true...

I remember trying multi-monitors as just a large desktop on Mac's way back in the day.
And then later with a game (various iterations of ID Doom/Quake) - - the immersion was just incredible.

Hopefully the other reviewers see the light and realize the more peripheral vision the game encompasses the more immersive it is for the gamer :cheers

[Sideeffect]

I have my Eyefinity6 reviewing waiting until the embargo lift. I tested the 5870 and the 2GB 5870 Eyefinity6 all the way up to 3x1920x1200. I also tested at 3x1200x1920 (landscape) and 3x1920x1080, to compare the impact of the changing aspect ratios. I also tested a 5970, and the E6 in CFX. So, we've got a full range of options to compare. Just a few more days to wait.

Cool. Any chance you can test Metro 2033? That game takes a 50 - 60% FPS frame hit when running at 5040 x 1050 so I have to play at 3840 x 800. I'm wondering if its VRAM limited or just a crappy unoptimised port. :)

I run the game in Directx11 High with tessellation on DOF off 3840 x 800 and its around 40 FPS. 5040 x 1050 same settings its around 20FPS.

[bahnzii]

Metro 2033 sure sounds like the "new" Crysis in terms of stressing a machine. I can't help but wonder even though it might be a graphical 'tour de force' if the code is not very optimized, especially when I read that the Advanced DOF option is a frame rate killer...

It would be nice to see someone like Anandtech dissect the graphics options so we can see truly what they are doing.

[skipclarke]

Does it have a benchmark tool? I need something that is easy to do, and easily reproducible. Between now and the 31st I will be focusing on writing my review. I still plan to add more benchmarks after that.

[Sideeffect]

Does it have a benchmark tool? I need something that is easy to do, and easily reproducible. Between now and the 31st I will be focusing on writing my review. I still plan to add more benchmarks after that.

No it doesn't have a timedemo or benchmark tool. Hopefully they will release something soon in a patch or separate demo.

They kind of reproduced the problem here although they were in very high quality mode. As you can see the 5800 series takes a huge nosedive when the resolution goes up to 2560x1600. Probably needs a driver update to fix whats going on there.

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/NVIDIA/GeForce_GTX_480_Fermi/27.html

[ChristopherB]

Does it have a benchmark tool? I need something that is easy to do, and easily reproducible. Between now and the 31st I will be focusing on writing my review. I still plan to add more benchmarks after that.

Just Cause 2 has a built in benchmarking tool and almost supports Eyefinity "out of the box". There is a slight glitch when hijacking vehicles and the GUI isn't centered, but it runs well at Eyefinity resolutions and the benchmarking tool is easy to use.

[Aix]

Yes just as the extra RAM starts to show an increase in performance due to the resolution they stop raising the resolution...

Yeah, that was a completely useless review considering that the whole point of the 2GB cards is to support Eyefinity resolutions. They might as well review the Eyefinity6 on a single monitor as well. :doh

Definitely excited to see Ibrin's review, even more so than I was to see how the GTX 480 would shape up. I'll be very surprised if there isn't at least a couple of giant leaps in performance, considering that even at my "lowly" 5292x1050 I'm pushing 1.3 million more pixels than a 2650x1600 setup.

If the price is decent and the results are there then I'm hoping for a Crossfire setup once they're released.

[Anprionsa]

I have my Eyefinity6 reviewing waiting until the embargo lift. I tested the 5870 and the 2GB 5870 Eyefinity6 all the way up to 3x1920x1200. I also tested at 3x1200x1920 (landscape) and 3x1920x1080, to compare the impact of the changing aspect ratios. I also tested a 5970, and the E6 in CFX. So, we've got a full range of options to compare. Just a few more days to wait.

Bah, it has to come soon! Thursday FTW!

[Sideeffect]

[quote]Yes just as the extra RAM starts to show an increase in performance due to the resolution they stop raising the resolution...

Yeah, that was a completely useless review considering that the whole point of the 2GB cards is to support Eyefinity resolutions. They might as well review the Eyefinity6 on a single monitor as well. :doh

Definitely excited to see Ibrin's review, even more so than I was to see how the GTX 480 would shape up. I'll be very surprised if there isn't at least a couple of giant leaps in performance, considering that even at my "lowly" 5292x1050 I'm pushing 1.3 million more pixels than a 2650x1600 setup.

If the price is decent and the results are there then I'm hoping for a Crossfire setup once they're released.

Indeed, I'm also considering upgrading from my single 5850 1GB to a 5870 with 2GB if it does show an advantage at higher resolution. If the difference is small I might try crossfire 5850 instead.

Ibrin if you could include 5850 1GB crossfire results for comparison that would be awesome 8) Shaders vs Framebuffer in ultra resolution!

[skipclarke]

Indeed, I'm also considering upgrading from my single 5850 1GB to a 5870 with 2GB if it does show an advantage at higher resolution. If the difference is small I might try crossfire 5850 instead.

Ibrin if you could include 5850 1GB crossfire results for comparison that would be awesome 8) Shaders vs Framebuffer in ultra resolution!

Sorry, I only have one 5850. Thus, I cannot test 5850 in CFX.

[Sideeffect]

Nevermind. Do you have a 5970 2GB? That seems to get similar results to 5850 crossfire.

[spammeister]

Why only do 2GB, why not just make a 4GB version. I remember reading somewhere that these cards could handle up to 4GB of memory. 2GB doesn't really interest me as an upgrade, but some sort of 6870 with 4GB memory would.

[skipclarke]

Nevermind. Do you have a 5970 2GB? That seems to get similar results to 5850 crossfire.

I do, and it was tested.

Why only do 2GB, why not just make a 4GB version. I remember reading somewhere that these cards could handle up to 4GB of memory. 2GB doesn't really interest me as an upgrade, but some sort of 6870 with 4GB memory would.

I also have the E6 in CFX, which is basically the 4GB 5970.

[spammeister]

I mean a 5870 with 4GB of ram.

[Sideeffect]

I mean a 5870 with 4GB of ram.

No such thing and never will be. It would be a total waste no current games could actually use that much RAM even in eyefinity and by the time they can the 5870 will be outdated in other ways.

[k-y]

Get your pre-orders in!

https://www.ewiz.com/detail.php?name=AT-587_2GB&title=Sapphire-Radeon-HD5870-2GB-DDR5-6x-Mini-DisplayPort-PCI-Express-Video-Card

And, the price is $499 which is indeed in between a 5870 and a 5970.