ASUS HD 4870 X2 (EAH4870X2) 2GB PCI-E

 

Based on the results over the previous pages it’s really hard not to fall in love with the 4870X2. Yes it totally lacks in innovation, yes it sucks up power and yes it removes the need for any heating in your home. But for the hardcore gamer or extreme bencher who craves FPS above everything else, the 4870X2 reigns supreme.

 

High resolutions, high quality textures, 8xAA – you name it, the 4870X2 eats it for lunch. Throughout our testing the only game that could present it with a remote challenge was Crysis (surprise, surprise), and even then with 4xAA and V.High textures applied, the 4870X2 still managed to produce a fairly reasonable 30FPS at 1900×1200 while the GTX280 was left running at a slideshow speed of just under 17FPS.

 

Credit has to be given to ASUS too for the bundle and packaging provided with the card. Even depite it not being from their high-end “TOP” lineup, the card still comes with a whole bunch of cables, adapters, connectors and a CD wallet. Sure this may not sound amazing, but it’s better than a kick in the knackers or a £10 price hike to have a game you don’t even like included in the box.

 

At present the 4870X2 may be a tad on the pricey side at just under £350, but considering we’re looking at a card with two GPU’s and a huge Copper cooler to help tame the temperatures, it’s certainly a lot easier to swallow than the insane launch price of the GTX280. However, going on the current pricing, the 4870X2 is actually around £50 more expensive than NVIDIA’s best. Interestingly, as our CPF graphs over the previous few pages have shown, the 4870X2 is able to offset its higher price with its exceptional performance scores, actually making it the better buy of the two where high resolutions and AF are a must.

 

 

– Unrivalled FPS results.

– Performance seems unaffected by resolution changes in most games.
 

– Performance offsets the high price.

– Mildly noisy, but nowhere near as bad as we were expecting.

– You need a highly overclocked CPU to get the most out of it.

 

– After a few hours of use, you can fry and egg on the blanking plates.

– Power consumption is sky high.

 

 

 

Thanks to ASUS for providing the EAH4870X2 for review. Discuss this review in our forums.