Wednesday, February 18th 2009

Mobility Radeon HD 4870 X2 Days Away From Clinching Top Spot

ASUS chose last month's CES event to announce its flagship gaming notebook, the W90. Usual high-end specifications aside, the most distinct component used in it is the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4870 X2, AMD's flagship mobile graphics platform, which is on the brink of snatching the performance crown away from NVIDIA for the platform. A North American sales representative for ASUS tells GPU Café that the W90 will be available from February 23, which perhaps makes it the launch-date for the Mobility HD 4870 X2. It is also noted that the Mobility HD 4670 will be out around the same time, while Mobility HD 4850 will arrive a week or two later.

XtremeSystems forum member Kinc posted some early performance numbers relating to the Mobility HD 4870 X2, featured on the ASUS W90 with an Intel Core 2 Quad T9400, which effortlessly overclocked to 4 GHz on the notebook's stock cooling system. The Mobility HD 4870 X2 carried clock speeds of 600/900 MHz (core/memory). The notebook used Intel's X38 core-logic. At the said parameters, it was put through 3DMark 06. The notebook secured a score of 20,284 3DMarks at default setting. When released, the Mobility Radeon HD 4870 X2 will replace NVIDIA GeForce 9800M GTX SLI as the fastest mGPU solution, replicating a similar feat by its desktop cousin.
Sources: GPU Café, XtremeSystems
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78 Comments on Mobility Radeon HD 4870 X2 Days Away From Clinching Top Spot

#26
lemonadesoda
Are there any technical specifications for this? How does the mobility version compare with the desktop version?

If this is an ultra low voltage device then how about some enterprising company sticks two of these in crossfire on a PCIe16 board with passive (or at least, silent active) cooling. :pimp:
Posted on Reply
#27
PCpraiser100
Next thing is that Alienware will practise using Nuclear Reactors as laptop batteres!!! :D
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#28
cdawall
where the hell are my stars
lol can you imagine the size of the power brick for this thing
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#30
DrPepper
The Doctor is in the house
I want this NOW !!!
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#32
mlee49
DrPepperI want this NOW !!!
I want one too. Too bad I dont have $2500 to drop on a new gaming setup. :cry:

I just want to see a retailer/reseller that has it available.
Posted on Reply
#33
Frizz
I'm more interested to see how the laptop is going to survive! Its like putting a v16 engine on a bicycle rofllll.

Hopefully their battery life and heat workarounds make us go wow too :)
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#34
DrPepper
The Doctor is in the house
mlee49I want one too. Too bad I dont have $2500 to drop on a new gaming setup. :cry:

I just want to see a retailer/reseller that has it available.
Me neither and it better be available in the uk :p
Posted on Reply
#35
LittleLizard
it kick ass my current setup which is 89999 time bigger :eek:
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#36
Marineborn
it probably uses a 12 cell battery which would probably power a system like that for about 3-5 hrs depending on what you were doing
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#37
Triprift
And to think mine does if your lucky 3k in 06 that is amazing ofcourse overheating would be a killer but still mightily impressive for a lappy.
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#38
frankie827
asdglkjasd;ljgk
it's better than my desktop :(
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#39
Triprift
Its better than most ppls desktops here. :P

Couple that with nehalem mobile processor that intel will release later in the year and it will be king insane. :twitch:
Posted on Reply
#40
frankie827
TripriftIts better than most ppls desktops here. :P

Couple that with nehalem mobile processor that intel will release later in the year and it will be king insane. :twitch:
please excuse me while i go cry in the corner.

i thought it would be much longer before i saw a laptop that was better than a desktop :eek:
Posted on Reply
#41
btarunr
Editor & Senior Moderator
wolfover 99% of us wont buy mobility gear anyway, so meh, unimpressed.

as for ATi "snatching" the crown back off nvidia, hardly. :laugh:
Guess what, 99% of us don't buy the HD 4870 X2s and the GTX 295s either, so keep your impressions to cheaper cards, going by that logic. Yes, ATI snatches the performance crown. Pit two desktop 8800GTs in x8 x8 SLI against a HD 4870 X2, using a Yorkfield @ 4 GHz, and you will have an identical test-bed to prove the performance difference.
lemonadesodaAre there any technical specifications for this?
Two of those boards you see (1st pic) installed on a system with X38 chipset (providing x16 links to each board). There is no lane-arbiter (like the PLX chip on the desktop card). Each board holds a RV770 GPU with 512M/1G of GDDR5 memory. Speeds are 600/900 MHz (core/mem). With this it ends up as the fastest solution. I'm not 100% sure of these specs, so I didn't mention it in the news.
Posted on Reply
#42
eidairaman1
The Exiled Airman
just to put this out there, the Mobility parts i believe are put thru more stringent testing due to chassis constraints and coolin apparatus, and they are usually built upon the latest process, because for one my Inspiron XPS Machine had a 9800 256 and that was built using the R420 Core.
Posted on Reply
#43
mlee49
The thing's gonna weigh 50 lbs and 40 of it will be the heatsink :p
Posted on Reply
#44
eidairaman1
The Exiled Airman
not much different than the SLI cards for Laptops.
Posted on Reply
#45
tkpenalty
Wonder why they've never thought of a desktop system only utilising laptop parts?... its cheaper and smaller...
Posted on Reply
#46
eidairaman1
The Exiled Airman
proprietary, they also have to account for power differences etc, atleast today, now back in the day with SKT A that was possible.
Posted on Reply
#47
KainXS
lemonadesodaAre there any technical specifications for this? How does the mobility version compare with the desktop version?

If this is an ultra low voltage device then how about some enterprising company sticks two of these in crossfire on a PCIe16 board with passive (or at least, silent active) cooling. :pimp:
Unlike most of nvidia's mobile cards which are cut down, ATI almost never releases mobile GPU's that aren't the same as the desktop versions so I am guessing spec wise its the same as the desktop version but has a lower clocks and voltage on the memory and gpu.

It might also use DDR3 instead of DDR5 also.
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#48
Hayder_Master
i gonna throw my desktop , OMG this is great gamer laptop ever
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#49
Triprift
mlee49The thing's gonna weigh 50 lbs and 40 of it will be the heatsink :p
it will be heavy alright great for weightlifting. :D:p
Posted on Reply
#50
Baum
hurray mxm in the mix!
i can't wait to get an 4650 mxm-3 in my hand for upgrade ;-P
Posted on Reply
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