Palit HD 4870 Sonic Dual Edition a good buy?

[sleepsus]

Is the Palit HD 4870 Sonic Dual Edition a good buy?

http://www.palit.biz/main/vgapro.php?id=767

 

[Wile E]

I would say yes. It has a nice cooler, beefed up power circuitry, and that very excellent dual-bios feature.

I should let you know I'm a bit biased, however. lol.

 

[sleepsus]

Thanks Wile. I think I should rephrase my question then ... Among all the 4870's which would be the best bang for the buck?

 

[DOM]

im with Wile E

it looks like a nice card

cuz your from the Philippines right ?

do you buy online there or at a store ?

 

[sleepsus]

Yep, I'm from the PH. I buy at the store, it's right down the road from where I live

 

[largon]

The only issue I have with that card is that the back panel takes 2 slots. I think PALiT could've ditched the 2nd DVI and put the BIOS-switch on the board... But it's not a biggie.

 

[blobster21]

The only issue I have with that card is that the back panel takes 2 slots

the real issue is the rear exhaust no longer exists, the heat is going to dissipate inside the case

 

[BATOFF3]

I picked up this card yesterday and I must say I am rather pleased. Even tho there is no exhaust on the card, the twin fan and heatpipe setup does the job well and is quieter than a stock blower on most models. With a well ventilated case this is no problem. As with the Normal and Turbo switch, I find no big deal to having to shut down before ficking the switch. Included are screens in Turbo and Normal mode. Setup is a Q6600 run at stock settings. X48 chipset, 4 gig DDR2, Palit HD4870, Seasonic 700w modular, Cats 8.8 , 250gb sata2, Vista 64 SP1.

 

[nafets]

Please make both BIOSes available from your Palit HD4870, if possible. I'm interested in seeing what settings they have. Thanks!

 

[largon]

BATOFF,
How's the OC'ing?

 

[BATOFF3]

Not sure where i can display both bios's. GPU-Z gives me just the one. The only overclock I have done is using the Turbo switch. Benched with the Q6600 at 3.6ghz and Normal Mode settings on the 4870.
http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm06=8013452
15,662
Even so the card comes pre overclocked at 750/950. Turbo pushes it to 750/1000

 

[LoneReaction]

4870 threads are dead! I got the pailt yesterday too, first time ATI user. And same as batoff, the only overclocking I've done is flipping a switch behind the card.
I don't know if I wanna overclock more, since there is practically no need to. ATITOOLS doesn't work with it though so that is a bummer.

Room temp: 30c
Idle: 60c
Load: 72c

 

[sleepsus]

4870 threads are dead! I got the pailt yesterday too, first time ATI user. And same as batoff, the only overclocking I've done is flipping a switch behind the card.
I don't know if I wanna overclock more, since there is practically no need to. ATITOOLS doesn't work with it though so that is a bummer.

Room temp: 30c
Idle: 60c
Load: 72c

That is a bummer ... I'd like something I can tinker with. Did you try it with ATi Tray Tools?

 

[Wile E]

4870 threads are dead! I got the pailt yesterday too, first time ATI user. And same as batoff, the only overclocking I've done is flipping a switch behind the card.
I don't know if I wanna overclock more, since there is practically no need to. ATITOOLS doesn't work with it though so that is a bummer.

Room temp: 30c
Idle: 60c
Load: 72c

Did you try Riva Tuner?

 

[LoneReaction]

Riva tuner doesn't detect it too. There's an overclocking utility in Catalyst Control Center, but the core is limited to 790Mhz.

I'm still wondering how people get them to above 800.

@ 775/1000 now, default for turbo mode.

ps: ignore the current clock readings, when idle the card reverts to a low clock

 

[Wile E]

Riva tuner doesn't detect it too. There's an overclocking utility in Catalyst Control Center, but the core is limited to 790Mhz.

I'm still wondering how people get them to above 800.

Maybe the AMD GPU Clock Tool? http://www.techpowerup.com/downloads/1128/AMD_GPU_Clock_Tool_v0.9.8.html

 

[LoneReaction]

Hmm. I am getting artifacts in ATI tools (0.27) scan artifacts in under 1min, even when underclocking below what the card is advertise to run at (750/1000). Should I RMA?

 

[Wile E]

Hmm. I am getting artifacts in ATI tools scan artifacts in under 1min, even when underclocking below what the card is advertise to run at (750/1000). Should I RMA?

Nah, it might just be an incompatibility. Try Furmark for stability testing. Be warned tho, it will heat your card way hotter than just about anything else.

 

[btarunr]

The memory chips are left to the mercy of (pre-heated) air flow by the fans (that the fins heat).

 

[Wile E]

The memory chips are left to the mercy of (pre-heated) air flow by the fans (that the fins heat).

Doesn't really make a difference. If they were sinked, you would just be blowing warm air on the sinks.

Besides, the air coming off of the heatsink is likely cooler than the chips themselves anyway.

 

[btarunr]

Doesn't really make a difference. If they were sinked, you would just be blowing warm air on the sinks.

Besides, the air coming off of the heatsink is likely cooler than the chips themselves anyway.

Sure, but if they had sinks, they would at least have greater surface area to give away heat to whatever that pre-heated air can take. Now the area of the chip's surface is its surface area for heat dissipation.

 

[DidoD]

for me i think its useles to buy this card just for the cooler , like i see from the reviews of this card the cooler is very loud and its not cooling down enough the temp, myne`s sapphire hd 4870 is with the stock cooler and fan 40%(over rivatuner) and is cooling the card more than the palis`s and its almost the same noise making like the palit`s , and its whith flashed bios.the hot air is staying in the case too and i dont see the mem chips to be cooled by the cooler????.
The thing that i liked is the dual bios thing

 

[Wile E]

Sure, but if they had sinks, they would at least have greater surface area to give away heat to whatever that pre-heated air can take. Now the area of the chip's surface is its surface area for heat dissipation.

Not necessarily. it depends strictly on the thermal interface between the sinks and the chip. Most thermal tape is crap. lol.

Compare this to regular ram. Have you ever pulled the heat spreaders off of a ram kit? Every kit I've messed with has performed better sans spreader, vs leaving it on.

 

[btarunr]

And why would you use tape? A sink with pads is better than bare chips. You're leaving the chips bare leaving them to pre-heated air for cooling. That's different from leaving system memory sticks bare, where that zone of the system isn't a hot-air environment, at least not as much as CPU and its VRM area, and definitely not as much as hot air coming from a OC'ed RV770.

 

[LoneReaction]

Nah, it might just be an incompatibility. Try Furmark for stability testing. Be warned tho, it will heat your card way hotter than just about anything else.

Woah, on benchmark test it runs smooth, but on stability testing it's jerky, and even my mouse lags. No problems though, load at 73-74c.