
Palit HD 4870 Sonic Dual Edition 512 MB Review
Packaging & Contents »Introduction

In the first months after the product release AMD has limited all HD 4870 cards to use the AMD reference design. Add in board partners could not change any component of the card and clocks had to be the same ones as the reference design.
Palit is one of the first AIBs to release a custom HD 4870 version: the Palit HD 4870 Sonic Dual Edition. It uses a completely revamped cooling system that uses two fans to keep the card cool. Also included is a DisplayPort connector and a "Turbo" switch. The Turbo switch lets you select between two different operating frequencies. In normal mode the card will run at 750 MHz core and 900 MHz memory clock. In Turbo mode an additional overclock is enabled with 775 MHz / 1000 MHz.
Even though the changes are numerous Palit has managed to keep the retail price below $299.
Radeon HD 3850 | Radeon HD 3870 | GeForce 9600 GT | GeForce 8800 GT | GeForce 9800 GT | Radeon HD 4850 | GeForce 9800 GTX | GeForce 9800 GTX+ | GeForce 8800 GTX | GeForce GTX 260 | Radeon HD 4870 | Palit HD 4870 Sonic | GeForce GTX 280 | Radeon HD 4870 X2 | |
Shader units | 320 | 320 | 64 | 112 | 112 | 800 | 128 | 128 | 128 | 192 | 800 | 800 | 240 | 2x 800 |
ROPs | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 24 | 28 | 16 | 16 | 32 | 2x 16 |
GPU | RV670 | RV670 | G94 | G92 | G92 | RV770 | G92 | G92 | G80 | GT200 | RV770 | RV770 | GT200 | 2x RV770 |
Transistors | 666M | 666M | 505M | 754M | 754M | 956M | 754M | 754M | 681M | 1400M | 956M | 956M | 1400M | 2x 956M |
Memory Size | 256 MB | 512 MB | 512 MB | 512 MB | 512 MB | 512 MB | 512 MB | 512 MB | 768 MB | 896 MB | 512 MB | 512 MB | 1024 MB | 2x 1024 MB |
Memory Bus Width | 256 bit | 256 bit | 256 bit | 256 bit | 256 bit | 256 bit | 256 bit | 256 bit | 384 bit | 448 bit | 256 bit | 256 bit | 512 bit | 2x 256 bit |
Core Clock | 670 MHz | 777 MHz | 650 MHz | 600 MHz | 600 MHz | 625 MHz | 675 MHz | 738 MHz | 575 MHz | 576 MHz | 750 MHz | 775 MHz | 602 MHz | 750 MHz |
Memory Clock | 828 MHz | 1126 MHz | 900 MHz | 900 MHz | 900 MHz | 993 MHz | 1100 MHz | 1100 MHz | 900 MHz | 999 MHz | 900 MHz | 1000 MHz | 1107 MHz | 900 MHz |
Price | $99 | $125 | $90 | $140 | $160 | $170 | $185 | $200 | $295 | $270 | $280 | $299 | $430 | $550 |