4870X2 and performance with slightly older titles.

[DRen72]

Now that the dust is beginning to settle on the 4870X2 vs. 280GTX battle, it looks like I'm leaning toward the X2, but I'm interested in the X2's performance with slightly older or less common games such as Doom III, Quake IV, Thief: Deadly Shadows, Gothic III, original Call of Duty games (1&2), etc.

Question: Can you guys that have the 4870X2 comment on how these games or these type of games run?

[slaWter]

Here's a Gothic 3 review: http://www.computerbase.de/artikel/hardware/grafikkarten/2008/test_ati_radeon_hd_4870_x2/12/#abschnitt_gothic_3

No Crossfire support.

[Stoneyguy]

wow, what happened with Gothic 3? That's the most lopsided Nvidia victory I've seen even without CF. Hell the X2 is even less then a single 4870.

*looking at even more of the comparisons and I really question the people doing this review. It shows Stalker as not even playable in CF mode yet I played it with no problem.... gonna have to try it again and make sure CF is on. Maybe it was a mobo or driver issue?

Just got done testing the game on the first level and FPS never dipped below 60 and averaged at 85 on Stalker running @1920x1200 with all settings maxed.

[Blkout]

wow, what happened with Gothic 3? That's the most lopsided Nvidia victory I've seen even without CF. Hell the X2 is even less then a single 4870.

*looking at even more of the comparisons and I really question the people doing this review. It shows Stalker as not even playable in CF mode yet I played it with no problem.... gonna have to try it again and make sure CF is on. Maybe it was a mobo or driver issue?

Just got done testing the game on the first level and FPS never dipped below 60 and averaged at 85 on Stalker running @1920x1200 with all settings maxed.


The newer generation of GPU's, especially ATI, are focusing more on shader performance. Most older games are not shader intensive so there's no huge performance to be gained. You will probably find an Nvidia 8800 series to smoke the 4870x2 in some old titles. It really wouldn't matter to me though as long as the game was completely playable. I don't really need 250fps to be playable. As long as it averages over 60fps, you're good to go.

[Blkout]

My 260 tears them a new hole and so should the 4870X2.

Are you buying a GTX 260 to play games that are 3-5 years old? That would be a waste of money when there are much cheaper cards that can do that just fine.

[Blkout]

Now that the dust is beginning to settle on the 4870X2 vs. 280GTX battle, it looks like I'm leaning toward the X2, but I'm interested in the X2's performance with slightly older or less common games such as Doom III, Quake IV, Thief: Deadly Shadows, Gothic III, original Call of Duty games (1&2), etc.

Question: Can you guys that have the 4870X2 comment on how these games or these type of games run?

Wish I could help you but I don't play any of those games anymore. I don't even think I own any of them anymore except maybe Doom 3. To be honest though, the 4870x2 shouldn't have any trouble running any of those games, it just won't be as impressive as newer games that are more shader dependant.

[LordJuanlo]

I have tried BloodRayne 2 (DX8 title) with Walterman's FSAA patch and it performs a bit worse on the x2 than the 4870. I think ATI doesn't care too much because games this old will run at 100+ FPS with everything cracked up.

Will try other games like Doom 3 or Quake 4, but I already could run those maxed with 4xAA and vsync at 60 FPS with the 8800GTX

[nekrosoft13]

i spoke with Walterman about BR2 on 4870 crossfire, he said that with crossfire enabled their were getting 20fps.

[namuk]

would like to see more older titles tested interesting

[Xion X2]

Personally, I would rather AMD/ATI focus their efforts on performance in current and future titles than making sure a game from 4-5 years ago runs 100+ fps in Crossfire.

But.. that's just me.

[namuk]

just running them would be good they should do something like creative did with alcamy

[saturnotaku]

Personally, I would rather AMD/ATI focus their efforts on performance in current and future titles than making sure a game from 4-5 years ago runs 100+ fps in Crossfire.

But.. that's just me.

100+ fps? How about more than 30? You can't expect every title to work, of course, but NVIDIA has compatibility on its side. Sometimes you just feel like firing up older titles, be it for nostalgia, or that far too many modern games are utter garbage.

But, that's just me.

[walterman]

I have tried BloodRayne 2 (DX8 title) with Walterman's FSAA patch and it performs a bit worse on the x2 than the 4870. I think ATI doesn't care too much because games this old will run at 100+ FPS with everything cracked up.

Will try other games like Doom 3 or Quake 4, but I already could run those maxed with 4xAA and vsync at 60 FPS with the 8800GTX

i spoke with Walterman about BR2 on 4870 crossfire, he said that with crossfire enabled their were getting 20fps.

Unluckily :(

Under XP32, the results with 2x 4870 in CF were really horrible (10-20fps).

Also, the AA forced from the ATi control panel was not working.

ATi cards need something like nHancer asap.

[namuk]

Unluckily :(

Under XP32, the results with 2x 4870 in CF were really horrible (10-20fps).

Also, the AA forced from the ATi control panel was not working.

ATi cards need something like nHancer asap.



have ati got any type of nHancer program?

[LordJuanlo]

Unluckily :(

Under XP32, the results with 2x 4870 in CF were really horrible (10-20fps).

Also, the AA forced from the ATi control panel was not working.

ATi cards need something like nHancer asap.

With the x2 under Vista64 is slower than one 4870, but not this horrible (104 FPS on the x2 vs 126 FPS on single card)

[slaWter]

Well if Crossfire doesn't work in an older title just disable it and use a single 4870 chip. Should be more than enough for 60FPS and vsync in those games.

I'm with Xion X2 on this one, ATI needs to focus on current and upcoming games, especially upcoming games. The X2 card simply needs to have good Crossfire support when a new game hits the stores, not a few weeks after that!

[Stoneyguy]

With the x2 under Vista64 is slower than one 4870, but not this horrible (104 FPS on the x2 vs 126 FPS on single card)

wow! 104 vs 20 is a big difference. :eek2:

[nekrosoft13]

have ati got any type of nHancer program?

no, because they can't really. ati doesn't have per game profiles

[nekrosoft13]

Well if Crossfire doesn't work in an older title just disable it and use a single 4870 chip. Should be more than enough for 60FPS and vsync in those games.



that why ati needs profiles, nvidia has them, for example simcity4 can't work with SLI, so profile is set to single. you never have to worry about disable SLI, it does it automatically when it hits that old title.

[namuk]

no, because they can't really. ati doesn't have per game profiles
thanks you just answered me next question :) now i understand the ati bad game support it is down to the driver thats it the nvidia one is adjustable through the profiles . looks like 280 for me

[nekrosoft13]

thanks you just answered me next question :) now i understand the ati bad game support it is down to the driver thats it the nvidia one is adjustable through the profiles . looks like 280 for me

http://img292.imageshack.us/img292/9500/capturenl4.th.jpg (http://img292.imageshack.us/my.php?image=capturenl4.jpg)

[walterman]

wow! 104 vs 20 is a big difference. :eek2:

Vista 64 + 4870X2 -> 104 fps
XP 32 + 2x 4870 -> 20 fps

Single 4870 under Vista x64 or XP32 -> Around 120 fps.

Something really screwed in the CF support under XP.

[namuk]

http://img292.imageshack.us/img292/9500/capturenl4.th.jpg (http://img292.imageshack.us/my.php?image=capturenl4.jpg)

no what you mean i have used the program:)

[LordJuanlo]

ATI needs to open their profiles like nVidia and allow users to customize them. I hope they do, because the 4870 (and x2) is a really fantastic card, I didn't feel this power since I got the 8800GTX

[Xion X2]

100+ fps? How about more than 30? You can't expect every title to work, of course, but NVIDIA has compatibility on its side. Sometimes you just feel like firing up older titles, be it for nostalgia, or that far too many modern games are utter garbage.

But, that's just me.

Here's an easy solution for those older games with Crossfire compatibility issues.

Disable Crossfire. It's as simple as unchecking the "Enable Crossfire" box in the CCC. A single 4870 will still run them like a dream.

Problem solved. Not exactly rocket science.

If you own an X2, Crossfire can be disabled by disabling Catalyst A.I in the CCC.

I mean, really, guys.. is it really that big a deal? I've found only 2 games so far that didn't scale with Crossfire out of about 20 I've tested: The Witcher and Two Worlds. The Witcher already ran at 70+ fps on average with all settings maxed, so it was a non-issue. Two Worlds ran at a mediocre 35-40fps, so it was an issue.

One out of twenty isn't bad. I'm not trying to defend everything ATI, but I don't see how expecting Crossfire scaling in every title (including those 3+ years old) is rational--especially when it would be a duplication of efforts for ATI. If an older title already runs at 100+ fps on a single GPU, then why prioritize it and spend valuable resources improving Crossfire support for it when they could be focusing those resources on Crysis and any other future title that REALLY needs it?

In a perfect world, sure, Crossfire would work on every title. But I think one has to be reasonable at the same time, realize this is still an evolving technology, and not expect 100% scalability with every game.