![[H]ardOCP](/images/blank.gif){kind=small}
- Date:
- Monday , May 04, 2009
- Author:
- Matthew Krysiak
- Editor:
- Brent Justice
- Google +1
XFX HD 4870 1GB XXX and MSI N260GTX OC3
We evaluate our first AMD GPU video card from XFX, the Radeon HD 4870 1GB XXX. We compare to MSI’s new custom N260GTX OC3. Both are tested against an ATI Radeon HD 4890 to see which comes out on top in F.E.A.R. 2, GTA IV, Fallout 3, FarCry 2, and Crysis Warhead. In-depth overclock testing too.
F.E.A.R. 2
During our testing of F.E.A.R. 2 we found that the second section, "Awakening", contained the most demanding scenery in the game. It is entirely indoors, and begins with Sergeant Becket waking up in a hospital room, then tasked with arming himself and escaping. Our test consists of the first 5 minutes of this section, in which the character explores the hospital, arms himself, and does combat with more than a few enemy soldiers. Note: Quite frequently, we found ourselves looking at framerates that measured in the 40s and 50s, but found that the game itself was jittery, unresponsive, and laggy. Thus, the framerates we measured were abnormally high, while the gameplay itself was just right.
Highest Playable Settings
In F.E.A.R. 2, each video card was playable at 2560x1600, 4X MSAA, 16X AF, and highest in-game settings. The game limits AA to 4X MSAA but we are able to force higher AA levels inside the video cards respective control panels. Unfortunately, none of the video cards were playable at 8X MSAA and 2560x1600. For those who play at 1920x1200 though 8X MSAA, 16X AF and highest in-game settings are playable on all three video cards.
With the ability to use such high in-game settings and all three video cards with a couple framerates of each other it is no wonder that we had the same great time playing F.E.A.R. 2 on all the video cards. It should be noted though that the overclock on the XFX Radeon HD 4870 XXX was enough to allow the same in-game settings as the ATI Radeon HD 4890.