It's no secret that the Radeon HD 4870 is one of the best overall GPU's on the market right now, but with so much selection from vendors, it's hard to choose the best one. Just a month ago, we posted our article of Palit's Radeon HD 4870, and since then, not too much has changed in the GPU scheme of things. AMD released their Radeon HD 4670 and HD 4650 budget cards, but for gamers after great performance, the choices have remained the same since the beginning of summer. There's nothing wrong with that though, as the releases we saw in June from both ATI and NVIDIA are still amazing and we'll say it once again, there's no better time to be thinking about a GPU purchase than right now. - Techgage

Palit Radeon HD 4870 Sonic Dual Video Board Review

Another interesting event over the summer was to see the tables turn in the market. Even though NVIDIA released their impressive GeForce GTX 260 and GTX 280 cards, they were quickly overshadowed by ATI's launch of the Radeon HD 4800 series, which delivered performance no one was expecting. Fast forward to the Radeon HD 4870 X2, and it's really difficult to look away from any of AMD's offerings. As it stands right now, their current line-up is priced right and offers insane performance. Now more than ever, we're seeing graphic card vendors working hard to draw your attention to their offerings, instead of a competitors.

As it is right now, the Radeon HD 4870 is ATI's second highest card in their line-up, succeeded only by the Radeon HD 4780 X2, which in case you are unaware, is simply two Radeon HD 4870's put together. Unlike NVIDIA's so called GX2 solution, the X2's however stick to one PCB thankfully. The next best option to the Radeon HD 4870 from ATI is of course the Radeon HD 4850. That card is similar in most regards except the clock settings. The Radeon HD 4870 also features GDDR5 memory, while the Radeon HD 4850 sticks to the older GDDR3 memory. Palit's Dual Edition is named as such because it includes two fans.

Palit also makes improvements with the card itself, using a multi-layer PCB that improves upon the reference, while also utilizing a 3-phase power solution. We are not immediately impressed by the physical appearance of the cooler, but at least it matches the both the brand and PCB color. Another special feature of the card is its dual BIOS design, which opens up the ability to overclock on a dime. With the switch in its original position, the card will act normal, but flick it to the Turbo position and the core clock gets bumped by 25MHz over stock and the memory by 100MHz. A healthy boost, but not jaw-dropping.

The default clocks for the Radeon HD 4870 card are 750MHz core and 3600MHz memory. Palit's Sonic card, with the help of the toggle, boosts those figures up to 775MHz core and 4000MHz memory, which is just minor, but an increase nonetheless. ATI's control center, sadly, doesn't allow much more breathing room than that, and we're sure it has to do with the fact that the cards normally have very high temps. Thanks to these low limits, this is one of those times when the sliders could be maxed out and the card still pass the drivers stability test. So, our final stable overclock is 790MHz core and 4400MHz memory.

When AMD first launched their ATI Radeon HD 4800 series, it became quickly obvious who the new leader in GPU's were. Compared head to head with NVIDIA's most recent top offerings, ATI's cards delivered just what gamers were looking for, and at reasonable prices. So reasonable, that it forced NVIDIA to make stark price drops just to compete. Well, that was great then, and things are even better now. While the Radeon HD 4870 retailed for $299 at launch, it's easy to find models for much less at various e-tailers, especially if you want to take advantage of rebates and very competitive pricing between retail stores.

Let's face it. The overclock available with a flick of the switch on this Sonic card is small, and the differences in real world tests are minimal. What makes this card so great is the general performance we've come to appreciate, along with the features and cooler. It's all made better by the fact that despite the additions, the card is still priced less than most of the competition. It's impossible to go wrong with this card, and once again, Palit has earned itself a great award.