Gainward has released a high-end overclockable graphics card based on AMD's RV770 chipset, their Radeon HD 4870 X2 series. And this is probably the most expensive and powerful graphics card you can buy right now since it offers 1600 stream processors and has 2GB of GDDR5 memory on board. The Radeon HD 4870 X2 graphics card features dual TeraScale graphics engines that work in tandem to deliver high frame rates, putting the power of graphics supercomputing in the hands of extreme gamers. The card also dynamically conserves energy at idle or when demand is low. The CrossFireX technology with quad GPU support offers even more processing power for demanding gamers. - CDRInfo

Gainward Rampage 700 2GB Golden Version Preview

The Gainward Rampage 700 Golden Sample is an improved version of the Radeon HD 4870 X2 offering increased core and/or memory clocks that should give an additional performance boost. Gainward calls it the fastest graphics card ever and we have not many reasons not to believe it. With all these in mind, our expectations from this card are very high even in demanding game titles such as Crysis. The specifications of the board indicate that both the core and memory frequencies are set higher than the stock Radeon HD 4870 X2 versions, and it retails for around $599 making it a product for enthusiasts and hardcore gamers.

The Gainward Rampage 700 card is equipped with two 80mm fans, that cover the massive heatsinks. Notice that the height of the graphics card enough to occupy at least three empty slots at the back side of your PC case. The other side of the card is covered by a big plate that used to dissipate the produced heat. And a big warning sticker suggests you not to touch the cards' hot surface after some time of operation. Also CrossFireX is possible by using the corresponding slots at the top of the card. The Gainward Rampage 700 requires at least 6-pin power jacks to work properly. In fact it needs one 8-pin and one 6-pin power cable.

What we got from ATI's autotune function is rather limited, since the core was set at 755MHz only, just 5MHz higher than the nominal frequency. The memory was also increased by just 40MHz effective. We manually set the GPU clock at 800MHz and left the memory clock at 3840MHz effective. The system was stable although we did not see any actual gain in gaming performance. The Gainward Rampage 700 Golden Sample is one of the fastest cards available today and it is addressed to all those who need the best possible 3D graphics performance from a single graphics card and it comes down to what you really want to spend.

The Gainward Rampage 700 Golden Sample is a pricey graphics card with top notch performance in most games, especially at higher widescreen resolutions. And the future Catalyst drivers may further improve the performance so we are curious to see how the upcoming games and driver packs can affect the lifespan of the Radeon HD 4870 X2 series. So if your Christmas budget is high enough, adding a second Rampage 700 graphics card would also be a a good idea. Probably this would rock at those ultra high definition resolutions provided that your monitor supports it.