Now to our surprise and chagrin, our first grope of the Radeon HD 4870 X2 was perilous. We came away from it a better person, maybe stronger but scarred. But we were uncertain about reencountering the double edged machine, and rightfully so. It's dangerous. The Radeon HD 4870 X2 consumes a commensurate amount of power and can withstand tremendous heat, though in the right trained hands, it is just absolutely a force. Forged of the blackest PCB, this VisionTek Radeon HD 4870 X2 is capable of bringing the fiercest games to reckoning. And only after being bested by it could we ever hope to wield it's. Oh screw it, it's just a video card. We mean, it's one of the best video cards. - TechLounge

VisionTek Radeon HD 4870 X2 Redux Version Review

Actually, as you'll see, it's not really intended for mainstream gaming. You need a damn big display to really see this card make frames. If you're looking to spend serious dollars for the best gaming experience, you are set. If you want a video board that will no doubt last years, here you go. But if you are reading this on anything less than a 24inch display, a Radeon HD 4870 X2 is probably overkill. Once you go black, baby. It's good to see that ATI is willing to use the fastest color in the PCB spectrum. Really, ATI didn't have much choice in the palette swap, since color is the only thing differentiating it from the Radeon HD 3870 X2.

The Radeon HD 4870 X2 is a tough nut to crack. It's likeable just for the fact that it's awesome. We mean, it's a real CrossFire on a stick solution, and with retail drivers, works great. It's also quiet, not silent or anything, but we'd rather have two of these in my computer than a single GeForce GTX 280. While the GeForce GTX 295 is competition, it's also a whole lot more expensive. Different strokes. This board did set new records, particularly with power consumption. What's apparent from these apples to apples mainstream benchmarks, is that there's no reason to go Radeon HD 4870 X2 if you're not interested in anti-aliasing.

At these modest resolutions you're better served by a single Radeon HD 4870 or a GeForce GTX 260 card. If there are such things as micro stutters, and if they do affect games, they don't do so tangibly. We're thoroughly convinced that any glitches we've encountered were products of early drivers. We know a lot of this seems like a downer, what with the card only marginally surpassing other, much cheaper graphics cards, but it really isn't so. We know this, because we've gone and tested it. This card does outperform their direct competitors but not at all times. And that might just the only negative point to highlight.

Comparing this X2 to others, it's priced the same, with some good add-ins as well as VisionTek's lifetime warranty. That alone pushes it to the top of the list. So if you read all this and are sure you're in the market for a Radeon HD 4870 X2 is definitely recommended.