ATI Radeon 4000 series: full technical details review

Less is more
This philosophy of simplification marks a divergence of approach between ATI and Nvidia. The RV770 core brings around 950M transistors into a chip around 260mm² in size, with a maximum quoted power drain of 160W.

Nvidia's GT200 core, by contrast, as found in the GTX 260 and 280, comprises 1.4B transistors manufactured on a 65nm process. Despite its much lower shader count, its total surface area is a monster 575mm², and power demands can approach 240W.

Competing on price
This huge discrepancy in size and complexity accounts for much of the price difference between Nvidia's recent cards and the HD 4000 series. While the GTX 260 goes for around £250 exc VAT, the HD 4850 comes in at half that. The HD 4870 is expected to cost around £200 exc VAT, but performance is likely to rival that of the £300+ GTX 280.

That's a big gap, and since much of it is down to the price of manufacturing the GPU itself, Nvidia is left with little obvious scope for imminent price cuts. That, presumably, explains the sudden announcement of the GeForce 9800GTX+ - an overclocked 9800 GTX, shrunk to 55nm and expected to sell for a similar price to the HD 4850.

But for now, the HD 4850 reigns supreme in its price bracket, and with the HD 4870 expected to arrive at retail in a few days it's an exciting time for gamers.

Author: Darien Graham-Smith