Sapphire Vapor-X 4870 2GB

A Desire to Game · Jul 31, 2009, 05:39 PM

Lookin at this 4870 Newegg.com - SAPPHIRE Vapor-X Radeon HD 4870 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards with 2GB of RAM for a strictly PHOTOSHOP CS4 build. I dunno if I should get it or spend the $195 with free shipping on a faster 4890 with 1GB of RAM or stick with an Nvidia GPU like the 275 even though CS4 uses OpenGL and not CUDA for GPU acceleration. Or maybe all of these are overkill for CS4...I dunno.

Has anyone used this video card or any others in Photoshop CS4 and utilized the GPU Acceleration features???

My 8800GTS with 320MB and my AMD 6000+ X2 ran it alright but it could have been more smooth. I'm not sure if it was mainly the processor or if the video card had a little of that impact. I'm already going core i7, just wanna check and see if I should pick up a video card while I'm at it.

procupine14 · Jul 31, 2009, 06:32 PM

I would say go for the 4870 with the more RAM. I personally think that you will see a lot more improvement with that upgrade rather than going with the 1GB faster core. Since there is twice as much video RAM it should give you a better boost than enhanced core speed especially for something like Photoshop.

In my mind there really isn't a way to have something that is OVERKILL for Photoshop (depending on what you use it for of course) since all of that rendering takes time and the faster hardware you get the less time it takes to do things like that. Therefore, I think you are right on task with this

A Desire to Game · Jul 31, 2009, 07:35 PM

Sounds good procupine. By the way, congrats on the NZXT contest.

Are there any Photoshop users out there with one of these video cards or input???

Zardon · Jul 31, 2009, 07:54 PM

As I wrote on our photoshop test page http://www.hardwareheaven.com/photoshop.php

As many of you will know, there has been much talk of the graphics acceleration adopted within CS4, but unfortunately for the purposes of filter benchmarking it is a moot setting. Currently the graphics settings are more based on interface enhancements with the graphics card handling redraw via Opengl acceleration. Photoshop CS4 leverages the graphics display card's GPU, instead of the computer's main processor (the CPU) to speed its screen redraw. For Photoshop to access the GPU, your display card must contain a GPU that supports OpenGL and has enough RAM to support Photoshop functions--at least 128 MB of RAM--and a display driver that supports OpenGL 2.0 and Shader Model 3.0. For the purposes of our performance benchmark it makes no difference if this is enabled or disabled, so whichever setting you already have (or prefer) there is really no need to adopt a change.

However in direct answer to your question you will notice very little difference in speed (real world) with that GFX upgrade but you will be able to open more (or larger documents) before you get an out of memory error (all images are cached in video memory).

Personally I just turn it off completely. On a completely unrelated note I would certainly get the i7 upgrade, should be a good speed increase all round, including photoshop (even if most of the code is still limited to 2 cores).

A Desire to Game · Aug 2, 2009, 07:50 PM

I greatly appreciate your help Zardon! That answers that.

Jul 31, 2009, 05:39 PM	#1
A Desire to Game HardwareHeaven Hoosier Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Indiana Posts: 292 Rep Power: 33 System Specs	Sapphire Vapor-X 4870 2GB Lookin at this 4870 Newegg.com - SAPPHIRE Vapor-X Radeon HD 4870 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards with 2GB of RAM for a strictly PHOTOSHOP CS4 build. I dunno if I should get it or spend the $195 with free shipping on a faster 4890 with 1GB of RAM or stick with an Nvidia GPU like the 275 even though CS4 uses OpenGL and not CUDA for GPU acceleration. Or maybe all of these are overkill for CS4...I dunno. Has anyone used this video card or any others in Photoshop CS4 and utilized the GPU Acceleration features??? My 8800GTS with 320MB and my AMD 6000+ X2 ran it alright but it could have been more smooth. I'm not sure if it was mainly the processor or if the video card had a little of that impact. I'm already going core i7, just wanna check and see if I should pick up a video card while I'm at it. __________________ Three is my new favorite number. (SATA III, USB 3.0, and triple channel memory)

Jul 31, 2009, 06:32 PM	#2
procupine14 Why is it Beeping!?!?! Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: USA, Missouri Posts: 1,400 Rep Power: 58 System Specs	Re: Sapphire Vapor-X 4870 2GB I would say go for the 4870 with the more RAM. I personally think that you will see a lot more improvement with that upgrade rather than going with the 1GB faster core. Since there is twice as much video RAM it should give you a better boost than enhanced core speed especially for something like Photoshop. In my mind there really isn't a way to have something that is OVERKILL for Photoshop (depending on what you use it for of course) since all of that rendering takes time and the faster hardware you get the less time it takes to do things like that. Therefore, I think you are right on task with this __________________ HTPC/file server: Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit - AMD Phenom x4 9850 - 4GB OCZ DDR2 800 (2x2GB) - 1TB WD Black - 4 x 1TB Hitachi DeskStar in RAID 5 - ATi TV Wonder Digital Cable Tuner - HIS Raedon 4850 512MB - ASRock N68C-S UCC mobo - OCZ ModExtreme Pro 500W PSU GF's Gaming PC: Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit - AMD Phenom 9850 - 4GB OCZ DDR2 1066 - 500GB Western Digital GP - HIS Raedon 5770 1GB - ASUS M3A78-EM - Zalman 650W PSU Media Streamer: Win 7 Pro 64-bit - AMD Athlon x2 3200+ - 4GB SuperTalent DDR2 800 - 250GB SeaGate Barracuda - MSI K9N6PGM2-V2 - ASUS Raedon 5450 SILENT - FSP group 250W PSU

Jul 31, 2009, 07:35 PM	Thread Starter #3
A Desire to Game HardwareHeaven Hoosier Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Indiana Posts: 292 Rep Power: 33 System Specs	Re: Sapphire Vapor-X 4870 2GB Sounds good procupine. By the way, congrats on the NZXT contest. Are there any Photoshop users out there with one of these video cards or input??? __________________ Three is my new favorite number. (SATA III, USB 3.0, and triple channel memory)

Jul 31, 2009, 07:54 PM	#4
Zardon DriverHeaven Founder Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 32,480 Rep Power: 179	Re: Sapphire Vapor-X 4870 2GB As I wrote on our photoshop test page http://www.hardwareheaven.com/photoshop.php As many of you will know, there has been much talk of the graphics acceleration adopted within CS4, but unfortunately for the purposes of filter benchmarking it is a moot setting. Currently the graphics settings are more based on interface enhancements with the graphics card handling redraw via Opengl acceleration. Photoshop CS4 leverages the graphics display card's GPU, instead of the computer's main processor (the CPU) to speed its screen redraw. For Photoshop to access the GPU, your display card must contain a GPU that supports OpenGL and has enough RAM to support Photoshop functions--at least 128 MB of RAM--and a display driver that supports OpenGL 2.0 and Shader Model 3.0. For the purposes of our performance benchmark it makes no difference if this is enabled or disabled, so whichever setting you already have (or prefer) there is really no need to adopt a change. However in direct answer to your question you will notice very little difference in speed (real world) with that GFX upgrade but you will be able to open more (or larger documents) before you get an out of memory error (all images are cached in video memory). Personally I just turn it off completely. On a completely unrelated note I would certainly get the i7 upgrade, should be a good speed increase all round, including photoshop (even if most of the code is still limited to 2 cores).

Aug 2, 2009, 07:50 PM	Thread Starter #5
A Desire to Game HardwareHeaven Hoosier Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Indiana Posts: 292 Rep Power: 33 System Specs	Re: Sapphire Vapor-X 4870 2GB I greatly appreciate your help Zardon! That answers that. __________________ Three is my new favorite number. (SATA III, USB 3.0, and triple channel memory)