4850 said to get Powerplay with voltage drop in next driver.

mkk · Post by **mkk** » Sun Jul 13, 2008 10:32 pm

According to a reputable source on the Game.AMD forum, the 4850's will start lowering the voltage in 2D mode with the next driver. However the 4870's will not, but I'm sure 4850's are more interesting to people here anyway. http://forums.amd.com/game/messageview. ... erthread=y

Everybody, knock on some piece of wood.

nutball · Post by **nutball** » Mon Jul 14, 2008 2:50 am

Very annoying that the 4870 seems to be losing out in this update.

I have to assume it's a hardware constraint, because if it were software only there's no way that a sensible company wouldn't support 4870 at the same time as 4850 now is there?! I mean that would be stupid!

andyb · Post by **andyb** » Mon Jul 14, 2008 3:44 am

A couple of Quotes from "Spyre" and others from the aforementioned link that should be of interest to people.

Spyre: "Powerplay is fixed in the next driver. No plans for fan speed adjustment at this time."

Heirflick: "is powerplay supposed to reduce power usage when idle, at the moment its whats putting me off getting a pair of 4800's"

Spyre: "Yes on 4850's. No on 4870's."
"The 4870's dont lower the voltage at idle clockspeeds, the 4850's do."

Heirflick: "looking at 4870 manufactures sites they claim the 4870 does support powerplay."

Spyre: "It does, it just doesn't adjust the voltage."

Andy

Shadout · Post by **Shadout** » Mon Jul 14, 2008 7:36 pm

Tbh, that sounds like bullshit. Why wouldnt it be supposed to adjust voltages? Unless there are some technical reasons in DDR5 (in which case they might have considered to make it public known there was a difference).

What is PowerPlay if not lowering the power usage in idle mode?

Wonder if the real reason is they cant fix the issues through drivers on the 4870, and would need a BIOS update for it :/

andyb · Post by **andyb** » Wed Jul 16, 2008 4:04 pm

I am sure that in time we will find out.

One thing that you have not pointed out is the built in memeory controller. This is the first mass-production card to use DDR-5, it is possible that DAAMIT did not build in everything that they wanted to before the launched the parts. My theory explains why it can be done in the 4850, but not in the 4870.

Also remember that the 4870 will be coming out later with 1GB of RAM, they will be using DDR3, this could backup my theory, or not.

Andy

nutball · Post by **nutball** » Thu Jul 17, 2008 2:06 am

andyb wrote:Also remember that the 4870 will be coming out later with 1GB of RAM, they will be using DDR3, this could backup my theory, or not.

This one isn't using GDDR3.

MoJo · Post by **MoJo** » Thu Jul 17, 2008 3:51 am

Maybe it's because it just takes them time to develop a driver and fully test it with cards for various different manufacturers and in various configurations. There must be a lot of combinations to test. I expect they will get there with the 4870, and at least for now there is no reason to think that they won't. After all, they are actually the same chip, just different clock speeds and memory configurations.

andyb · Post by **andyb** » Tue Jul 22, 2008 3:03 am

Has anyone tried the newly released drivers (non-beta).

http://ati.amd.com/support/driver.html

Andy

FartingBob · Post by **FartingBob** » Tue Jul 22, 2008 5:58 am

Ive used the official 8.7 drivers although i have no way of measuring power. Temps havent changed more than a degree or 2 in idle or stress though, but im using a Accelero S1 so thats not an issue. But no mention of it int he documentation, so it doesnt look like they have. Shame, its the only thing holding this card back. If it worked the way it should then the more expensive 260 and 9800GTX+ would have no leg to stand on.

nafets · Post by **nafets** » Tue Jul 22, 2008 1:31 pm

Weldingheart · Post by **Weldingheart** » Wed Sep 16, 2009 7:13 pm

Sorry, if this has been asked somewhere,
it's not new by any means but I haven't find any discussion here
nor review that contains power consumption for this 4850 green edition,
the one without power connector, indicate lower power consumption (posibbly lower than 40nm 4770).

It got more transitors on 55nm fab process (956 million vs 666 million ),
lower memory clock 1800 MHz vs 2000 MHz, and same core clock, compared to 4850.

Graphics Engine : ATI RADEON HD 4850 Green
Bus Standard : PCI Express 2.0
Video memory : GDDR3 512MB
Core Clock : 625 MHz
Memory Clock : 1.8GHz (900X 2)
Memory interface : 256 bit
Shader : 800(Unified)
Resolution Max : 2560 x 1600
Video Out Function : DVI, HDMI, D-Sub
HDCP/HDTV/HDMI : Yes, Yes, Yes
Packages : Manual, CD Drivers, DA HD4850 Green Cards
956 million transistors on 55nm fabrication process

Any info on this?
Link to indonesian forum discussing this card 1, 2