When ATI unleashed the long-awaited RV770 core on the public, in the form of the HD4850, many were impressed by the bang for the buck the core offered, but they knew something even better was just around the corner, offering a bigger bang and something that would get Nvidia cutting prices with gusto. And now it's arrived; the mighty HD4870.

The HD4850 and HD4870 are almost identical architecturally, with the HD4870 having a faster core and memory optimisations because of the type of memory it uses, but more on that in a moment.

The RV770 takes the architecture of the previous RV670 and fixes its main problem; the anti-aliasing performance. The RV770 now has 800 stream processors and 40 texture units, which have also had their communications links streamlined and updated. Despite the increase in shaders and the higher number of transistors (from the RV670's 666 million up to 965 million), the die size has only increased from 192mm² to 260mm², still on a 55nm process.

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The HD4870 core is clocked at 750MHz, an increase of 125MHz over the HD4850, but the major increase is in memory speed. The new card uses 512MB of memory just like the HD4850, but there the similarity ends as the HD4870 is the first graphics card to bring GDDR5 to the table. GDDR5 offers twice the bandwidth of GDDR3/4, which has enabled ATI to use a 256-bit memory interface on the HD4870 without compromising performance.

The memory clock runs at 900MHz, but since with GDDR5 the memory frequency is double that of the data rate, the memory runs at an effective 3.6GHz, giving a massive bandwidth of 115GB/s.

Rated at 160W, the card uses a dual-slot cooler and has two 6-pin PCI-E power connectors (Sapphire bundles two Molex to 6-pin connectors in the box just in case your power supply doesn't have the necessary connectors as standard).

As you might expect from one of the first cards to be released, Sapphire's HD4870 follows the reference design to the letter: the only thing that separates it from the rest is the company sticker on the cooler.

As you might also expect, the performance is stunning considering the price point the card is pitched at. That well known eater of graphics cards, Crysis, is dealt with quite easily, with an average frame rate score of 59fps at a resolution of 1,280 by 1,024 pixels and with all the game details set to high. This drops to around 40fps when the resolution is upped to 1,600 by 1,200, again with all the details set to high.

The same level of performance is shown in Company of Heroes, this time with game details set to maximum, with an average frame of 164fps at 1,280 x 1,024. Whacking up the resolution to 1,600 by 1,200 and adding 4x Anti-Aliasing doesn't hold it back that much; 122fps is still impressive.

So what else is in the box besides the aforementioned power cables? Well, just the usual suspects really; a single Crossfire connector, S-Video to RCA converter, DVI to VGA and DVI to HDMI connectors and a Component-out dongle. Also, for a limited time Sapphire is bundling in a 2GB USB flash drive. Software-wise you get CyberLink PowerDVD 7 and DVD Suite, a demo and apps disc labelled Ruby Rom and a full version of Futuremark's 3DMark 06 benchmarking tool.

You may think that the Radeon HD4870 is a high-end card with its specifications and features but you'd be wrong. AMD wants to give you more bang for your buck and it has certainly succeeded - with bells on - with the HD4870. Its price tag puts in firmly in the mainstream and as such it's a steal.