When is the release date for the ATI 4870 and 4870 X2? Also, what are the specifications for these two video cards? Thanks!
I tend not to read too far into the specifications of graphics cards, as they don't reflect much on real world performance, for an idea of how fast cards are you're usually better off looking at real world benchmarks. The HD4850 should be out at the end of this week. The HD4870 however will probably be available at the end of July or perhaps August - the difference between the cards will probably be 20% tops. As for the release date of the HD4870X2, I'm unsure. The rough performance of these cards is about 40-50% faster than a 9800GTX for the HD4870 - apply the usual gains of crossfire to that for the HD4870X2 - between 50 and 80%. So far, the performance of the HD4870X2 is supposed to match / slightly best that of the upcoming Geforce GTX280, also due for release within a month - but good luck tracking one down, they're not going to be in plentiful supply. The performance level of the GTX280 (and therefore presumably the HD4870X2 as well) is such that almost all games out today can be run at 2560x1600 maximum detail relatively smoothly, not including Anti-Aliasing. The only big exceptions to this currently are Crysis and Call of Juarez.
