Is Radeon HD 4870 X2 really the fastest single video card on the market today? For most scenarios, yes.

Here is a summary of what we’ve seen.

On 3DMark06, which simulates shader 3.0 (DirectX 9.0c) games, Radeon HD 4870 X2 was between 23% and 65% faster than the regular HD 4870, between 8% and 17% faster than two GeForce 9800 GTX+ in SLI, between 12% and 27% faster than GeForce 9800 GX2 (which is also a dual-GPU solution) and between 18% and 43% faster than GeForce GTX 280.

On 3DMark Vantage, which simulates shader 4.0 (DirectX 10) games, Radeon HD 4870 X2 was between 89% and 103% faster than the regular HD 4870, between 34% and 59% faster than two GeForce 9800 GTX+ in SLI, between 67% and 97% faster than GeForce 9800 GX2 (which is also a dual-GPU solution) and between 40% and 56% faster than GeForce GTX 280.

On Call of Duty 4 Radeon HD 4870 X2 was between 44% and 74% faster than the regular HD 4870, between 5% and 13% faster than two GeForce 9800 GTX+ in SLI, between 26% and 29% faster than GeForce 9800 GX2 (which is also a dual-GPU solution) and between 28% and 31% faster than GeForce GTX 280.

On Crysis Radeon HD 4870 X2 was between 19% and 94% faster than the regular HD 4870, between 32% and 124% faster than two GeForce 9800 GTX+ in SLI, between 60% and 145% faster than GeForce 9800 GX2 (which is also a dual-GPU solution) and between 3% and 38% faster than GeForce GTX 280, except at 1680x1050 with no image quality settings enabled, where GTX 280 was 4% faster than HD 4870 X2.

On Half-Life: Episode Two we only saw Radeon HD 4870 X2 making other cards eating dust at 1920x1200 and 2560x1600 with image quality settings maxed out. Under this scenario HD 4870 X2 was 27% and 73% faster than the regular Radeon HD 4870, 20% and 183% faster than two GeForce 9800 GTX+ in SLI, 41% and 247% faster than GeForce 9800 GX2 and 123% and 266% faster than GeForce GTX 280. When running with no image quality settings enabled most high-end video cards achieved the same performance level on this game.

The only game where Radeon HD 4870 wasn’t the fastest card around was on Unreal Tournament 3, probably showing the lack of scalability under CrossFire configuration using our methodology, even though it achieved a good result at 2560x1600, where it was 47% faster than GeForce GTX 280 and 17% faster than the regular HD 4870.

As we mentioned, under most circumstances Radeon HD 4870 X2 will really be the fastest single card around.

We see only two problems with this card. The first one is, of course, its price. Today it is found around USD 560, but we hope to see its price dropping in the next few weeks. Keep in mind that GeForce GTX 280 arrived at the market two months ago at USD 650. So for the extreme gamer with money in his pocket looking for the fastest video card on the market, Radeon HD 4870 X2 is certainly the best option. If you REALLY have the money to build the ultimate gaming machine, two Radeon HD 4870 X2 in CrossFire should fulfill your wildest dreams. The gamer that doesn’t want to spend this much on a high-end video card we think that the regular Radeon HD 4870 is a terrific buy.

The second problem is the heat produced by this card. During our tests the air blowing out from the cooler was as hot as 73º C (163º F) and the temperature on the metallic part of the cooler was at 70º C (158º F). Unless you want to transform your room into a sauna, we strongly recommend you to wait for manufacturers to launch Radeon HD 4870 X2 models with a better cooling solution or for cooler manufacturers to launch add-on coolers or water cooling systems supporting this new video card.

It is important to mention that even with this very high temperature, the card was very stable and we haven’t trouble running any of our programs.