AMD FirePro V4800 & FirePro V7800

The AMD FirePro V4800 was certainly competitive in our Linux tests and filled the void between the entry-level FirePro V3800 and the mid-range FirePro V5800. In many of the tests, the V4800 was closer to performing at the V5800 levels rather than the V3800. The FirePro V4800 has an MSRP of $189 USD compared to the V3800 at $109 or the V5800 at $469. The FirePro V4800 doesn't even cost half of what the V5800 is selling for, but its performance is respectable in comparison and both graphics card offer 1GB of GDDR5 memory, one dual-link DVI connector, dual DisplayPort connections, and have about the same power consumption. The Redwood-based V4800 is an excellent performer and for only costing about $80 more than the V3800, it is an even better bargain.

AMD's FirePro V7800 is also an interesting graphics card and successfully fills the void between the V5800 and V8800. The FirePro V7800 does not perform on the same level as the V8800 except for tests that are more bound by the speed of the processor, but the V7800 retails for $799 where as the ultra high-end FirePro V8800 is a $1,500 USD product. Both the V7800 and V8800 offer 2GB of video memory, but besides the performance another area where the V8800 has the upper-hand is with the four DisplayPort connectors where as the V7800 supports only a three-monitor configuration: one dual-link DVI and two DisplayPort. The FirePro V8800 also boasts a Stereoscopic output where as the V7800 does not, but both support Framelock/Genlock as well as CrossFire.

The AMD FirePro V4800/V7800 graphics cards were launched at the same time as the FirePro V3800/V5800 graphics cards, however, Redwood XT and Cypress Pro products still are not widely available via Internet retailers. NewEgg and Amazon should end up carrying all of the FirePro products and again the MSRP on the FirePro V4800 is $189 where as the FirePro V7800 is at $799 USD. Seeing the great performance of the FirePro V4800 we would recommend that as a stronger buy over the FirePro V3800 considering the price difference, plus there is better connectivity support and twice the video memory capacity, unless you need the V3800 for a small form factor environment. The FirePro V7800 does not quite perform at the V8800 levels in the most demanding tests, but there is several hundred dollars that separate the two high-end products. The FirePro V7800 should be able to suit your needs if you have a decent amount of money to spend on a new workstation graphics card, but don't need the quad monitor Eyefinity support of the V8800 or the absolute best performance available from the Evergreen-based graphics cards. Regardless of what FirePro graphics card you pick, we are pleased with the level of Linux support exhibited by all of these graphics cards via AMD's proprietary drivers.