PowerColor HD4850 first review (from user)

[Luka_Aveiro]

i really hope those are bad numbers because if so then that's a major let down. i could care less about 3dmark but what gets me is that the 8800gt is just as fast in games. so the HD4850 will be $200-220. but the 8800gt is already $130 AR. even with SLI and crossfire the 8800gt just gets better and better. lets say HD4850 CF for $400 or 8800gt SLI for $260. yest he 4850 will be faster but not fast enough.

if this is true i may not be picking up that HD4850 crossfire i was thinking of. i still hope it has at least 9800gtx speeds though. time will tell.

The sad taste of reality

[JohnZS]

These results were pretty much what I was expecting to see, yet everyone was whipping themselves up into a frenzy over the HD4850.

IMHO the HD4870 GDDR5 1GB card might be the card we are all waiting for as that would give us (hopefully) performance between the 9800GTX and G280GTX (leaning more towards the G280).

I am quite surprised a lot of people are talking up crossfire when the sad reality is that both Crossfire AND SLi are flawed technologies which require sacrifices and daily prayers to the driver gods.

Crossfire might be more elegant and efficient than SLi, but sadly it is not as widely supported....those of us who have older games or even just brand new games will find that a Crossfired or SLied card is slower than it's non-SLi or non-Crossfired brethren.

Unless ATi have done some serious changes to the way Crossfire is implemented on the cards and in the drivers the only real upgrade worth getting is the GT280GTX.

John

[D-Cyph3r]

I haven't bothered looking back through the previous pages, but where has all this talk of the 4850 being "barely faster" than an 8800GT come from?


Every reputable user review i've seen has put the 4850 right at the heels of the 9800GTX, which is a good bit faster than a stock 8800GT.

[xVeinx]

I haven't bothered looking back through the previous pages, but where has all this talk of the 4850 being "barely faster" than an 8800GT come from?


Every reputable user review i've seen has put the 4850 right at the heels of the 9800GTX, which is a good bit faster than a stock 8800GT.

The truth is, YMMV. It could be system issues, different drivers, who knows. My guess is that it will be somewhere in between this latest performance review and the ones most hope are going to appear, aka, it won't be as good as we hoped, but it will be an improvement over last release (if that makes any sense). ATI under AMD is still figuring out what it is capable of I think, so we'll have to see where they decide to take us this generation...

[aintz]

i think people have already mentioned this. 8800gt is $130usd in us/canada and only $90usd in mainland china. so even after the all mighty 4850 release 8800gt is still going to be the best performance/$

and whats with people thinking a single 4870 close in performance with gtx 280... read that amd graph please.

[villa1n]

I heard that before and i'm not buying it (R600)

review V_RR posted in preview, using beta drivers...most likely pre released 8.6

and seems like the drivers do make a difference, as at 1080p its neck and neck with 9800gtx and sometimes ahead, and once even ahead of 260gtx.


here s the average index of scores.
Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9770
Asus Striker II
4 Go DDR3 1066
Windows Vista SP1
Forceware 177.34
Catalyst 8.5
Catalyst beta pour la Radeon HD 4850 (beta for the 4850)

this was the system.

[Macadamia]

i think people have already mentioned this. 8800gt is $130usd in us/canada and only $90usd in mainland china. so even after the all mighty 4850 release 8800gt is still going to be the best performance/$

and whats with people thinking a single 4870 close in performance with gtx 280... read that amd graph please.

Apparently you, y2kbos and hipno have never heard of a term called sandbagging.

[[buck]]

same for me. It didnt throw me off right away because ATI cards seem to run Unreal 3 Engine well...

btw. you can get an 8800gt for 130$ AR in canada

Actually you can get an XFX 8800GT for $110 AR @ NCIX. If this type of pricing keeps up, AMD isn't going to be able to get $200 for the 4850 I think...

[zerazax]

They'll get 200 fine because the G92s are so cheap right now and are likely on the way out so people are trying to get rid of stock

[aintz]

Apparently you, y2kbos and hipno have never heard of a term called sandbagging.

how are they still sandbagging please tell me. review are out. unless they are going to put out a driver that unleashes magical powers they are over.

this is amd's desperate measure to stay competitive in the graphics business. but of course their stocks will continue to drop.

[xlink]

I hate when they do that. I first was shocked but then i read 7fps...

7.69

you're discounting it nearly 10% !!!

[Afterburner]

they extend things for us aussies mate - they extend their middle finger!

we are the arse-end of the '1st world' countries - we get shafted!

And I'm about to join you fellas soon....

[saaya]

I hate when they do that. I first was shocked but then i read 7fps...

nah, im sure he didnt do it on purpose... he probably used office and office automatically scales graphs like that for some reason. his other graphs are fine, so i think it was just by accident.

very interesting results!
8800gt is the best price perf card by far, if ati now competes with it directly we can only benefit as the 8800gt will become even cheaper!!!

thanks a lot for sharing zollkorn!

[xlink]

they extend things for us aussies mate - they extend their middle finger!

we are the arse-end of the '1st world' countries - we get shafted!

technically, australia would be a third world country.

first world was europe
second world was the africa and the americas
everything else is 3rd world

economically though, yes australia and the US/mexico are clustered into the first world since the groups were alied in the cold war.

[Shintai]

review V_RR posted in preview, using beta drivers...most likely pre released 8.6

and seems like the drivers do make a difference, as at 1080p its neck and neck with 9800gtx and sometimes ahead, and once even ahead of 260gtx.


here s the average index of scores.
Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9770
Asus Striker II
4 Go DDR3 1066
Windows Vista SP1
Forceware 177.34
Catalyst 8.5
Catalyst beta pour la Radeon HD 4850 (beta for the 4850)

this was the system.

But a 4850 uses quite abit more power under load than a HD3870? Looks like someone messed up in the review.





And this is just one of the reasons why SLI/CF is always a failure.

[xlink]

[QUOTE=D-Cyph3r;3071931
Every reputable user review i've seen has put the 4850 right at the heels of the 9800GTX, which is a good bit faster than a stock 8800GT.[/QUOTE]

OHH WOW... THE 9800GTX IS A FAIR BIT FASTER THAN THE 8800GT...

let's see

same RAM
same core
a few SPs disabled.

I don't consider 10% a good bit faster.

[spursindonesia]

Yup, handpicking graph indeed, under heavy AA, HD 4850 matches or overtakes 9800 GTX it seems.

[mcbalaban]

But a 4850 uses quite abit more power under load than a HD3870? Looks like someone messed up in the review.

More trannies than the 3870...?

[Shintai]

More trannies than the 3870...?

Transistorcount alone doesnt equal powerconsumption.

The 2 should have been very close, not 30W apart.

But it also means the 4870 gonna use quite abit more and the 4870X2 alot more.

[Cooper]

Where have you seen the power consumption tests?

[Shintai]

Where have you seen the power consumption tests?

http://www.hardware.fr/articles/724-...n-hd-4850.html

[safan80]

the old 9800gx2 reigns king over both the gtx 280 and 4850 crossfire lol.

I'd rather have a GTX 280 because at my res 2560x1600 the gx2 can't keep up.

[perkam]

Wait for 4850 reviews before making judgements on buying decisions.

Would love to see what SC II looks like at 2560....the units you can see in one view must be amazing

EDIT: I can't help but laugh at people who say that the 8800GT is cheaper and faster than the 4850 but come around and say that the GTX 280 is the better option even if the 9800GX2 is cheaper and faster

Perkam

[MrHydes]

ATI needs a step up partner like nvidia has EVGA

it shows some weekness in what comes to the department of reliability

and makes me wonder: do they have many RMA issues?


why not have this great policy to couter attack nvidia?

[keiths]

> XFX 8800GT for $110 AR @ NCIX.

Going to ncix, I find no such deal, the lowest they have being $175.

Someone provide a link to one of these low deals that are supposed to exist.