Sapphire Radeon HD 4850 X2 Video Card Review

[Digital Puppy]

Legit Reviews looks at the new Sapphire Radeon HD 4850 X2 which features 1600 Stream processors, 2GB of GDDR3 memory running at 993MHz and two GPU’s clocked at 625MHz. Sapphire is the only manufacturer to produce and sell the 4850 X2 which competes directly against NVIDIA’s GeForce GTX280. How will the Radeon 4850 X2 compared to comparably priced GeForce GTX 200 series? Read on and find out.



Article Title: Sapphire Radeon HD 4850 X2 Video Card Review
Article URL: http://legitreviews.com/article/897/1/

[Gomeler]

Ah yes, the card that should have dominated the market but was never truly born. The 2GB HD 4850X2 is a card to be reckoned with seeing as it costs $200 less than the HD 4870X2 and offers ~90% of the performance. The mounting holes for the HD 4850X2 are also the same size as those on the HD4850/70 meaning all your favorite waterblocks work with little modification. The cores on this card will easily do 700+MHz if you use Rivatuner to clock each core. This card had so much potential

[gwolfman]

Thanks for the review!

The cores on this card will easily do 700+MHz if you use Rivatuner to clock each core. This card had so much potential

I'm interested in this too if you give it another go.

[FeRaL]

Ah yes, the card that should have dominated the market but was never truly born. The 2GB HD 4850X2 is a card to be reckoned with seeing as it costs $200 less than the HD 4870X2 and offers ~90% of the performance. The mounting holes for the HD 4850X2 are also the same size as those on the HD4850/70 meaning all your favorite waterblocks work with little modification. The cores on this card will easily do 700+MHz if you use Rivatuner to clock each core. This card had so much potential

Thanks for the added info... Pretty much answered the questions I was going to ask as I did not see any data for a HD4850/HD4870/HD4870x2 in the review to see how the numbers matched up. I like the fact that the card stays pretty cool and quite, but at the same time a little disappointed that running the fans at 100% produced such a small decrease in temps. I look at this card and say to myself...

"Self"
"Yes self"
"That aluminum HS fan shroud sure looks like it needs a few more holes in it..."
"Oh, what for?"
"So I can slap a couple of bigger, quieter fans on it and see just how cool it can get!"
"Ah..."

I wonder just how much better cooling could get on it if the sinks were lapped and had some of that nice Noctua TIM that I JUST WON!

[vicaphit]

If I had $300 to plop down on a card, I would buy this one right now. I have yet to buy an ATI card, but after that review I would have no qualms about it.

[Gomeler]

If I had $300 to plop down on a card, I would buy this one right now. I have yet to buy an ATI card, but after that review I would have no qualms about it.

I am 98% certain you would have no qualms in suggesting this card to others after purchasing it. My only faint/tiny/smidgen of concern is the driver support from AMD. Since it isn't exactly an HD4870X2, I am curious as to how it will be handled by AMD with "mainstream" driver updates. It is after all a relatively tiny card regarding total volume of cards sold. Once again a damn shame, this card could have been god-like and killed off the GTX280/285

[haaaam]

thanks for the review, i had been waiting for some time now Ive tossed and turned if i should grab a gtx 260 or a 4850x2 for some time and i cant help but feel the 4850x2 is the better choice for me. Yes the nvidea 180 drivers are brilliant but the raw power that this card puts out is just too hard to pass out up. Definatley going to put in an order in a week or so so it arrives just before i go back to uni

[FeRaL]

If I had $300 to plop down on a card, I would buy this one right now. I have yet to buy an ATI card, but after that review I would have no qualms about it.

I am 98% certain you would have no qualms in suggesting this card to others after purchasing it. My only faint/tiny/smidgen of concern is the driver support from AMD. Since it isn't exactly an HD4870X2, I am curious as to how it will be handled by AMD with "mainstream" driver updates. It is after all a relatively tiny card regarding total volume of cards sold. Once again a damn shame, this card could have been god-like and killed off the GTX280/285

Ughh... I have been reading about this same exact issue you are talking about with the "mainstream" driver updates and the performance of the 4850x2. I real shame indeed.