ATI Radeon HD 4850: Smarter by Design?

[Mistirius]

Hi i yust notice this thing in race driver grid. Very low fps with 9800gx2. So i asume they did not test the game with patch 1.1. Because with the patch sli is suported and 9800gx2 1680-1050 4AA runs on 70-100fps.

 

[StomperGames]

the 4850 is the key for ATI to comeback obviously unless Nvidia seriously lowers their prices after they have been riding that monopoly-esque balloon

- StomperGames

 

[swiftpulse]

Reviews using Catalyst 8.7 beta instead of the 8.22 drivers are showing the 4850 exceeds 9800 gtx with a good margin

 

[homerdog]

Reviews using Catalyst 8.7 beta instead of the 8.22 drivers are showing the 4850 exceeds 9800 gtx with a good margin

I think the 8.6 hotfix driver includes most if not all of the performance optimizations present in the 8.7 beta.

 

[jthorn]

Thanks for the informative article. I continue to enjoy Tom's. I soon will replace my P4-3.0 ghz desktop (don't laugh) with a new Q9450, P45 MB, and 1 X Radeon 4850 Graphics so this article really helps me. Long life, low power, and good value are my goals for the new gaming desktop. My question: Will the GPU last 2 years before failing if it is cooking itself between 80 and 90 degrees C? That kind of heat just cannot be a good sign over the long term, yet all the vendors offering 4850 cards seem to sell them with GPU fan speeds at 20% (~1600 rpm). Also Catalyst 8.7 'beta' does not have an exciting ring to it. I think the 4850 offers tremendous value and I hear there is a fan speed mod I can do myself. But, would I be better advised to sit tight and wait for these issues to get resolved before buying?

 

[GreatBigMouth]

I'm jealous already! Looks like ATI are a step ahead of NVidia this time. They really messed up that GTX series of theirs.

 

[swiftpulse]

Thanks for the informative article. I continue to enjoy Tom's. I soon will replace my P4-3.0 ghz desktop (don't laugh) with a new Q9450, P45 MB, and 1 X Radeon 4850 Graphics so this article really helps me. Long life, low power, and good value are my goals for the new gaming desktop. My question: Will the GPU last 2 years before failing if it is cooking itself between 80 and 90 degrees C? That kind of heat just cannot be a good sign over the long term, yet all the vendors offering 4850 cards seem to sell them with GPU fan speeds at 20% (~1600 rpm). Also Catalyst 8.7 'beta' does not have an exciting ring to it. I think the 4850 offers tremendous value and I hear there is a fan speed mod I can do myself. But, would I be better advised to sit tight and wait for these issues to get resolved before buying?

I have one. the Performance is incredible. But the heat issue worries me. I don't have active cooling in my case but my room is fairly cold and the card reaches over 100. I increased the fan speed to 30 (not noisy yet, over 30 I can hear it all the time even on idle)

It reached over 100 last night during playing episode 2 despite me UNDERclocking the card to 550/750 from the original 625/1000. The card was stable and without any issues, but I will return it and wait for a one with better cooling.

 

[silicondoc]

Great review, glad to have read it a couple times now. It certainly points out how the race has changed.

 

[silicondoc]

[citation][nom]Anonymous[/nom]What about "Cuda" like tests?Does ATI has something equivalent?Thanks for the lovely review.[/citation]
No, ati has no cuda and no physx, because they suck, and lost a billion dollars this past year, even with all the lying red fanfaeries spewing their bs dishonest opinions everywhere.

 

[bcroger3]

Titts...................