|
Sapphire Radeon HD 4850 X2 |
|
|
|
Written by Nebojsa Todorovic
|
|
Wednesday, 26 November 2008 |
|
Page 1 of 3  ATI continuously presents new models of graphics cards, using new GPU to the maximum and filling gaps in their product lineup. ATI solves every problem with simple solution that can be summarized something like this: What is better than HD 4850? Two HD 4850! Result is logical and now after Radeon HD 4870 X2 we got in our test lab HD 4850 X2 that should position in between HD 4870 and HD 4870 X2. Graphics card that we got is signed by Sapphire.
Package and Content
HD 4850 X2 arrived in larger sized package than usual with lot of stuff inside. You won’t find any games inside, instead there is CyberLink DVD in full version. Of course all cables are there, converters and drivers. Graphics card has characteristic cooling solution that looks OK but not good as cooling solution that can be found on 4870 X2 models. Cooler is made of aluminum that is cooled by two fans. Noise generated by these two fans is bearable until they reach 20% of their maximum RPM. When fans reach 80-100% of their maximum RPM noise can get unbearable but that can hardly be achieved in everyday exploitation.
|
|
|
Sapphire Radeon HD 4850 X2 has four DVI connectors at the backplate so it is possible to connect four displays. There is also present one S-Video connector. Powering of this graphics card is realized thru one 8-pin and one 6-pin molex. Nice touch from Sapphire is provided Y power cable that solves all problems with power cables. All in all nicely designed graphics card with noisy cooling solution (there is new BIOS that solves problems with noise levels).
Characteristics and Performances
|
|
|
We won’t repeat all that was said about HD 4850 because HD 4850 X2 is two HD 4850 in CrossFire on one circuit board. This is reason behind presence of 4 DVI connectors. Two RV770 chips that can be found on this card are identical as those on HD4850 and the same goes for frequencies for GPU (625MHz) and memory (2GHz). Only real difference is in amount of memory. While HD4850 has 1GB, HD 4850 X2 has 2GB: every chip has 1GB of memory at disposal and access to it is possible thanks to 256bit memory bus. During tests we were very pleased with achieved results. 3DMark06 appreciates presence of two GPUs (or any multi-GPU solution as the mater a fact) so this result can help in realizing how much power this graphics card has. On the other hand we were disappointed with results of HD 4850 X2 in games that were lower than GTX260. During test Sapphire Radeon HD 4850 X2 achieved high temperatures so we can say that cooling solution, besides being noisy, isn’t too efficient either.
|
Graphics cards 
