Sapphire Radeon HD 4850 in the flesh
Radeon HD 4850
On first glance the new SKU looks disarmingly similar to the presently-available HD 3850.
The majority of card will be equipped with 512MiB of on-board memory, run through a revised 256-bit memory bus.
Here's the single-slot profile. Our testing has shown it to be whisper-quiet in 2D mode, where clock-throttling (PowerPlay) reduces the power requirement substantially.
The cooler's barely audible in full-blown 3D mode, which is what we'd expect from a small-ish GPU based on TSMC's half-node 55nm fabrication process, but we feel as if the fan could run faster. A BIOS issue, perhaps?
However, the GPU idles at 71°C which runs up to 81°C in 3D mode. AIBs are in the process of releasing newer BIOSes that tackle the high idling temperature.
The two golden fingers enable CrossFireX - ATI's multi-GPU technology, of course.
Gone are the days of no additional PCIe power; the six-pin connector is here to stay for mid-range and high-end cards.
The outputs are what we've come to expect from any modern card. Dual-link DVI supports HDMI passthrough, just like the HD 3000-series.
AIBs will be able to leverage on-chip DisplayPort connectivity, but we don't see too many doing that until a greater number of supporting monitors are available.
