Final thoughts and rating
AMD's launch of the ATI Radeon HD 4890 family has been
blighted by a little confusion. The basic card, known as the Radeon HD
4890 XT, ships with 850MHz/3,900MHz frequencies. Then there's the
Radeon HD 4890 OC version, clocked in at 900MHz core and 3,900MHz
memory, and we saw XFX's XXX
interpretation of the card in our original look.
Now, Sapphire brings it own reference-based OC version to the table,
the Radeon HD 4890 OC Edition, clocked in at 901MHz core 4,000MHz
memory. The upshot is that Sapphire's offering is a touch quicker than
the 'regular' OC version and speedy enough to blur the performance gap
that exists between it and a basic GeForce GTX 275. Sapphire, too, will
be bringing custom-cooled Vapor-X and TOXIC models to retail, replete
with even-faster clocks, and we expect to see them next month.
Now that the dust has settled, ATI Radeon HD 4890 XTs - 850/3,900MHz,
remember - cost around £210. Sapphire's currently etailing
its OC-beating Radeon HD 4890 OC Edition for £245 or so. We
expect the price to drop in the next two weeks, but as good as the HD
4890 technology is, super-aggressive pricing on in-stock GeForce GTX
275s (£199) and Sapphire's very own Radeon HD 4850 X2 2,048MB
(£260) rather combine to take the shine off it.
Bottom line: a good card from a reputable manufacturer, the Sapphire
Radeon HD 4890 OC Edition 1024MB is caught between a rock (GeForce GTX
275) and a hard place (Sapphire Radeon HD 4850 X2). Pricing needs to
drop closer to £200 to make it worthy of very serious
consideration.
Update: 14/04/09: Sapphire's new pricing of £202, including VAT, makes the card far more appealing. Following on from our advices above, the package is now considered to be very good rather than merely average.
Pros
Clocked in higher than other ATI Radeon HD 4890 OC cards
Solid architecture underpinnings
Good overclocker
Cons
£245 makes it a little too expensive in the face of GeForce
GTX 275 and Sapphire Radeon HD 4850 X2 (does not apply at 14/04/09)
Custom-designed Vapor-X and ATOMIC/TOXIC models will really leverage
RV790's worth.
Bundle is likely to be basic.
We consider any product score above '50%' as a safe buy. The higher the score, the higher the recommendation from HEXUS to buy. Simple, straightforward buying advice.
The rating is given in relation to the category the component
competes in, therefore the card is evaluated with respect to our
'high-end components' criteria.
HEXUS Where2Buy
The Sapphire Radeon HD 4890 OC Edition 1024MB (11150-04-20R)
is currently on pre-order at Scan.co.uk for £202.40.
*As always, UK-based HEXUS.community
discussion forum members will benefit from the SCAN2HEXUS Free
Shipping initiative, which will save you a further few pounds
plus also top-notch, priority customer service and technical
support backed up by the SCANcare@HEXUS
forum.
HEXUS Right2Reply
At HEXUS, we invite the companies whose products we test to comment on our articles. If any company representatives for the products reviewed choose to respond, we'll publish their commentary here verbatim.
