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- Date:
- Monday , April 20, 2009
- Author:
- Mark Warner
- Editor:
- Brent Justice
- Google +1
Sapphire Radeon HD 4850 X2 2GB
We want to know if the 2GB dual-GPU Sapphire Radeon HD 4850 X2 provides any gameplay advantages over the 1GB model. We compare it to the new GeForce GTX 275. We game with these video cards in six games, perform overclocking, and power and temperature testing.
Introduction
Sapphire Technology is a well-known company, and is recognized as one of the largest distributors of video cards featuring AMD's ATI Radeon GPUs. Since ATI began funneling graphics processors to AiBs in 2001, Sapphire has been at the head of the red-team pack. In addition to video cards, Sapphire also offers a series of AMD-based motherboards and multimedia products such as TV tuners and Digital Photo frames.
Today, we're going to talk about one of their video cards: the Sapphire Radeon HD 4850 X2 2GB.
AMD Radeon HD 4850 X2
AMD launched the Radeon HD 4850 (RV770) GPU late June of 2008. At that time, it was only available in single-GPU format on Radeon HD 4870 and Radeon HD 4850 series video cards. The only electronic difference between the Radeon HD 4870 and the Radeon HD 4850 is that the 4870 comes equipped with GDDR5 memory at 3.6GHz, and the 4850 comes with GDDR3 memory at 1.986GHz.
Eventually, AMD's dual-GPU products based hit the shelves, giving us the Radeon HD 4870 X2 and the Radeon HD 4850 X2. The Radeon HD 4870 X2 comes with 2GB (1GB per GPU) of GDDR5 at 3.6GHz, and the Radeon HD 4850 X2 comes with 2GB (1GB per GPU) or 1GB (512MB per GPU) of GDDR3 at 1.986 GHz. Both the Radeon HD 4870 X2 and the Radeon HD 4850 X2 are also powered by the same set of GPUs: a pair of ATI RV770s.
The RV770 silicon packs 956 million transistors, featuring 800 streaming processors, 40 texture units, and 16 raster operators. That gives the Radeon HD 4870 X2 and 4850 X2 a total of 1,600 streaming processors, 80 texture units, and 32 raster operators each. AMD's recommended clock rate for the Radeon HD 4850 is 625MHz, with the attached GDDR3 memory clocked at 1.986GHz. For the sake of comparison the Radeon HD 4870 is clocked at 750 MHz, and its attached GDDR5 memory at 3.6GHz. Obviously, this means that there is a tremendous difference in memory bandwidth between the Radeon HD 4850 and the Radeon HD 4870.
Sapphire Radeon HD 4850 X2 2GB
The Sapphire Radeon HD 4850 X2 2GB video card is similar to the Sapphire Radeon HD 4850 X2 1GB we have evaluated, except that it provides twice as much memory to each GPU. Each GPU on this video card has 1GB of local GDDR3 video memory, as opposed to 512MB per GPU on the 1GB version. Apart from that, everything else is the same. We are hoping this increase in memory capacity will allow the 4850 X2 to shine and outperform the 1GB version. The GPU comes out of the box with the GPU clock rate set to 625MHz, and the memory clock rate set to 1.986GHz.
The box this video card comes in is mostly blue with some metallic blue accents. On the front of the box, there are a number of icons and printed specifications describing the contained video card, including a blue and black oval shaped sticker specifying that the video card features 2GB of GDDR3.
One side of the box shows a system requirements list. This video card requires a power supply capable of providing at least 650W of power, but does not list the current requirement for the power supply's 12v channel.
The back of the box showcases yet more feature lists as well as a number of awards that have been bestowed to Sapphire products "since 2002."
The Sapphire Radeon HD 4850 X2 2GB comes bundled with an installation manual, a Molex to 6-pin auxiliary power adaptor, a dual-Molex to 8-pin auxiliary power adaptor, an HDTV output dongle, a composite video output dongle, a DVI to HDMI adaptor, a DVI to VGA adaptor, a CrossFire bridge, and a "Fueled by Sapphire" case badge sticker.
Also included are five software discs. There is a driver installation CD, a Ruby ROM Volume 1.1 disc containing a number of Ruby demos, a CyberLink PowerDVD v7 disc, a CyberLink DVD Suite v5 disc, and a FutureMark 3DMark Vantage disc.
The video card itself is 11" long and 4.5" tall. From outward appearances, it looks identical to the Sapphire Radeon HD 4850 1GB video card. There is a large black aluminum heat-sink shroud concealing a silver milled aluminum heat-sink. There are twp cooling fans attached to the heat-sink, and the shroud is open on both ends. There is no direct hot-air exhaust port on this video card.
The video card requires one 6-pin auxiliary power supply connector and one 8-pin auxiliary power supply connector. There is a single CrossFire bridge, allowing users to connect a Radeon HD 4850 with 1GB of memory for three GPUs in a triple-CrossFireX configuration or two 4850 X2’s for Quad CrossFireX.
The back of the video card features an immense number of very small SMT devices, as well as a black heat-sink which passively cools the backside of the power management circuitry. This video card features four dual-link DVI connectors and a single HDTV/TV output jack.
The Competition
This video card is currently available for $284.99 USD after a $15 MIR, with free shipping as this is published. That is $40 more than the 1GB version, and $35 more than the new NVIDIA GeForce GTX 275.
Therefore, this evaluation will feature the Sapphire Radeon HD 4850 X2 1GB so that we can determine of the extra memory can make up for some of the 1GB version's shortcomings. This evaluation will also include the GeForce GTX 275 so that we can determine if NVIDIA's latest offering competes with the Sapphire Radeon HD 4850 X2 2GB in performance since it is the closest NVIDIA GPU in price.