Date:
Monday , April 20, 2009
Author:
Mark Warner
Editor:
Brent Justice
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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.

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Test System Setup

For our test system platform we are using an ASUS Blitz Extreme motherboard with an Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9770 processor at 3.66GHz, and 4GB of OCZ Platinum series DDR3-1600. For the power supply, we will be using a CoolerMaster Real Power Pro 1250W.

While it might be a bit "overkill," we use the 3.6GHz overclocked quad-core processor in an attempt to keep from putting our evaluation into a position of being CPU limited. Obviously, we make every effort to not use CPU limited games for video card evaluations, but the 3.6GHz processor seems to put many peoples’ minds at ease when it comes to that subject.

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Driver Setup

With both the NVIDIA and AMD video cards we will be using the latest drivers. For the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 275 we will be using the ForceWare 185.68 BETA driver. For the Sapphire Radeon HD 4850 X2 2GB and HD 4850 X2 1GB, we will be using the Catalyst 9.4 WHQL driver.

Below is a GPU-Z screenshot of the Sapphire Radeon HD 4850 X2 2GB video card after we installed the drivers.

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Evaluation Method

We evaluate what each video card configuration can supply us in terms of a playable gaming experience while supplying the best culmination of resolution and "eye candy" graphical settings. We focus on quality and immersion of the gameplay experience rather than how many frames per second the card can get in a canned benchmark or prerecorded timedemo situation that often do not represent real gameplay like you would experience at home. Then we will follow with apples-to-apples testing based on real gameplay as well.