Sapphire HD 4850 cards.

[Sandog]

I'll be getting a Diamond, HIS, or Sapphire HD 4850 soon, whichever card has the best non-reference cooler to my liking.

[Sandog]

SAPPHIRE TOXIC HD 4850 512MB GDDR3 PCI-E

It's mine as soon as NE gets them in.

Comes OC about %10, check out the temp. graphs at the bottom of the link.

[Sandog]

Just picked this card up on NE. Should be here no later than Monday (possibly Friday.)

Newegg.com - SAPPHIRE 100242TXSR Radeon HD 4850 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards

[johnrr6]

You will love the 4850----and you can overclock it a lot just using the "Auto Tuning" portion of CCC.....

And that fan/cooling system looks like the cat's meow......

What a bargain in a brand new vid card!!!

AMD seems to be onto something here....

BTW---I hooked a 24 inch HP monitor via HDMI and maybe it is placebo----but I swear it is better looking than the standard DVI.

[johnrr6]

Originally Posted by Sandog

Try here.

AMD GAME Drivers & Tools

I'm using the Cat 8.7 Beta----but the new Cat 8.7s arrived Monday----and they have full support for the 4800 series.....

A lot of folks are liking the 8.7s better than the Hotfix drivers which are older.....

I know that the 8.7 Beta was better than the hotfix----at least for me.....

[Sandog]

Hey John, I have a DVI to HDMI cable waiting for this card. I believe HDMI makes a better appearance inside Vista. Also the card will be here Friday so I will have the weekend to play with it. I will download the 8.7 drivers from Sapphires site since they might have fan control software suited for the Zalman on my card. I know I will be totally pleased with this card and figure it is well worth it for the $223 delivery cost.

I have some PSG thermal material I would like to try on this card and later my CPU. I will check the card out and make sure it works good for a couple of weeks and record temps before I do this.

Next comes the mobo for me. Been waiting everyday for the Intel DP45SG to appear. Then I can get some DDR3 and a Yorky.

[johnrr6]

Originally Posted by Sandog

Hey John, I have a DVI to HDMI cable waiting for this card. I believe HDMI makes a better appearance inside Vista. Also the card will be here Friday so I will have the weekend to play with it. I will download the 8.7 drivers from Sapphires site since they might have fan control software suited for the Zalman on my card. I know I will be totally pleased with this card and figure it is well worth it for the $223 delivery cost.

I have some PSG thermal material I would like to try on this card and later my CPU. I will check the card out and make sure it works good for a couple of weeks and record temps before I do this.

Next comes the mobo for me. Been waiting everyday for the Intel DP45SG to appear. Then I can get some DDR3 and a Yorky.

Sounds like you are about to have some fun!!!

Good Luck-----I know you'll love the 4850----what a great card----I got mine at BestBuy on a special (that I'm sure was a mistake on their part) I got it for $157 tax included.....

Best $150 video card I've ever owned.....

Heck---if I'd of paid $300 for it----I'd still be happy.....

No more $600 monsters for me.......

[yamawho]

Sale here ...

NCIX.com - Buy Diamond Radeon HD 4850 512MB GDDR3 PCI-E Dual DVI-I HDCP HDTV Out Video Card - 4850PE3512 In Canada.

[Sandog]

Theres going to be a ton of 4850's coming out with new tech coolers but I am impatient plus satisfied with this Sapphire and it's price. I think this is a good time to go to ATI especially for the price. Next time NVidia will be ready with a winner and lower price and I might go back. The 260 GTX sure looks nice to but too much power (load) and cash for my liking ATM.

[Sandog]

Card is now out of stock.

Newegg.com - SAPPHIRE 100242TXSR Radeon Toxic HD 4850 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards

[Sandog]

Installed my new 4850. The card itself is wonderfully laid out, not too long, has little surface components, and has a very nice Zalman heat sink/fan. You can hear the fan but it is not annoying. Runs about a constant 1700rpm and my card never went above 47C. Very pleased with the physical aspect of the card.

After messing with LCD monitor settings and game settings I am dissolusioned at the color this card puts out. Hard to explain but there appears to be a lack of color (desktop seems to have whitish color, reds appear as oringish, etc.) Also there appears to be lag in C&C, I really think there are many, many driver issues with ATI. NVidia seems much smoother and I like the color better. Also the DVI to HDMI cable does not work in XP. I was getting Explorer errors on the desktop when using the cable and got frustrated and had to go back to my original video cable. I will play with it somemore but right now I reading GTX 260 reviews.

[fvbounty]

Originally Posted by Sandog

Installed my new 4850. The card itself is wonderfully laid out, not too long, has little surface components, and has a very nice Zalman heat sink/fan. You can hear the fan but it is not annoying. Runs about a constant 1700rpm and my card never went above 47C. Very pleased with the physical aspect of the card.

After messing with LCD monitor settings and game settings I am dissolusioned at the color this card puts out. Hard to explain but there appears to be a lack of color (desktop seems to have whitish color, reds appear as oringish, etc.) Also there appears to be lag in C&C, I really think there are many, many driver issues with ATI. NVidia seems much smoother and I like the color better. Also the DVI to HDMI cable does not work in XP. I was getting Explorer errors on the desktop when using the cable and got frustrated and had to go back to my original video cable. I will play with it somemore but right now I reading GTX 260 reviews.

Sandog, I think you have to be running Vista for hdmi to work (I'm not really sure on that but I think I read it somewhere).....Do you have the latest drivers?

[Sandog]

Hey fvbounty, I tried both the CD drivers and the latest 8.7 drivers. Haven't tried the card in Vista yet. Will boot to Vista today and see what I see. I won't have gone permanently with Vista until I get my new mobo. I want all my hardware before I install Vista again.

I think I am leaning toward a 55nm EVGA GTX 260 in 4-6wks.

[fvbounty]

Originally Posted by Sandog

Hey fvbounty, I tried both the CD drivers and the latest 8.7 drivers. Haven't tried the card in Vista yet. Will boot to Vista today and see what I see. I won't have gone permanently with Vista until I get my new mobo. I want all my hardware before I install Vista again.

I think I am leaning toward a 55nm EVGA GTX 260 in 4-6wks.

I'm waiting to get my 4 gig DDR3 kit before I try Vista, I think you will find Vista will work with your hdmi, I think thats one of the selling points of going to Vista?

[yamawho]

Originally Posted by fvbounty

I'm waiting to get my 4 gig DDR3 kit before I try Vista, I think you will find Vista will work with your hdmi, I think thats one of the selling points of going to Vista?

It was for me ...