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Jacob W.

Jacob W.

Joined on 08/28/04

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Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 2
Most Favorable Review

Best video card I've owned

GIGABYTE Radeon HD 4850 1GB GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 CrossFireX Support Graphics Card GV-R485MC-1GI
GIGABYTE Radeon HD 4850 1GB GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 CrossFireX Support Graphics Card GV-R485MC-1GI

Pros: -Low power requirements. -Running 100% stable when overclocked to 650/1000. -In a stock Antec 300 with the two standard cooling fans at their lowest setting and no other form of cooling I get an amazing 37C idle and 60C load (playing Grid maxed for an hour). Room temp is 70F. In a case with negative pressure this card really shines. -HDMI integrated -Somehow idles 13C cooler than my 4850 IceQ4 that I replaced.

Cons: Absolutely none! I'm very happy with my purchase. Users with a smaller case or little/no negative pressure will have notably higher temps.

Overall Review: Outstanding performance/price ratio of the 4850 is made even better by this card. I wouldn't hesitate to buy again.

Sapphire Toxic 4870 512mb

SAPPHIRE TOXIC Radeon HD 4870 512MB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card, 100243TXSR
SAPPHIRE TOXIC Radeon HD 4870 512MB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card, 100243TXSR

Pros: This card can handle Grid and Bioshock maxed and Crysis on all very high w/ 2x AA at 1680x1050 in my system. (Q6600 OC'd to 3gHz, 3GB RAM, 750W, 650i MB, XPS 630 case with 120mmx2 Nexus case fans). It looks awesome and always stays below 70C with fan speeds <40%. Despite my rant below :-), this is a very good card for the money.

Cons: The build quality and attention to detail is, in my opinion, disappointing given Sapphire's reputation and the Toxic 4870's accolades online. The card ramps to very high volume on boot and, as another reviewer mentioned, has a terribly annoying automatic fan control. The fan is constantly revving up and slowing down at the slightest change in temperature or activity and is audible over an already loud system. So, the BIOS was flashed with a custom temperature vs fan speed look-up-table, keeping the fan at it's lowest setting (25%) until it hits 65C. At the same time, fixing the loud boot. This helped immensely, but isn't something that I should have had to do on a company's flagship product. My real gripe, however is that the fan randomly emits a rattling noise at most speeds. With a relatively small overclock (780/1000), the real value of the card to me was the advanced cooling system.

Overall Review: The card is definitely a solid performer and keeps itself cool, but for the price, the Toxic name, and the months I spent waiting for its release, I would have liked a more silent and well-built product.