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Nathan E.

Nathan E.

Joined on 05/29/11

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Product Reviews
product reviews
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Most Favorable Review

excellent value, great overclocking abilities

SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 5830 1GB GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 CrossFireX Support Graphics Card 100297L
SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 5830 1GB GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 CrossFireX Support Graphics Card 100297L

Pros: Awesome price Great overclock-ability Runs very cool/quiet

Cons: No memory heat sinks, but not a major necessity for GDDR5

Overall Review: I was nervous because I've heard of some compatibility issues using a PCIe 2.1 card in a 1.0 slot that don't exist when using PCIe 2.0 cards. However, I popped it in, and it worked flawless from the start. Hoping I don't need to try to take advantage of its warranty, the next thing I did was test it's overclock abilities. At stock voltage I was able to get 920MHz core, 1175MHz (4.7GHz) memory speeds stable. With Sapphire TRIXX I increased the GPU voltage to 1.25v and was able to set the core clock to 1050MHz stable. I tested at 1100MHz and didn't notice any issues, however I wanted to play it safe so I didn't set anything higher. Memory clocks around 1225MHz got unstable. At 1050MHz core / 1175MHz memory, it runs great, GPU temp never exceeding 75-76 degrees Celsius, no artifacts or other oddities. I upgraded from an ATI 4890 mainly for the DirectX 11 support, and so far I'm very happy with what I've got. At $109 you're definitely getting a lot of bang for your buck.