Joined on 12/19/10
Somewhat pleased but not what I paid for.
Pros: Stays cool. I OC'd it to the max allowable in CCC, 775 core, 1125 mem. Idles at 37c with fan control on automatic and it gets to about 65c under load. With fan set to 95% it never gets above 57c under load and idles at 33c. It maybe loud for some but I expect my computer to run cool and to do that means some noise. I have not even put Arctic Silver thermal paste on it yet. This was my first XFX card and from the start the packaging is impressive as well as the build quality of the product, it is a bit heavy but for the size it seems reasonable. Heavy means quality parts (Copper > Aluminum) especially when it comes to electronic components. I have not had to use their customer service but just from the quality of the product I would purchase from XFX in the future.
Cons: I have had it installed since 12/24 and it glitched on me once: the monitor blanked out and came back with Windows 7 stating the Display Driver had stopped working. This Non-Reference design will not overclock any higher than 775 core and 1125 Mem nor will it over volt with tools like Afterburner.
Overall Review: I had bought an Open Box 5870 reference design for $210 on the weekend but on Monday they shipped me a Retail 5850 non reference design board. I assume they did not have what I purchased in stock by the time it came to process my order so they sent me this instead. I wish NewEgg would have called me before doing so because I would have gone with a Reference Design. I'm an overclocker and the Non-Reference Designs overclock well for just using the stock CCC allowable settings but they are completely LOCKED OUT of any further over clocking and over volting.
BEST GAMING CARD ON A BUDGET HANDS DOWN
Pros: This card is the best bang for buck I've experienced in the past 9 years of building custom computers and actually performs closer to a 4870 then a 4850. Overclocked to max allowable in Catalyst and stayed cool with no artifacts while gaming. Plays GTA IV, COD MW2, Black Ops, AvP, StarCraft 2, Bad Company 2, Left 4 Dead 2, Grid, NFS: Hot Pursuit; CS: Source all very smooth with graphics settings near maxed out if not maxed out at 1680x1050. Get even more value when you purchase two to run in Crossfire, if you don't purchase a second 4850 of the same clock speed the faster one will be down clocked to the slower model.
Cons: Does not have HDMI out to get HD video and audio using one cable but I knew that before I bought it.
Overall Review: I had upgraded to this from a 3870 and the performance difference was great and I just recently upgraded to a 5850 for DX11 compatibility and to get Dolby TrueHD and DTS HD through HDMI to my AVR.
NewEgg is the best
Pros: Works great, great value.
Cons: Didn't know my new monitor I got from NewEgg already came with one of these cables D:
<3 Newegg
Pros: Only paid $10 bucks free shipping thx to NewEgg, bought 2. Using 1 already and it works, just like it's supposed to.
Cons: None
Great bang for buck
Pros: Great value, plenty of plugs and the Pivot Plug really helps utilize all of them so none are wasted from very large power adapters etc.
Cons: None found so far.
Overall Review: My first Belkin product, replacing an Inland Pro Comm 3500 desktop unit that I have used for over 10 years and who knows how old it is.
Great upgrade from 1gb
Pros: My buddy was complaining about his laptop not being able to run Photoshop after installing Vista over XP to fix his constant Wi-Fi issues so we took out the two 512s and stuck these 2*2gb sticks in there and works like a charm. He was astonished what the $50 bucks did as I promised it would.
Cons: none
Overall Review: uhh, nope.