First Look: Sapphire Radeon HD 4850 X2 2GB

Initial Impressions

Generally speaking, we’re always a little cautious when it comes to dual-GPU graphics cards because, even if the hardware implementation is fantastic, you’re relying on software to make the card work as intended. Now, that is the case with any graphics card – without good drivers, your games will not run as well as they should.

With a dual-GPU graphics card like the Sapphire Radeon HD 4850 X2 though, there is even more dependence on the drivers because the driver needs to deliver good scaling and load balancing across the two GPUs. In the scenarios we’ve tested here in this brief preview, the Radeon HD 4850 X2’s performance appears to be very good compared to not only Nvidia’s GeForce GTX 280, but also the ATI Radeon HD 4870 X2.

However, in some of the extended testing we’ve already completed as part of a much larger article you’ll see later this week, we’ve already found a few chinks in the pre-release drivers provided to us by Sapphire. Of course, the drivers we’ve got at the moment are pre-release and so there are bound to be a few issues. We’re hoping that official driver support from AMD will be forthcoming in Catalyst 8.11, but we may find ourselves waiting until Catalyst 8.12 before you can download driver updates for Sapphire’s Radeon HD 4850 X2 directly from AMD’s website.

As for the card, it looks to be good, but there are some natural concerns we have – one is the length, as it’s longer than even the Radeon HD 4870 X2 which isn’t exactly short and already has problems fitting in a number of cases. That will be amplified with the Sapphire Radeon HD 4850 X2. Another concern we have is with the fans as they don’t appear to be temperature or load-controlled – both use two-pin headers, so it’s unlikely we’ll see fan control added later down the line. We haven’t looked closely at the card’s noise levels yet, but our initial impressions were that it wasn’t as quiet as it could be. That’s not to say it’s overly noisy, it’s just not silent (at idle, in particular) like we would have hoped.


There are some good things about the design too though – the most important one may not sound very important, but it really is. Despite it being a physically bigger card than the 4870 X2, it’s lighter and so you’re unlikely to encounter problems if you’re transporting your system (to LAN parties, for example) with everything assembled. We’ve seen a couple of Radeon HD 4870 X2-based systems that have ripped the PCI-Express x16 slot almost clean off the motherboard during shipping, so this concern isn’t unfounded – for those of you with Radeon HD 4870 X2s installed, we’d recommend removing the card before transporting your system if you’re using the stock cooler.

The thing I personally like the most about this card though is the inclusion of four dual-link DVI connectors – it’s enough to satisfy even my multi-monitor cravings on just one graphics card. Multiple monitors with multiple GPUs is no longer something that’s exclusive to AMD though, as Nvidia has now enabled multi-monitor support for SLI with its latest release 180 series drivers, but it’s still a great feature to have on a single card. Nvidia’s last dual-GPU card, the GeForce 9800 GX2, has only three digital outputs – Sapphire’s Radeon HD 4850 X2 offers four digital connections. There are, of course, very few people who have a need for more than even two monitors, but Sapphire is catering for that niche particularly well here – two Sapphire Radeon HD 4850 X2s in CrossFire enables support for eight displays if you’re crazy enough.

In terms of pricing, the Sapphire Radeon HD 4850 X2 is expected to retail at around £300, including VAT, which puts it in roughly the same price bracket as Nvidia’s GeForce GTX 280 – it competes well with Nvidia’s flagship in scenarios where the drivers work and is often faster. What’s more, it’s not that much slower than the Radeon HD 4870 X2 in many scenarios – only when the resolution increases to 2,560 x 1,600 will you see a more distinct performance difference. This is good – especially when you consider that the Radeon HD 4870 X2 is retailing at close to £370 (inc. VAT) and it makes the Sapphire Radeon HD 4850 X2 an attractive option.

We’d probably hold off until there is at least official driver support from AMD, but what we’ve seen so far has impressed us.