Sapphire HD 5850 Xtreme 1GB Review

Performance Analysis

The Sapphire serves as a reminder that last-generation GPUs can still be very effective. In Dirt 2, it easily outperformed the HD 6850 1GB at 1,920 x 1,080 with 4x AA, managing a minimum frame rate of 60fps compared to the latter’s 50fps. This is still a little slower than a stock-speed GeForce GTX 460 1GB, however, which produced a minimum frame rate of 63fps in the same test.

Meanwhile, in Black Ops at 1,920 x 1,080 with 4x AA, the Sapphire achieved a minimum frame rate that was 1fps slower than an HD 6850 1GB, and a slightly higher average of 124fps compared to the latter’s 115fps. Both AMD cards were faster than the GTX 460 1GB by around 26 per cent.

Despite Arma II being a more demanding test, the Sapphire again edged ahead of the HD 6850 1GB at 1,920 x 1,080 with 4x AA, thanks to a minimum frame rate of 30fps compared to the newer card’s 29fps. This result also saw the Sapphire beat the GTX 460 1GB.

Even in a great DX11 game such as Bad Company 2 at 1,920 x 1,080 with 4x AA, the Sapphire’s minimum frame rate of 29fps is 21 per cent higher than that of the HD 6850 1GB. This also meant that the Sapphire convincingly beat the GTX 460 1GB at the same settings.

Despite using an older GPU, the Sapphire didn’t consume much power either; when idle, the entire PC used 141W, and the peak power draw reached 237W. We were also pleased to find that the card was very quiet throughout testing, and despite 12 hours under load, the cooler’s fan remained at a pleasantly quiet (although not inaudible) speed of 1,700rpm. This was despite the GPU running at a cool 38˚C above room temperature throughout that stress test.

We could even squeeze a little extra from the card. Using Sapphire’s TriXX overclocking software, the card managed a stable GPU frequency of 800MHz, with a memory frequency of 1.1GHz (4.4GHz effective).

Conclusion

Throughout this review, we’ve compared the Sapphire HD 5850 Xtreme 1GB with the Radeon HD 6850 1GB and the GeForce GTX 460 1GB, as these cards have comparable specifications. An HD 6850 will typically cost upwards of £130, though, while GTX 460 1GB cards cost £140. The fact that the £113 Sapphire holds its own, and even outperforms, these cards makes it superb value for money.

When judged against the comparably priced (and much slower) GeForce GTX 550 Ti 1GB and the Radeon HD 6770 1GB (a rebranded HD 5770 1GB) it looks even better. If you’re on a tight budget for a graphics card then you need look no further. Just be sure to grab one before they're all gone, as this really is a case of when it's gone, it's gone.