Is Newegg selling the newer ASUS 4850's with better cooling?

[Alex C]

I know ASUS was releasing an updated version with better cooling (a new fan, I think?), but I haven't found out if they're already out, or who sells them. Anybody know?

 

[octopus41092]

Check their pictures. If it's the new cooler on it then it is. Also, I think it should say something like "Glaciator" version or something like that.

 

[bunnyfubbles]

Sapphire - http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814102760

MSI - http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814127370

 

[Dorkenstein]

Whoah, is the Sapphire one really as good as a HD 4870?

 

[Modular]

That MSI one is teh hotness. I would've waited had I not needed to upgrade as badly as I did.

 

[daveybrat]

Originally posted by: Modular
That MSI one is teh hotness. I would've waited had I not needed to upgrade as badly as I did.

Agreed, the MSI 4850 is very nice looking!

 

[bunnyfubbles]

Originally posted by: Dorkenstein
Whoah, is the Sapphire one really as good as a HD 4870?

no, typical newegg idiot, not different from people claiming the GTX 260 can achieve 'GTX 280 speeds'

The core on any 4850 is essentially identical and thus should have the same potential limits. Hitting 750MHz to match a 4870 isn't exactly hard to do on any 4850 provided you have the correct means to do so. The problem is the fundamental difference that cannot be overlooked - GDDR5, there's simply noway to get anywhere near the 4870's memory bandwidth with the GDDR3 that comes with the 4850s.

 

[Zap]

Originally posted by: bunnyfubbles
The problem is the fundamental difference that cannot be overlooked - GDDR5, there's simply noway to get anywhere near the 4870's memory bandwidth with the GDDR3 that comes with the 4850s.

I wonder if partners will start offering lower cost 4870 cards with slower memory? With the previous radeon 3870 cards, of course all the reviewers got GDDR4 cards with memory around 2300-2400MHz while the cheap cards showed up with GDDR3 at 1800-1900MHz.

 

[Zillatech]

The new revised Sapphire 4850:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814102770

 

[LordGestle]

Just received a Asus HD4850 from Newegg today and it was the oem style.

 

[bunnyfubbles]

Originally posted by: Zap

Originally posted by: bunnyfubbles
The problem is the fundamental difference that cannot be overlooked - GDDR5, there's simply noway to get anywhere near the 4870's memory bandwidth with the GDDR3 that comes with the 4850s.

I wonder if partners will start offering lower cost 4870 cards with slower memory? With the previous radeon 3870 cards, of course all the reviewers got GDDR4 cards with memory around 2300-2400MHz while the cheap cards showed up with GDDR3 at 1800-1900MHz.

the bad thing is that the 3870s with GDDR3 are essentially no different from overclocked 3850s...the same would be true of a 4870 with GDDR3. Of course the biggest difference now is that GDDR4 really wasn't that much of an upgrade from GDDR3 - sure it has a clear bandwidth advantage but the increased latencies kept it from being the true upgrade like we now have with GDDR5.

There's just no way you can hide that difference in performance, I don't think we'll ever see it, and if we do it really should be viewed as very underhanded...a 4870 isn't a 4870 without GDDR5.

 

[Ares202]

Originally posted by: bunnyfubbles

Originally posted by: Dorkenstein
Whoah, is the Sapphire one really as good as a HD 4870?

no, typical newegg idiot, not different from people claiming the GTX 260 can achieve 'GTX 280 speeds'

The core on any 4850 is essentially identical and thus should have the same potential limits. Hitting 750MHz to match a 4870 isn't exactly hard to do on any 4850 provided you have the correct means to do so. The problem is the fundamental difference that cannot be overlooked - GDDR5, there's simply noway to get anywhere near the 4870's memory bandwidth with the GDDR3 that comes with the 4850s.

The core on the 4870 has been voltmodded by ati by .1 volts so without pencil modding you cant achieve anywhere near the overclocks that the 4870 cores are getting like 820-860mhz if you bypass ati overdrive utility and use something like amd gpu clock tool

 

[Raider1284]

Originally posted by: Zillatech
The new revised Sapphire 4850:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814102770

That cooler actually looks like the worst one compared to the other cards posted. The part of the heatsink that actually cools is really small and the the stupid "wings" on either side of the fan are just for looks. Granted its probably better then the oem heatsink but i wouldnt guess by much.

The MSI and the other sapphire with the zf900 look much much better to me.

 

[bunnyfubbles]

Originally posted by: Ares202

Originally posted by: bunnyfubbles

Originally posted by: Dorkenstein
Whoah, is the Sapphire one really as good as a HD 4870?

no, typical newegg idiot, not different from people claiming the GTX 260 can achieve 'GTX 280 speeds'

The core on any 4850 is essentially identical and thus should have the same potential limits. Hitting 750MHz to match a 4870 isn't exactly hard to do on any 4850 provided you have the correct means to do so. The problem is the fundamental difference that cannot be overlooked - GDDR5, there's simply noway to get anywhere near the 4870's memory bandwidth with the GDDR3 that comes with the 4850s.

The core on the 4870 has been voltmodded by ati by .1 volts so without pencil modding you cant achieve anywhere near the overclocks that the 4870 cores are getting like 820-860mhz if you bypass ati overdrive utility and use something like amd gpu clock tool

flashing the BIOS will generally give you the ability to mess with voltages without any hardmods, and this is about stock core speeds, not the potential overclocks...the point is that there are companies that sell "3870s" with slower GDDR3 when they really should be labeled as overclocked 3850s because the only significant difference that cannot be overcome is the memory handicap. The same would hold true of a 4870 without GDDR5.

 

[unr3al]

Imo an HD4870 with GDDR3 would be an HD4850... Overclocked as bunnyfubbles said, yes. But not anywhere near an HD4870 with GDDR5.

 

[Chronoshock]

Originally posted by: Zillatech
The new revised Sapphire 4850:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814102770

Looks like someone stuck an orange juicer to the card

 

[Zillatech]

True, it does look a little like an orange juicer but its supposed to be "Cooler & Quieter" than the ATI reference design. I'll bet its as good as the MSI model, or at least close. I like the Blue PCB better anyway.

 

[Tattare]

http://www.asus.com/products.a...model=2314&modelmenu=1

only place iv seen it.

 

[rstrohkirch]

Personally, I like the fact that Sapphire put in a little extra effort on the Toxic 4850 and slapped heatsinks on some of the components and ram. None of these other non-oem cards seemed to have done that from what I can see.