REVIEW: Sapphire Radeon 4850 1GB

Ok, so I sat down and installed my new Sapphire Radeon 4850 1Gb video card (100258-1GL). This is a PCI-Express x 16 2.0 card, but the slot in my system is only 1.0. This is OK! PCI-E 2.0 cards are backwards-compatible with 1.0 systems. Now since my rig only has a 300w power supply, I also needed to buy a new power supply. The installation of both were actually surprisingly simply, I'll post guides at a later time.

Once my new, updated system was up and running, I started testing the games that flat out refused to run on my Intel GMA3100 integrated graphics. have been able to play EVERY game that I have tried. So far, I ran the Crysis SP Demo with every setting maxed (including AA), flawlessly. My old CRT monitor more or less limits me to 1024x768, so I can only speak for that resolution.

Games that I tested (and ran perfectly at maxed out settings):

- Crysis SP Demo
- COD4 SP Demo
- Hitman Blood Money Demo
- Team Fortress 2 (also Episode 1, HL2, and Portal, but I hear that most Source games run more or less the same on any given setup)
- Doom 3
- Far Cry
- F.E.A.R.

So far, everything that I have tried has run at max settings, without a hiccup. I'm also impressed with all the included adapters -- this card allows for connections to HDMI, VGA, DVI, s-video, composite, and component. Basically everything out there. The HDMI even allows for passthrough of 7.1 channel audio, and has two DVI ports so you can run dual monitors.

In Short:
Buy it. The card is $161 at Newegg, and it can run any game currently on the market. This is definetly a mid-range card in terms of price, and from some other reviews I've seen, some people saw slightly lower frame-rates when running Crysis at 1080p at max settings (who would have thought?). Installation is easy, it can handle anything, and you won't regret it.

Update: (03/04/09)
I thought it was worth mentioning that my Vista Experience scores skyrocketed after installing this card. My 'Graphics' and Gaming Graphics' scores went from lowly 3.4's with my integrated Intel GMA 3100 graphics to 5.9 each (the maximum possible).