Graphics Card Review Roundup - ASUS, Sapphire, XFX & More

• bit-tech: Gainward's Radeon HD 4870 1GB Golden Sample:
  
  

  "Despite delivering both excellent thermal and gameplay performance on the whole, we can’t help but feel that the Gainward HD 4870 1024MB Golden Sample is a little bit of a letdown, especially considering the £30 price premium it carries over the stock HD 4870 1GB. For that extra fifteen percent of investment the in game frame rate returns are generally around the two to three percent mark thanks to the very conservative core overclock, which is pretty disappointing.
  
  In those games that are able to utilise the more aggressive memory overclock, like Call of Duty 4 and Call of Duty: World at War, you will see a reasonable performance increase of close to ten percent, but sadly such applications are fairly limited, and thus so is the performance advantage offered by this card."

  
  Click here to read the full review.
  
  
  
• Hardware Secrets: GeForce GTX 260 with 216 cores Video Card:
  
  

  "The addition of 24 processing engines made the new GeForce GTX 260 to be a slight faster than the older model on several scenarios – but not on all of them. On Fallout 3 both cards achieved the same performance, on Unreal Tournament 3 the new card was faster (7%) than the old model only at 2560x1600, and on Call of Duty 4 and FarCry 2 both cards achieved the same performance level at 1680x1050, with the new model being 3% faster at 1920x1200 and 5% (CoD 4) or 6% (FC 2) faster at 2560x1600."

  
  Click here to read the full review.
  
  
  
• Legit Reviews: XFX GeForce GTX 260 Black Edition Video Card:
  
  

  "The XFX GTX 260 Black Edition is an incredibly impressive piece of hardware. It would have been nice to have a GeForce GTX 280 to compare this card to, but I suspect this card would give it a good run for its money. When you factor in overclocking, the GTX 260 Black Edition is an excellent choice for $329.99 at Newegg.com.
  
  With the Double Lifetime Warranty, the XFX GTX 260 Black Edition carries one of the best warranties in the market. Couple that with the bundled game and this becomes quite a compelling package."

  
  Click here to read the full review.
  
  
  
• Overclockers Online: Sapphire HD 4850 X2:
  
  

  "One thing I didn't address in great detail is the card's HD capabilities. Sapphire has you covered with 4 DVI outputs and has even included a DVI to HDMI dongle. To top it off, the accessory pack includes DVD playback for you to fully enjoy every moment of your HD 4850 X2 when hooked up to a big screen TV. Overall, Sapphire is the first to market the HD 4850 X2 and it will certainly be a huge hit. If a single HD 4850 isn't good enough and the HD 4870 X2 is a little too rich for your blood, you will not be disappointed by the performance of Sapphire's HD 4850 X2."

  
  Click here to read the full review.
  
  
  
• PC Perspective: ASUS EN9800GT Matrix 512MB:
  
  

  "The ASUS ENG9800 GT Matrix 512MB graphics card is one of our favorite new low-to-mid-range graphics cards that you can pick up today for well under $150. If you are looking for an upgrade to an aging GPU of your own and don't have much money to spend, this overclocked G92-based product will fit the bill perfectly. "

  
  Click here to read the full review.
  
  
  
• TheTechLounge: ZOTAC GeForce 9800 GT 512MB AMP:
  
  

  "The performance gap between this 9800 GT and an overclocked 9600 GT is about an order of magnitude, which, seeing how the prices overlap, really makes me wonder if there's any room left in the market for the lesser budget card; really, the 9600 GT maintains undesirable traction--don't bother with it, get a 9800 GT. Game tests have Zotac's AMP! sticking with a 9800 GTX and even putting a good fight against Sapphire's Toxic 4850, all the while, consuming less power, making less noise, and in general, being cheap. "

  
  Click here to read the full review.