Hardware Powercolor Radeon HD 4850 PCS+

[Tim S]

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/200...-hd-4850-pcs/1

With the Radeon HD 4850 crowned the bang for buck king, Powercolor looks to improve upon its winning formula with the Radeon HD 4850 PCS+. Boasting an impressive aftermarket cooler from Zerotherm and an increased core clock, we take a look to see if it can compete in an increasingly crowded market.

[The boy 4rm oz]

I have focused too long on the Nvidia side of things, I should really read up on my ATI. I do like the cooler on this card though, performs well.

[mclean007]

Thanks for the review. Looks like a contender!

Quick questions about noise - what were the noise levels like compared to the stock cooler? You mention that the fan spins up and down with load - was it (subjectively) inaudible in general desktop use? Was it noticeable during intensive load? Finally, does it rev up and down in an annoying fashion?

Cheers!

[Nature]

Are you guys really that excited about 4 fps in crysis? I make 500 usd a month and my "buck to bang" ratio is just as important as the next joe's but 4 fps?

Fantabulous review, sorry to rain cynicism on ya.

[Tim S]

Originally Posted by Nature

Are you guys really that excited about 4 fps in crysis? I make 500 usd a month and my "buck to bang" ratio is just as important as the next joe's but 4 fps?

Fantabulous review, sorry to rain cynicism on ya.

Nope, we're more excited about the fact this card (including the cooler) is less than the sum of its parts, which is what makes it good value for money.

[Denis_iii]

Toxic is overpriced, rather get a stock 4870.
Any idea when you'll be reviewing the HIS 4850 IceQ?
If not any links to a review.

[johnnyboy700]

Glad to hear that the PCS+ cards are actually pretty good. I've had to RMA two Sapphire 4870's and decided not to go for the hat trick so I opted for a PCS+ 4870, it arrives on Thursday so I'll let you know what its like.

When I was talking to the customer service bods to arrange the exchange they were saying that they would suggest that anyone buying a 4800 series card should replace the stock cooler as soon as possible, they would make the same recommendation to anyone buying a 200 series nVidia card as well. Isn't it about time that the card manufacturers woke up to the fact that their stock coolers are rubbish and gave us something decent to begin with? Or would that mean the end to the after market cooler business?

[5hadow]

ordered parts for my new VFM rig yesterday which includes this card .. will let you know about it once its here

[Tim S]

Originally Posted by Denis_iii

Toxic is overpriced, rather get a stock 4870.
Any idea when you'll be reviewing the HIS 4850 IceQ?
If not any links to a review.

We do have one, actually. (A 4850 IceQ4, that is)

[Baz]

Originally Posted by mclean007

Thanks for the review. Looks like a contender!

Quick questions about noise - what were the noise levels like compared to the stock cooler? You mention that the fan spins up and down with load - was it (subjectively) inaudible in general desktop use? Was it noticeable during intensive load? Finally, does it rev up and down in an annoying fashion?

Cheers!

Completely unnoticeable during even intensive load - it doesn' rev up and down either. In comparison to the stock cooler at full whack, it's like a completely different card.

[Denis_iii]

Originally Posted by Tim S

We do have one, actually. (A 4850 IceQ4, that is)

DUDE!!!! When you getting a review out? nothing ATM aside from forum review

For gaming at 1680*1050 do you think the extra 40quid for a 4870 over the 4850 is worth it? and if you could get a GTX260 for cheaper then 4870 which would you go for?

[hodgy100]

i saw this on ebuyer a couple of days ago and i think ill get this one instead of the reference board

[crompers]

its a shame that so many oem parts will go into dells and the like with a stock cooler and probably cause a multitude of crysis-related fires.

[atanum141]

I have a issue with this review. Harry mentions that the cooler spins up and down due to temps but this is a Zerotherm unit which has no such voltage regulation to adjust the fan speeds. So how would the fan change speeds?

I have the exact same card but the HD3850 version(identically the same) but the cooler is stuck at full wack 100% of the time. This was reflected in the review for the previous card, but in this review it is said it has it? but from judging from the pics all it has is a positive and negative connection to the board, so how does this card have a temp controlled hsf?

[Tim S]

From what we've been told, the 4850 PCS+ uses voltage regulation on the 2-pin power connector and adjusts according to the GPU temperature. I believe this is controlled by the card's BIOS. It's pretty simple and there are only two settings, but it doesn't spin up and down like a yoyo.

You're right that the 3850 only operates at one speed - 100% - and this looks like very much the same fan.

[firefly]

Great review, just ordered a 1gb version from ebuyer after reading this, as my 7800 GTX has finally faltered after attempting to play GTA4.

[Blademrk]

the link posted at the top of the article shows "Sorry, this product is now discontinued and is no longer available for sale on the Ebuyer.com website".

Which is a shame as I was thinking of getting this when I upgrade.