Conclusion:
The Radeon HD4850 chipset was launched to fill a role in the middle of the graphics card market. The
Sapphire Toxic Radeon HD4850 512MB graphics card stands out in this crowd of 'average' cards by offering a factory overclocked GPU and memory, as well as a cooling upgrade that keeps it cool and quiet.
The test results showed that the performance is solid, and that any game should be enjoyable on the Toxic Radeon HD4850. It wasn't the best performing card, but it did very well while costing less (in terms of purchase price and in energy consumption) than some of the other units on hand.
On the downside, the main technical concerns are that the thermal sensor was disabled, and that the memory was actually overclocked higher than specified. The casual user may not ever notice either issue, and since the memory was stable at 1150MHz I left it there. Keeping an eye on temperatures is generally a good idea with the hot chips on the market today, but the Zalman cooler kept things down low enough that this is also now a non-issue. My only other issue was that the Zalman cooler and memory heatsink installation looked like something done at home, and not what I would expect from a factory setup.
Newegg.com carries this card for $200, but currently offers a mail-in-rebate that brings the final price down to $180 (US, before shipping and tax). A reference design HD4850 will generally cost about $170 or $180 (although rebates may bring them lower, too), so you aren't paying all that much extra for the cooling upgrade and factory overclock. The bundle of accessories adds value to the card if you are interested in multimedia use of the card, or trying out 3DMark Vantage, but I think a popular game title might make the bundle even more appealing.
The Toxic Radeon HD4850 512MB isn't the king of the graphics card hill, but it doesn't carry a price tag like that, either. If you want a great card, but do not have to have the best, this is definitely one to put on your list, especially if noise is an issue for you. Considering all the positives in terms of performance, noise, heat, and power consumption, the Sapphire Toxic Radeon HD4850 512MB graphics card earns the Bigbruin.com "Highly Recommended" and "Whisper Quiet" awards.
Pros:
» Solid mid-range performance
» Runs cool and quiet under a heavy load
» Factory overclocked (memory was even higher than specified)
» Relatively energy efficient
» Decent bundle of accessories and software
Cons:
» Ships from factory looking like it was modded by an end user
» Thermal sensor didn't work out of the box
» No games included
