Final Thoughts

I absolutely love this card and the performance it offers. Considering stock is already available and the price is nothing short of fantastic, there isn't a whole lot not to get excited about. Sure, it's not a GTX 280 killer at all points, or even a 9800 GTX killer all the time for that matter, but the ultimate fact is that at launch these cards are going to be around the $250 AUD mark.

It's also nice to see that Sapphire has thought outside the box, for inside the box there is the addition of a 2GB pen drive; something that is always handy to have. They seem to be one of those devices that you keep meaning to get, but just never get around to it. Plus if you end up going Crossfire, you can end up with two which is certainly more helpful than two copies of the same game.

If the HD 4850 is anything to go by, the HD 4870 should also be a real winner for people with deeper pockets. The other thing is the fact that Intel support Crossfire, and this is AMDs biggest strength. You have to think if the X48 chipset was an SLI motherboard, what would our thoughts be on the card? - Fortunately, it's not so we don't have to worry about that and I can continue to have my borderline scary love for the new ATI model.

There are a few other things that are worth noting in this review as well; the GTX 280 from ZOTAC was overclocked along with the BFG 9800 GTX OCX, making the HD 4850s again look even more attractive.

I suppose all we have to do now is wait for all the ATI partners who have been doing nothing but sitting on their hands to release some cool models over the coming weeks or months. No doubt Sapphire are hard at work on an Atomic or Ultimate model while ASUS are doing a TOP, HIS doing something OC'ed with an IceQ cooler and more.