A couple of days ago ATI secretly released a hotfix for the 4850 and 4870 series. They had claimed the the hotfix would improve overall performance and stability.
Tweaktownhas reviewed four of the 4850 running in crossifreX to determine if the hotfix actually worked or just decreases performance.
The only real performance gain is in 3DMark Vantage and Unreal Tournament 3 and all of the other benchmarks have decreased like Crysis.
I found this on the Internet and it says that there is some 4850 in stock for only $189.99. I just about peed myself because ATI said it was going to be a sub $300 card! Check it out for yourself and maybe buy at:
http://fxvideocards.com/Sapphire-HD-Radeon-4850-p-16386.html
The card has been tested and is preforming on par or beating the 9800GTX. Here is the test system:
E8400 @ 4Ghz
ASUS P5E X38
4Gb Gskill 8000
PQ HD4850 Default
Windows Vista 64 bit + SP1
Catalyst 8.5 (CD)
If you would like to see the performance numbers go to
Now lets see what the 4870 and the 4870X2 has to offer!!
The 4850 will launch on June 25th and is expected to beat out the 9800GTX and the ultra. It by all means beats them both with this translated version from French:
This is great new for a card that is going to be sub $300 and in crossfire mode it beats the GTX 280 :).
The GTX 280 has been announced and is ready to hit shelves tomorrow. I don't know if anybody is going to buy them because they are around $650 for the non overclocked one and around $880 for the water cooled version.
If you are looking to spend that much money go ahead. My suggestion would be to wait for the ATI 4800's to see the performance numbers because ATI said that they will not release anything more than $500. If you do not want to wait then here are all of the reviews for the GTX 280 and 260:
