4890 owns at 'Bang for Buck' (Sapphire Radeon HD 4890 OC)

Member Name: hallryu

Product:	Sapphire Radeon HD 4890 OC
Date:	16/09/09 (16 review reads)
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Advantages: Cheap and quick

Disadvantages: Stock cooler is LOUD

I presently have 2 of these GPU's running in my rig. In my opinion ATI presently have the upper hand on NVIDIA with regard to 'bang for buck' at the moment.

Very generally, 2 of these cards will outperform a GTX295 in most games, not all but most. A single 4890 will perform similar to a GTX275 and in some applications it can be compared to a GTX285.

I have had no serious issues with these cards. They run hot, but that is how they are designed. Catalyst Control Centre (CCC) can be easily tweaked to alter fan speeds if you start get worried about the temperatures. Alternatively you could use Rivatuner top set up your own fan profiles.

The cards are easily overclocked in CCC as well. Stock clocks are 850/975 and I have mine running at 960/1075, without a voltage mod. They can be run higher with a volt mod but you have to really crank up the stock fan to keep temperatures down.

Be warned the stock cooler on these cards is LOUD if you push it over 50%.

As far as reference 4890's are concerned this is a good product that can be easily over-clocked. Look for good prices on these as 'Evergreen' lands soon.

Summary: Great Performance and the right price

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