PCWizkid has been watching closely ATI's launch of products this year, and the new HD5800 series video card brings new specs and excitement to the table. The recent release of the ATI Cypress graphics processor (RV870) and the first Cypress-based graphics card Radeon HD 5870 has been more than successful.Diamond Multimedia is a leader in providing the latest ATI video cards, today we look at the Diamond HD5850 ATI Radeon which is also based on the same graphics processor as the HD5870. Diamond's Viper line of HD5800 series cards brings the latest and greatest specially with the anticipated support for DirectX 11, Shader model 5.0, OpenGL 3.2 and the ability to hook up 3 monitors for a surround widescreen experience are some of the major items of discussion. The main difference between the HD5870 and the HD5850 is the Core clock and Memory Clock which is slightly less in the HD5850 with 725Mhz Core / 1000Mhz Memory, we demonstrate the results in PCWizKid's video review.
Like with any new hardware, there are minimum system requirements, take a look at the suggested specs recommended:
Minimum System Requirements
Operating System :
WINDOWS 7 32 , WINDOWS 7 64 WINVISTA32 , WINVISTA64 WINXP , WINXP64 MCE LINUX32 , LINUX64
System CPU :
Pentium Intel Duo, AMD X64 or higher
CPU Speed :
2.4 GHz or higher CPU
System Memory :
1024MB
Power Supply :
PCI Express® based PC is required with one X16 lane graphics slot available on the motherboard 450 Watt or greater power supply with two 75W 6-pin PCI Express® power connectors recommended (600 Watt and two 6-pin connectors for ATI CrossFireX™ technology in dual mode) Certified power supplies are recommended. Refer to http://ati.amd.com/certifiedPSU for a list of Certified products
PCWizKid's Test System
- Phenom II X4 955 Overclocked to 3.83 Ghz vCore 1.504v - Bus speed 202Mhz x 19 Multiplier. - Gigabyte MA790FXT-UD5P Motherboard - Patriot 4GB DDR3 Gaming Series (at 7-7-7-20 timings) - WD Caviar Blue SATA HDD 500GB - Tuniq Ripper 1000 Watt Power Supply - Cooler Master Scout Case - Cooler Master V10 CPU Cooler - Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit Note: Ambient room temperature is 21C Celsius during tests.
- All tests are performed at 1280x1024 and 1680x1050 resolution for consistency in results and comparisons with other system tests. These are benchmarking resolutions which are commonly used.
Game settings for benchmarks are always maxed out, AA at 4x or 8x either Very High or Enthusiast levels when available.
Video Review
Part 1 - An introduction and installation
Part 2 - Benchmarks and Results
Specifications
[SKU : 5850PE51G] DIAMOND ATI Radeon™ HD5850 PCIE 1024MB GDDR5 Video Card
Performance
GPU :
5800
ASIC Core :
TBD
Core Clock :
725 MHz
GPU Architecture :
BUS :
PCI Express x16
Ports :
2 Dual-Link DVI,HDMI,Standard Display Port
Cooling :
Active - FanCooler
MFG Process :
40 nm
Transistor Count :
2.15 billion
Stream Processors :
1440
Power Consumption :
Max 151 Watts 27 Watts idle board power
Memory
Memory Clock :
1000 MHz
Memory Configuration :
TBD
Memory Type :
GDDR5
Memory Bandwidth :
128 GB/sec
Memory Size :
1024MB
Memory Interface :
256-Bit
RAMDAC :
TBD
Video Quality
CrossFire :
CrossFire X
Direct-X :
8.0,9.0,10.0-10.1,11.0
Open GL :
OpenGL 3.2
Vide Acceleration :
MPEG-2, MPEG-4, DivX, WMV9, VC-1, and H.264
Max Resolution Analog :
2048 X 1536
Max Resolution Digital :
2560 x 1600
HDR F.Point Rendering :
128
HDR Integer :
N/A
Pixel Operation :
N/A
Standard Slot Solution :
DOUBLE
Conclusion
PCWizKid was very surprised at the results of the Diamond HD5850 with no flaws to mention. Starting with the ease of installation in our existing mid tower case and tweaking the card was a breeze. The most amazing aspect of the HD5850 was how easy it was to overclock to match the HD5870 clock speeds without a hiccup. The temperature readings during full load (with a manual fan setting of about 40%) kept the GPU at a cool 55C-60C Celsius which is a terrific for a video card of this caliber and wattage. The noise levels are acceptable at less than 35% fan speed and on auto its very quiet. For approximately $100 USD less than the HD5870 or the HD4870X2 or even a GTX285, the Diamond HD5850 positions itself in the right spot making it the choice for PC enthusiast looking for the latest Graphics card with DirectX 11 support. PCWizKid gives this a Editor's Choice Award as a must recommended product.
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