Testbed:

Motherboard:
EVGA 680i SLI (Provided by EVGA)

Processor:
Intel Core 2 Duo 6800 Extreme edition (Provided by Intel)

Memory:
OCZ FlexXLC PC2 9200 5-5-5-18  (Provided by OCZ)
        during testing CL5-5-5-15-CR2T 1066MHz at 2.2V

PSU:
OCZ Silencer 750 Quad Black (Provided by OCZ)

Hard disk:
Seagate Barracuda 7200.9 80GB SATA (Provided by Seagate)

CPU-Cooler:
Freezer 7 Pro (Provided by Artic Cooling)

Case Fans:
Artic Cooling - Artic Fan 12 PWM
Artic Cooling - Artic Fan 8 PWM

Vista 32 SP1

3DMark Vantage

Gainward HD 4850 Golden Sample is one of the fastest Radeon HD 4850s we’ve seen and tested so far. It comes with factory overclocked core and memory, so it will score better straight out of the box than reference cards. The core runs at 700MHz and the memory at 1100MHz (2200MHz effectively).

Already in the first test the card scores 6284 marks, which is 11% better than reference HD 4850s scored.





Gaming

Our tested games reveal the same result as in Vantage test. Gainward HD 4850 is 10% better in average, but certain resolutions see it score even better. In Crysis, HD 4850 Golden Sample almost catches up to HD 4870 leaving the other two HD 4850 cards in the dust and outperforming them by almost 29%.










Conclusion

Not long after HD 4850 was announced we already started seeing overclocked versions with non-reference cooling. One of the more interesting cards is, of course, Gainward’s HD 4850 Golden Sample card. This card runs at 700MHz, which is 75MHz more than reference. A good thing about Gainward’s card is the large dual-slot cooler that, apart from being almost inaudible, keeps the RV770 core temperatures in check.

Golden Sample card comes with 512MB of GDDR3 memory running at 1100MHz (2200MHz effectively). With memory speeds higher by 107MHz (214MHz effectively) than reference 993MHz, and with help from the overclocked core, the Golden Sample card definitely pushes HD 4850 performance to a higher level.

However, this higher level doesn’t come free, and at press time HD 4850 Golden Sample is priced at €149, which is €25 more than Gainward’s HD 4850 reference single slot model.

Gainward is a new player on Radeon sales market, and it’s clear that they’ve made an aggressive start. They did a high overclock of Radeon HD 4850, one of the best cards we’ve tested so far. You can play any game you desire, and it’s great for multimedia, too. If you liked Gainward Geforce cards, then you’ll definitely like hearing “the other side of the story.” We recommend this card to anyone, even those who didn’t like ATI up until now, as it’s definitely worth it.