Testbed
Motherboard: EVGA 790i FTW Digital ( courtesy of EVGA );
Processor: Intel Core 2 QX9770 Extreme edition ( courtesy of Intel );
Memory: OCZ3RPR16004GK 1600MHz 7-7-7-24 ( courtesy of OCZ );
HDD: WD VelociRaptor 300G 10,000RPM ( courtesy of SmoothCreation );
Futuremark Tests
MSI's Geforce 9800 GT is overclocked to 660MHz for the GPU and 950MHz for the memory, so any reference 9800 GT will end up even slower.
Games
In Company of Heroes all the cards proved powerful enough for 1600x1200. Don't forget we test our cards on a high-end system, so on an average machine the scores should be lower, but you can probably expect smooth 1280x1024 gaming.
The situation is pretty much the same in other games, as well. Only the HD 4850 can cope with 1600x1200, although without AA the HD 4830 and 9800 GT can do well, too. Crysis is an exception, you have to reduce the level of detail to medium to play in 1600x1200.
Conclusion
Generally, we're pleased with the HD 4830's performance. The card should retail at $130 or €100, and fill the gap between the HD 4850 and HD 4670; but at the moment this is simply not the case. An HD 4830 ends up costing as much as an HD 4850 and €20 more than a 9800GT.
Other than that we really don't have much to nag about. In terms of performance it beats the 9800 GT without breaking a sweat and it's a lot more powerful than the HD 4670. It's a tried and tested design and it packs more than enough muscle for the casual gamer.
If the price were €100 the HD 4830 could have easily won our Top Value award. At €125, we just can't recommend it, but we can recommend waiting a bit for the price to drop.