HIS Radeon 4670, 4830 & 4850 Mid Range Round-Up
Test Setup
Published: 9th November 2008 | Source: HIS | Price: £N/A |
Testing
For testing, we decided that a direct head to head wasn't enough, so we resurrected the 4850 IceQ4 TurboX which we reviewed recently. This meant that we had general coverage of the whole HIS mid-range.
If you missed the 4850 review, here are a couple of shots of the card, or you can read the full review here.
As you can see, the 4850 and 4830 are fairly similar on size. However the cooler on the 4850 makes the 4830 look like a school girl next to a giant. With the close inspection finished, it's now onto the testing...
Test Setup
Last time we reviewed the HIS 4850, we concentrated on the stock vs overclocked argument, comparing the cost per frame of the 2 cards tested. This review can be found here. This time, however, we wanted to focus more on which card in the range offered the best value for money. To make sure that all the results were comparable, the same setup was used to test each card, and each test was run multiple times and then an average of the results taken.
We used the following setup to perform all the benchmarks:

We chose a range of games to give a broad range of results. We have used these games in past reviews and found the results gave us a good indication of the card's general performance in games. We also tested at a number of resolutions, to see how well the card scaled with different screen sizes.
The following games and resolutions were used:
Quake Wars
1280x1024 / High / 4xAA
1600x1200 / High / 4xAA
1920x1200 / High / 4xAA
Unreal Tournament III
1280x1024 / DX10 / High
1600x1200 / DX10 / High
1920x1200 / DX10 / High
Call of Duty 4
1280x1024 / Max / 4xAA / 4xAF
1600x1200 / Max / 4xAA / 4xAF
1920x1200 / Max / 4xAA / 4xAF
F.E.A.R
1280x1024 / Max / 4xAA
1600x1200 / Max / 4xAA
1920x1200 / Max / 4xAA
Crysis
1280x1024 / DX10 / High / 0xAA / 0xAF
1600x1200 / DX10 / High / 0xAA / 0xAF
1920x1200 / DX10 / High / 0xAA / 0xAF
GRID
1280x1024 / DX10 / High / 4xAA
1600x1200 / DX10 / High / 4xAA
1920x1200 / DX10 / High / 4xAA
1280x1024 / High / 4xAA
1600x1200 / High / 4xAA
1920x1200 / High / 4xAA
Unreal Tournament III
1280x1024 / DX10 / High
1600x1200 / DX10 / High
1920x1200 / DX10 / High
Call of Duty 4
1280x1024 / Max / 4xAA / 4xAF
1600x1200 / Max / 4xAA / 4xAF
1920x1200 / Max / 4xAA / 4xAF
F.E.A.R
1280x1024 / Max / 4xAA
1600x1200 / Max / 4xAA
1920x1200 / Max / 4xAA
Crysis
1280x1024 / DX10 / High / 0xAA / 0xAF
1600x1200 / DX10 / High / 0xAA / 0xAF
1920x1200 / DX10 / High / 0xAA / 0xAF
GRID
1280x1024 / DX10 / High / 4xAA
1600x1200 / DX10 / High / 4xAA
1920x1200 / DX10 / High / 4xAA
Most Recent Comments
Nice review mate. That 4830 is a nice GPU, but it's just too close to the price of a reference 4850...
And that IceQ4 4850 is quite possibly the sexiest graphics card of the year.
And that IceQ4 4850 is quite possibly the sexiest graphics card of the year.

It is a rather lovely card.
As you say, the 4850 reference may pose a threat to the 4830, but even so, its still amazing value.
As you say, the 4850 reference may pose a threat to the 4830, but even so, its still amazing value.
Its nice to see ATI coming strong, may save AMD's neck from the great weilding intel axe that is i7...
How do u mean ?
(good article btw)
(good article btw)
well look at it a year back Nvidia pwning the graphics card market and Intel the CPU, the buyout of ATI by AMD, however lacklustre products from both sides of the ATI/AMD conglomerate, now ATI coming back with great products, it may just save them, AMD job cuts are rife and if you search round for AM2 motherboards they are getting thin on the ground as more motherboard manufacturers are gearing up for I7, with AMD's recent restructure into a development and manufacturing division rumours have been circulating that they may be pulling out of retail units and concentrating on OEM and server lines....this wouldn't exactly surprise me ...look at the X58 being both SLI/Xfire capable...this gives intel quite an advantage and does follow suit for the rumours mentioned above....theres zero news on any new desktop CPU's from AMD...it just looks like AMD are running for cover at the mo and maybe the 4000 series may just give them a lifeline...
Ah I see what u mean. Indeed, and I have a secret hope that their AM3 is going to be something to take note of. I would much rather be in a quandry over ordering new kit, other than just thinking i7.
yeah it takes the fun out of choosing new hardware. I just can't see how, other then the hand of god, how AMD are going to turn the tides, but there doing a cracking job with these cards, lets hope they keep it up...
Quote:
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Originally Posted by name='Jaster'
yeah it takes the fun out of choosing new hardware. I just can't see how, other then the hand of god, how AMD are going to turn the tides, but there doing a cracking job with these cards, lets hope they keep it up...
|
So, with any luck, whatever they have been working on will be good...
P.s, thanks for all the postive feedback guys!!
Quote:
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Originally Posted by name='teknokid'
well, if you think about it, they havent had a massively new architecture for a while now.. phenom, in the end, was pretty similar to am2...
So, with any luck, whatever they have been working on will be good... P.s, thanks for all the postive feedback guys!! |
Unlike the 6400 black edition (which I actually own) whats the point in unlocking the multiplier when the chip runs at its thermal and operational limit anyway.
But I love a good underdog story, and amd are the underdog being dragged round a field of broken glass by intels big monster 4x4....





HIS and ATI are striking back at the green team, find out which mid-range card came out on top here.