PowerColor AX4850 512MD3-DH Radeon HD 4850 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card

Pros: Great value, (price has dropped significantly since I purchased last December), native HDMI port, (works great), new card design that is smaller, quieter, and cooler, runs movies and games with excellent clarity on HP 22" HDMI Monitor (1680 X 1050). This brings the eye candy to life. Seems to run better then an older "single slot" 4850 design (the "long" card) design, which I also have.

Cons: The 4850 would not run DVI output to some older Monitors, (AMD said it was a Microsoft Vista problem), but seems to run fine on newer monitors. I believe this model had problems with Crossfire early on, but may have been resolved. (I do not run Crossfire).

Other Thoughts: I put a Zalman VF900 Cooler on this, and it took temps down 10' C, and runs very quiet off MB power. It has handled 6 month of games, movies, and Internet surfing with NO issues. Make sure you update drivers off ATI Website, as the latest ones (9.6 ?) deliver increased performance for the 4850. At this price, no one should have to settle for onboard graphics..!!!

Pros: As good performance wise as any other Radeon 4850...

Cons: The fan on this video card runs at full power at all times. It appears that what powercolor tried to do is use a simple fan that was quieter than most other fans at full speed. While this may be true, it stays just as loud at idle, which for me was much louder than anything else in my office. The catalyst control panel doesn't show anything for the fan speed.

Other Thoughts: I sent mine back via RMA, and will be replacing it with a Radeon 4770 as soon as they're back in stock.

Pros: Easy setup, good gpu temps, I can run mostly everything maxed on 1400x900.

Cons: The CCC overclocking utility did not work as well as a couple other tools, but then i finally found one that did and boy this thing can overclock.

Other Thoughts: If i had more money i would of probably bought a better card, but for the price you can't beat this.

Pros: good price

Cons: Overclock does not work.

Other Thoughts: Can not get ahold of tech support.

Manufacturer Response:

Hi,

Our offices were closed for the Memorial holiday. Please give us a call at 909.468.5100 M-F 9am-6pm PST. We'll be happy assist you with any problems you're having with the card.

PowerColor Customer Service

Pros: would not recomend

Cons: overclocking does not work. power color tech suppot none . tried calling . tryed email

Manufacturer Response:

Hi,

Please give us a call at 909.468.5100 M-F 9am-6pm PST to give us more details when you say "overclocking does not work". Our tech support will be happy to work with you to see what issues you're running into.

PowerColor Customer Support

Pros: Good card. Has HDMI port and DVI port. Runs games pretty good. Not the top end video cards but good none the less.

Cons: Nothing really. Wish clocks were higher though.

Other Thoughts: Good overall card. Good powercolor card as this is my first powercolor card.

Pros: Higher than default core clock, and much quieter. Also the card runs significantly cooler than reference design.

Cons: none (I prefer /Built by ATI/, but this could change because the PowerColor)

Pros: HDMI and Display Port(although I have no use for the latter)
non-reference cooler keeps the GPU fairly cool.
It's a 4850 so it performs great especially in crossfire.
However...

Cons: ...this card as it is cannot be crossfire'd with any other card
using Catalyst 8.11 and up. There is a problem with the BIOS that prevents it from being compatible. PowerColor is aware of the issue and says they "have a BIOS in beta testing".
There is a fix for this though.

Other Thoughts: * FLASHING YOU'RE BIOS WILL VOID THE CARDS WARRANTY*

If like me you can't wait for PowerColor to get their act together you can flash the card's BIOS with a different model
to make it compatible.
There are only two other BIOS's known to be compatible with this card.

HIS VER011.008.000.000.029193
compile date 08/04/2008
and
Sapphire VER011.004.000.000.029705
compile date 09/25/2008

Both BIOS files can be found on TechPowerUP's website
along with ATIflash 3.60.
Make sure to thoroughly read the flashing instructions
as well as make a back up of the original BIOS.

Pros: This is a great card for the price. Nice design on the GPU fan.

Cons: This card has the firmware issue that will not crossfire with CCC older than 8.1. Powercolor has no firmware fix. Supposedly ATI sent out updated firmware to vendors to resolve this issue. Since this card is not a reference clock speed not sure if I can use 3rd party firmware to resolve.

Other Thoughts: ATI really sucks at keeping crossfire working. This was my second attempt at crossfire with issues. Last time was using a another set of Powercolor 4850 5 months back.

Pros: Good card, no issues

Cons: Rebate never came. Tried contating Powercolor - no responce. Keep that in mind when buying.

Other Thoughts: Someone needs to do something about these rebate scammers.

Manufacturer Response:

Hi,

Please contact us at 909.468.5100 M-F 9am-6pm PST to check your rebate status. Our rebates are not "scams". It may very well be a misunderstanding or disqualification. Please give us a call and we will resolve it.

PowerColor Customer Support