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We love the HD5850. Really. There is no reason you shouldn't either. The prices are competitive, the performance is fantastic and the overclocking ability has also proven to be sublime. We are never excited with the reference cooling solutions however and thankfully a couple of companies know what we want.
Powercolor have managed to produce a card which is considerably faster than the reference design. You get a decent bundle with Dirt 2 as the game of choice and the cooler, while not quite in the league of the Toxic edition is still very capable. To sweeten the deal it also helps that the card overclocks like a mofo.
The Powercolor HD5850 PCS+ isn't quite as good as the Sapphire Toxic edition – it is not as fast and it runs a little hotter, but it is £20 less in the UK right now and if you overclock it, you can easily exceed Toxic default clock speeds. There is even a 2 year warranty. I would say thats a great deal, wouldn't you?
KitGuru Says: Powercolor have released a very competitively priced HD5850, being only £20 more than the reference design. Its cooler, quieter and faster … nuff said.
Discuss in our forums over here or just leave a quick comment below.
Thats a sweet ass card, almost all the HD5850s overclock like hell, mine hits 850 and 1200 ram too 🙂 and its reference, gets a bit hot though
great review, covered all the bases. I agree HD5850 is much better than GTX465. cheaper too which I cant believe
The problem I have with ATI cards, no matter how good they are, is the drivers. I know they are meant to be better than 2 years ago, but I will never forget the issues I had with my media center and infinite loops. never again.
I think the cooler is actually quite ugly, Saapphier card looks much better
good price, but id still rather go for the 5870 and overclock that. can get some good overclocks with those cards too. its only £80 more I think.
excuse english, anyone have france retailers with this in stock?
Fermi is still good, I hate the way people knock it all the time. its very fast – GTX465 is great value
@ Terry – what world are you living in? GTX465 is slower, hotter, more expensive than the HD5850. why would you buy it ?
Temperatures are really good actually, seems a better deal than the Sapphire. what about noise? I dont see any ratings? louder or quieter than Sapphire?
whats the noise like? is it acceptable when overclocked?
Good review, like the card. good price too
Still dont see a need to upgrade from my last gen card. im happy with 8800
Seems quite dear still, I like the 5770, but I dont game at 1920x or 2560x . I might add another 5770 to my system though, crossfire anygood ?
Quality review – you are certainly pumping them out lately Z man.
Wouldn’t touch this make, they seem very generic far east, not a european supported brand.
prefer sapphire, even for the £20 more. better cooler, better company, I would think.
Actually you guys are wrong – most of these cards are all made by the same handful of companies in the far east, then ‘farmed’ out to the various companies we buy them from. All basically made by the same people. I have had powercolor boards in the past, never had a problem. Dont be so narrow minded
another great review.