The Bundle:

The bundle for the 4850 is nearly identical to the 3850, with the DVI to HDMI adaptor, DVI to VGA adaptor, TV-out to component, and Crossfire bridge representing the included hardware.  The software includes a driver disc, 3DMark06, PowerDVD and the Cyberlink DVD Suite. The limited edition bundle we received also included a nice little bonus, a two gigabyte flash drive.

Layout:

The first thing to notice on the board layout is the fact that the 4850 is a single slot solution.  This either means that the RV770 is a cool running chip, or that the lack of cooling may be a limiting factor in overclocking.  The 4850 also still uses a single six-pin connector for power.   

The I/O plate should be pretty familiar to anyone who has used ATi cards over the last five generations: the two DVI outputs flank the typical AMD/ATi TV-out connector, that closely resembles an S-Video connector.   The fan has also undergone a slight overhaul since our review of the 3850: instead of blowing straight onto the I/O plate, the vents point towards the upper edge of the card.

While the topside of the 4850 is not dissimilar to the 3850, the bottom looks quite different.  The components on a whole are much smaller, and much more numerous.  The good news here is that the mounting holes are identical to the 3850, so any cooling solution that is marketed for that card should also work for the 4850.

Page 1: Intro Page 2: Specs & Features Page 3: The Bundle & Layout Page 4: Overclocking Page 4: Crysis Page 4: Call of Duty 4 Page 5: Synthetic Tests Page 5: Power and Heat Page 5: Conclusion