Darkf0x

Well first of all I'd just like to make this clear; I'm making this post and review because I have recently upgraded to this card, and I know how annoying and tedius deciding and looking at graphics cards are. So I'll write a small review about this budget gaming card.



In the past people have said the 4650 is not suitable for demanding gaming for example Crysis or even Valve engine games like Valves blockbuster game Team Fortress 2. I have to disagree with this and rob 5 minutes of your time to persuade you that its more than capiable than playing game's like Far Cry 2! Interested? READ ON!

First let's go over the basics.

THE SIZE

The 4650 is small VERY small for it's power, it can easly fit in a 3 draw computer case - which is a basic £20 one. Compared to cards of lower capabilites like the esteemed Radeon X1950 which barley fit's in 4 Draw computers it's that big this is a amazing advantage! So with it being VERY small the noise that is emitted of it is almost near to silent - this doesnt mean the fan is bad. The fan keep's mine at a low 29 degree's during gaming it goes no mroe than 35.

THE POWER

Well dispite what some people may say about the type of PSU you need for lower end directx10 cards this different I currently have it running on my rig which you can see on my profile under a 450watt no brand psu. For the power this graphics card gives you 450 watts is nothing.

WHAT CAN IT REALLY DO?

The 4650 is capible of unreal graphics along with playable fps. The main features of the Saphire site (http://www.sapphiretech.com/us/produ...w.php?gpid=255) are as you can see up to scratch for the latest games. For cards the same price (going back to the X1950) it has 4.1 native shader modelling which is a whole 1 shader level above cards of the same price. The clock is also significantly much better. (Memory Clock: 700MHz, 1400 Mbps.). Just like most modern cards now'days we can have this beauty in crossfire support! I havnt tried this yet as I dont have the right motherboard. But I have seen it in action and I must say for £100 for both cards you couldnt ask for a better deal.

RESULTS

I've had this card on Crysis, Team Fortress 2, Oblivion, Fallout 3, World in Conflict, Company of Heroes, Supreme Commander, Two Worlds, GTA IV, Hellgate Londone and I'm impressed with each and every set of results I've got. The most impressive result I've got has to be on Far Cry 2 which I purchased last week, and I have to say for a £45 cards this game looks beautiful with no configs or special needed mods, I can run this game with 30-45 fps on very high, however I do have to turn the shadow's down.

DIRECTX 10?

One of the most well known fact's about the 4650 is its Directx10 compatablity, and for the price of it I cannot diagreee nor penalise it's compatabilty with it. Sure it struggles with it on some games. But it's a £45 card. However on game's like Call of Jaurez and such titles it steams it. I have completed Call of Jaurez myself on directx10 MAX - that should give you some sort of idea of how smooth it run's. For me to complete a game with fps anything less than perfect is just pure unrealistic.

OVERALL AND RATING!

The 4650 is a amazing card at a amazing price with all the bolts and gadgets, from being as tiny as the old Geforce fx 5200 to being as powerful as Geforces 8200 series - this card has truely revolutionzed the way I game and the way thousands of others do to. And be more deadly with crossfire support in directx10 with no problems atall.

MY RATING : 5 STARS

Play Hard - Play RADEON!