Conclusion

The third generation of DirectX 10 compatible graphics accelerators from ATI has finally seen the light of day. Someone will call it another evolutionary step, someone will regard the innovations and higher performance as a clear indication of a revolution in image quality and GPU market. So, it is high time we summed up everything we have discussed today in our theoretical study of ATI Radeon HD 4800 and made some conclusions.

ATI RV770 evolved from ideas that were first brought up back in R520/R580, implemented in R600 and RV670, and perfected almost to ideal in the third generation of ATI’s DirectX 10 compatible processors. It is important to understand that R600→RV770 evolution is a logical process combining higher capacities and thorough architectural optimizations. In other words, ATI didn’t just add some muscle to its graphics processor, but made sure it looked good and worked efficiently, so that it didn’t make an impression of a steroid-pumped athlete.

According to the results of our theoretical benchmarks, this smart approach provided ATI Radeon HD 4850 with a much greater potential than that of Nvidia GeForce 9800 GTX at the same level of heat dissipation, considerably simpler and more compact design and, most importantly, low recommended price of $199 (thanks to a relatively small die size). Just for your information, when Nvidia GeForce 9800 GTX launched, its MSRP equaled $349 with much less opportunity for price maneuvering. So, when the price of this bulky and complex graphics accelerator dropped down dramatically, Nvidia and partners were hardly benefiting from it.

However, the fact that ATI RV770 has 956 million transistors while Nvidia G92 has 754 million indicates much higher complexity of the newcomer. Looks like AMD indeed put to good use DirectX 10.1 support, hardware tessellator, built-in audio-controller and other innovations.

ATI/AMD bet on the mass consumer, which seems to be a very smart and strategically far-sighted move. Especially since current statistical data demonstrate lowering of average selling price for graphics adapters despite the slowly growing supply volumes: by the end of 2007 the price was $169, and by the end of Q1 - $145! In this respect $199 seems to be an optimal price for ATI Radeon HD 4850, since its simple design and relatively low production cost may give the developer quite a bit of a margin for further price reduction.

Besides serious gaming potential, simple design and low price, ATI Radeon HD 4850 graphics accelerators boast a number of unique qualities that are absent by their main competitor. Namely, they support DirectX 10.1, VC-1 decoding, advanced BD profiles and have a fully-functional audio core capable of outputting multi-channel HD sound. This makes ATI Radeon HD 4850 an ideal solution for a digital media center with advanced multi-media features and excellent gaming performance.

So, looks like ATI has every chance to come back and regain its influence in the desktop discrete graphics market. However, we will be able to make a final conclusion only once we test these new solutions in the popular gaming applications. Only then we will have a complete objective picture of the ATI Radeon HD 4850 performance.

Power Color Radeon HD 4850 512MB: Summary

Power Color HD 4850 (model AX4850 512MD3-H) graphics card appears to be a very good adapter overall and an excellent choice for its money. Let’s summarize its highs and lows.

Highs:

• High-quality manufacturing under supervision of ATI/AMD
• Wide range of supported FSAA modes, including the highest quality FSAA modes available on consumer graphics adapters today
• Excellent quality of anisotropic filtering
• 800 shader processors, 40 texture processors and 15 render back ends
• DirectX 10.1 and Shader Model 4.1 support
• Fully-fledged hardware HD video decoding support
• High-quality HD video post-processor
• Built-in audio controller with HDMI 7.1 support
• Low noise
• Low power consumption
• Nice product bandle
• No compatibility issues with existing mainboards

Lows:

• Accessories bundle doesn’t include HD video player