Tested with Metro 2033 benchmark, DX 11, 1920x1080, Frontline Scene on high quality with Anisotropic Filtering at 4X both with antialiasing in AAA mode and 4xMSAA mode.
Tested with Lost Planet 2 in settings benchmark in DX 11 with 1920x1080, Motion Blur On, with shadow and texture detail on high, No AA.
Tested with Fraps Textures on Extra with 4xAA on SP level Vorkuta (up till you push the cart past the machine gun towers). 1920x1080
Tested using 3D Mark Vantage on Performance settings at 1280x1024.
Tested using 3D Mark 11 on Performance settings at 1280x720(720p).
COD Black Ops Tested on High Settngs with 4xAA, Battlefield Bad Company 2 Tested on both Med & High Settings 2x MSAA 4x Anisotrophic, HBA Off (Both at 1920x1080 resolution)
Sapphire HD 5850 Xtreme Overview:
The Sapphire HD 5850 Xtreme performed admirably across all tests, especially considered its being ranked against cards that are 1.5-3 times the price point. I was especially pleased with the Multiplayer tests in both Battlefield Bad Company 2 and Call of Duty Black Ops. I was able to play with the highest settings, yet still maintain above 60+FPS, which according to most research, is all the average person’s eyesight can discern anyways. The card itself kept a cool temperature inside my case barely fluctuation from the 46 degree idle by more than 5 degrees, and did a great job keeping quiet in the process. This does wonders to my impressions about the new cooling solution they’ve attached to the HD 5850 Xtreme, which not only means quiet and cool, but also means longer lifespan and/or overclocking headroom.
Pricewise, the Sapphire HD 5850 Xtreme matches the 550Ti, and easily about half the price of the 560Ti. Because I don’t have a 550ti handy to test, I have to rely on others, but from what I’ve read the HD 5850 Xtreme easily outperforms it. Performance-wise the 5850 Xtreme does fall short vs the 560Ti, although when overclocked can perform just shy of its levels, leaving the HD 5850 Xtreme (with a price point of half that of the 560Ti), in a realm of its own with no direct competition from Nvidia.
Sapphire has done a great job in bringing affordability back into game system building, giving users the perfect choice for performance and price. I find this card to be ideal for the gamers who don’t want to spend a fortune on a graphics card but still want to be able to play todays DX11 games at high settings with minimum sacrifices.
Pros
- Great cooling solution, quiet and effective.
- New Features support dual HD streams and GPU Processing.
- Sapphire Trixx tool compatible for easy overclocking.
- Can hold its own vs. $200 cards, and barely underperforms even $300 solutions.
- Fills a much needed gap for price/performance solutions, outperforms 550Ti solutions and is more affordable then 560Ti solutions and is even $40-50 less than current 5850 solutions.
Cons
- Loss of a single DVI port compared to reference 5850.
- Supports Eyefinity, but with only 1GB of ram you’re looking at large performance decreases in high resolution without running a crossfire solution.
