Unless you are a hardcore gamer, you don't need to look any further than the wide range of reasonably priced mid-range graphics cards for smooth gameplay along with some eye candy in applications. At present, Nvidia's GeForce 9800 GTX+ and AMD's Radeon HD 4850 are the hottest deals in this category. Of course the 9800 GTX+ supports additional features such as PhysX and GPU-based computing (CUDAl. But the HD 4850 offers a similar level of pure graphics performance at a lower price point which makes it a sweeter deal if you're on a tight budget.

The biggest problem with the reference design of the HD 4850 has been the unsatisfactory cooling fan, as a result of which temperatures can shoot beyond 80 degrees C. Palit, a Hong Kong-based PC components manufacturer has made a smart move by customizing the HD 4850 with a heat pipe-based active cooler. Any guesses how cool it runs.

FEATURES:

The HD 4850 Sonic is factory overclocked and runs at 685 MHz, a full 10 percent faster than the reference speed. Unlike the reference design, this card requires a dual-slot housing because of the custom cooler which stands 40 mm in height. The cooler is 153 mm wide and is fitted with a 65 mm fan in the center to cool the fins which dissipate heat from the pipes which carry it up from the base.

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Even the power connector of the card is different. Instead of the regular 6-pin power connector on most 4850 cards, there's an 8-pin PCle connector. An adapter is provided in the package, so you don't have to worry if your power supply doesn't have an 8-pin PCle power connector. The rear panel of the card features two dual-link DVI ports and video output port.

PERFORMANCE:

You can be assured of smooth gameplay on even a 22-inch widescreen monitor with the Radeon HD 4850. With the visual effects set to high and a resolution of 1680x1 050, Crysis ran at 27 fps which is quite commendable. Overall, the scores were very close to those of the 9800 GTX+ cards we have tested recently.
The custom cooler fitted by Palit is very effective in keeping temperature levels low. The temperature doesn't go beyond 55 degrees C while the card is idle and 63 degrees C under even heavy loads. That's far cooler than an HD 4850 card based
on the reference design, which runs at 75 degrees C in idle mode.

VERDICT:

The Palit HD 4850 Sonic retails for nearly the same price as the HD 4850 cards from other vendors. But since you're getting a better cooler and a faster overclocked card, this one is a good pick for a mid-range gaming rig.

FOR:

Excellent custom cooler, factory overclocked for better speeds.

AGAINST:

No cooling for memory, average build quality of the cooler.