Final thoughts and rating
Oftentimes we've lambasted multi-GPU graphics-card setups as a general waste of money, pointing our readers in the direction of the fastest single-GPU card that their budget allows them to buy.However, of late, both ATI and NVIDIA have cleaned up their multi-GPU acts, and scaling in popular games is such that adding a second GPU - be it on the PCB itself or via another card - makes implicit sense if the value proposition is just right.
The sub-£100 Sapphire Radeon HD 4830 512MB validates this point by providing reasonable high-end gaming performance on its own but practically doubling average framerate when another is added.
Despite initial misgivings, we're impressed with how well Sapphire's non-reference cooler works, and would recommend the company adding a software-based tool that lets the user modulate the speed of the fan(s) to suit their aural taste.
Additional performance derived by a second card gives cumulative numbers, over our four games, which are equal to a pre-overclocked GeForce GTX 280, but the win here is with a substantially lower street price - £200 vs. £330 - and multi-monitor outputs.
Yes, you need to have a CrossFire-supporting motherboard and some games may not show the kind of scaling we've seen in our testing, but a combined £200 buys you smooth performance at 2,560x1,600 HQ settings. Kind of begs the question as to whether Sapphire will launch a Radeon HD 4830 X2, priced at around £180, doesn't it?
We'll be taking a look at a couple of GeForce 9800 GTs and seeing how the price/performance proposition plays out in comparison, but, perhaps, multi-GPU setups finally make good sense when the underlying technology is priced so aggressively.
Of course, save up a few more pennies - £30, to be exact - and a couple of Radeon HD 4850 512MB can be yours.....
The good
Excellent performance in a dual-card setupAttractive price
Decent overclocking for the core
Low temperatures
The not so good
Dual-slot cooler may impede installation in small chassisSlightly noisy in both 2D and 3D modes
HEXUS Rating
HEXUS.net scores products out of 100%, taking into account technology, implementation, stability, performance, value, customer care and desirability. A score for an average-rated product is a meaningful ‘50%’, and not ‘90%’, which is common practice for a great many other publications.
We consider any product score above '50%' as a safe buy. The higher the score, the higher the recommendation from HEXUS to buy. Simple, straightforward buying advice.
HEXUS Where2Buy
A single card is currently available for
£99.99 here.
Double it for two.
HEXUS Right2Reply
At HEXUS, we invite the companies whose products we test to comment on our articles. If any company representatives for the products reviewed choose to respond, we'll publish their commentary here verbatim.
