VisionTek ATI Radeon HD 4850 $149 @ Best Buy starts 9/21 Sunday

Bad_dude said:
The 4850 and the 4870 are having driver problem when displaying on the DVI output. The screen goes blank after booting into Windows. This occurs in Vista for me and not in Windows XP. Therefore I sold my 4850.
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That's not an issue- when this happens you have to reset your motherboard bios and it will work fine. I had a 4850 do this with 2 seperate motherboards when benchmarking and switching between nvidia and ati cards. I quick clear of the motherboard's bios solved those problems.
 
Diseaseboy said:
That's not an issue- when this happens you have to reset your motherboard bios and it will work fine. I had a 4850 do this with 2 seperate motherboards when benchmarking and switching between nvidia and ati cards. I quick clear of the motherboard's bios solved those problems.
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Funny, my mobo cleared CMOS automatically when I switched videocards... Nice thinking there, ASUS :p
 
i had to seat the heatsink with AS5 paste
and made sure you have both cards if your doing CF using fan speed % fix
or it will over heat
i keep mine on 35% works great
CF is pretty awesome i had 1 4850 for awhile and it was pretty fast
but cf is pretty damn smooth
iam hoping crysis warhead runs good on it ?
 
I got a nice little deal myself. Went for a 4850, came back with a 4870! And a 10 doller gift card!
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obviously a mistake, they thought its a 4850

i wonder if i could buy a 4870, return it, then see if they put it up at a discount :p
 
Diashto said:
bit on one 4850. Auburn Hills, MI store had 4 or 5 on the shelf.
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Considering that $100 separates the two (even on sale), the price droid probably mis-scanned the UPC code.

What's shocking is that both the nearest BBs to me have the 4850 in stock.

Bigger shock? That nobody has even matched this price. (Not e-tail, and especially not B&M.)

The closest anybody has come is my usual fave MicroCenter (even MC is $10 more, and that's *after* a MIR). Sometimes, it actually pays to buy B&M (and I don't mean *baked beans*, either)....
 
Diseaseboy said:
That's not an issue- when this happens you have to reset your motherboard bios and it will work fine. I had a 4850 do this with 2 seperate motherboards when benchmarking and switching between nvidia and ati cards. I quick clear of the motherboard's bios solved those problems.
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Another cause (I've seen this with other cards with DVI outputs) is when the monitor it's connected to is sending bad EDID data (or not sending EDID data at all). I have a 19" Micron CRT (OEM Panasonic) that, despite a great picture, has to be fine-tuned manually in every OS I have thrown at it, because it has EDID issues. Most operating systems (even Linux or Solaris) normally support the graphics driver detecting EDID information from the monitor, and most monitors (even CRTs connected to a D-sub-to-DVI dongle, such as one ATI has included with their DVI-standard display cards, such as the 8500DV) don't have a problem sending correct EDID data.

However, some monitors (this is prone more with OEM monitors, such as my Micron; I've seen some Dells with this flaw, also) send either problematical EDID data, or even no EDID data at all. There is another clue with most of these monitors (usually CRTs): their so-called "optimum resolution" is lower than their "maximum non-interlaced resolution". The listed (by the paper specifications from Panasonic) optimum resolution for this model is 1280x1024 @ 85 Hz; however, Vista will comfortably lewt my X1650PRO AGP drive it (at the same resolution) at 100 Hz, along with 1600x1200 @ 75 Hz (also non-interlaced), which is the monitor's stated (at least, by Panasonic) maximum resolution.

(However, I wonder about that, as Windows XP, on the other hand, lets me access 1600x1200 at 85 Hz (non-interlaced). "Curiouser and curiouser.")

If you are often finding yourself needing a utility such as PowerStrip to match the monitor and GPU (regardless of brand), it may very well be your display being at fault.
 
jeez..... this is SO tempting since there's a Fry's 20 minutes from me...

I just don't need anymore power than my 3850.... must resist....
 
There was a shelf full of them at my local best buy.

I bit and got a 4850 for 160 OTD. Should have just waited for and got it online..
 
There's a USPS 10% mover's coupon floating around slickdeals that will save you more than the $10 gift card. Unfortunately, you cannot combine them; I've tried. $243 OTD for an 4870 w/o rebate is sweet.

installed the 4870 just now. Is it me or does the HSF on the card sound like a jet engine when you first power up your computer?
 
TehQuick said:
Yup, it's normal, nothing to worry about
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Exactly. The 4870's secret to such great performance is actually a very small jet engine inside. It only sounds like that on the initial warm-up. Once they have reached peak operating efficiency they become supersonic. The only noise left over for you to hear is the sound the wind makes that the engine pushes.
 
I thank the graphics God that there are 2 good video card companies competing to drive down prices. Even at a time when the economy is tanking, a very good graphics card is still affordable.
 
i was really suprised how well 4850 crossfire ran crysis warhead
i turn everything on enthuisast @ 1920x1200 2 x AA
and i got around 20-30fps it runs smooth and the controls are smooth as well
the looks really good
 
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