14 DAY TRIAL // As always, the steady stream of new graphics cards is still going. After Advanced Micro Devices and its partners launched the various incarnations of the Radeon HD 5450 graphics adapter, hardware makers are now delivering on their other projects. Club3D, for instance, is putting the finishing touches on a new version of the Radeon HD 5850 graphics adapter, a new Cypress-based card that is dubbed the Radeon HD 5850 Overclocked Edition.
Utilizing the PCI Express 2.1 interface, the card has the graphics processing unit clocked at 760 MHz, compared with the stock 750 MHz, and its 1GB of GDDR5 memory runs at a frequency of 4200 MHz, compared with the stock 4000 MHz. The card supports OpenGL, is HDCP ready and has maximum resolutions of 2560x1600 digital and 2048x1536 analog. In addition, the card features 1,440 stream processors and its memory operates on an interface of 256 bits. The card is naturally designed with support for CrossFireX and boasts dual DVI, HDMI and DisplayPort connectors.
The product uses the Active fansink cooling solution, which is a dual-slot cooler with four heatpipes. The HD 5850 has over two teraflops of GPU power, is built on the 40nm process technology and, of course, has DirectX and Eyefinity support. Also, the ATI Stream technology will accelerate even the most demanding applications and the ATI Avivo HD will improve the image quality and performance when playing HD video files. In addition, the ATI PowerPlay technology provides the card with a dynamic power management for added efficiency.
The Club3D Radeon HD 5850 Overclocked Edition will support Windows XP 32-bit and 64-bit, Windows Vista 32-bit and 64-bit, as well as Microsoft Windows 7 32-bit and 64-bit. Unfortunately, while it is known that the card will come bundled with a Dirt 2 game voucher, no mention has been made concerning the time of release or the actual price tag that this card will carry.