14 DAY TRIAL // Once again, the time has come for Advanced Micro Devices to expand its DirectX 11 graphics-card offering. The Sunnyvale, California-based CPU and GPU maker has released the Radeon HD 5830 and, naturally, its partners have immediately followed suite with their own custom models. PowerColor, of course, did not tarry and, as such, has already unwrapped what it calls “the latest HD gaming solution,” namely the PCS+ HD5830. As its name implies, the graphics adapter is a modified version of the ATI Radeon HD 5830. It has modified clocks and “a superior silent and efficient cooling solution.”
The PCS+ HD5830 has 1,120 stream processors, 1GB of GDDR5 memory, a memory bandwidth of 256 bits and support for the ATI Eyefinity and CrossFireX technologies. These specifications are the same as those of the stock model, but PowerColor's card comes with a slight boost to both the memory and GPU frequencies. More specifically, the graphics processor runs at 825MHz instead of the reference 800MHz, whereas the memory operates at 4200MHz instead of 4000Mhz.
In order to enable triple-display scenarios, the video card is designed with an HDMI, a DVI and a DisplayPort output. The adapter also features the company's own silent and efficient cooling mechanism that can not only keep temperatures low, but can do so while not needing the fan to operate at high speeds. This is possible because the heatsink's copper base and four heatpipes dissipate heat very well, removing the need for high numbers of rotations per minute. As such, the 92mm fan operates at low-noise levels.
“The PCS+ HD5830 fits a void in the market,” Ted Chen, CEO of TUL Corporation, said. “With right price segment and immersive gaming performance, the PCS+ HD5830 is ready to tackle all the critical gamers’ need for a HD gaming experience.” The PowerColor PCSS+ HD5830 graphics card has yet to become available, but, when it does, its price shouldn't be much higher than the reference card's US$239 tag.