Typical price: £125
What is it: Super-fast 3D graphics card
What we think: Although this card is fast and solid, there are better alternatives on the way
What you need to know
Reviewed on: 11 December 2007
Tags: ati, high quality, pixels, bars
We like:
Fastest 3D card under £150; solid home-theatre capabilities; supports multiple card configurations with up to four cards in the same PC
We don't like:
CrossFire performance remains sketchy depending on the game; despite DirectX 10 support, actually switching those features on remains too challenging; newer, potentially faster Nvidia cards in the same price range are supposedly just around the corner
CNET.co.uk judgement:
Despite the usual caveats of an ever-fluctuating 3D market, for the moment, at least, ATI's new Radeon HD 3850 graphics card delivers the best value for money in PC graphics hardware. Until now we haven't had an acceptable sub-£150 option for PC gaming this year. Thanks to AMD, now we do
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