MusicRadar Verdict
AMD needs to sort itself out and price its cards more sensibly. As it is, this card is outdone by the competition on price and performance
Pros
- +
Decent performance
Cons
- -
Prices needs lowering. Disappointing benchmarks
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And it was all going so well for ATI. Choosing to concentrate on mid-range graphics cards and letting Nvidia run off with the monolithic chip design seemed to be paying off - the HD4850 competed with Nvidia's mid-range cards and the dual-GPU 4870X2 went for the high-end jugular. But this 'budget' 4830 feels like a slip up.
AMD is trying to position its new card around the lower end but, at £90, describing the 4830 as a budget card is like trying to pass a rabid, two-legged poodle off as a pedigree dog.
It's only about £20 less than the far more fully-featured 4850. So yes, it is less expensive, but in terms of performance it just can't compete with its stablemates or Nvidia's spread of mid-range cards. The results were, disappointingly, pretty much half those of a 4850 - a card already competing with Nvidia's even cheaper 9600GT.
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