The Test & Results

Sapphire’s 5850 Toxic edition is clocked at 765MHz/1125MHz, a 5.5%/12.5% overclock on the core and memory respectively. So performance compared to a reference 5850 can be anywhere between no improvement (CPU limited) to a full 12.5% improvement if the bottleneck is memory bandwidth. This of course will vary from game to game.

CPU: Intel Core i7-920 @ 3.33GHz
Motherboard: Intel DX58SO (Intel X58)
Chipset Drivers: Intel 9.1.1.1015 (Intel)
Hard Disk: Intel X25-M SSD (80GB)
Memory: Patriot Viper DDR3-1333 3 x 2GB (7-7-7-20)
Video Cards: AMD Radeon HD 5970
AMD Radeon HD 5870
AMD Radeon HD 5850
AMD Radeon HD 5770
AMD Radeon HD 5750
AMD Radeon HD 5670 512MB
AMD Radeon HD 4890
AMD Radeon HD 4870 1GB
AMD Radeon HD 4850
AMD Radeon HD 3870
AMD Radeon HD 4770
AMD Radeon HD 4670 512MB
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 295
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 285
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 275
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260 Core 216
NVIDIA GeForce GTS 250
NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT
Video Drivers: NVIDIA ForceWare 190.62
NVIDIA ForceWare 195.62
AMD Catalyst Beta 8.66
AMD Catalyst Beta 8.66.6
AMD Catalyst 9.9
AMD Catalyst Beta 8.69
OS: Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit

The difference, as we expected, is varying from game to game. The factory overclock on the 5850 Toxic isn’t enough to significantly shift the performance of the card, but it’s enough for 5-10% better than a stock-clocked 5850.

A Quick Note on AMD & Factory Clocks Overclocking
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  • DominionSeraph - Friday, February 19, 2010 - link

    Word Origin & History

    into

    O.E. into, originally in to.
  • pattycake0147 - Friday, February 19, 2010 - link

    There was a lot of talk about the inability to over-volt the card. Is there any way to under-volt the card to decrease the temperatures any more.
  • Ryan Smith - Friday, February 19, 2010 - link

    Yes. The AMD GPU Clock Tool would let you pick one of the lower voltages that the card uses in its various power modes. However just as you can't go above 1.088v, you wouldn't be able to go below 0.95v.
  • 7Enigma - Friday, February 19, 2010 - link

    Man I wish they would release a newer version of the GPU Clock Tool. It has never worked properly with my 4870 for voltage control, and that stinks. I run it undervolted unless gaming, but the program glitch only drops it 0.1v. Underclocking, however, still nets me >40w reduction in power!
  • overzealot - Friday, February 19, 2010 - link

    Doesn't MSI afterburner with unofficial overclocking work with this card? Seems to be fine with other 5850's.
    P.S. I know there's issues with the current catalyst release.
  • Ryan Smith - Friday, February 19, 2010 - link

    Unfortunately it does not.
  • overzealot - Monday, February 22, 2010 - link

    :'(
  • Hypernikes - Thursday, February 18, 2010 - link

    It seems the power and temperature graphs need to be switched.
  • blyndy - Friday, February 19, 2010 - link

    "Process problems over at TSMC and a lack of a competitive card from NVIDIA has resulted in a level of demand that until this year could not be satiated."

    Are you painting Nvidia as a victim? The process problems affected both of them. Whereas ATI built cypress as a 334mm2 chip on a process they had learnt, Nvidia decided to dust off a shelved project, an unfamiliar generic 'compute' design similar to Larrabee, designed it at over 500mm2, and on a process they hadn't fully worked out.

    Cypress has strong demand because because it is the highest performing chip available, has DX11 and eyefinity.
  • philosofa - Saturday, February 20, 2010 - link

    That's a strange interpretation of what the writer said Blyndy, they're clearly not painting Nvidia as a victim.

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