Halloween is over, the kids are hyped up on sugar, and the political mudslinging is about to come to an end….it must be November!  Now that the children have slipped into a glucose induced coma, I can sit down and give all of you overclockers an early Christmas present: an in-depth look into to ATi’s latest offering, the long-awaited Sapphire Radeon HD4850X2.

Ever since the launch of the 4870X2 last summer, there has been quite a bit of speculation that a 4850X2 would not be far behind, with rumored release dates as early as late August being bandied about in several forums.  So what has taken so long?  I have a sneaking suspicion that ATi delayed the release of the 4850X2 in order to not hurt sales of the 4870X2, especially considering the 4870X2’s immense popularity has resulted in fairly steady prices, and likely a pretty hefty profit margin for ATi. 

What is more interesting is how all of this has affected the top nVidia offering, the GTX-280.  When the 4870X2 launched in early August, it was a direct competitor to the 280 at close to the $500 price point.  When the X2 buried the 280 in performance, nVidia’s only response was to drop the price of the 280 in order to make it more competitive.  As of right now, the 4870X2 is still sitting at around the $530-$550 price point while the 280 runs around $400, and sometimes even lower with rebates. 

With the Sapphire 4850X2 launching today at a price point of $419, this puts ATi’s new offering once again as a direct competitor to the GTX-280.  So will this new competitor continue to put the squeeze on the GT-200s from the green team?  Read on and find out!

Specifications and Features

• DirectX 10.1 Support: You'll be blown away by life-like graphics from the latest DirectX 10.1 games with stunning 3D graphics.
• Dual-GPU technology: Don't fear cranking up the setting - with dual ATi Radeon HD 4850 GPU you're ready to dominate the virtual battlefield. 
• 55nm fabrication process: 55nm process means lower power and less heat.
• ATI Catalyst Control Center: Software Suite for improved stability and performance.  Manage your graphicscards with the Control Center interface. 
• Unified Video Decoder: Watch HD-DVD or Blu-Ray thru a dedicated hardware video decoder that leaves your CPU free to perform other tasks.
• ATI CrossfireX: Upgrade your 3D performance quickly and easily thanks to plug and play ATI CrossfireX technology with up to Quad-GPU support.

As we can see from the specs above, the 4850X2 has the same specs as two 4850's sandwiched together. 

Contents and Layout

In classic Sapphire form, the 4850X2 comes in a nice big box, but not as big as the 4870X2.  The box is nice and shiny, and features what I assume is one of Ruby's many sexy sisters. 

The card itself is actually quite a departure from what we have seen in ATi cards in the past.  Instead of using a heatsink that vents through the back, the 4850X2s use a direct approach, using a fan on each core. 

The I/O panel reveals to us a major surprise.  Unlike the other major offerings on the market today, the 4850X2 offers an amazing four DVI ports as well as a TV-out port.  Quite shocking, and a nice ace up the sleeve from Sapphire.  This also explains why a rear vented cooling solution was not used.

Here is the top-side of the card.  While the 4870X2 is completely sealed off in order to force airflow to the back vent, the black aluminum casing of the 4850X2 acts more like a decorative shell.