XFX Radeon HD5830 Video Card Review

The XFX Radeon HD 5830 looks deceptively simple; it doesn't even look like a new product. It doesn't shout, "Hey, look at me. I'm new and different." Every ATI Radeon HD 5000 series product launch until now has had a visually unique model range that you could point to and say, "That's a 5770 or That's a 5670." ad infinitum it seemed for the last several months. Now, with the release of almost a dozen new HD 5830 graphics cards in the last few weeks, there are hardly two HD5830 cards that look alike. It's a stealth product in chameleon's clothes. Well, Benchmark Reviews has one pinned down under the microscope, and we can all take a look at an actual retail video card, P/N HD-583X-ZNFV, from one of ATI's newest major AIB partners, XFX.

Launch day for the ATI Radeon HD 5830 was a bit different than most; 90% of the dozens of reviews were of a card that would never be sold. The engineering prototypes that ATI supplied for the industry roll-out were all built on the HD 5870 reference design, because the 5830 needs more power than the 5850 voltage regulator modules could supply. Meanwhile, all the ATI Add-in-Board (AIB) partners were getting ready to release their own custom versions of the 5830. Most of them had their own custom designs for the 5870 and 5850 in the works, or on the market already, so it was supposed to be an easy matter to port the house design over to the 5830.

Ever since the introduction of the ATI Radeon HD5770, PC gamers and enthusiasts have been looking at the wide gap between the HD5770 and the HD5850 and knew that it would only be a matter of time before ATI plugged the hole in their product line. ATI is taking a slightly different approach with the Radeon HD 5830 video card; selling only the ASIC chips to their Add-In-Board (AIB) partners. Benchmark Reviews recently tested a prototype ATI Radeon HD 5830 video card, and now we have a full retail product to dissect. No more BIOS flashes of well-used test mules, this is the real thing.

Please follow along as Benchmark Reviews gives you a detailed look at the latest Radeon 5000-series product from XFX.

About the company: XFX

XFX dares to go where the competition would like to go, but can't. That's because at XFX, the corporate philosophy is not about pushing the limits. For example, the Research and Development team never asks "why?" They usually ask "why not?" The company's tenacious quest to be the best of the best is what enables it to continually create the mind-blowing, performance-crushing, competition-obliterating video cards and motherboards that make up its core product line.

XFX's expansive product lineup continues to motivate, inspire and exceed the demands of its diverse audience. The company is a category leader thanks to its high-performance products that generate exceptional graphics and realistic and immersive 3D environments that vastly improve the gaming experience.

Satisfying the insatiable needs of gamers worldwide is just the tip of the iceberg; XFX is also highly visible in the gaming community. Over the years, the company has expanded its For Gamers By Gamers principle through a variety of award-winning advertising campaigns and a U.S. "search for the next professional gamer" that promote gaming as a professional sport rather than as entertainment. The company also maintains a strong alliance with the world's best known gamer, Fatal1ty, with whom XFX collaborates to create a professional level of video cards and gaming accessories. It is this dedication to producing the impossible that has enabled XFX to achieve a stronghold in the gaming community and to garner hundreds of awards along the way.

XFX is a division of PINE Technology Holdings Limited, a leading manufacturer and marketer of innovative solutions for the worldwide gaming technologies market. Founded in 1989, PINE designs, develops, manufactures and distributes high-performance video graphics technology and computer peripherals. The company's dedicated research and development team are continually pushing the limits to meet the demands of the ever-growing and performance-driven community.

The company has more than 1,000 employees worldwide with 17 offices around the globe. With distribution in over 50 countries around the world, PINE's XFX division maintains two state-of-the-art research and development facilities in Taiwan and Shenzhen, technical support centers in the U.S., Europe and Asia, product marketing the U.S., and a factory in Mainland China. To learn more about PINE, please visit www.pinegroup.com

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