1 - Introduction

Never say that the graphics industry isn't an exciting and changing one. Ever since the year 2007 AMD has been having a really rough time, they were in the lowest position they have ever been. Then they fix a processor bug, and directly after that release Radeon HD series 4000. And ever since the Radeon HD series 4000 AMD's ATI has been on a roll. It's nearly bi-weekly that they announce and introduce a new product. On the other side of the scope we have NVIDIA which has been leading in many segments for years and counter-acting every move that ATI made, yet that ball turned around, didn't it?

See, right now every move that NVIDIA makes is being counter-acted by ATI. And today they are launching a new mid-range class product. It's called the Radeon HD 4830 and again is a product that will bring a couple of surprises in the performance versus price ratio, to fight against the 'new' GeForce 9800 GT.

A sub-$150 HD 4000 series video card that will take on NVIDIA, in the shape of the Radeon HD 4830. We expect its price to settle at 119-129 USD. This card will have 640 stream processors, a 256-bit memory interface and GDDR3 memory, and slot in-between the Radeon HD 4850 and HD 4670. What is the HD 4830 targeted against? Well, considering the NVIDIA GeForce 9600 GT and 9800 GT retail for around $130, it seems likely AMD would continue the pressure by also aiming for these products.

So without further ado, let's have a peek at the product, the technology and obviously it's features and performance. Today we'll also introduce three new applications to our benchmark test suite, Brother's in Arms: Hells Highway, Crysis Warhead and Far Cry 2.