AMD HD 4850 - Best Mid-Range GPU Ever? Yes.

If you are excited about the GPU market right now, then good, you sure have the right to be. It's been a little while since ATI released a GPU to cause alarm for NVIDIA, but it's happening now with the HD 4850. Despite being a mid-range offering, it's more powerful than what would be considered high-end just a few months ago, and that, in itself, is impressive to think about.

Though our review is not yet ready, I couldn't help but make a post and build up some anticipation. The main reason for excitement would be the fact that the HD 4850 is faster in almost all of our tests than NVIDIA's 9800 GTX. The reason that's impressive is because the HD 4850 debuts with a $200 price tag. In most of the games we've tested, even 2560x1600 proved more than playable... especially with Half-Life 2 and Call of Duty 4.

Overclocking is not entirely impressive, but still reasonable. The fact is though, if you have this card, you should find little need to even want to overclock it, unless you are one of those who feels dirty unless there is a good OC in place. Add to the fact that the card at stock speeds is hot, overclocking feels even less important.

Credit: Techgage / Rob Williams

Right now, the HD 4850 is a fantastic choice for someone looking to spend $200 on a new GPU. For those looking for something smaller, I still whole heartily recommend NVIDIA's 9600 GT, because at ~$140, it's still the king of that segment. Considering how much more power could be had for that extra $60 though, it can be a difficult decision to make.

The best part of the HD 4850 is the fact that it's available right now at numerous popular e-tailers. NewEgg alone offers eight different models... all priced at $199.99. NVIDIA will launch their 9800 GTX+ next month, which might shake up the decision-making process a little bit. That will most likely ride on pricing, though, so don't be surprised to see this new card even lower than its $199.99 SRP by that time.

ASUS RoG Convention Gets Date Change

Last Thursday, I posted about the upcoming ASUS Republic of Gamers convention, and already there is a major change. Due to scheduling issues, the convention has been pushed back from July 18 - 20 to August 8 - 10. Despite the change, we'll still be there with bells on.

For the uninformed, the Republic of Gamers convention is essentially one big LAN party, with hopes to bring in around 1,000 gamers. It takes place at the Hyatt Regency right in the heart of Dallas, Texas. The event will be BYOC and BYON (bring-your-own notebook). Food will cost, but some should be free, with the rest being very cheap.

In addition to the LAN party itself will be a few workshops, one handled by Kyle Bennett of Hard|OCP. Overall, it should be quite an interesting time, and I for one am extremely interested to see how well this one goes. If it goes well, we can be sure to see it happen as an annual event.

Welcome to the Republic Of Gamers Convention, brought to you by ASUS and Intel. ROGCon will be heating up Dallas, Texas this August 8th to 10th by bringing old school LAN party fun to a whole new level. ROGCon will be open to the public and will feature a 24-hour BYOC where 700 gamers can show-off their skills.

Source: Republic of Gamers Convention

June 23rd Tech Roundup

Motherboards & Processors
• Asus Crosshair II Formula - TechSpot
• MSI P7N SLI Platinum - Madshrimps

Displays & Video Cards
• ATI Radeon HD 4850 Versus NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GTX+ - Legit Reviews
• NVIDIA GeForce 8200 IGP - Phoronix
• NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280 1024MB - Digit-Life
• PowerColor HD4850 - Overclockers Club
• XFX 9800GX2 Quad SLI - Overclock3D

Memory & Storage
• BlacX and BlacX-SE HDD Docking Stations - Modders-Inc
• INEO I-NA305J External JBOD Enclosure - OCModShop
• Super Talent 8 GB USB Pico Drive - TechwareLabs
• Thecus N5200BR NAS - Hardware Logic

Peripherals & Gadgets
• CradlePoint MBR1000 Mobile Broadband Router - Think Computers
• Logitech Driving Force GT Steering Wheel - i4u
• Razer Lycosa Gaming Keyboard - Technic3D

Cooling
• Kingwin Revolution RVT-9225 CPU Cooler - DragonSteelMods
• Silenx Ixtrema ICX-HA2 CPU Cooler - Red and Blackness
• Sunbeam Core-Contact Freezer CPU Cooler - Dreamware Computers
• Xigmatek Achilles CPU Cooler - techPowerUp!
• Xigmatek HDT-S1283 CPU Cooler - Hardware Canucks
• ZEROtherm Nirvana NV120 Premium - Tech-Reviews

Chassis & Power Supplies
• Arctic Cooling Silentium T2 ECO 80 - Madshrimps
• BFG ES-800 Power Supply - Bjorn3D
• OCZ EliteXStream 800W Power Supply - APH Networks
• X-Spice Kira 630 Watt Power Supply - Pro-Clockers

Competitions, Complete Systems & Et cetera
• Solaris Express Community Edition Build 91 - Phoronix