After their rather disappointing Radeon HD 3800 series, ATI took the world by surprise with the Radeon HD 4800 generation of graphics boards. Since their launch back in June, ATI has reclaimed its presence in the market and has been steadily eating away at NVIDIA's marketshare. We have had the opportunity to check out several cards from the Radeon HD 4800 series lineup and today we look at one of the newest additions to the family, the Radeon HD 4830. This particular model, the Extreme AH4830, comes to us from ASUS and sports a custom cooler and factory overclocked memory. We'll put it through its paces and find out how it compares to its two closest siblings. - Benchmark Reviews

ASUS Extreme AH4830 512MB Graphics Style Review

At roughly $100 to $130, the Radeon HD 4830 fills in a previously vacant price point between the Radeon HD 4670 and the Radeon HD 4850. With the holiday season upon us, this will certainly be an important price range and most ATI partners have been working overtime to get these cards out in time. The Extreme AH4830 model that we'll be testing today is a slightly modified version of ATI's reference design. Asus threw out the standard single slot cooler and opted for its own two slot solution, which should offer better thermal performance. They also pre-overclocked the memory from a reference speed of 1800MHz to 2000MHz.

The Radeon HD 4830 is built around the same RV770 chipset used in the rest of their Radeon HD 4800 series, but with only 640 stream processors activated instead of the full 800 available. ASUS stuck with the standard red PCB for their first edition of the Radeon HD 4830. The size and shape of the PCB also seems to be based on a reference design and matched the length of the Radeon HD 4850. The black on red color scheme looks great and has a strong ATI feel to it, something long time fans will love. Aside from standard features, ASUS also includes high quality power delivery components and a custom heatsink and fan.

To help compensate for the 160 stream processor deficit of the Radeon HD 4830, ASUS went with quality GDDR3 from Qimonda and overclocked it to 2000MHz. This adds up to a memory bandwidth on par with the Radeon HD 4850, and should provide the Extreme AH4830 with an edge over its competition. Factory overclocking has become very popular with the last few generations of video cards, but most of the other Radeon HD 4830's on the market are running at stock speeds. While other cards may be able to reach these speeds, ASUS is currently one of the only manufacturers to guarantee it with the Radeon HD 4830.

The Radeon HD 4830 series of video cards proved to be a worthy addition to the Radeon HD 4800 product family. With prices reaching below $100, it fills an important price point for the holiday shopping season. The Extreme AH4830, came to us from ASUS in a colorful, well designed package and free from harm. ASUS also maintains an excellent website showcasing their products, although at the time of this article, any mention of the Extreme AH4830 has been absent from the US product pages. We were able to find a news release announcing its launch. On the plus side, the Extreme AH4830 is listed on the support section.

Out of the packaging, their Extreme AH4830 card takes on a classic red and black color scheme. The heatsink and fan design is attractive, but not overstated. Overall, it's a great looking card, although chances are most people will be more interested in the visuals it can produce as opposed to the way it looks. As with most ASUS products, the Extreme AH4830 is well constructed. The heatsinks were firmly attached, with no noticeable movement or flex. ASUS went with high quality capacitors, mosfets and shielding. And all add up to great construction quality, which equates to better stability and a higher overclocking threshold.

Although our price comparison tool has found a few retailers selling the ASUS Extreme AH4830, only one offers the best deal. As of November, you can buy the Extreme AH4830 from Newegg for just under $100 after rebates of course, otherwise the price is $119. At this price, the Extreme AH4830 is an exceptional value, although we would have liked to see a DVI to HDMI adapter and a CrossFire bridge be included. Out of all the Radeon HD 4830's currently on the market, the Extreme AH4830 from ASUS offers the best factory clock speeds and performance. At its current price, it is also one of the best deals out there.