We are not sure what word we would use to describe what came to mind when we heard that Sapphire was going to be re-releasing the Radeon HD 5850 and Radeon HD 5830 to the market. First we wondered, why? But the answer to that would be nothing more than excess cores that need to go. Next, we were a bit surprised and shocked because we felt it was more of a step backwards than anything else. The thing is though, if the price and performance is good, why not buy one? Both models were very good over 12 months ago, but the Radeon HD 5830 never sold. People didn't like the naming scheme and it was simply never really accepted. And being so, why would it be accepted this time? - TweakTown

Sapphire Radeon HD 5830 Xtreme Video Card Review

Well, it won't be, because those people who are going to buy these cards aren't going to care so much about the name, rather the price and performance that is going to be on offer. It's not so much that the name won't be accepted, rather people just won't really care. It's all good and well for Sapphire to slap the Xtreme name on the models now that they're re-releasing, but does it mean anything? It's interesting to see that Sapphire opted for a smaller box on this Radeon HD 5850 which is the higher up model. We are quite a fan of it, though it's cheaper to ship and both hold exactly the same bundle which doesn't hold any surprises.

Looking at the graphics cards, the design isn't anything out of the ordinary with both coolers being ones we've seen before. As for the sizes of the cards, you can see that the higher end model the Radeon HD 5850 is a fair bit smaller. This is probably the main reason Sapphire are able to opt for a smaller box over these bigger Radeon HD 5830. When it comes to power, both cards are identical with a dual 6-pin PCI Express setup. The only difference is the location with the larger Radeon HD 5830 seeing them on the top of the card while the Radeon HD 5850 sees them at the back and slightly separated, while connectivity is similar.

When we started testing the first thing we really thought to ourselves was, sure the Radeon HD 5850 Xtreme performs strong, but we have just no idea why you would choose it over the newer GeForce GTX 560 Ti which is an extremely strong performing mid-range card. We then looked at the price tag of the GeForce GTX 560 Ti which comes in at around $230 and understood at $140 the Radeon HD 5850 Xtreme from Sapphire is just super good value. You are talking at a pricing level of the GeForce GTX 550 Ti, but performance that's nowhere near it. So why would you choose the GeForce GTX 550 Ti over the Radeon HD 5850 Xtreme?

Well, to be honest, we are not too sure. The aggressive price on the Radeon HD 5850 Xtreme is just so strong that the only reason you wouldn't buy it is because you feel you are buying an last generation card. The release of these models though, really shakes up the mid-range market. Priced at under $150 and offering very strong performance, these models are going to worry a lot of partners trying to perform strong in the mid-range segment, which as we have said is the most important for a lot of companies. What hurts most is the name. These have been around for ages and people are going to feel they're buying old technology.

And in a sense you are, because tessellation performance isn't as strong on the latest generation of cards. The bottom line is you can't get past the price that's on offer from these models. They've been priced at the perfect level to get people interested in them. The Radeon HD 5830 Xtreme might not do anything that the previous versions we looked at over twelve months ago did, but they've just come in at that perfect price point which will make people think twice about buying models like these Radeon HD 6850 and GeForce GTX 550 Ti somehow. Because really, what's in a name?