# Powercolor HD 5850 PCS+



## W1zzard (Dec 31, 2009)

Powercolor is the first add-in-board manufacturer to release a completely custom designed Radeon HD 5850. The HD 5850 PCS+ features a revamped cooling solution that offers extremely low temperatures and comfortable noise levels. It also comes with higher clocks out of the box that should give the card an extra performance boost.

*Show full review*


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## Izliecies (Jan 5, 2010)

Looks really good!

Btw, there has to be a mistake. It is impossible that 9800 GT is better than HD 4890 un GTX 285 in 1680x1050 and higher! Also it is the 512MB version.


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## W1zzard (Jan 5, 2010)

which benchmark are you talking about?


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## Sasqui (Jan 5, 2010)

Wow, the fan noise is pretty much nothing, and temps are very respectable.

It doesn't look like the ram chips have any heatsinks or contact with the GPU cooler - is that true?


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## KainXS (Jan 5, 2010)

how in the world . . . . . did a 9800GT beat the GTX285 and HD5850?

needs to be fixed


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## W1zzard (Jan 5, 2010)

lol that must be a bug for sure, i put up a note on that page


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## overclocking101 (Jan 5, 2010)

I was just sitting here wondering??? What do you do with all these video cards wizzard?? do you just have a closet full of video cards somewhere??? man all these reviews you have done just curios is all. nice review to bad powercolor couldnt have used the volterra controller though.


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## WarEagleAU (Jan 5, 2010)

for only 30 bucks more I have to say this is a win. Awesome review as always W1zzard and I love the card. Wish they went with a full black scheme though.


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## aj28 (Jan 5, 2010)

Makes you wonder (just a bit) why they bother with the ugly (and in this generation, expensive) stock coolers. For all the talk and marketing buzz you can generate around something silly like exhausting hot air out of the case, all you end up with is an inefficient brick of a cooler bound to cost you down the road in warranty claims.

Oh, and GG Powercolor!! =D


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## cbupdd (Jan 6, 2010)

overclocking101 said:


> I was just sitting here wondering??? What do you do with all these video cards wizzard?? do you just have a closet full of video cards somewhere??? man all these reviews you have done just curios is all. nice review to bad powercolor couldnt have used the volterra controller though.



lol, good question. He has been reviewing for more than 5 years, so he'll have more than a closet. Imagine a hw room, full of those sexy items.. our dream


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## lism (Jan 6, 2010)

I think he has to return the cards another day 

Btw, 30$ extra for basicly a redesigned PCB, 3rd party cooler and margin extra clockspeeds?

and can someone tell me why with AMD / ATI Cards there's always this "No support for Cuda/Physx" thing at the conclusion page? Both are Nvidia anyways.


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## Soylent Joe (Jan 6, 2010)

I saw it beat the 5870 and even 5970 in some games, like in Far Cry 2. Is that right?


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## [H]@RD5TUFF (Jan 6, 2010)

Great review, I'm just rather hesitant to put my money down for this product as I was burnt badly by power color with my purchase of a 9600 XT.


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## Imsochobo (Jan 6, 2010)

aj28 said:


> Makes you wonder (just a bit) why they bother with the ugly (and in this generation, expensive) stock coolers. For all the talk and marketing buzz you can generate around something silly like exhausting hot air out of the case, all you end up with is an inefficient brick of a cooler bound to cost you down the road in warranty claims.
> 
> Oh, and GG Powercolor!! =D



gotz carpet floor, cats, dogs and a 4870X2 og 9800GX2 results in almost just that.
They never break, you open the cooler and clean it.
I recently sold a 3870X2 used it in a lanpc(24/7 on) and i cudnt see that it had any dust at all in it, low temps.

It strongly depends on the surroundings

Do you smoke in front of the computer: ANY fan fails.

I aint praising exhaust out the back cooler, i just like that atleast as much as possible goes out there 
They should make a new ATX standard with dedicated videocard exhaust on cases!


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## eidairaman1 (Jan 7, 2010)

nice card, now if XFX would release something of their own design.


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## TheMailMan78 (Jan 7, 2010)

I'm sorry but 30 bucks more for a crappy OC like that? I mean I have mine at 775/1125 on a reference card and it stays as cool as a cucumber. Gimmick card is gimmicky.


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## eidairaman1 (Jan 7, 2010)

this has been going on in the market for years dude. They charge for clock speed increases just like on CPUs.

TBH this is a nice card but i want to see what the others have for non ref designs. Otherwise I may pick up a 5770 and just call it a day.


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## TheMailMan78 (Jan 7, 2010)

eidairaman1 said:


> this has been going on in the market for years dude. They charge for clock speed increases just like on CPUs.
> 
> TBH this is a nice card but i want to see what the others have for non ref designs. Otherwise I may pick up a 5770 and just call it a day.



I wouldn't waste your time. Get at the bare minimum a 5850.


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## eidairaman1 (Jan 7, 2010)

Well Im just waiting for more 3rd party designs come along. The last time I had a ref design board was from ATI directly during the R300 lineup.


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## TheMailMan78 (Jan 7, 2010)

eidairaman1 said:


> Well Im just waiting for more 3rd party designs come along. The last time I had a ref design board was from ATI directly during the R300 lineup.



Well this time the reference design is awesome man. It cools like a mutha-humper!


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## Crisium (Jan 9, 2010)

Um, I don't know where to start with this.  Something... just doesn't look right here.


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## W1zzard (Jan 9, 2010)

looks like a bug


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## Steevo (Feb 4, 2010)

W1zzard, is there any way you could do a 5850 X-fire review?


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## ANDRIKSTORM (Mar 9, 2010)

Powercolor HD5850 PCS+ have the card stable @ 950 / 1100 Tmax=73C
(can't change the volts yet, but if someone finds a way to I'll be upping those like mad and shooting for higher).

my unlock bios 760/1050 (max 1200/1400)


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## seanlimys (May 20, 2010)

@andrikstorm

u sure this bios can be used? not confident to try...perhaps u can show me the method how to flash the bios? 

wats the speed like for ur bios? not sure wat u r trying to say


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## shinnok (May 29, 2010)

good card.. I have it .. but max speed 875 / 1250  no more up 

how you made 950 mhz ?? i want know this pls


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## OnBoard (May 30, 2010)

shinnok said:


> good card.. I have it .. but max speed 875 / 1250  no more up
> 
> how you made 950 mhz ?? i want know this pls



It's luck of the draw. W1zzards core might have been a 5870 with a small imperfection that didn't allow full 1600 shaders. Then there are those that don't do 5870 speeds well and they end up as 5850s, like yours.


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## seanlimys (May 30, 2010)

shinnok said:


> good card.. I have it .. but max speed 875 / 1250  no more up
> 
> how you made 950 mhz ?? i want know this pls



so good for u to have such card to reach 875/1250 without problems..

i guess..these cards are just like processors...luck mostly


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