The HD4830 is receiving a lot of positive reviews, but at ~$120, it may not fit the bill as a stocking stuffer for an builder of HTPCs or a part time gamer.   At ~$70 you can get the HD4550 and for ~$80 the HD4650, both sporting 512M of RAM, the 4550 on a 64-bit bus, the 4650 on a 128-bit.  The lower priced 4550 runs at 600MHz core and 800MHz DDR2, the 4650 at 60MHz core and a slightly slower 700MHz GDDR3.  A little investigation shows that Sapphire switches between DDR and GDDR on certain models, the GDDR models will run faster with less heat thanks to the lowered voltage, so make sure you examine those packages or descriptions carefully before you buy.  Of course, all support HD video and 7.1 sound like all of the HD4xxx series.  Check out how they perform at Driver Heaven.

“Last month we looked at a 4550 sample from ATI, it proved to be a great budget card and earned our top award. Now weve got our hands on another 4550 from Sapphire, along with their 4650 model.”

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