During that time, NVIDIA’s 8000-series really helped cement them as the DX10 leader from the top to bottom – it was as if its family of products was holding the nail in the coffin for ATI. However, the development team at ATI’s Florida division never lost sight of what they needed to do – offer a world-beating GPU, based on a the most advanced manufacturing process to date for GPUs (55nm) at prices that are below that of today’s top game consoles.

While the entire graphics industry will be the first to acknowledge it’s only the small few who actually purchase high-end GPUs (over $500), that fact hasn’t previously stopped them from pursuing that markets because of the excellent profit margins. Up until this point, both ATI and NVIDIA have been guilty of releasing products which cater to that small demographic.  

AMD needed something good and needed it fast – more importantly, it needed to be priced to move in rapid fashion. Just one peek at the company’s stock prices over the past few years, you’ll see why they so desperately needed this product to work – and I for one am very happy about this move.

Its Radeon HD 4800-series, announced last week is perhaps one of the most significant releases of any GPU by any manufacturer in the past few years. It represents what the largest part of the PC market truly desires. Ultra-fast performance, next-gen API support (DX 10.1) at prices which don’t require you to have a doctorate degree to afford them – the Radeon HD 4850 is the first out of the gate and that’s the card we’re looking at today, courtesy of Diamond Multimedia.

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