Sapphire Radeon HD 4850 512MB Vapor-X video card review

By this point in the game, AMD's Radeon HD 4800 series of parts feels rather like an old friend or a comfy pair of slippers, we've seen so much of them since their hugely successful launch.

However, despite the fact that we know all there is to know about both the Radeon HD 4850 and 4870, we're still seeing plenty of new designs coming from AIB partners.  Not so long ago we examined an XFX Radeon HD 4850 board complete with custom cooling solution and factory overclocks, and last week Sapphire launched a new range of parts using AMD's RV770 chip, offering up reference clocked boards complete with vapour chamber cooling solutions as part of their Vapor-X series, as well as a 2GB variant of the Radeon HD 4870.

It's one of these Vapor-X boards which we get to run the rule over today, as we examine the Radeon HD 4850 Vapor-X.  It may not boast any factory overclocks to speak of, but the promise of an improved cooler alone is potentially a big draw for users, so can this innovative cooler catch the eye?  Let's take a look at our sample and find out.