Accessories:
The Sapphire 1024MB Radeon HD3850 graphics card comes with a decent bundle of accessories that should help you get up and running without any issues. The below left image shows the cables and connectors, which include a CrossFire bridge, a DVI to HDMI adaptor, a DVI to VGA adaptor, a composite video adaptor, a component video adaptor, and a power adaptor to convert a 4-pin drive connector to a 6-pin PCI Express connector. The adaptors included will get you connected to just about any type of monitor, and the power connector is just another step Sapphire took to make sure you provide the power necessary.
 
The above right image shows the balance of the accessories. You receive a user manual, a driver CD, a disk with FutureMark's 3DMark06, a copy of CyberLink's DVD Suite, and a copy of CyberLink's PowerDVD. There are no games included, and there are no vouchers for free game downloads, so you are on your own to find something fun to do with this card.
Installation and Operation:
The Sapphire 1024MB Radeon HD3850 installed with ease thanks to its small footprint and single slot design. While small form factor systems might have issues with any card this size, the typical desktop or tower case shouldn't have any problem making room for one (or two or three) of these. With the card in place, the system was booted into Windows for testing. The screenshot below was taken from TechPowerUp's GPU-Z, and the basic features and specifications seen earlier are confirmed.
Before I got serious with testing I ran the card through a variety of games and stress tests. The card ran quietly over 95% of the time, and it seemed like it really took some work to get the fan to ramp up. When it did kick in to a higher gear, the noise was noticeable, but nothing out of the ordinary or too loud.
Testing:
A system with the following components was used to test the Sapphire 1024MB Radeon HD3850 graphics card:
» Intel Core 2 Duo E6850 3.0GHz Dual Core processor
» OCZ Technology Vendetta CPU cooler
» ASUS P5KC P35 ATX motherboard
» Kingston HyperX PC-9200 2GB DDR2 dual channel memory running at 1066MHz, 5-5-5-15
» Maxtor MaxLine III 250GB SATA 3Gbps hard drive
» Tuniq Miniplant 950W power supply
All tests were conducted in the 32-bit version of Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 with all updates current as of June 2008. In lieu of the driver's provided with the card, version 8.5 of the ATI Catalyst Control Center software was used.
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