The graphics solution world is constantly evolving with visual quality being stepped up at an ever-growing exponential rate. The launch of Windows 7 and with it the tantalising prospect of DirectX 11 games is perhaps not so much just a single step up but a whole flight of stairs designed to deliver unparalleled graphics quality.

With nVidia sliding by the way side, ATI is setting about monopolising the market rolling out numerous members of its 5 series cards, each of which offers a different price/performance ratio, following the main launch of the 5870 – a card which packed some serious performance and certainly turned heads at the beginning of the DirectX 11 era.

However, with DirectX 11 games still very much on the horizon and price of the 5870 way over budget for many enthusiasts, the inevitable introduction of the 5850 followed shortly. Based on the same RV870 core, codenamed Cypress, but located inside the $250 price bracket, the 5850 should consolidate the performance achieved by its bigger brother placing it in the upper mid-range section so as to push all the buttons for DX11 enthusiasts.

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