Picked up a reference HD 4870 for $11. Hit 96°C at stock but pushed through GTA San Andreas, CoD4, NFS Most Wanted 2005 and Crysis on a Core 2 Duo rig. Full video here: https://youtu.be/yf9m_z8Nqxs
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Following up from the HD 4850 video — this time a reference HD 4870 for $11. Tested on 6 games on the Core 2 Duo rig.
GTA San Andreas
CoD4 Modern Warfare
Tomb Raider Underworld
Just Cause 2
NFS Most Wanted 2005
Crysis
Hit 96°C at stock but handled everything thrown at it. Full video here: https://youtu.be/yf9m_z8Nqxs
- RiskRig91@lemmy.worldto
RetroGaming@lemmy.world•Can a $10 Radeon HD 4850 still run GTA SA, Crysis and CoD4 in 2026?English
10 daysHaha 4x Crossfire sounds like an absolute disaster — so much heat for worse performance! But that’s the kind of experiment you do just to say you did it. Running Crysis on 4x HD 4850 with a Phenom is peak LAN party energy!
- RiskRig91@lemmy.worldto
RetroGaming@lemmy.world•Can a $10 Radeon HD 4850 still run GTA SA, Crysis and CoD4 in 2026?English
10 daysThe 9800 XT was a great card! And same story for a lot of people — ATI had some really strong offerings before the AMD acquisition. The HD 4850 era was probably their peak value for money!
- RiskRig91@lemmy.worldto
RetroGaming@lemmy.world•Can a $10 Radeon HD 4850 still run GTA SA, Crysis and CoD4 in 2026?English
10 daysThat’s actually a really smart approach — a separate dedicated how-to video for the maintenance process and then reference it in future videos. Saves time in the main video and makes it more reusable. I’ll definitely consider this for future videos, thanks!
- RiskRig91@lemmy.worldto
RetroGaming@lemmy.world•Can a $10 Radeon HD 4850 still run GTA SA, Crysis and CoD4 in 2026?English
11 daysExactly! That’s why I overclocked the CPU to 3.8GHz to alleviate the bottleneck. But you’re right, Crysis runs way smoother on a Quad-Core. The GPU still takes a massive beating though!
- RiskRig91@lemmy.worldto
RetroGaming@lemmy.world•Can a $10 Radeon HD 4850 still run GTA SA, Crysis and CoD4 in 2026?English
11 daysHaha the Celeron trap — more cores but way slower! The 4850 didn’t come with Half-Life 2, that was the 9800 Pro era with ATI. But it was definitely a legendary card in its time!
- RiskRig91@lemmy.worldto
RetroGaming@lemmy.world•Can a $10 Radeon HD 4850 still run GTA SA, Crysis and CoD4 in 2026?English
12 daysThanks for the feedback! When I made these first videos I wanted to show the full process step by step — in case someone wants to do it themselves and needs a reference. But I agree it gets tiring after a point. After the HD 5000 series the videos will be faster with fewer scenes. On the music I’m still searching — YouTube’s copyright system is very restrictive. Really appreciate you taking the time to watch and comment!
- RiskRig91@lemmy.worldto
RetroGaming@lemmy.world•Can a $10 Radeon HD 4850 still run GTA SA, Crysis and CoD4 in 2026?English
12 daysThanks for being the first view and for the detailed feedback! These are my first videos so I’m still finding my style. I’ve already noticed the pacing issue myself — by the time I reach the HD 5000 series the videos will be faster and tighter. I’m also trying to improve the quality with every new video. On the music, YouTube’s copyright system is very strict so options are limited, but I’ll keep experimenting. Really appreciate the honest feedback!
Picked up a used Gigabyte HD 4850 with Zalman aftermarket cooler for $10. The Zalman cooler kept temps at just 53°C — massive difference from my previous HD 3850 that hit 106°C! Tested on a Core 2 Duo rig with GTA SA, CoD4, Crysis and more. Full video here: https://youtu.be/0ORqQPk7kjs
- RiskRig91@lemmy.worldto
RetroGaming@lemmy.world•I paid $9.90 for a 19-year-old Radeon HD 3850 — it hit 106°C and still gamedEnglish
19 daysHaha yeah the temps were wild! The i5-4785T is way more power efficient. The whole point here was to see if this ancient dedicated GPU could still hold up — and somehow it did despite trying to melt itself!
- RiskRig91@lemmy.worldto
RetroGaming@lemmy.world•I paid $9.90 for a 19-year-old Radeon HD 3850 — it hit 106°C and still gamedEnglish
20 daysHaha the old rig is intentional — it’s a retro build for testing old GPUs. That’s kind of the whole point of the channel!
Following up from my HD 3870 video — this time I picked up an untested HD 3850 from 2007 for $9.90. Cleaned it, repasted it and threw it at 6 games on a Core 2 Duo rig.
• GTA San Andreas
• CoD4 Modern Warfare
• Tomb Raider Underworld
• Just Cause 2
• NFS Most Wanted
• Crysis
Temps hit 106°C but it survived.

Picked up a Radeon HD 3870 for $10 with no guarantees. Cleaned it, repasted it and threw it at CoD4 Modern Warfare and Crysis 1 on a Core 2 Duo rig. The nostalgia was real. Full video here: https://youtu.be/WuTVt4ZCmoY





Haha dual 4870 in Crossfire must’ve been a furnace! Insane heat output for sure.