With more third-party manufacturers now pumping out Radeon 8500s, were finally starting to see some diversity in our choices of cards and there are some great bargains to be had as well.
For its most recent offering, Hercules has gone with an LE type 8500. This is a slightly slower version of the Radeon 8500. The LE still packs all the same features as the standard model (including full DirectX 8.1 support, with Pixel and Vertex Shaders) but uses an OEM core/RAM combination, clocking in at 250/500MHz instead of the usual 275/550. Its therefore a little slower when it comes to performance in the benchmarks.
In compensation Hercules is selling it at an excessively low price: $430 is a veritable steal for an 8500, and it can be bought at most online shops for much less.
In all our benchmarking, the 8500LE proves to be quite competitive with Gigabytes AP64D-H, usually only lagging by 5-10%. On the other hand, its a good 30% faster than MSIs MX460 (also reviewed here), and has
a boot load more features. Considering the price difference between these cards, the Hercules offers great value for money.
On the down side, the FDX 8500LE isnt that great an option if youre planning on overclocking. The included fan/heatsink combo is strictly functional, and the card lacks RAM sinks altogether. Moreover, the placement of certain capacitors means it wont be easy to mount your own RAMsinks either.
Overall, the FDX 8500LE offers a compelling package at an excellent price.
Daniel Gardiner