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Which card to choose?

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Well, since this GTX 470 is on sale for $300, and 5850's are normally $300, which one should I get? Keep in mind that I will be water cooling said card (eventually), and doing SLI/Crossfire sometime in the future. Thanks. :toast:
 
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470 hands down especially if you're planning to watercool, it will absolutely demolish the 5850.

just my 2 cents, but both cards do have their ups and downs, but just by comparing raw performance the 470 will outmatch the 5850.
 

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I like both cards, if your choice is based on performance only I would probably go for the 470 however "better" is subjective, possibly the 5850 might be better (lower power consumption/ heat etc). If you can get the 470 for the price of a 5850 I would probably go for that.
 
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Watercooling? Same price as a 5850? Well for me, 470 ftw!
 

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I say 5850. Lower power, Less heat and once OC takes the 470 all day long. If you don't OC it the damn thing performs at the very most 10 fps less then the 470. The only real advantage to the 470 is SLI scaling.
 

shevanel

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If you like using multiple monitors I think the ATI card is better. It may be just me but with the ATI software I can set up multiple monitors fullscreen without any hassle. On nvidia setups I always have to do a million things to properly use multi-monitors fullscreen for seperate sources.

ATI runs cooler, less power.. less heat.. less noise (watercooled so it doesnt matter for you)

ATI is the future.
 

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its on sale and both cards are the same price?.... GTX470.

you plan to watercool either in the future?... GTX470.

You plan do do twin cards in the future?... GTX470.

For the same price the 470 matches a 5850 on most games and dominates it in some (mostly DX11 titles so youre looking to the future). Watercooling a 5850 IMO is fairly useless, they run cool and the stock cooler is pefect IMO (having owned one) the benfits and overclocking gains from w/c a GTX470 will be much better than a 5850. and for my last point, it's been fairly rubbed in lately that SLi scaling pwns CFX scaling, some of the best gains I ever saw on my 5870+5850 combo were in the order of 65-70%, and many many reviews are showing SLi can scale beyond 90%, in a whole heap of scenario's.
 
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I say 5850. Lower power, Less heat and once OC takes the 470 all day long. If you don't OC it the damn thing performs at the very most 10 fps less then the 470. The only real advantage to the 470 is SLI scaling.

But, since I'm water cooling, temps aren't an issue for me, and I will be OCing the crap out of whatever card I get, so if I get a 470 and OC it, wouldn't that smash an OC'ed 5850?
 

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Haven't owned the 5850 (great card from what I have seen), but I do own the 470 and absolutely love it!
Overclocks very nicely - especially with water cooling!
 
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Haven't owned the 5850 (great card from what I have seen), but I do own the 470 and absolutely love it!
Overclocks very nicely - especially with water cooling!

Awesome, what's your current OC and what are your temps?
 

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I only oc when I bench. No need when I play games:)

Single card @ 900/1000/1800
Temps: 30 idle and 47 load


SLI @ 845/1050/1690
Temps: 29 idle and 43 load (card #1); 30 idle and 47 load (card #2)


Highest yet (for me) for single 470:
910/1010/1820
30 idle and 43 load
 

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But, since I'm water cooling, temps aren't an issue for me, and I will be OCing the crap out of whatever card I get, so if I get a 470 and OC it, wouldn't that smash an OC'ed 5850?

Temps could still be an issue dependent upon which watercooling gear you plan to use. The heat still has to go somewhere but it's really a non-issue as long as your loop is sufficient.
 
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But, since I'm water cooling, temps aren't an issue for me, and I will be OCing the crap out of whatever card I get, so if I get a 470 and OC it, wouldn't that smash an OC'ed 5850?

Look at the reviews on this site. It's not difficult to figure out. You can also use the forum search feature and find many other threads on this exact same subject. I'll be nice and let you know that you will find that you should go with the GTX 470.
 

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But, since I'm water cooling, temps aren't an issue for me, and I will be OCing the crap out of whatever card I get, so if I get a 470 and OC it, wouldn't that smash an OC'ed 5850?

Well if you are going to watercool the damn thing then why even have this thread?! 470 man 470! If you were going to go air then 5850.
 
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Look at the reviews on this site. It's not difficult to figure out. You can also use the forum search feature and find many other threads on this exact same subject. I'll be nice and let you know that you will find that you should go with the GTX 470.

I guess I asked a dumb question then... just weighing my options.
 
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I only oc when I bench. No need when I play games:)

Single card @ 900/1000/1800
Temps: 30 idle and 47 load
http://img.techpowerup.org/100820/Capture127.jpg

SLI @ 845/1050/1690
Temps: 29 idle and 43 load (card #1); 30 idle and 47 load (card #2)
http://img.techpowerup.org/100820/Capture121256.jpg

Highest yet (for me) for single 470:
910/1010/1820
30 idle and 43 load
http://img.techpowerup.org/100820/Capture131.jpg

Thing I am noticing about your benches is that you have PhysX enabled. So IMO not a real world comparison between the two cards.

I have owned both the GTX 470 in SLI and the 5850 in Crossfire.

Too tell you the truth If PhysX is not enabled they aren't that far apart in real world gaming performance.

As far as in Benching.... while the GTX 470 W/O PhysX is more powerful and will get a better score.

They weren't that far apart either.
I had GPU scores something to the tune of this.....

26000 GTX 470 SPU Score and 24000 5850 GPU Score.

When overclocking them... The 5850 was able to hang again with the GTX 470 because of being able to achieve such high overclocks.

Now I will admit that I didn't have my GTX 470 when the latest performance drivers came out so there might be some difference there now. I will also admit that the GTX 470's killed my 5850's in DX11 performance.

But I will also add that even with the Cooler Driver update that was released for the GTX 470's.... the reason I got rid of those cards and moved on to something else was because of heat.

So if heat is not a problem for you and you have great air flow in your case (Even more then mine which is a CM Sniper case) Or your planning on water cooling.... I would say get the GTX 470's.

But if you don't have all that stuff mentioned above and Heat is a problem for you then I would go for the 5850's.

They are just to close in real life to make a ones better then the other decision. I loved them both when I had them.
 
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Temps could still be an issue dependent upon which watercooling gear you plan to use. The heat still has to go somewhere but it's really a non-issue as long as your loop is sufficient.

It's a Swiftech 120mm rad, a Koolance 120.2 rad, an OCZ Hydro Pulse 500 pump, an i5 with a Danger Den TDX block, and 5 ft. of Danger Den tubing, all 3/8". Should that be sufficient to handle a 470 thrown in?
 
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get the 470 and all i have ever owned is ATI
 

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It's a Swiftech 120mm rad, a Koolance 120.2 rad, an OCZ Hydro Pulse 500 pump, an i5 with a Danger Den TDX block, and 5 ft. of Danger Den tubing, all 3/8". Should that be sufficient to handle a 470 thrown in?

You should have no issues.
 
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If you can't wait for the upcoming GPUs soon and power consumption is not a concern, and since you've already decided to use water cooling; then I'd definitely recommend the GTX 470 since it performs better than the 5850 and also scales very well in SLI.
 
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If you can't wait for the upcoming GPUs soon and power consumption is not a concern, and since you've already decided to use water cooling; then I'd definitely recommend the GTX 470 since it performs better than the 5850 and also scales very well in SLI.

Ohhhhhh, that's right, Southern Islands is coming out this year! Thanks for reminding me, I would have forgotten. :toast: I think I might just hold out for those, I don't get the money for a little while and those don't come out for some time, so it works out well.
 
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