New Member ... Needs an opinion on an upgrade.

[20mmrain]

First off let me start by saying Hi. I am a new member of these forums and I will be looking forward into getting into some interesting conversations about the PC world. With that being said I have been reading and trusting the opinions of these forums since I started building PCs over 3 years ago. So I thought a good first post would be an opinion poll.
Okay here's the deal (I have about 450$ to spend).....

Would upgrading my EVGA GTX 285 F.T.W. to a Gigabyte 5870 be worth the extra money to performance ratio?
Has anyone done it? Does anyone here have the 5870 and if so what;s your experience?
Do you think the 2% yield's on the new Nvidia cards are to be believed? Any info would be great in any direction to either steer me towards or away. Right now I do have the money to burn. I'm just being more wishy washy than normal.

Thank you for your help.

[Assassin48]

Check out this review
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ATI/Radeon_HD_5870/

[[I.R.A]_FBi]

get a 5870 and be done with unless u have a special reason to have an nvidia card

[20mmrain]

I look at these TPU reviews constantly. I don't know why the hell I missed that one. I will read that link thank you.
No I don't have a reason to get a Nvidia card. I was just hoping for an opinion from some of you guys.
If anyone has any experience with the 5870 please give the info here thanx for the quick feed back so far!

[20mmrain]

“go for the 5850 now and play games while the nvidiots wait for the ceo to show an actual working product”

Maybe this says it all????

[LittleLizard]

upgrade from a gtx 285 FTW to a 5870... NOT WORTH IT

[theonedub]

Originally Posted by Rapidfire48

It is in the long haul. 5870 is a much better card unless you are a power Folder.

Fixed

[20mmrain]

Holy crap I didn't know that this card was 11 inches long. I was under the impression that it was only 10.5 inches. When I tried to look it up for I still got mixed reviews any comments?

The reason I asked this question is becasue I decided that I am going to buy this card. Regardless of what Nvidia comes out with. I don't want to be price gouged! 200$ dollars more for maybe (we don't know yet) on a card that is maybe better by 10%. (just going by past nvidia pricing)

So I'm gonna buy the card and some DDR2 1200MHZ RAM to help me with my overclock.

Any info on the exact size before would be helpful though!

[marsey99]

if i was you with your current setup i would look towards a bigger, higher res screen before another gpu upgrade.

yes you may get a few more fps with the 58 over your 285 but will you notice it? maybe in some benchmarks but your 285 has enought power to push a good fps thru a higher res screen which you will notice with everything you do.

just my 2cents for you

as for the yeilds on the g300, well seeing as nv dont make them and they only pay for the working ones they get it dont matter does it. it might take longer to get enough on the shelves to meet demand (good ol days of paper launch's again?) but that only fuels demand an ups the price so win win for them and the shops.

[20mmrain]

as for the yeilds on the g300, well seeing as nv dont make them and they only pay for the working ones they get it dont matter does it. it might take longer to get enough on the shelves to meet demand (good ol days of paper launch's again?) but that only fuels demand an ups the price so win win for them and the shops.

You know I guess I never thought of it that way. I more or less thought of it as a higher risk of getting a bad card. More chances that when you get the card the longevity of it will not be aa likely.

But as a matter of fact I am a big one for Benchmarks too..... Arent we all?? HEHEHE

[20mmrain]

So here is what I decided to order. I decided to order a Asus 5850. Why you might ask when I already have a GTX 285 FTW edition. Well for a few reasons.....

1. 5850 has still a little FPS rate.
2. DX11 compatible
3. You can overclock the 5850 like a bat out of hell and almost achieve 5870 clocks.
4. Price I could over a 5850 and some more higher ram for my CPU over clock
5. when I upgrade my MOB I can Xfire cheap.

So there is my thoughts on it and what I finally decided to do. I should be ordered Tuesday and be here by next week Friday. Let me know what you think

[CDdude55]

Not worth it, keep the GTX 285 FTW, its still a fantastic card with lots of life left. Only real reasons to upgrade would be for DX11(which won't be fully utilized till a couple months or so) or you just aren't so fond of Nvidia.

EDIT: I see you just ordered a 5850, its a good card.

[[I.R.A]_FBi]

Originally Posted by 20mmrain

So here is what I decided to order. I decided to order a Asus 5850. Why you might ask when I already have a GTX 285 FTW edition. Well for a few reasons.....

1. 5850 has still a little FPS rate.
2. DX11 compatible
3. You can overclock the 5850 like a bat out of hell and almost achieve 5870 clocks.
4. Price I could over a 5850 and some more higher ram for my CPU over clock
5. when I upgrade my MOB I can Xfire cheap.

So there is my thoughts on it and what I finally decided to do. I should be ordered Tuesday and be here by next week Friday. Let me know what you think

Shoulda gone 5870 for a bigger difference between ur current and new card but congrats.

[CDdude55]

Originally Posted by [I.R.A]_FBi

Shoulda gone 5870 for a bigger difference between ur current and new card but congrats.

I don't think he would see any earth shattering differences with either cards. A GTX 285 FTW is still more then enough.

[erocker]

To the members of the posts I just deleted. Do over, this time without the politics. Or, don't bother at all, just keep on topic.

[jmcslob]

I honestly can't see why it would be worth changing your video card but if you want to spend the money you could upgrade to this http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboD...t=Combo.266539 for $450

[trt740]

Originally Posted by erocker

To the members of the posts I just deleted. Do over, this time without the politics. Or, don't bother at all, just keep on topic.

do over don't buy a 5850 to replace a 285 gtx it's waste of money.

[20mmrain]

Well I now I will be criticized for a 5850. Yes I am a ATI guy. Not a Fan boy I just have a special place for ATI. Mainly because ever since I started building they were the first card I went with. I'm sure others feel the same way with the cards that they started off with. I don't know I just feel more comfortable with ATI. The only reason for the Nvidia GTX 285 FTW right now...... is because I got it for a present. All the other cards I own in my other rigs are as follows...... HIS 4890, HIS 4850ICeQ+4, Sapphire 3870, and HIS X1650 Ice. So as you can see my track record.
Now while I'm also sure this will start a huge debate. I also don't have faith in Nvidia's next gen cards(GT300). While they might be more powerful. I don't believe they will be by that much. If they are it will be by maybe 10 to 15% and be charging 100$ to 200$ dollars more and they won't have much overclocking head room. While the ATI solution will. Plus ATI has been using tessellation for years were compared Nvidia hasn't. I believe overall performance to money ratio ATI takes this round. Not also the fact that ATI will probably respond with a 5890 somewhere in there. Again I don't mean to start an argument this is just my opinion.

But besides all that ranting .... LOL while I said that I decided on the 5850 I still haven't purchased it yet. The reason I started this post is because of the fact I am being wishy washy about the whole fact of which card to buy. I chose the 5850 because of the Price to performance ratio. Plus the fact you can overclock it almost to the same performance of a 5870. Also the size of the 5870 is just ridiculous. But with that said that still doesn't mean come tomorrow or Wednesday I won't change my mind again.

My last comment I appreciate sending me the link of the i7 CPU MOB combo. I just don't think right now there is that much performance to gained from spending that money. Cause not only would I have to by that combo. But I would also have to buy RAM to go with it. So that's another 80$ to 100$ dollars more. I just bought my Q9550 back in July. I won't be upgrading again until 32nm releases when there are enough performance gains to warrant it.

I guess that same could be said for my GPU but like I said it all boils down to DX11 and just the want to go back to ATI

After thought I really hope this didn't come off as a Nvidia Rant. I don't mind Nvidia I just prefer ATI So I hope I don't step on anyone's toes and come off as being a puke! Also these are sll really good opinions and this is exactly what I was looking for to help me make up my mind. So please keep them coming! That's the whole reason I joined this forum..... so my family doesn't kill me after talking their ears off about these types of subjects. They told me I talk Nerd too much..... LOL I don't know what they're talking about!

Well regardless even if I do order either way tomorrow I just looked and stocks of either the 5870 or 5850 are dwindling. I might have to wait to get the brand I want. So I will have more time to think about it.

[jmcslob]

Originally Posted by 20mmrain

Well I now I will be criticized for a 5850. Yes I am a ATI guy. Not a Fan boy I just have a special place for ATI. Mainly because ever since I started building they were the first card I went with. I'm sure others feel the same way with the cards that they started off with. I don't know I just feel more comfortable with ATI. The only reason for the Nvidia GTX 285 FTW right now...... is because I got it for a present. All the other cards I own in my other rigs are as follows...... HIS 4890, HIS 4850ICeQ+4, Sapphire 3870, and HIS X1650 Ice. So as you can see my track record.
Now while I'm also sure this will start a huge debate. I also don't have faith in Nvidia's next gen cards(GT300). While they might be more powerful. I don't believe they will be by that much. If they are it will be by maybe 10 to 15% and be charging 100$ to 200$ dollars more and they won't have much overclocking head room. While the ATI solution will. Plus ATI has been using tessellation for years were compared Nvidia hasn't. I believe overall performance to money ratio ATI takes this round. Not also the fact that ATI will probably respond with a 5890 somewhere in there. Again I don't mean to start an argument this is just my opinion.

But besides all that ranting .... LOL while I said that I decided on the 5850 I still haven't purchased it yet. The reason I started this post is because of the fact I am being wishy washy about the whole fact of which card to buy. I chose the 5850 because of the Price to performance ratio. Plus the fact you can overclock it almost to the same performance of a 5870. Also the size of the 5870 is just ridiculous. But with that said that still doesn't mean come tomorrow or Wednesday I won't change my mind again.

My last comment I appreciate sending me the link of the i7 CPU MOB combo. I just don't think right now there is that much performance to gained from spending that money. Cause not only would I have to by that combo. But I would also have to buy RAM to go with it. So that's another 80$ to 100$ dollars more. I just bought my Q9550 back in July. I won't be upgrading again until 32nm releases when there are enough performance gains to warrant it.

I guess that same could be said for my GPU but like I said it all boils down to DX11 and just the want to go back to ATI

After thought I really hope this didn't come off as a Nvidia Rant. I don't mind Nvidia I just prefer ATI So I hope I don't step on anyone's toes and come off as being a puke! Also these are sll really good opinions and this is exactly what I was looking for to help me make up my mind. So please keep them coming! That's the whole reason I joined this forum..... so my family doesn't kill me after talking their ears off about these types of subjects. They told me I talk Nerd too much..... LOL I don't know what they're talking about!

Well regardless even if I do order either way tomorrow I just looked and stocks of either the 5870 or 5850 are dwindling. I might have to wait to get the brand I want. So I will have more time to think about it.

I can understand that...I to prefer ATI, thoug I just would not spend the money for DX11 just yet It probably won't play any significant Role till about this time next year by then the HD6000's will be out and the 5000's will be cheap...Just my $.02

[20mmrain]

Quote:
Originally Posted by 20mmrain View Post
Well I now I will be criticized for a 5850. Yes I am a ATI guy. Not a Fan boy I just have a special place for ATI. Mainly because ever since I started building they were the first card I went with. I'm sure others feel the same way with the cards that they started off with. I don't know I just feel more comfortable with ATI. The only reason for the Nvidia GTX 285 FTW right now...... is because I got it for a present. All the other cards I own in my other rigs are as follows...... HIS 4890, HIS 4850ICeQ+4, Sapphire 3870, and HIS X1650 Ice. So as you can see my track record.
Now while I'm also sure this will start a huge debate. I also don't have faith in Nvidia's next gen cards(GT300). While they might be more powerful. I don't believe they will be by that much. If they are it will be by maybe 10 to 15% and be charging 100$ to 200$ dollars more and they won't have much overclocking head room. While the ATI solution will. Plus ATI has been using tessellation for years were compared Nvidia hasn't. I believe overall performance to money ratio ATI takes this round. Not also the fact that ATI will probably respond with a 5890 somewhere in there. Again I don't mean to start an argument this is just my opinion.

But besides all that ranting .... LOL while I said that I decided on the 5850 I still haven't purchased it yet. The reason I started this post is because of the fact I am being wishy washy about the whole fact of which card to buy. I chose the 5850 because of the Price to performance ratio. Plus the fact you can overclock it almost to the same performance of a 5870. Also the size of the 5870 is just ridiculous. But with that said that still doesn't mean come tomorrow or Wednesday I won't change my mind again.

My last comment I appreciate sending me the link of the i7 CPU MOB combo. I just don't think right now there is that much performance to gained from spending that money. Cause not only would I have to by that combo. But I would also have to buy RAM to go with it. So that's another 80$ to 100$ dollars more. I just bought my Q9550 back in July. I won't be upgrading again until 32nm releases when there are enough performance gains to warrant it.

I guess that same could be said for my GPU but like I said it all boils down to DX11 and just the want to go back to ATI

After thought I really hope this didn't come off as a Nvidia Rant. I don't mind Nvidia I just prefer ATI So I hope I don't step on anyone's toes and come off as being a puke! Also these are sll really good opinions and this is exactly what I was looking for to help me make up my mind. So please keep them coming! That's the whole reason I joined this forum..... so my family doesn't kill me after talking their ears off about these types of subjects. They told me I talk Nerd too much..... LOL I don't know what they're talking about!

Well regardless even if I do order either way tomorrow I just looked and stocks of either the 5870 or 5850 are dwindling. I might have to wait to get the brand I want. So I will have more time to think about it.
I can understand that...I to prefer ATI, thoug I just would not spend the money for DX11 just yet It probably won't play any significant Role till about this time next year by then the HD6000's will be out and the 5000's will be cheap...Just my $.02

You do have a valid point there sir!!! I do appreciate your 2 cents though that's why I'm asking

[deadlyrhythm]

you could always keep your gtx285 and wait till the gt300 comes out and use your old card as a physx card. at least this way your putting it to good use and now you have even more horsepower!

[Hayder_Master]

still on GTX285 your card can handle anything now and wait for something interesting , 5870 looks cool but there is no big move from your card so you can wait

[20mmrain]

Well after counting my chickens I decided that I will wait awhile. I know I know I'm worse than an unnamed pop singer choosing between young children and monkey's named bubbles at making decisions but.... I think you all make some very valid points. I think I will wait until at least we here a little more on the GT 300 just because I don't want to possibly have to reformat my PC just to get rid of all my Nvidia Drivers. I'm Lazy about that. Plus you never know how the 5870 x 2 might be priced. I might be priced very attractively.
So guys in short let me know if you think I made the right decision or not. But if nothing else looks that attractive anytime soon I will go with that 5870 in a few weeks. Thanks for all your help guys!

[BraveSoul]

hey rain ,, im having so much fun with 5850,Price to performance ratio is truly incredible, going from stock 725/1000 to 950/1100 is such an amazing experience for me.. i couldn't wait.. but u can .. right?

[20mmrain]

See that's what I was talking about with that card. I heard it is an Overclocker's dream card! I think I will still wait a week or two definitely, But that is really encouraging to hear that from a fellow overclocker. Thanks for the feed back!
But overclocking the card to those speeds I have a question for yah???? Did it require a BIOS flash to keep those speeds permanent? Or did it just take ATI GPU tool? Iheard you can use two different utilities to achieve those speeds with that card. MSI Afterburner and ATI GPU Tool. But every time you reboot it will be reset? That's why I'm asking you about the BIOS Flash too?