5850 Toxic 2GB upgrade

[Hellfire]

Okay so my rig is getting a little tired, it's a few years old now and she is still going strong.

Anyway I currently running 1

Sapphire 2GB 5850 Vapor X

Anyway I have had the chance of getting a Sapphire 1GB 5850 Toxic card for a very low price >£50 uk,

Opinions, would you guys recommend loosing 1GB of VRAM and getting the bonus of the second card, I am basically looking for a stop gap before I go down the 7970 route and hope it can last me a year at least

[Jack1n]

For your ress i wouldent recommend it,if your looking for an upgrade and low on funds i would recommend a 7950.

[Aquinus]

I personally wouldn't. I have two 6870s with 1Gb each and even though I'm starting to max out what these two cards can do, I find that occasionally in Farcry 3 that my framerate will drop like crazy then come back up after a couple seconds. After watching the VRam usage I determined that I was running out of vram (on ultra). Once those two cards start kicking in giving you that extra power, you'll be wanting that extra VRAM so you can increase AA, AF, and quality settings.

All in all, I would save a little bit of money and get something a bit better and replace it. Also what ever you get will also scale better in Crossfire or SLI depending on which route you take.

If you do go crossfire, try to get two cards as similar as possible.

[Hellfire]

yeah but a 7950 is STILL over £200 I cannot afford right now

I plan on getting the Sapphire 7970 in about six-eight months, this was purely a "stop gap" and not long term but I get your point with the Vram usage

[Jack1n]

Originally Posted by Hellfire

yeah but a 7950 is STILL over £200 I cannot afford right now

I plan on getting the Sapphire 7970 in about six-eight months, this was purely a "stop gap" and not long term but I get your point with the Vram usage

In 6-8 moths the 8xxx series will be out already so forget about the 7970 unless you can afford it right now.

[Aquinus]

Originally Posted by Jack1n

In 6-8 moths the 8xxx series will be out already so forget about the 7970

+1: That is what I think I'll be doing. My 6870s are starting to struggle on newer games, can't run things at full graphics anymore. :<

Originally Posted by Jack1n

unless you can afford it right now.

-1: Nah, you should wait anyways. If you're rig is still working fine and you think you can wait until the HD 8000 series or GTX 700 series comes around, you're better off waiting IMHO.

[Hayder_Master]

for 1080P, 1G is no more enough, if u want to crossfire better go with another 2g version cuz if u put 1G booth will run 1g.
i will say if u sold it and go with 7950 or gtx670 will be great.

[Hayder_Master]

so u want play low FPS games for 8 months until 89xx release, u can wait another year and buy 99xx if u like.
it's 8 months not 8 days.

[Mindweaver]

I had 2x 5850 1gb Toxic cards and they kicked ass! If you want more frames then get it, but if you are worried about having the best looking graphics then I'd wait. I played @ 1680x1050 and I could max out everything, but as the guys have said if you are playing at 1080 then you run into problems with 1gb on some games. I'd still be using that setup if one of the card's vram hadn't taken a dump on me... I've always had problems with vram on sapphire cards... Great cards, but push the vram to much and it goes bad quickly.. but I guess that's with any card not just sapphire. If it were me and only had enough to get the toxic right now, then I would get it. You can always sale it later and selling both cards and adding some cash later down the road may score you a 7950. I was told by some very knowledgeable guys here at TPU years ago that, "If you wait to get something better then you'll always be waiting.".

[Aquinus]

Originally Posted by Mindweaver

"If you wait to get something better then you'll always be waiting."

Well, he also doesn't have the money for a new card, that is why I say he could wait while he saves up some money for something down the road. As long as the 5850 is enough now, it might be worth the wait.

Or you could get the second card and save up anyways and replace them down the road. Nothing says you can't do both if you have the income to work with over that 8-month period.

[Mindweaver]

Originally Posted by Aquinus

Well, he also doesn't have the money for a new card, that is why I say he could wait while he saves up some money for something down the road. As long as the 5850 is enough now, it might be worth the wait.

Or you could get the second card and save up anyways and replace them down the road. Nothing says you can't do both if you have the income to work with over that 8-month period.

Oh yea no I see what you are saying buddy. I just remember the difference in performance when playing with one 5850 compared to 2x.. It's no comparison or I'd be gaming with the other 5850 toxic. The cf scaling on those cards are really good. If he can find a 2gb for around the same price then jump on it, but if not then I'd still jump on the 1gb 5850. I think at the price he is picking it up for he can get that, or close to it a few months down the road. Then selling both cards, and still saving what he would be saving with out the 5850 could get him a 7950 or a 7970 if the 8xxx's are out.

[JrRacinFan]

Originally Posted by Aquinus

Or you could get the second card and save up anyways

Really it just all depends on what games are being played.

[FreedomEclipse]

Originally Posted by JrRacinFan

Really it just all depends on what games are being played.

Its also about what resolution he plays at. a 7950 is a damn good buy for 1920x1080. anything more powerful is just overkill unless the OP is planning a 24-27" monitor upgrade

[Hellfire]

Right, well possible change of plan, thanks for the input guys.

Most of my gaming is actually done at 2048x1152 on my Samsung monitor.

If I got the 5850 I would still be getting a 7970 (I wont go lower to a 7950) down the road, Money isn't more of the problem as with timing. if I can resell it and get my £50 back in a couple of months then bargin.

It isn't a case of I need to SAVE for the card it's just timing, with Xmas now, anniversaries and holiday in 2/3 months time and two young tykes running about it's kinda just waiting for the breather in the timing.

HOWEVER on a side note I am now watching a 7970 on ebay selling for £200 and ends on Xmas day, hoping to jump in on the auction with the fact no one will be on ebay on Xmas day (I hope) so will keep an eye out

[HD64G]

Originally Posted by FreedomEclipse

Its also about what resolution he plays at. a 7950 is a damn good buy for 1920x1080. anything more powerful is just overkill unless the OP is planning a 24-27" monitor upgrade

Even 7950 is overkill nowadays for a single monitor up to a 1600p in latest catalyst. Don't mention 7970 GHz edition. But everyone who changes GPU every 3 years and plays the latest games in max quality and resolution needs 79X0 or 670-680.

[Hellfire]

Ok, wife has confirm a 7970 for Xmas/Birthday (january) so no longer looking to Xfire, my current 5850 will be handed down to my bro.

[FreedomEclipse]

Originally Posted by Hellfire

Ok, wife has confirm a 7970 for Xmas/Birthday (january) so no longer looking to Xfire, my current 5850 will be handed down to my bro.

see if she can upgrade dat to a GTX690 for teh lols

[Hellfire]

Sorry. I don't use Nvidia

[FreedomEclipse]

thats a pitty. they make good cards.

[Aquinus]

Originally Posted by FreedomEclipse

thats a pitty. they make good cards.

So does AMD.

[Zubasa]

It is always better to keep yourself open with options.

[Hellfire]

I've had bad experiences with Nvidia in the past, whilst I keep an open mind I know and love ATI/AMD

[FreedomEclipse]

Originally Posted by Hellfire

whilst I keep an open mind I know and love ATI/AMD

Says the guy who says he doesn't use nvidia

[Hellfire]

because I had an open mind, tried them and didn't get on with them, the same as I use both Intel or AMD, reason I have a AMD currently is when I bought them an I7 was twice the price for both board/CPU.

I have a open mind but with regards to Nvidia I tried them, had problems with both service and product and thus moved to ATI/AMD

[Mindweaver]

I use what ever gives me the best performance at the price I can afford. I've had good cards from both teams and I've had bad cards from both teams.