5870 or 5850 or ???

[DOM]

I been looking at them both but idk if the 5870 is woth the $100 over the 5850

I like that the 5870 has a back plate and has lil more power

but then if the 6xxx series comes out this yr and is 2x faster thats going to suck

so is it even worth upgrading ? wut im running is in my specs

 

[Jamborhgini313]

Get the 5850. It'll be a major improvement over your 9600's. Anyways, that depends on what games you are playing and res ect.

 

[DOM]

i play 1680 x 1050 but when im not lazy going to move the desk under my tv in the bed room and use the 52" lcd tv 1920 x 1080

 

[wolf]

5850 ftw, don't buy a 5870 over a 5850 ever.

5850 + MSI AB = 5870 killer, even taking 5870 overclocking into account.

 

[DOM]

cuz dont they oc about the same ?

 

[wolf]

basically they OC about the same, but from what I've seen here on TPU it's the 5850's that clock better on average.

not only do they seem to clock marginally better but they seem to do it on a little less voltage too.

I'd take the 5850 for;

lower temps - stock for stock lower temps, and lower temps at the same oc/voltage
less cost
shorter card
less noise - I have a 5870 and 5850 in CF and the 5850 is definitely quieter at the same fan speed

the bottom line is if you buy a 5850 and plan to OC it, at the same speed as a 5870 it's about 2-3% slower, which is well worth that $100 saving given the other mentioned benefits and perhaps more.

 

[Asylum]

5850 is the way to go.

It clocks almost as high as the 5870 for a $100 cheaper.

 

[(FIH) The Don]

i went for the 5850
1. the pricetag
2. you dont really get THAT much more power in a 5870 to justify the price, its more for the e-peen value imo
3. they are overclocking monsters afaik and from what i've seen they hit 1000mhz on the core and at least 950 without voltage bumps

 

[Lionheart]

Grab a HD5850 Bru! and save the extra $100 and overclock it

 

[subhendu]

ya grab a 5850..low power consumption ,,low temp and very very high performance...I bought sapphire 5850 ....for 1680 x 1050 resolution 5850 is an overkill

 

[nt300]

ya grab a 5850..low power consumption ,,low temp and very very high performance...I bought sapphire 5850 ....for 1680 x 1050 resolution 5850 is an overkill

Never overkill. You better max out those settings or else

 

[DTV DRAGON]

5850 ftw, don't buy a 5870 over a 5850 ever.

5850 + MSI AB = 5870 killer, even taking 5870 overclocking into account.

I wouldnt realy go that far I dont think, Ive had a sapphire 5850 and went to a sapphire 5870 and WITH MY TWO CARDS with both maxed out the 5870 had the edge on the benchmarks Iam not saying it was a slam dunk but it did win...again this is in my case with the two cards I owened

 

[digibucc]

still , the 5850 is by far the price/performance winner (i think you'd agree) by far, and that's where it's at.

if you had to give a percentage of how much it (5870) beat the 5850, what would you say DTV?

 

[PaulieG]

I wouldnt realy go that far I dont think, Ive had a sapphire 5850 and went to a sapphire 5870 and WITH MY TWO CARDS with both maxed out the 5870 had the edge on the benchmarks Iam not saying it was a slam dunk but it did win...again this is in my case with the two cards I owened

That's a confusing statement. It sounds as if you are saying that one 5870 is better thah 2 5850's. Which of course is not true. While the 5870 is slightly better, I can't tell much difference b/t my 5850 and my old 5870.

 

[DTV DRAGON]

I would say def not more that 5%... I do agree that for perf to price the 5850 is a no brainer, I didnt say that a 5870 is better than two 5850? did I? I said that with my two cards meaning the 5850 and 5870 that i owened, gues i should of worded it better
I found it comapred to a small block chevuy and a big block chevy Both performed on par until thatt extra power was needed and thats when the big block (5870 pulled ahead,, Iam sure the car geeks will understand this lol

 

[pvhk]

5850 oced has great potential but does not match an oced 5870 (not a 5870 killer! ) nore even an oced 5770 CF...

 

[DTV DRAGON]

for me dirt2 showed the biggest improvements between the two cards when i ran the dirt 2 benchmark they are posted someplace in the ati forums

 

[SK-1]

5850 + MSI AB = 5870 killer, even taking 5870 overclocking into account.

If this statement is true. The 5870 designer needs fired.

 

[shevanel]

at your res - 5850

if you don't mind overclocking - 5850

if you want to save $100 - 5850

 

[DTV DRAGON]

at your res - 5850

if you don't mind overclocking - 5850

if you want to save $100 - 5850

I think your three points are right on the money!! but I would add point number
4.if ya want that little bit extra, and in my case there was more performance ...5870
(just dont let your wife find out..cause she freaked when I was busted upon finding the evideance (receipt)..burn the tapes lol

 

[DOM]

okay i get what your saying but how will a 5850 play on a 52" lcd tv 1920 x 1080 ?

 

[shevanel]

i myself bought a 5870 because i didnt want to get a 5850 then later get bitten by the hardware bug and want to move to a 5870..

i don't overclock my 5870 and i dont need to yet. to me overclocking is something i do to squeeze more out of hardware when it needs it and right now i couldnt be happier with how the card runs at stock. i have oc'd my 5870 but it's pointless now when BC2 is the toughest game i play and i get 90-110 fps constantly.

i could have gotten a 5850 and overclocked it from the beggining but i like the headroom of saving my oc for backup for the day when i actually need it.

 

[DTV DRAGON]

I fell into that trap as well. bought the 5850, was happy with it, but for me kinda regreted not getting the 5870 from that start, And money IS AN ISSUE with me, with a wife and two kids moneys tight, so iam always wheeling and dealing trying to get better hardware, and in the end after all was said and done ( you know what I mean Dyno lol) I broke even,

 

[DarkOCean]

Get the 5850 and overclock the hell out of it.

 

[SK-1]

Simple.. If you want the best deal... Get 5850.
If you want ATI's most powerful (and, arguably, the industry's best single GPU) card...Get 5870