5850 or 5870

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nichobt12

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Aug 30, 2010
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I have been using an HD 4890 for quite a while now, but I think it is time to upgrade.

Should I get the HD 5850 or HD 5870?? I do usually play at 1080 but I like to max everything out when I play. Will there be a big difference or should I just OC a 5850???

Thanks
 
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There's a pretty decent improvement in getting a 5870. Definitely a good choice. A single 5850, even overclocked, doesn't quite max the most demanding games with AA. I have two 5850s and they can handle anything tho, so if crossfire is an option you might consider that.

On the other hand, the GTX 470 price has come down to compete with the 5850, and IMO the 470 is better so for price/performance a 470 might be the best bet.
 
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I think I'm not completely concerned with the price difference between the 470 and the 5870. I am thinking that a 5870 might be the most I'd spend, so I think that I might as well get all I can. So you think there will likely be a good noticeable performance increase with the 5870 vs the 5850 even at 1080 res??? That is my main concern. And if I am not going to buy a new PSU any time soon, I just want the best single card without going past the $400 mark. Then again there are the GTX 470s out there that are factory overclocked and have a bit more memory. Those are pretty tempting as well.
 
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If you go with the 5870 your gonna be looking at a 10 fps advantage over the 5850 on average at 1080.. take a look at the benchmarks in this this article http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-hd-5850,2433.html

imo if price is not an issue then 5870 over even a 5850 over clocked
 
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Hmmm, that is a good point... Maybe I should just get the 5850 and down the road go for a new PSU and a second 5850. How much PSU should I need to run 5850s in Crossfire you think???
 
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If your board allows crossfire with another 5850 would be the best option, by the time your single 5850 is struggling with newer games the price point should have lowered considerably with the imminent release of the 6000 series.

As for psu go for a good brand like antec, corsair, ocz 800 watts or so depending on what other components (cpu etc) you have.
 
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People tend to overkill on their PSU's. A quality 650W will easily handle 2 5850's (Corsair HX650 etc.) Just look at graphs with power consumption at load with setups involving 2 5850's. They very rarely go over 550W. Even giving a generous 10% degradation, a 650W will still be outputting 595W, and how often is your computer 100% stressed? If you're gaming, never.

At 1900x1080 a decently OC'd 5850 will play most games at full. My 5850 is running at 870 core 1200 mem atm. The game I've found it's stuggled most on so far is BFBC2 during explosions and chaotic fights. This is playing with all settings on highest and 4xAA. Gettinga 5870 and getting a nice overclock out of it will probably be more than enough for a single monitor. The release of the 6XXX series is going to push prices of the 5800's down, so you're going to be able to pick up a second card for cheaper down the line.
 
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I would recommend the 5850 myself, found them to be a bit better price/performance compared to the 5870. They crossfire well and can run most games without issue. The ATI drivers can be a bit wonkey at times but overall a great product.
 
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OCing an HD5850(one that allows for voltage control of the core) is a much better deal than an HD5870. That said the initial HD6000 cards will be out on the 22nd supposedly. Unless you are in a huge hurry for some reason waiting to see their price/performance is the obvious thing to do.
 
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Is there a reason not to? At lower resolutions sure, you have a point, but then he wouldn't need an HD5850 at all. At 1080p there are plenty of games that can benefit from a more powerful card than a stock HD5850 especially with AA maxed. These cards can often get up to 1000mhz on the core which should put the performance in the area of a stock GTX 480 while costing $200 less.
 
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I find that overclocking a 5850 results in only a small gain since it is already an excellent card. It will give you 5% increase in FPS easily but its not worth the hastle most times. Then again I'm a bit more partial because of OCing crossfire could cause higher temperatures which means overheating or excessive noise. I say no thanks to that. If I only had one 5850 then I would likely side with your thougths I guess.

@dalta centauri, I have now responded, I just didn't realize that you sent me one, not use to looking for PMs.
 
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There is a definite reason to o/c a 5850. They come @725 and the 5870 is@850. Which is one of the main differences in their output.
"Hidden Threat"
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/radeon-hd5850.html
22_585vs587aa_big.png
 
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You don't leave a card OCed at all times, just while gaming and overclocking doesn't hurt a card. What can shorten a card's lifespan is running a temperatures that are higher than it can handle as notty said. Basically OCing will only shorten the lifespan of the card if you do so in a reckless fashion.
 
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As said, if you OC you want to keep an eye on the tempratures.

In any case, I haven't played a game where my stock 5850 wasn't an overkill yet. Anyone care to list games that a stock 5850 can't run on max settings with 30+ FPS?
 
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Humm 30+ FPS isn't overkill.

But yeah I had a single 5850 and was disapointed I couldn't get smooth gameplay in Crysis at Very High with AA. Having 2 5850s now, both overclocked, they can handle Metro 2033, Crysis, and Cryostasis at max settings 1080p with around 35+ fps (average probably ~50 but dips do happen).

However, with so many multiplatform games, a lot of them aren't going to demand more than a single 5850. I've played more than a few games where my cards are at only 30-40% usage with max settings...
 
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