Best 5850 Card?

[69Rocket-Joe]

Is there any difference between the various brands of the 5850? Is one better than the others in any areas or are they all the same? If one is better which one and why?

-Joe

 

[jaguarskx]

No hardware difference... They all roll off the same production lines.

Only differences are length of warranty, or in the case of XFX, "Double Warranty"

Or perks, Asus offers a utility that allows you to adjust voltages for better OC'ing.


The best HD 5850? It's the one you can buy for a reasonable price if it is in stock.

 

[t0dd]

No hardware difference... They all roll off the same production lines.

Only differences are length of warranty, or in the case of XFX, "Double Warranty"

Or perks, Asus offers a utility that allows you to adjust voltages for better OC'ing.


The best HD 5850? It's the one you can buy for a reasonable price if it is in stock.

What would you say is a reasonable price for the HD 5850 right now?

 

[jyjjy]

HD5850s are going for $310 lately.

 

[t0dd]

HD5850s are going for $310 lately.

Thanks. Would it be better to get that now or wait until the 5970s start dropping in price? Or will that be a long time from now? I've selected the parts for my system, and I'm ready to order them, but I'm not sure what to do about the graphics card.

 

[hell_storm2004]

5970's would take a long time to come down, coz there's no competition! Also, if you plan to get HD5970, also make sure you order a PSU which will be capable of handling the card and get it now. No point, upgrading PSU every time you change the card!

 

[jyjjy]

It may be a while before that card drops in price much. It depends on the new Nvidia cards and if they are competitive both in price and performance. As of now no one even really knows when they will be out, much less price and performance.
If your resolution is 1920x1200 or below though an HD5850 should be quite good for a while. If your motherboard allows for crossfire you can always get another one when the prices come down some and have performance similar to the HD5970.

 

[t0dd]

Thanks guys. I'll be getting the 5850. Here is my build (minus the 5850 atm):

http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=16573508

If I want to upgrade this in the future to one of the new nvidia cards, are there any changes you recommend? Would the 750W psu suffice? Thanks

 

[jyjjy]

The PSU will likely be fine for 2 of them.
I'd probably get a 2ms monitor instead for gaming. It's not a big deal for some people but it doesn't look like you are pinching pennies on that build so you might as well.

 

[t0dd]

The PSU will likely be fine for 2 of them.
I'd probably get a 2ms monitor instead for gaming. It's not a big deal for some people but it doesn't look like you are pinching pennies on that build so you might as well.

Thanks. Is there one in particular you recommend? This ASUS montior looks pretty good..

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236049

Thanks for all your help.

 

[hell_storm2004]

Just for safety Get a 850W Corsair.
Also i saw two RAM kits in there. Are you buying two sets of RAM's?
About the monitor...
http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/products/Monitors/productdetail.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=dhs&cs=19&sku=320-8277

This is the best you can get. Don't know if you can spare the budget. But am suggesting a way better option. And heard that newegg monitor buying is not a good idea!

 

[t0dd]

Thanks. I forgot to remove the memory I decided not to get.

I see that Dell monitor has gotten a lot of praise for its superior image quality, but is it definitely good for gaming as well? isnt that response time a little on the slow side?

 

[hell_storm2004]

Suggest getting these RAM's
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231279&cm_re=gskill_ddr3_1600-_-20-231-279-_-Product

Also the monitor is an IPS panel. They are of the highest quality color and picture reproduction of all the LCD panels. There won't be much difference while gaming. But along with that, movies would seem more life like and no bleeding, higher viewing angles and the works.
All TN panels have a 5ms response time. And the color and image quality really really sucks!

 

[69Rocket-Joe]

OK I notice on Newegg that XFX has two different versions of the same card priced $30 apart. What is the difference between the two?

-Joe

 

[hell_storm2004]

Must be the warranty. Check it. The one with the $30 more would have a longer warranty!

 

[jyjjy]

Don't all XFX cards have a "double lifetime" warranty? It would be hard to get longer than that.

 

[sayantan]

there is not much difference between various vendors...but a few special editions might have a factory overclock eg. vaporX and a few comes with better cooling...

 

[mage7]

If you plan to do heavy overclock see to the ones with best cooling. And you will get less noise too. But this HD5850 is a great card, and any brand that you buy is a good business.

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[69Rocket-Joe]

I ended up going with an XFX that seems like it has a mild overclock to it.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150455
Should be enough for me for now!

-Joe

 

[lemon07r]

I'd get a MSI 5850; its the same as the other except better OC (DOT Express), solid capicitators and solid chokes plus , its one of the cheapest versions. If you have the cash pay 10-20 bucks more for the Twin Frozr II version (great cooling). All models come with a Afterburner for better OC and overvoltage.