5850 or 5870

[Guest]

hey guys.

which gpu should i get so i can play games at max settings at 1920x1200?
i can get a 5850 (oem) or a 5870(oem), but i need to do it quick b4 they go out of stock again.

i like to play RPGs mostly.

i have :
i5 cpu
asus maximus iii gene mobo
4gb (2x2gb) corsair dominators DDR3 at 8-8-8-24 latency at 1600 mHz
30gb OCZ vertex ssd
4 standard HDDs for storage, etc... (and i run games off 1 of those harddrives)
samsung t240 24" monitor
currently have sapphire 4890 1gb

i have 4 120mm fans spinning at low speed b/c i find that the graphic card i have currently seems to get a bit hot when i'm just using the internet or something (at 59degrees)
i think the 5870 has a better cooler than the 5850.

let me know what u guys think

 

[Raidur]

Considering you already have a 4890 which is a very capable card I would go with a 5870. You would see a bigger increase in performance and it would feel like more of a worth while upgrade.

 

[xaira]

5870

 

[Guest]

ok. i figured. tho the 5870 is like $150 more than a 5850. there's not too much difference btw either really. (at the res i play anyways)

 

[Rustyy117]

if you have the money go for a 5870

 

[Ehsan w]

how about another 4890?
save some cash, and get about the same performance

 

[JackNaylorPE]

Reading this:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/geforce-310-5970,2491-7.html

I don’t recommend upgrading your graphics card unless the replacement card is at least three tiers higher. Otherwise, the upgrade is somewhat parallel and you may not notice a worthwhile difference in performance.

Your 4890 is on tier 5......using THG's rule of "3" leaves you with 3 choices

Tier 1 = HD 5970 (4 tiers up) - $625
Tier 2 = GTX 295 / HD 4870 X2 (3 tiers up) - $465
Tier 3 = HD 5870 (2 tiers up) - $410

Again, he says "may not notice......so 2 tiers might be worthy enough if you really wanna upgrade.

There's also a 2nd 4890 as a choice ....http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/geforce-310-5970,2491-6.html and at $184, seems a very sound option tho in that board Xfire would be at 8 x 8.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/geforce-310-5970,2491-6.html

a couple Radeon HD 4890s will easily beat a single Radeon HD 5870 in the titles that matter today (perhaps this will change when DirectX 11 software becomes more pervasive). From a raw price/performance standpoint, this makes the Radeon HD 5870 a hard sell

But if I was you, I'd wait till post XMas when the non reference designs are in full swing as I expect those will boost things 15-20%. Ina ddition, hopefully, chip yields will get better and prices will drop.....and nVidia may have something out which also could help drive down prices.

 

[Ehsan w]

otherwise the obvious solution would be 5870, because that's the strongest

 

[Guest]

ya. i guess i'll get a 5870
xfire makes my system way too hot

 

[Raidur]

The 5870 runs cool too. HF with that beast. And you'll be able to get a 2nd one too in time, 8x should be ok even with 5870s. Single should do you good for a while at your resolution though.