[Need Advice] Still Up In The Air About The 5770 or 4890

If I had to decide between a 5770 and 4890 right now. And I had no concerns about power and what not, I would easily choose the 4890 for the raw gaming power. The 5770 is a nice card, but it is a replacement for the 4770 which is a lower end gaming card. So it's more efficient and you can install it into a system with a smaller power supply. So if you have a PSU that can't handle a 4890, but will run a 5770, the choice is easy. Sure it supports DX11, but really I don't think it has the raw power to run newer games with DX11 details all cranked up. So you will be running at a lower setting regardless. You will certainly not be running games on it with 3 displays. So the 4890, in my opinion, is your best choice. So stop worrying about it. There are 3 DX11 games out right now, there are a bunch of great DX11 games coming own the pike. However, the 5770 isn't going to run them as well in DX11 as a 4890 is going to run them in DX9 or DX10.

I just did the same thing before the holidays ordered an HD4890 for the raw hp and the price was right.

Thanks. I feel better about my decision. Thanks for your relplies! Now when I get it I'll have to learn how to overclock it. Ha!

ATI cards are dumb simple. Just unlock the ATI Catalyst Control Center and jack it up. Unless you are going to change fan profiles or increase voltages, this is the best way. Also, it keeps the 2d and 3d modes so it isnt' running full boar at idle like some. I've used ATI tray tools for the OSD and fan controls for ATI card. I had a 4870 and this is what I used and was great.

4890 is the better card.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/geforce-310-5970,24...

Here's the "winners" from THG's latest (December) GFX Roundup
Best Graphics Cards For The Money: December '09

$50 - HD 4650
$65 - HD 4670 / 9600 GSO
$85 - 9600 GT
$95 - 9600 GT / HD 4830
$110 - GTS 250 512 MB
$120 - GTS 250 1 GB
$155 - HD 5770 / GTX 260
$200 - HD 4890
$240 - 2 x GTS 250
$310 - No winner (HD 5850 Honorable Mention)
$330 - 2 x GTX 260 / 2 x HD 5770
$400 - 2 x HD 4890
$410 - No winner (HD 5870 Honorable Mention)
$465 - No winner (GTX 295 Honorable Mention)
$625 - No winner (HD 5970 Honorable Mention)

I have questions about the 5770; it got hit hard on HardOCP's newest Eyefinity test, and performed significantly worse in Dirt2's DX11 test (also by HardOCP). I feel the 5770 is too week a card to be useful for any DX11/Eyefinity setup, so yes, the 4890 is the better buy at this point.

I concur Doctor.

If you are running DX11 games, you will want a 5850 or above.

I've seen some comparisons between DX10 and DX11 on battleforge, which is a DX11 game. This game is a little different than Dirt 2, because they didn't add tessellation or any other DX11 visual enhancing effects. Instead, they just took advantage of performance changes.

The result is that DX11 games with the same visual effects does indeed perform better than DX10 games as Microsoft said it would.

However, even you had the 5770 taking advantage of the performance enhancements of DX11, the 4890 would outperform it in DX10.

As mentioned above, 5770 wouldn't have the power to handle tessellation in future games, meaning there is little reason to choose the 5770 over the 4890 other than price.

Everything I've read and seen, seems to point at the HD 4890 > HD 5770. The question I ask, is whether or not investing in a 4890 now (no Dx11 support), makes more sense than spending the extra $110+ on the HD 5850. Since few games are using Dx11, and Nvidia is slated to release new cards soon, would it make more sense to wait another year or so before buying a Dx11 card?

Basically, if all of you had to buy a card today, would you spend $310 on an HD 5850, or $200 on an HD 4890?

^I went from an OCed 4870 to a 5870 and am UBER happy. Honestly I don't think I even have any games that i can really test the card on at my 1680x1050 res. I mean I can't crank every game like crysis or FarCry2 or Dirt2. But I can sure turn them up so high that anything higher would be totally unnoticeable. I could have probably gotten a 5850 and overclocked it to a 5870 speed and been happy.

So the extra $110 to go to a 5850 in my opinion is well worth it. But if you don't have the cash, you have to settle sometimes.

Too bad the 5850 has jumped so much in price, from it's original MSRP. It debuted at what, $260 or so? Now the lowest priced model is $299 without shipping.

Let me ask you this, if I buy a 5850, which manufacturer's card is best? Saphire, XFX, HIS, etc?

I always thought $260 was pretty darn cheap when they first came out. Figures it didn't last that long. I had gotten my 5870 for $389 before they jacked up.

Brand? they are all the same boards and coolers. You are paying for the company's support and warranty. XFX is really good in that department. I have an Asus and have had alot of Asus parts in the past. HIS is coming on strong. It really doesn't matter, they are all the same unless they have a factory OC or upgraded cooler.

dx11/eyefinity is just a marketing strategy used by ATI for the 5770