5870 or 2x 5770??

Yeah, get a single 5870 now. It can run most games with everything on high without breaking a sweat. You can always add another 5870 later. It will be a hell lot more cheaper on the long run.

I would do a single 5870 now as well. The 5770's DO scale really well, and generally do actually beat out a single 5870, but a single card now, upgradable to 2 in the future if you need it, is generally a better option, unless the price difference is big enough to really warrant it. I mean, it you have the money for a 5870 now, its not a worry, but if the 5770's were cheap enough it'd be a good call.

Yeah I first wanted a 5970 but I checked over 30 sites and none of them had one in stock so I didn't want to mess with it and its ridiculous size!
Since I have just been reading tons on the 5870 and its was said to be the fastest single gpu on the planet, so unless the fermi cards
can get under 400 on the level of the 5870, then I might consider but I know I there ain't no way, and even if they did, radeon would just drop the
price so either way I will win. I have been back in forth between cases but I feel in love again, but this time with the antec 1200, it has everything
I need at an AFFORDABLE price, and every post on newegg says they got it so there 5870 would fit.
I know amd hexies and 890GX's come out at the end of April and any time after that will be when I get all my pieces.
I probably won't get a hex, cause quad is plenty for me, I just want the 890gx-gd70 to put a couple of 5870's on, cause there perfect
the sata's face out, they will run 16x, 16x, 16x, 16x/8x, but I am not sure on the last one, but thats what I have read and x16 is just the way to go.

If you really want to wait for the best chipset, you'll want the 890FX. The 890GX will be 16x or 8x/8x for PCI-E Graphics, just like the 790GX was (only adds 2 PCI-e lanes compared to the 790GX, so not enough for full 16x/8x). The 790FX was the one that could do full 16x/16x or 8x/8x/8x/8x and I'm sure the 890FX replacement will also have that capability.

My bad thats what I meant.

I thought maybe it was, but yeah- those should be out in April sometime and should be pretty killer motherboards.

HD5850 and OC the hell out of it is your best value for the money.

Yeah I meant 890FX-GD70, the super sick new version of the 790FX. Yeah I want one so bad, the current one is great, but not sata 6gb/s and USB 3.0. Its Dr.MOs, north and South look insane. I am glad they kept the OC dial, so you can OC on the fly with out reseting the bios and what not, which will come in handy!
So I need to get a good graphics card for my new MoBo!

5870 may be the bang/buck winner come the end of April for the build- who knows that Fermi is gonna do, though in all likelyhood Fermi will be so hard to get, it won't even matter that its been released :-p

For true. Well we already know Nvidia gets a kick out making people wait for something they have no idea what it is. Second they probably won't put out there whole stock they will probably release so many that people pay hella, we will more than likely see them on Ebay for thousands.
I use to be all Nvidia, at first I was going to setup a Nvidia system for 3-D, but then I realized why should I sacrifice my entire computer just to play games in 3-D, and then I became anti-nvidia. I go AMD all the way anyways why not join ATI!
Anyways all of nvidias cards that are out right now will be worthless in a year, and anyone who dosen't read the internet and gets one, is really stupid.

Brand Loyalty is ok, it is a comfort thing for a lot of people. One of the reasons I look to ATI before Nvidia when choosing a GPU for myself or someone else. There are compelling reasons to own either product, and repelling drawbacks for each, as well. A person's decision making procession will decide what is relevant. From the Fanboy to the anal number-crunching price/perf addict, there is always a reason for someone to chose one over the other. As for which team deserves which labels, if you don't like what you see today, just wait six months, it will most likely be different. Sorry Mr. Twain, had to plagerize a little bit there.

Yeah there is ups and downs no matter what(Drivers). I have been researching for about a month and I am probably going to wait till my birthday 9/26ish to buy my complete setup, mainly cause by then everything should be settled and will be the end of Q3. Also I would have more access for money, plus it gives me longer to save, so I would probably be able to get two 5870 and all the goodies I can handle!!
I don't like the idea of waiting about 6 months, but I know its for the better for all I know the cases I want will have its newer version also. If I did go with that date, it would make my current computer exactley 5 years old.
I plan on researching everyday, I love foruming, I think its the greatest way to learn, I was able to accomplish something in 1 day, that took me a week to figure, cause all you do is ask! Toms is the best everyone wants to help even if your newbie, you'd probably laugh if I told you, what my first list of what I wanted to put together, that was about a couple a months ago.

I fully agree with:-
- 5870 is the fastest single gpu on the planet, and is the best-value high-end card available, UNLESS the fermi cards are faster at the same or similar price which will make them overall better deals (though no eyefinity - and we're still not sure about routing dolby audio through fermi like evergreen).
- Get a new mobo in a couple months when Sata 6GB/s and USB 3.0 are out [i'd also say wait for pci-e 3.0, but it seems it'll take till next year, and its still not really necessary as of yet].

Peace.

I am definetly waiting on the new mobo for sure, and unless the fermi cards wow me, I don't plan on one. The pciE is way to long so I will have to pass unless it gets
a new release date of this year. I just hope that by june the quad cores and ati 5800's go down in price just a little. The intel hexs care out on tiger and the i5's dropped like 30 bucks. I am AMD always have and will be, I am a gamer so it better suits me. I would like to see radeon come out with a set of cards I heard there coming out with something new but not as big as these Fermi cards are out to be.

5870 for the win  . I love mine, the only thing is it's so darn big ^_^. I plan to ad another 5870 down the line, but it will probably be some time before it's my GPU that isn't letting me play games on high settings.

I think Fermi will be faster, but I don't know about the availability due to the very poor yields. AMD learned about the problems with 40nm making the 4770, but I hear nVidia ignored them and didn't want to delay Fermi in order to make the corrections that would fix the yield issues. Oh well, guess we'll find out soon enough

I think nvidia is all talk and no cahona's. How long has Dx11 and gddr5 been out?
They keep saying they have this they have that, but they don't got shiz until its being used inside are houses playing really cool video games.
If I wanted to sit around and pretend whats coming out next year is already made and sit around and talk about nothing cause I no nothing about it till the day its on the shelfs, well I am just not a big fan of waiting in line to nowhere land and esp. no interested in paying $500+ to be in line either.
I am cool living in the real computer world were my card is already released and pretty much all the bugs are out.

get a 5870. the 5770 is fantastic but crossfire still has issues, same as sli does. the 5770 is a great solo card but if you really need the extra power go for a 5850 or 5870 instead of crossfiring 5770's.

The 5770 is good for an economic package if you don't have the cash for the big boys, but I am doing an economic package but I am not going that cheap.
I just got to figure which one is the one, I liked the XFX XXX, I am pretty sure its one of the fastest if not the fastest and its another part to add to my lifetime warranty list of parts. I still don't know what case I am getting I am still debating but I did already choose the X4 1050 I don't like anything else( have been suggested tons) this psu has 6x6pin PCIe and all modular, so I don't think there is any other PSU that I would rather run than it, which will let me do 3way CFX 5870!!!!The cases I have been looking at all have enough space for these beasts that are called 5870.

According to the quote below the new GD-70 can run 4 5870! The case I am looking at can only handle 3, but I am not worried, cause who needs four 5870?!?!
I thought it was intersting but I couldn't find a legit answer for the config.
will it be 16 16 8 8, or 8 8 8 8?? The most I will ever do is three but I probably will only do 2, which I am hoping will be 16 16.
Right now I plan on getting the 690 2 advanced, I was going to get the 840 or the spedo but they didnt have what I wanted as much as the 690 does.


"As far as GPU connectivity is concerned, the 890FX-GD70 employs six PCI-E 2.0 slots and supports Quad-CrossFireX using four discrete single-GPU cards from AMD. The exhibitors at MSI were running a similarly-loaded board with four Radeon HD 5870s in Quad-CrossFireX without any problems."
http://www.fudzilla.com/content/view/17167/81/

Yeah... 3x5870 is probably gonna be plenty for a good long while:-p Also- a PSU that can handle that type of power with 8 PCI-e connectors is not gonna be easy or cheap to find:-p As far as the PCI-e lanes go, if you are running 2 cards, it should be x16/x16 and if you are running 3 it should be x16/x8/x8 I believe. That is at least how the 790FX was and I doubt the 890FX would add enough PCI-e lanes to do higher than that. I love the CM R690, and I imagine you will be VERY happy with the 690 II. Good luck:-)

How much is that gonna cost? I was looking at the GD70 790FX for my new build, then this comes out.

AMD says that the pricing will be the same, it will be a exact replacement.
It's just like their CPU speed boost.

I to was going to get the current GD-70 then I researched and the projected date is April 26thish when the HExys come out. As far as price I couldn't get a solid number cause most were hypothesis's bases on statistics, but from what I gathered it shouldn't be more than 250, but no lower than 220. But like I said its not 100% accurate, but hey rumors start from somewhere. Hopefully we will know by the end of PAX east.
But about the cards I was looking at the sapphire toxic 5850 and I liked the blue color and what not, the only problem is for 10 bucks more you got a 5870.
So I have been going through tons of different opinions on which brand is the way to go. I am still at this phaze and would like to spend no more than 450, but hopefully the new 5870-6's and the new Fermi's drop the price on them.
So I am sitting and waiting for the time to strike, I project that I won't be able
to put together a full computer until about june or july. That way all the new stuff comes out plus prices should be settled in.

The exact same price as the current or when it first came out??
I did watch a video but it was about the 890GXM, and the MSI worker said there wasn't that much of difference as far as performence between the new and old board.

I like the 5870's big time, there only problem is there super huge! I can barely fit one in my computer and I won't be able to use the fan thats on the HD cage.
The only reason I would get a 5850 is to save money, save room in case and to just settle with it, the only problem is I would probably get the Sapphire Toxic, which is only 10 less than the cheapest 5870! So at this point I got to ask myself would I be able to tell a difference between the two, and is the 5870 the one I want for sure( to bad they didn't just come in blue) lol
I guess I can always go and get after market blue led fans for it.

Get a refrence 300$ 5850.

Seeing as how the AMD processors, without a doubt, currently lag behind Intel in multi-GPU setups, Hex+2 or more GPUs might just bring the dragon platform into i7 quality multi-GPU scaling. Maybe or Maybe not.

I'm interested to see what the 6-core CPU's do to multi GPU scaling on the AMD platform as well- should be really nice, especially if they can keep pushing the prices down.

I am definitely waiting for the 890 series for my mobo upgrade, if only to keep my upgrade path intact. I am in no need for a new CPU in the slightest. Maybe wait for Bulldozer.  

Well, I want laser transistors to come into CPU's, with crystals they can easily reach 1 THz, though the size is kind of fixed.

Well if I change the question to 5870 or 5850 cfx, then its a little different.

"When you take the Cypress based Radeon HD 5870 and cut out 2 SIMDs and 15% of the clock speed to make a Radeon HD 5850, on paper you have a card 23% slower. In practice, that difference is only between 10% and 15% depending on the resolution. What’s not a theory is AMD’s pricing: they may have cut off 15% of the performance to make the 5850, but they have also cut the price by well more than 15%; 31% to be precise." quote from anandtech.com

I have read tons of forums with this topic and some are leaning with the 5870 and some with the 5850. From what I read the 5850 is a good option and is more for people with smaller cases, and people who are running a monitor that is less than 27. It can be extremely less money compared to the 5870 and can be OCed to come with in 5% less better. The 5850 has locked shaders, and less FPS but I for one am willing to sacrifice a few fps to save over 100 dollars.
It can hang with the 5870 besides Far Cry but I wouldn't buy it until I have two 5850'S. So what do you think???? Did I miss anything??

5870 or 5850 Xfire? 5850 Xfire is gonna blow the 5870 out of the water, but its also gonna cost a good bit more.
Anyway- 5870 vs 5850 straight up, the 5850 is a much better buy as the price for what you get is great. It'll do anything you want on a single monitor and you can get a second if it doesn't quite do it for you. Its a really good choice.

Well quoting a guy from that other forums, he said something like "the 5850 is way cheaper and for an OCer its a dream, and 1ghz is no longer a just wet dream", he said that the 5870 is for noobies who can't setup the 5850 them selves. Some are able go higher than 5870 using the onboard voltage control clock and even hit the 1ghz. Its like comparing when buying the amd 955 or 965, you can always get the 955 and clock it up your self.
So I am taking in perspsctive both sides to the fight, I can always use AMD GPU Clock Tool or RivaTuner and crank a 5850 up to get it up to par with the 5870

The difference between the 5870/5850 and the 955/965, is that the 955/965 are actually the same core, same architecture, just different clocks, but with the 5870/5850, the difference is more than just the clocks- the 5850 has 1440 SPs and the 5870 has 1600. the 5850 also has 72 texture units compared to the 5870s 80. That means its not as simple as just the clock rates, but you can get some very nice performance out of OCing the 5850 and its FANTASTIC for the price tag.

Well I didn't completely the same I was just using it as a kinda of reference. Saying that to most you can't tell the difference from a 955 and 965, as same to the 5870 and the 5850. Obviously the 5870 is better, but when you consider the whole it is different case to case, literally lol. If I were to have 2 27" inch screens and playing Crysis I would get the 5870. Since I have a 24 inch monitor, a mid-tower case, love ocing, and am going to play tons of games, the 5850, right now, I feel is for me. When I do buy Crysis which will be some time in the future, thats when I will upgrade to another 5850, so I will be able to save money each time I buy a card.
I plan on playing games like BF2(all of them), F.e.a.r., Far Cry(1&2), Diable 3, and so on, mainly 1st person shooters, but Diablo is worth getting a new computer!! I originally bought my current computer because I had a copy of Diablo 2, then BF2 hit the last spot, thats when I went a bought it. So the PC gaming this year is going to rock no matter what!!

Like I said earlier;
"HD5850 and OC the hell out of it is your best value for the money."
When you bump up the voltage you can get a 40-50% OC which is just incredible and certainly more than enough for any game on a 24" monitor for a good long while.

The 965 is a rebranded 955.

The 5850 is a slightly defective 5870 core, with things disabled, so even if you bump up the core clocks, It won't be the same.

Yeah thats what I think I am going to do!! I am getting the CM 692 Advanced, and it has 12 room for cards, but theres a fan that goes there, I plan on taking out the hd cage but I am still going to mount the top screws of the fan. I think altogether I am going to have like 15 fans or more including hyper 620, pci slot fan, vga bracket and a few modded areas, my also am going to get buy the after market panel so I everyone can see inside this beast, I don't know yet but I am hoping that all the side panals can go on either side, so I can but the current left side on the right.

Sounds good, the 5770 Cf or the 5850 are the 2 best 300$ options right now.

5850 vs 5870
Here is a fellow that claims to own both and has done extensive tests between the two.
The two at max o/c. and other scenarios , all to find out which is best/performer ~value.
Pretty interesting.
http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18112...

Yeah thats the next stage figure out which is the best 5850, so if anyone has recommendations as far as personal preference or recommendations.
I want one that will be able to OC real high, and the price isn't important, cause non of them are really to high!

Yeh, The 5850 is the better value, but the 5870 IS FASTER, and it still is the best GPU out there, Untill April 6th.

But we don't know if it will be the best for the money.

Anyways, this topic is really helping me make a decision for the computer i plan to build this summer, keep the opinions coming!

Well hopefully all current cards drop, we got the new 5870-6's, Fermi's and the new line of 5830's. So first the newer 5870's should drop the price to keep the current 5800's at a decent price. Second there is no competition out there, but once the Fermi come out, radeon can drop there prices to beat the competition, and third the 5830 might not lower prices but sure makes it cheap to own a 5800 series card.
Right now I wouldn't purchase nothing period, the soonest I would buy is maybe june-julyish, if your ansy to get a rig going, but I am going to wait till september, that way everything new will be out and settled, the fist and second wave will go through and see if there are any bugs and what not. Also that would make my computer 5 yeards old, and its my bday so more money!!

I checked and some of the companys if not all void the warranty if you change the cooler on top. I was hoping to choose my own, but I noticed theres not that many aftermarket choices. I was reading about the Asus 5850 and it seemed to be a top pick, it has some kind of votage tweaker that comes with it, which would be useful.
The only thing I saw wrong with it was that it said it was DDR5 not GDDR5.
Anyways if you lose the warranty by taking off the stock vga cooler, than it would make sense to get one with a good cooling system.
I personally think the Sapphire Toxic is the coolest, but then I pretty much could buy a 5870 but that wouldn't matter to me, I want the 5850 for purposes stated above: give me breathing room, crank it up myself, and it was more affordable, which makes sense, if I were to get a decked out 5870 sapphire it would cost another 100 bucks!

Salt-City- You would void your warranty by using a non-stock cooler, but at the same time, if you put the stock cooler back on before you RMA, most of them will still cover you. At the same time, the reference coolers are pretty good on the 5850/5870, and will get you pretty far, and there are some very nice non-reference boards with good coolers out there (like the Sapphire Toxic, etc.) as long as they're not charging and extra arm with the leg you are already giving them:-)

Yeah I do like the Sapphire Toxic cause it has great cooling already with it, and if I were to buy a reference card and then but an aftermarket cooler, I would still be around the same price. I know I could get the cheapest 5870 for around the same price, but if I were to get the toxic but as a 5870 it would cost over 100$ more.
I still can't really decided on anything until PAX is over, then I should have a better idea, but I think it would be stupid to buy before april ends.
I wanted a readeon cause they have the good mobo's for AMDers, but I checked out intels 930, and I was quite impressed. See I was going to get the GD70, new or old, but they have GD80 & 85 for intel.
But I still don't know who I will stick with obviously Intel has been ahead and will continue to do so, I got my Current AMD when Amd was on top when all you could get was a Pentium 4 lol.
So I just got to do what everyone is doing sit back and wait for all the goodies to come out

Did you guys check out the pics that got leaked of the new GTX's???