HD 5850 vs GTX 470

Which is the overall better card??


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Salt-City_Slasher

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So this is the second poll and from what was gathered every one is leaning more towards the two cards as the best possilbe.
This is about the only thing that eveyone agreed on lol, but if you have some facts, info or a general interst in the possible
quest to the ultimate quesiton, and getting the ultimate answer then your in the right spot.

The 5850 is a card that is running below the $300 mark with plenty in stock, and has capibilitys that have proven it to be quite the catch. Since being out manufactures have been releasing there own vision of the card from the toxic to new upcoming Asus direct cu, which is increasing the cooling. So with the upcoming release of the new GTX 470/480, god only knows what ati is going to do to retaliate, my personal guess is the release of the whole line of the new asus's which every site seems to not have any asus 5850s out(which is were I go this hunch), and also I have a big feeling that prices are atleast going to go back to original release price. So I plan on a lot of big changes by the end of Q2.

The 470 the new green power hungry machine, is cranking out high perfomance out of the box, and has built such hype that one can only ask which card is better.
With features like 3D and PsyX, one being the probable future and one being the past, one might ask is this card really new or has it already been getting out dated since it was suppose to be released? With PsyX pretty much a dead technolgy and only a few games even bother to have it, some would say yes, It has.


On that note I would like anyone that has an opinion even if its just "that one sucks" post it, but atleast have a reason to why lol.

 
Personally, I'd just grab an HD5850 Vapor-X edition, get MSI AfterBurner to raise voltages, then OC it. An OC'd HD5850 will easily outperform the GTX470 whilst still running cooler and using less heat.
 

jonnyboyC

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maybe i've been suckering into fermi, curse you nvidia with your mind probes, but i think that i might lean a bit more to the 470gtx. While it is more expensive, draws more heat (wow bad start to my argument) and only slightly faster in most games today then the 5850, i really think that nvidia put alot of effort into geometry power, and anti aliasing. I just feel cranking up the eye candy puts little strain on the card, compared to the 5850. for current games, when textures are king the 5850 is what you need, but down the line that geometry is going to come in handy, when tessalation is implemented into alot of games
 

Salt-City_Slasher

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Hey I have the real one here, so you can cast your vote
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/284961-33-5850#t2110714

For some reason when I make some polls it dose not let people vote so I made a second one that does.
Hey jonnyboy there is some good stuff that was talking about all the cards and some really good info, I had my facts twisted cause I read a couple of reviews that made the 470 a lot better than it realy is.
But here is the link to the conversation that started it.
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/284842-33-5870-5850
 
Given what I have seen so far, I'd lean towards the 470.....generally you have to pay like 30% more for a 15% increase in price....but the 470 has the lowest cost in "dollars per frame" among anything that can do DX11 at hi settings @ 1920 res. Of course that's only gonna hold if the vendors stick with the MSRP which seems unlikely.

I can't really consider ATI 5xxx cards just yet (AutoCAD user) cause of the 2D problem that's supposed to be fixed w/ 10.4 drivers but looks like I'll have to a decision to make at this level .....to my mind tho, I'd need to see the 5850 stay at this weekend's reduced prices ($275) to pick it over a $350 470. At the regular $305 price, the 5850 just gives up too much ground to the 470 in DX11 at high settings (1920 x 1200). In addition to what Johhnyboy said, we save buying a dedicated PhysX card and CUDA can't be ignored for movie making. I am not as concerned about the 470's heat / power as I never build w/ less than a 850 watter and a full tower case w/ lots of air flow.

Of course, Id prefer to be in 5870 / 480 territory but the choice is much more difficult there price / performance wise and the heat and power are much more of a concern there too....if the 2D problem solution was on the streets, I'd lean 5870 here.....but for now I am still taking a wait and see attitude.
 

Salt-City_Slasher

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Well I have read several reviews of them and the 470 seems to be there pride and glory, cause it was only like 5% less than the 5870 at 87% of the price which is really good, there is no denying that.
I think the only thing that gives anyone a reason not to like it is cause the heat issues. The gpu temp. in Furmark the 470 is only 3 degrees hotter, and when loading crysis the gpu 470 is 93 which is 16 degrees, and just that stat alone is what would of made it the perfect card.
But I was saying yesterday that people who are buying these didn't get there computer from kmart, these are meant to be put into enthusiasts cases.
Like for instance the case I am looking at the cm 690 2 advanced, has about a couple of fans just for the cards, so if heat isnt an issue, which it is for some but it actually in real life would you be able to put your hand in the case and tell the difference between 16 degrees? So the 470 is a good choice, you get 3D, and tons of other cool stuff like rocket sled. Honestly any of the 5850 5870 or 470 480, your going to end up with a nice card, if your on a budget you just pick the one thats in your budget, simple, if I have 400 in my budget for a card then I would get the 5870, if I had $350 470, if I had $300 it would 5850 plain and simple, and if I had 700-800$ I would get the EVGA 480 FTW and get a Thermaltake big water, and hook it up to the liquid system, but thats if I had the cash and wanted to get into liquid cooling.
 

Salt-City_Slasher

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Yeah were getting close to the release and once all these new cards start getting unbiased testing across the web and the world, we will see exactly what pros and cons we will be seeing. Things like Torture testing for 8 hours in extreme heat, OC tests, and other pushing it to the limits tests.

I would get a GTX 470 if my 9400GT could be a PsyX card, it would of been nice if my other nividia card didn't fry after 4 years, I think it was 9600GT or 9800GT I forgot. I have never had a nvidia card last me, the longest being the 4 years, and the shortest being 2. If I do end up with a 470 I am damn sure I am getting myself an extend warranty or lifetime.

Then on the other hand my original Radeon card and MoBo that I put in my moms computer, has always worked and has out lived all my nvidia cards, excluding my current one.

This was just my case, and hope the GTX 400's last more than a 4-5 years, because thats what I am looking for. In the last 5 years I replaced 2 nvidia cards, a dvd tray, 3 fans, and a heatsink all because of malfunction or what I called Fried.
Some things I bought cheap and I knew wouldnt last, so thats why every year I start spending more on products. But when I spend more on somthing so it will last and it dosne't then that company loses my trust.

My amd/ati mobo and card are both still solid, and I trust AMD and ATI a lot, I lost Intel a long time ago, the i7's probably could redeem them but I will see.
My next choice will be completely on the graphics cards. If nvidia wins I will get Intel for sure, If ATI wins I will get AMD. I could still get Intel with the ATI but my money will dictate that.
 

flyinfinni

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5850 hands down, no question. The 470 can OC, but the 5850 is one of the best OCing GPU's I've ever heard of. Its also $50 cheaper than the 470 and uses less power, and can power 3 displays by itself, without needing a second card. I really see no advantage to the 470.
 

Salt-City_Slasher

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Hey check out this list of Best Video Cards In the World, the 480 makes the #2 spot, and the 470 dosen't even cut the list. lol.

http://www.techradar.com/news/computing-components/graphics-cards/top-10-best-graphics-cards-in-the-world-today-654141

Not to be a Dick, but every time someone says that the GTX 470/480 are better they never have a legit reason to why their statement is true.
But when someone says that he 5850 or the 5870 is the best, they have several facts underlining their reason as to why it is the best.

For what they are asking for the 470 at 350, is insane. If this price was more like 250-300, then people would consider running their system hot, and lose
some performance and a couple of screens, atleast they would have a reason at that price.
 

jonnyboyC

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what that list even based on, It's just a bunch of opinions, how do they even place the 5850 behind the gtx 285, and costs as much as a gtx 470 when it's released to the public

example of where fermi shines is geometry power, and anti alias strength. The 5850 looks great now because most games are so texture dependent, because most cards up to now have only be slightly increasing geometry power while shader power and texture power has gone through the roof. Now that dx 11 is out geometry will start to play a much more dominate role of overall performance and that's were the 470/480 put a beating on the 5xxx series. I'm definitely not saying the 5xxx series are bad, they have power galore, but it's just gaming rending power, With Nvidia you get the other benefits, like physx, directcompute, C all those languages that can now run on the gpu. It's simply a choice of what suits the buy better
 

Salt-City_Slasher

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That list was suppose to be a joke, I just thought it was funny they didn't add it.

I did however check as many reviews about the 470 vs 5850, and the word is the 5850 and the 470 are equal in performance, and the reviewers who said this also showed the 5850 winning each bench by atleast 2-3. I dont think every reviewer lied to make the 5850 look better, but as far as performance they are equal but as competitors they are not, the heat and price is what makes the 470 so-so. The 5850 being released ahead of time giving nvidia months to beat them and they release a card that can't win. The 480 is the only card worth talking about, having great performance
and can out beat the 5870 in certain areas. But still price and heat make the 480 a beast that needs to be tamed. I would buy a 5970 over a 480 cause even in SLI (dutch oven) cant really keep up.

All in all the 5850 is still the peoples champ however you look at it. It can out perform anything I have seen in its price range. I like what I read about the couple of Asus cards coming up, the DirectCU being only 10$ more than reference, it can OC up like 5% and catch up with the 5870. So maybe we should start looking for an Asus 5850 OCed vs 480. And see if the Price/Performance is worth buying a new DutchOven.
 

mkramer0820

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go with a 5850, they are in stock and the preforance is pretty much the same as the 470 with a cheaper price. It runs cooler and you can over clock it to levels equal to 5870. you can also save the 50 bucks you would spend extra on the 5850 and buy a better heatsink for the 5850 which will make it run quiet and low temp leaving lots of room to play around with. But if you are into nvidia go with the 470, if you are in different i say 5850.
 

Salt-City_Slasher

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Well I have bought plenty of nvidias in the past but they were not as good as card as I thought they would be.
I plan on getting an ASUS 5850 or 5870 reference card since from what I read the stock cooling is plenty good, and with overclocks people are not
seeing temps above 65-70. Unless the card with better cooling and factory clock is only a few bucks more, then I wouldn't mind paying the little extra.
For example the 5870 Ref. and the V2 are only like 20-30 different and then the 5850 ref. is only to be 10 more, but they have not come out yet.

Either way I will get a really nice card. The 5850 is if I am saving money and want its max of 5870 area. The 5870 is if I have extra cash and I
want it offers maxed out. Roughly 300-330 for 5850 and 400-430 for 5870, it will just be what cash I have when I get it.
 


Well then.....lemme ask ya this....'

1. Why was the 4870x2's heat and power never a concern when the 295 was much more efficient and now the 4xx series, it's such a big thing ?
2. Why was the fact that the 5870 didn't beat the 295 excused by the single / dual GPU argument but now the fact that the 480 didn't beat the 5970 , the same argument is dismissed ?
3. Why was the "drivers will narrow the gap as they mature" argument that was used so consistently in October being dismissed now ?
4. Why has the "best price / performance ratio" the mantra from October all but disappeared now that the 470/480 have lower "dollars per frame" than their ATI counterparts ?
5. Why does when one card loses by 10%, the performance is "almost the same" and when the other card wins by the same amount "it crushed the competition".
6. Why is the cost difference between the 480 and 5870 continually quoted as $100, when the cheapest card on newegg is $415, 4 are at $420, and 6 are at $500 ? The average cost of the 5850 and 470 are $28 apart.

Before the rants begin, please note that I am arguing this point of view as a "devil's advocate" so to speak as both camps are often guilty of the same selective memory. I could just as easily make this argument from the other side. Ya can't argue the point (whether it be "it matters" or "it doesn't matter") only when it works for your side.....well unless you're a politician. :)

1. Yes, the 4870x 2's heat and power were a concern to be considered but if your case and PSU were appropriately sized, it was no bigga deal....same holds true today.

2. The 470 had the lowest dollars per frame out of the 4 competing cards (DX11 games at 1920 x 1200 high settings) on nVidia's release day by a 5-4 score in the benchies.....ATI's price adjustments that weekend changed it to a 7-2 advantage for the 5850. Today it's back to 5-4 for nVidia.....obviously the cards are competitive as small price variations change the ratings very easily change the scores.

3. Driver tweaks is a bit of dishonest activity on both sides as they both tweak the drivers to perform better with standard demo / benching scripts.

4. The 470 beats the 5850 in 8/9 DX11 benchies at high settings at 1920 x 1200 .... it beats the 5870 in 5/9.....BUT at other resolutions the ATI wins many more benchies. Which card performs better, at least with current drivers may very well depend on what resolution you play at.

Both the 4xx series and 58xx series have their pluses and minuses.....some of those pluses will be meaningless to some people .... some of the minuses will be meaningless to some people. For example, I simply can't use a new ATI card today because of their 2D GFX deficiencies would have a negative impact on how I make my living (AutoCAD). That is expected to be fixed with 10.4 which will be a very significant game changer for everyone who does 2D GFX.

The power and heat issues with the 4xx series will be a big deal for all the LAN party types with small, light cases......not so much for the HAF 932 / Antec 1200 owners with 850 watt and up PSU's. The fact that the 58xx can't display the PhysX features in Batman will not be an issue to many people.....the fact that CUDA will help peeps with their movie editing will be a big plus to some people.

All and all the fact that both companies are pushing various technologies and are both apparently doing it successfully is a great thing. Dominance by either company would bring complacency and stagnation and I have to commend both sides for continually pushing the envelope. Which of these varying technologies will be successful ? Who knows ? MS thought DX10 was going to change the world and make us all buy Vista and that didn't happen. In the end, the market will decide what stays and what fades ..... more than likely the best of competing technologies will merge into one. Without competition, we won't have half as much to get excited about.

I have two sons (both gamers) paying their own way through college .... both are planning new builds this summer. The one studying to be a pilot is leaning towards a 5970 and Eyefinity (FSX). The Science / Media Arts student is leaning twin 470's and 3D Vision. To my mind, both are picking the solution that best fits their usage and both are well thought out and logical choices for how they will use their machines.
 

Salt-City_Slasher

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Well put, the biggest decider is what your wanting to do with the computer, I made the earlier comment as to people who just say that sucks or thats cooler, but with no reason to why.

The choice is really going to come down to what your willing to pay and what your needing as far as computing. Most enthusiast's are gamers so the best of the best as far as FPS and what not are going to be a big plus. They do both offer a lot, if I wanted 3D I would get nvidia hands down, if I wanted 6 screens boom ATI. So in a sense that no matter what you get your still getting a whole lot of card, I would say its more of a choice of hardware. If your getting nvidia you pretty much choosing Intel, with ATI you can get a choice. When the thubans come out reporting at 299$+ for the Phenom II X6 1090T, things can get a little trickier, just cause Intel has the upper hand doesn't mean AMD has crappy chips. The new thubans should be quite the catch with 6 cores, and come with the new mobos with sata 3 and usb 3.

What I am getting at is that is you want to go AMD you have to get ATI. and with all the new great products that are coming out, that aren't a arm and leg it is definetly the ideal setup for anyone looking to save some cash. Yeah intel is also really great, I would love to have an i7 930, with a X58 board, but if I were to buy right now I would need to spend another 100$ going from a 955/965 to an 920/930. If I were to get nvidia I would most certainly get an EVGA board and one of the best ones is like 350, and I could get the LE for around 200ish. As far as memory goes 3 channel would cost a little more than 2 channel but that is not a big difference.
So to get the best AMD setup your looking at 350ish, with an intel setup which is a little bit better your looking at maybe 400-500. I am just talking about chip and board with those numbers. But once the Phenom II X6 1090T comes out, it would probably cost the same as the 930 setup, and with 6 unlocked cores I am sure it is going to be better, and more of an OCers dream.

Anyways, this is all in general, and I am only saying what I think, the numbers are not exact but are still pretty precise. I just don't see the advantage to havinga 470/480 over a 5850/5870 at this point in time. Once they come out and we get to read about what people think about them who have first hand experience with them, then we can get a better understanding of them.
So overall I wouldn't choose the GTX 400's for several reasons. With the heat issue yeah it is a problem, cause anything that effects your overall rig is something big. I plan on a full tower, and plan on spending lots of money making it cool so any less heat I can get the better.
I think I won't post until it comes out, cause there is no point, if you like one or the other, cause its better to you then get it. If ones cheaper for pretty much the same stuff get it