5850 vs 5870

[serous-2010]

Yes, I know, there are a lot of threads like this, but none of those seem to answer my question. I am building a new system (see the specs below), and i can't decide between two GPUs - Radeon 5850 and 5870. My monitor res is 1680 x 1050. I am buying this PC for latest games, complicated work in photoshop and 3ds max. I hope to work on this GPU for at least two years before upgrading it. So, is it worth the extra money to buy the faster 5870?

My new system specs:


Intel core i7 860

Gigabyte Ga-p55-ud4p

G.Skill 4gb DDR3 2000

and other components, not related to this question.

 

[anonymousdude]

Either card will be overkill for your resolution, but if you plan to upgrade the monitor in the near future you may want to splurge for the 5870. Other wise a 5850 will run just about anything at playable frame rates at your resolution. Photoshop will benefit more from the cpu you have picked rather than the graphics card. 3ds max needs a workstation card to be able to render things quickly.

 

[serous-2010]

Either card will be overkill for your resolution, but if you plan to upgrade the monitor in the near future you may want to splurge for the 5870. Other wise a 5850 will run just about anything at playable frame rates at your resolution. Photoshop will benefit more from the cpu you have picked rather than the graphics card. 3ds max needs a workstation card to be able to render things quickly.

Thanks. I don't think I'll upgrade my monitor. So, i think 5850 will be just fine

 

[JackNaylorPE]

3D Max performs better with a rendering card like the Quadro. With large files like that and your time frame, I'd want an Asus MoBo whose USB 3 and SATA III speeds aren't crippled by a second GFX card.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/usb-3.0-performance,2490-2.html

Gigabyte’s P55A-UD4P cuts costs by using the processor’s PCIe 2.0 connections to host its high-bandwidth controllers. Two of the primary graphics card’s 16 PCIe lanes supply its USB 3.0 and SATA 6.0 Gb/s controllers, and Gigabyte disables six more lanes to make the upper slot an effective x8 interface. The USB 3.0 and SATA 6.0 Gb/s controllers revert to the chipset’s 2.5 GT/s lanes whenever two graphics cards are installed, to preserve the x8 transfers each graphics card needs for optimal CrossFire or SLI performance.

Thus, users with a single graphics card must sacrifice half of its peak bandwidth to enable 5.0 Gb transfers to the USB 3.0 and SATA 6.0 Gb/s controllers, while those with two cards must live with 2.5 Gb/s bandwidth limits on USB 3.0 and SATA 6.0 Gb/s controllers. Neither of these sacrifices is huge or even noticeable on most of today’s hardware, yet anyone trying to future-proof their system could be left cold.

 

[galta]

I know that's not what you have asked, but are you sure about i7 860? If you're willing to spend that money, get a 930 instead.
As of the gpu, @1680x1050 both will do fine.

 

[serous-2010]

I know that's not what you have asked, but are you sure about i7 860? If you're willing to spend that money, get a 930 instead.
As of the gpu, @1680x1050 both will do fine.

No, I don't see any reson to buy i7 930. It doen't work much faster than 860, LGA-1366 mobos cost more than LGA-1156, and their 3-channel RAM is just useless for me.

 

[anonymousdude]

I'd advise you to move up to a i7-930 as others have suggested or move down to an i5-750.

 

[serous-2010]

I'd advise you to move up to a i7-930 as others have suggested or move down to an i5-750.

Why? What's the advantage of 930 over 860?

 

[the last resort]

i think the 830 will perform just fine. However, the 930 does carry some features you could use. The triple channel RAM could be very beneficial in 3DS Max and Photoshop. I do not have any benchmarks showing this or numbers of how much, but I'm pretty sure the extra bandwidth will help.

For Max and Photoshop, it might even be better to look for more cores. I am aware this is probably WAY out of your budget, but is something to think about, depending on how much power you need.

I think the 930 and 3-channel RAM is a better upgrade than going from either a 5850/5870 to a Quadro also.

 

[serous-2010]

i think the 830 will perform just fine. However, the 930 does carry some features you could use. The triple channel RAM could be very beneficial in 3DS Max and Photoshop. I do not have any benchmarks showing this or numbers of how much, but I'm pretty sure the extra bandwidth will help.

For Max and Photoshop, it might even be better to look for more cores. I am aware this is probably WAY out of your budget, but is something to think about, depending on how much power you need.

I think the 930 and 3-channel RAM is a better upgrade than going from either a 5850/5870 to a Quadro also.

Thanks for your reply. But i've already thought this all over. By the benchmarks, the triple-channel RAM doesn't give a lot of advantage - not for this kind of system. I am planning to install 4 more gigs or RAM in the future - it's DDR3 2000, so I hope it will work just fine. About the newest processors - yeah, you are right. Though my new system is pretty fast and cool, I'm getting all this stuff for only $1200. So, the new intel CPUs are not an option for me. And by the way, I'm not trying to get the fastest PC ever - just a one that would fit my needs. So 860 will work just fine.

 

[anonymousdude]

The advantage is in the extra pci-e lanes that the x58 chipset provides. The review that jacknaylorPE posted sums it up quite well. Also triple channel memory will benefit some applications. The benefits are most apparent when running multiple gpu's as the full x16 lanes on the x58 will not bottleneck even the fastest cards. The benefits are there, but whether they are worth it is up to you. If gaming is the main use then even the i5-750 will suffice.

 

[serous-2010]

The advantage is in the extra pci-e lanes that the x58 chipset provides. The review that jacknaylorPE posted sums it up quite well. Also triple channel memory will benefit some applications. The benefits are most apparent when running multiple gpu's as the full x16 lanes on the x58 will not bottleneck even the fastest cards. The benefits are there, but whether they are worth it is up to you. If gaming is the main use then even the i5-750 will suffice.

First of all, I am not planning to use multiple GPUs - I think that for now, one 5850/5870 will be enough. And also, gaming is not the mail use of my PC. I work in Photoshop, 3ds max, spend a lot of time on internet.. So, I would like a rather faster CPU, that's why I'm not getting core i5.

 

[serous-2010]

Best answer selected by serous-2010.