What brand 5850?

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
Derbixrace

Derbixrace

Distinguished
May 26, 2008
1,283
0
19,360
the MSI card didnt have so good reviews, one said "GPU runs a bit warm, bleeds hot air into the case" and another said "This card runs much hotter then the reference cards by about 10C" lol
 
jay2tall

jay2tall

Splendid
Apr 9, 2007
6,123
0
26,460
^I take those reviews with a grain of salt because most times people have no clue what they are talking about or are doing things wrong. I usually look at the number of DOA's and other severe issues.

Gigabyte has a new 5850 out as well with dual fans. They tend to do a really good job as well. MSI has really done alot with their video cards lately, I'd look at those as well and disregard some of the reviews, it only has 4.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125318&cm_re=5850-_-14-125-318-_-Product

Either way any of the non reference cards, which I don't think there are any left, should let you OC pretty well. I myself would probably pick up one that is closer to $300 like the XFX or Sapphire and OC the crap out of it. It was a lifetime warranty on the XFX so if it dies, get a new one.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125318&cm_re=5850-_-14-125-318-_-Product

If you are looking at the $340 5850 cards you may as well just pay the extra $60 for a $400 5870
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125316&cm_re=5870-_-14-125-316-_-Product
 
Bighairyman

Bighairyman

Distinguished
Feb 1, 2007
167
0
18,690



I have thought about the 5870 but I was thinking I'd eventually crossfire the 5850s which would probably be alot less heat and energy
 
jay2tall

jay2tall

Splendid
Apr 9, 2007
6,123
0
26,460

An overclocked 5850 at the same clocks is going to consume just slightly less power than a 5870 anyways. a 5870 consumes maybe 50W more than a 5850 each at stock, but you get more performance per card.

Ask yourself this.... are you REALLY going to Crossfire 2 cards down the road? Unless you are doing it now, most times you are better off selling your current cards and getting the next best single card that performs twice what the previous card did. I find myself in this boat about once a year.
 
Bighairyman

Bighairyman

Distinguished
Feb 1, 2007
167
0
18,690
I was torn between the 5870 Vapor-X and the Gigabyte..The Gigabyte seems to be the better overclocker plus the Vapor-X went up in price at Newegg in the last hour. So I purchased the Gigabyte 5870...Thanks for all the help
 
S

shadow187

Splendid
Sep 16, 2009
4,103
0
23,160
An HD5850 heavily OC'd will equal an HD5870 stock. But you can OC an HD5870 as well.

If you're going to crossfire in, say, 6 months, get an HD5870. If within a couple months, I'd just get the 5850.
 
jay2tall

jay2tall

Splendid
Apr 9, 2007
6,123
0
26,460

The vapor-X is overpriced. There are better cheaper solutions out there. The gigabyte is $50 cheaper and has 2 fans to dissipate heat.
 
H

hockster

Distinguished
Aug 3, 2009
63
0
18,630
A lot of people around here seem to be a fan of XFX mainly because of their warranty? I've also read some opinions around here on the XFX that demonstrated some occassional issues with the card. My understanding is that the Asus card provides a OCing tool that unlocks the voltage tweak and is a propriatary tool of the Asus offering?

Does any know the difference between these two models of the Sapphire 5870, the 100281-3SR and the 10028-1SR?

Thanks!
 
AMW1011

AMW1011

Distinguished
Dec 5, 2009
2,589
0
20,960
Okay, I need you to listen carefully. I have done IMMENSE research into this subject for myself.

Say no to the MSI 5850 Twin Frozr II. It has problems going over 1.15v and the cooler isn't much better than reference making it useless.

Speaking of reference, this is what you need. You need to get a reference card because the voltage can be tweaked on them, which is important if you are serious about overclocking. Despite some claims, the reference cooler is very good, especially in a good case, and will perform perfectly for your uses, even heavily overclocked.

Say no to aftermarket coolers. None of them properly cool the VRM and when the voltage is changed, even a little, the VRM will throw out a lot of heat and will overheat on most aftermarket coolers. The Vapor-X cooler will do fine for the VRM cooling, but those are non-reference cards which do not support voltage tweaking. A good example:
http://www.legionhardware.com/articles_pages/prolimatech_mk_13,3.html

As you can see, the VRM is a full 35c hotter than reference when overclocked with the aftermarket cooler. The problem with these aftermarket coolers is that they tend to be universal meaning they provide little to no cooling for the memory or other parts of the GPU except the actual chip.

As for the reference card in question, I highly recommend an Asus 5850 reference card. It will cool fine and let you change the voltages out of the box. If you need to get another brand, or want a better warranty, then you will need to flash the BIOS of the card to the Asus BIOS to allow voltage changing. If you flash a non-reference card it will be bricked and you will have a $300+ paper weight. A good guide:
http://www.overclock.net/ati/671675-how-flash-your-5850-bios.html

All the same applies to the 5870.

note that when overclocked to a 1GHz core, you have reached the height that the 5870 can overclock to as well. At that point, the only difference is that the 5870 has 160 more stream processors, or 10% more, meaning it can only be 10% faster in theory, but may fall short of that 10% because of scaling. You need to ask yourself if 10% is worth $100+ more.
 
H

hockster

Distinguished
Aug 3, 2009
63
0
18,630


Thats a good point and the question that I am asking myself right now.
 
z06psi

z06psi

Distinguished
Feb 1, 2010
360
0
18,810
I recommend ASUS as well. Overclocked 5870 here with voltage and no heat issues at all. Lucky to see 57C at 2560x1600 4AA on CODMW2
 
AMW1011

AMW1011

Distinguished
Dec 5, 2009
2,589
0
20,960
Believe me I've analyzed so much data...

From what I have found, the SP scaling isn't perfect but is pretty close. Also 10% is the minimum performance percentage increase that I would call "noticeable", but that depends on a lot. It depends on whether we are talking about a 60 FPS to 66 FPS, or a 25 FPS to 27.5 FPS increase, one will be noticeable and the other will not. Also, a 20 to 22 FPS increase isn't really going to help much. This is also the difference between 4x AA and 2X AA for example, its a small margin to be sure. However, it could be the difference between playable and barely playable, but what game is barely playable on a 5870 or unplayable on a 5850 even (assuming they are at 1GHz core as per the discussion)? Even Crysis should be playable at 1920x1200 on Very High with a 5850 @ 1GHz, possibly with 2x AA even.

Two MSI 5770 Hawks @ 1050mhz Core, 1350mhz Ram score 45 FPS average in Crysis @ 1920x1080 on Very High:
http://www.overclock.net/ati/683034-bo_punk-review-msi-5770-hawk-cf.html

Since dual 5770s are equal to a 5870, possibly a little lower because of scaling, at equal clocks, the 5850 should pull 41 FPS in the same config. That is all very rough math with a lot of variables, but I would venture to say that the difference isn't huge, but isn't insignificant either. If you ask me? Its not worth the extra $100 at all. If you plan to crossfire later like me? Then it REALLY doesn't matter as you will be maxing Crysis anyway.

Seems Anandtech is showing dual 5770s as equal to a 5850 in Crysis Warhead even though the 5850 has lower clocks:

20445.png


So the possibility is there that the 5850 at equal clocks will get equal or great performance than the above results on 2 MSI 5770 Hawks. This is getting even more theoretical so I will leave any further conclusions to the reader.
 
jay2tall

jay2tall

Splendid
Apr 9, 2007
6,123
0
26,460

If you use the MSI afterburner utility, which isn't brand specific, you should be able to overvolt just fine. I have an Asus and use MSI afterburner. Don't flash your cards it will void the warranty.
 
jay2tall

jay2tall

Splendid
Apr 9, 2007
6,123
0
26,460


Dunno. I know myself and others have used the MSI utility on the 5xxx series with no issues.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom