Considering upgrading from a 5770

[musicmanrandy]

to a 5850 or 5870. Is the power consumption and cooling a tremendous difference between the 5770 and these cards?

Thanks,
Randy

 

[flyinfinni]

what resolution are you gaming at? Also- what PSU do you have. The 5850 and 5870 do use quite a bit more power than the 5770- they require 2 6pin PCI-e power connections as opposed to the 1 on the 5770, though I don't know that I would call it a 'tremendous difference'. They are a bit warmer, but that generally really isn't much of an issue. the 5870 is roughly double the performance of your 5770, so if your mobo and PSU support it, you could always just throw a second 5770 in there.

 

[skolpo]

Here are the numbers for power consumption according to Tom's reviews:

HD 5870
Idle: 141
Load: 354

HD 5850
Idle: 102
Load: 252

HD 5770
Idle: 98
Load: 207

As you can see, there is quite a difference between the 5770 and the 5870 (147 watt difference at load). There is also a moderate difference between the 5770 and 5850 (45 watt difference at load). Both 58xx will run hotter than the 5770 by about 5-10C at load. What is your power supply? What resolution are you playing games on? IMO, the only considerable upgrade would be the 5870 if you have a 5770. Look at this chart. If you ever decide on upgrading your graphics card, you want to jump at least two tiers from the card you're upgrading from:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-graphics-card,2569-6.html

 

[flyinfinni]

in this case, I would probably consider a 5850 enough to be worth an upgrade because with the 5870 being basically double the 5770, the 5850 is still a very solid step up from the 5770. Easiest upgrade would still be to just add a second 5770 if you have capable hardware.

 

[Bighairyman]

in this case, I would probably consider a 5850 enough to be worth an upgrade because with the 5870 being basically double the 5770, the 5850 is still a very solid step up from the 5770. Easiest upgrade would still be to just add a second 5770 if you have capable hardware.

I agree with flyinfinni...if you have a XFire board then I would just purchase another 5770 which would be almost as fast as a 5870.

 

[musicmanrandy]

My board is XFire -- that helps a lot, thanks for your replies -- I think I'll just add another 5770

 

[okini55]

just buy another of those 5770s and youll get even better performance than the 5870. Well equal. So yeah youll get HD 5870 performance but its MUCH cheaper than buying a HD 5870.

 

[flyinfinni]

Cool- its always nice to be able to just drop another card in there when you need an upgrade. 2x 5770 is great right now.