Which 5850?

[bnot]

So I'm going to order a 5850 in the next few days and I have narrowed my selection down to 2 different cards. I managed to find two 5850's both made by Sapphire.

A regular 5850 with MW2 for £248

or

A Vapor-X 5850 with no game for £253


I'm on a strict budget of £250 but I'm willing to go over if the extra cooling is worth it.

I don't plan to do any overclocking or adding another 5850 if this should matter. My case is fairly small, but the card should just fit so I think the Vapor-x could come in handy with quite a small case.

Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[multiscreenz]

The 5850's are pretty big, so if you have a small case I would get the smaller card. However, either one will perform great for you. Sapphire is one of my favorite companies and I have used 1000's of their cards when I build computers for customers. Goog job narrowing it down to a great brand!

 

[wolfram23]

You'll be pretty much just as well off with the MW2 edition. Vapor-X might be the 2GB edition but that's not really needed, and I think it comes stock OCed but that's easy enough to accomplish.
I just want to point out that these are non reference boards so they probably have the voltage fixed. The Sapphire 5850 Dirt 2 edition is a reference model and supports variable voltages. But, this feature is only necessary for big overclocks.

Now, you say you're not going to overclock so I guess if you want the "best" 5850 go with the Vapor-X.

 

[bnot]

I just double checked and the Vapor-X is a tiny bit overclocked. It's the 1GB version but the core clock is 735MHz up from 725MHz, and the memory clock is 4200 up from 4000 but this is such a minor increase I don't see there being any difference what so ever. Just to be sure is the Vapor-X card larger than the regular Sapphire 5850? If so what are the dimensions?

 

[wolfram23]

I just double checked and the Vapor-X is a tiny bit overclocked. It's the 1GB version but the core clock is 735MHz up from 725MHz, and the memory clock is 4200 up from 4000 but this is such a minor increase I don't see there being any difference what so ever. Just to be sure is the Vapor-X card larger than the regular Sapphire 5850? If so what are the dimensions?

Same size card the only physical difference is the attached cooler, which is still roughly the same dimensions.

Just so you know, the drivers come with ATI Catalyst Control Center and within that there is an overclocking tool built right in (ATI Overdrive) which you can easily max out to 775/1200. And like I said, mine run at stock volts at 875/1200 so maxing CCC is quite safe. Basically just depends if your PSU can support a little extra power.

Since I have reference cards I tried OCing one with extra voltage, and I got it way up to 985/1200. Actually I can probably get it to run at 1210 memory but I've had GSODs at 1220 so I prefer just leaving it as is.

Like you say tho, that 10mhz won't make a difference in favour of the Vapor X. 50mhz makes a small difference, 100mhz will gain a few fps.

 

[bnot]

But I'm not planning to overclock at all. I'm kind of leaning towards the Vapor-X since I would feel safer with a little extra cooling.

 

[bnot]

UPDATE:

I just read that the 1GB 5850 Vapor-x is 11.5" ? Is this true? I was really hoping on getting the Vapor-x version but if it is this size I'll need to get a regular one.

 

[Slayer697]

I recommend getting the Vapor-X version if you can fit it in your case. It should run cooler and quieter than the regular 5850.

 

[bnot]

If possible could somebody please confirm the size of the Vapor-X? I've read that on different sites that the size of the card ranges from 9.5-11.5 inches?

 

[OvrClkr]

Get a DirectCu, it runs cooler than vapor-x and has a better warranty. Later on down the road if you will eventually overclock it when your favorite game no longer plays as expected. The DirectCu can achieve 5870 speeds quite easily, and its cheaper than a vapor-x.