For $250 or less, what's the absolute best ATI GPU I could get?

[wannaturnuptheheat]

See title.

I was considering getting the 6870 which hovers around $250, but apparently the 5850 has almost the same performance at $50 less; would the increased energy efficiency (6870 is more efficient, right?) and power be worth the extra money? Or if I am really money-conscious (which i am), should I settle with the 5850?

Or are there any other options I'm missing?

I suppose the $250 can be after rebates, but I'd prefer it to be before.

Also, when does ATI release their next generation/set of cards, and do you guys see that affecting price of existing models much? IE: If I waited until they are released, would I be able to get a slightly better card at the same price point?

 

[wiinippongamer]

The 6870 is about the same on power consumption as the 5850, but the 6000s in general have a lot better tesselation performance ( HD5000s biggest flaw).

If you OC'd the 5850 to 6870 frequencies then it would be quite a bit better than the 6870, also the 6870s have little OC headroom compared to a 5850, cause their stock clocks are already very high.

I'd consider the 6850 too, it's $180 with a much better OC headroom than a 6870, easily overclocked to 5850 levels and even 6870 if you push it enough, though you'd have to mess with voltages already. But most important of all, the better tesselation performance, which is very determining in DX11 games and will be even more in the future.


Though I have to afdmit this is a really good deal: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161330&cm_re=5850-_-14-161-330-_-Product

I happily bought mine for $320 and now it's half the price of that after rebate, I might be picking one for CF.

 

[wannaturnuptheheat]

The 6870 is about the same on power consumption as the 5850, but the 6000s in general have a lot better tesselation performance ( HD5000s biggest flaw).

If you OC'd the 5850 to 6870 frequencies then it would be quite a bit better than the 6870, also the 6870s have little OC headroom compared to a 5850, cause their stock clocks are already very high.

I'd consider the 6850 too, it's $180 with a much better OC headroom than a 6870, easily overclocked to 5850 levels and even 6870 if you push it enough, though you'd have to mess with voltages already. But most important of all, the better tesselation performance, which is very determining in DX11 games and will be even more in the future.


Though I have to afdmit this is a really good deal: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161330&cm_re=5850-_-14-161-330-_-Product

I happily bought mine for $320 and now it's half the price of that after rebate, I might be picking one for CF.

So 6870s are relatively un-OCable? Now, let's say that I planned to keep my GPU at stock speed; should I then go for the 6870, based on its tesselation advantage (and any other benefits its architecture has over the 5800 series)? And also, as I asked, will ATI be coming out with any cards soon that we know of, and will it offset any of these prices?

 

[aznshinobi]

^ Well, yes AMD is coming out with new card. This month infact. Cayman is releasing, but those are of higher end and not exactly in your price range. The cheapest should be 350. But pricing is still speculation. Performance though, the 6950 (the 350 Cayman, there is a 6970 but that's like 500$) should perform around the 570's range.


Anyway. I think that if wanted to OC, this would be a better choice. Lets say you do OC, but don't plan to CF.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121370&cm_re=5850_asus-_-14-121-370-_-Product
The 5850 is great because it OC'd much better than the 6850. Talking performance numbers. This is the general STOCK performance 6850<5850<6870<5870. Now with that said. The 6850 can only OC to about the 6870's area and in between that and the 5870. The 5850 can OC above the 5870. Putting at the top. The reason I chose this model, it's the only decent 5850 with Voltage tweaking. As good as wiinip's 5850 is, it doesn't have voltage tweaking. Leaving you OC-less. I was able to voltage tweak OC my 5850 past the 5870's performance pretty easily. So... Take it from me.

The 6850 is by far the best value if you plan to OC and CF. It OC's to as I said between the 6870 and 5870. Also it CF scales much MUCH better than the 58xx which is one fix the Bart's series fixed. (68xx) Another thing, lower power consumption but that's just a plus. One thing is at stock, it's not the strongest of the 4, but it is still good. I recommend this model: Again the DirectCu.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121399&cm_re=6850-_-14-121-399-_-Product

Another thing for plain performance. The best bet is the 5870. The 5870 beats the 6870, not by much but it beats it. The reason the 5870 is also better than the 6870, is because the 68xx although fixing tesselation. Still sucks. It can't even compete with the 470's in tesselation so with that said, from 6870 to 5870. There isn't a big tessellation difference.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102872&cm_re=5870-_-14-102-872-_-Product

http://www.overclockers.com/amd-6870-video-card-review/

The 6870 is good. But I think stock performance. The 5870 is a lot better with straight up FPS.

BUT Again, if you plan to Crossfire, then the 6870 is better for around the save performance. Since with the 68xx the scaling is better.

 

[wannaturnuptheheat]

^ Well, yes AMD is coming out with new card. This month infact. Cayman is releasing, but those are of higher end and not exactly in your price range. The cheapest should be 350. But pricing is still speculation. Performance though, the 6950 (the 350 Cayman, there is a 6970 but that's like 500$) should perform around the 570's range.


Anyway. I think that if wanted to OC, this would be a better choice. Lets say you do OC, but don't plan to CF.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121370&cm_re=5850_asus-_-14-121-370-_-Product
The 5850 is great because it OC'd much better than the 6850. Talking performance numbers. This is the general STOCK performance 6850<5850<6870<5870. Now with that said. The 6850 can only OC to about the 6870's area and in between that and the 5870. The 5850 can OC above the 5870. Putting at the top. The reason I chose this model, it's the only decent 5850 with Voltage tweaking. As good as wiinip's 5850 is, it doesn't have voltage tweaking. Leaving you OC-less. I was able to voltage tweak OC my 5850 past the 5870's performance pretty easily. So... Take it from me.

The 6850 is by far the best value if you plan to OC and CF. It OC's to as I said between the 6870 and 5870. Also it CF scales much MUCH better than the 58xx which is one fix the Bart's series fixed. (68xx) Another thing, lower power consumption but that's just a plus. One thing is at stock, it's not the strongest of the 4, but it is still good. I recommend this model: Again the DirectCu.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121399&cm_re=6850-_-14-121-399-_-Product

Another thing for plain performance. The best bet is the 5870. The 5870 beats the 6870, not by much but it beats it. The reason the 5870 is also better than the 6870, is because the 68xx although fixing tesselation. Still sucks. It can't even compete with the 470's in tesselation so with that said, from 6870 to 5870. There isn't a big tessellation difference.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102872&cm_re=5870-_-14-102-872-_-Product

http://www.overclockers.com/amd-6870-video-card-review/

The 6870 is good. But I think stock performance. The 5870 is a lot better with straight up FPS.

BUT Again, if you plan to Crossfire, then the 6870 is better for around the save performance. Since with the 68xx the scaling is better.

I plan to Crossfire when I can afford another card, so I suppose I'll roll with a single 6870 for now.

Thanks for the details!