Advice on my new GPU?

[mw2fan]

Hi all,
I'm building a new rig and was going to get the Sapphire 5850 in CrossfireX.
But now I see that I can't get that version for a reasonable price here in Holland.
I have two other options, namely;
1: The Club3D HD 5850 1GB for 120 Euros
2: Or for 20 euros more, the MSI R6870 HAWK.
All other GPU's available for me in the 5850-6850 family are arround the same price of the MSI R6870 HAWK.
So is the MSI worth 20 euros more then the Club3D?

Any help would be much appreciated!

-Mark

 

[juicycrapachino]

The MSI Radeon HD 6870 Hawk is a large jump in performance compared to the 5850. It's made with better components, has better cooling, and has great user-friendly features like: Performance/Silent fan speed profiles, MSI afterburner overclocking utility, and triple overvoltage support for extreme overclocking. I would buy this card over the 5850 any day (unless the 5850 was free of course) .

Hope this helps!

Sincerely,
-JuicyCrapachino

 

[Tamz_msc]

Since you're getting the MSI Hawk with a better cooler and components for just 20 euros more, I'd go for it.

 

[mw2fan]

Alright, I'll go for that one. Thanks guys!

 

[4745454b]

Not only that, the 6870 is the faster card. It can nearly match the 5870 at in some cases. Only 20 more? Grab it if it's within budget.

 

[mw2fan]

It does overclock properly right?
Like without flashing bios or increasing the voltage it'll go upto 1000Mhz core clock easily right?

 

[juicycrapachino]

This link might help answer your questions: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127560&Tpk=6870%20hawk

 

[Tamz_msc]

It does overclock properly right?
Like without flashing bios or increasing the voltage it'll go upto 1000Mhz core clock easily right?

Yes, it will.

 

[mw2fan]

Wait now I'm REALLY confused..
Everyone here says get the 6870,
but I was watching overclock3d's review on youtube, and they said the 6870
isn't a replacement for the 5870, and is actually in between the 5770 and the
5830.
So wouldn't it be better to get the club3d 5850 then?
I'm completely lost here

 

[juicycrapachino]

Take our advice, the 6870 is the better card in many ways.

 

[4745454b]

5770 < 5830 < 6850 < 5850 < 6870 < 5870. Thats how the boards fall more or less. The 5830 might be equal with the 6850, but I'd rather have the 6850 due to the better power numbers. The 6870 is NOT something that sits between the 5770 and 5830.

 

[mw2fan]

Ha, alright.
Kinda confusing but I get it now.
1 more question, ik keep hearing that the 6xxx series has better 'scaling' the the 5xxx series. But can someone explain (in laymans terms) what scaling is?
I can't really find a simple answer on google :s
But anyways, thanks for the advice!

 

[4745454b]

The 6 series handles CF better then the 5 series. Because of this, even though a single 6850 is slower then a 5850, two 6850s will be as fast if not faster then two 5850s because they scale better.

This doesn't matter in single card setups.

 

[mw2fan]

Okay so scaling is basically how well they perform is CrossfireX?
Well thanks for helping out a total noob here!
Thanks,
-Mark

 

[mw2fan]

Final question, will the 6870 crossfire (both at 1000mhz core clock),
An i5 2500k at 4.5 Ghz and 4gb of ddr3 1333 mhz run Crysis 1 at super-duper
settings with an acceptable framerate? And if not, what would I have to change about this config?

 

[4745454b]

You can't be 100% certain you'll hit those OCs. Chances are high that you will, but you should always plan on stock performance. As for performance, lets look at review.

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ATI/Radeon_HD_6870_CrossFire/8.html

For the 5870 in CF, Check out the 5970 scores. A 5870 CF setup should be a bit faster, but close to the 5970. You didn't list your res, but that shouldn't matter as the scores are all the same. This is also an example of scaling. Notice that at all resolutions a single 6870 is slower then a single 5870, but in CF the the 6870s take the lead.

 

[mw2fan]

Well the MSI r6870 hawk comes with a stock clock of 930 so I'm 99 % sure I'll easily hit that. (I'm not even overclocking for pure performance, more because I like the sound of two 1Ghz GPU's better then two 930Mhz ones, lol).
Well the resolution I'll be gaming at at first will be 1024 x 768 (on my tv)
but I'll get a 1080p monitor in the future.
But on 1024 x 768 I should expect fps's of arround 90 on everything max?!
Wow. Thats amazing!
Anyways, thanks for the help!
-Mark

 

[Griffolion]

At 768p your prospective set up will bend Crysis over it's knee and show it who it's daddy is.

At 1080, you may see some drop, but you can compensate through overclocking.

 

[mw2fan]

At 768p your prospective set up will bend Crysis over it's knee and show it who it's daddy is.

ROFL, that made my day!

 

[Griffolion]

Lol there was a serious point to that post, your setup will be more than fine for (in fact) both the resolutions you mentioned.

 

[mw2fan]

So it'll run 60 fps in 1080p max AA and everything else max when crossfired and overclocked?