2 HD 5770 vs HD 6850

[pjmoses]

My question is, I am building an Intel setup and got a HD 6850 for it. My old AMD Phenom II 965 used 2 HD 5770's. Which is better paired with Intel 2600k? I will be putting in 2 OCZ 128Gb SSD's and a 1 Tb HDD also.

 

[NuclearShadow]

With the build you are making I find it odd that you would settle for a single 6850 to begin with. If you think you could live without one of those SSD drives for now I would say go up to a 6950. (try to aim for one that you can flash into a 6970)

But if you must go between those two options then I would advise the 6850.
A single strong card makes more sense than two weaker cards to get similar performance. It also will let you go crossfire at a later date if you so wish.

 

[4745454b]

Using greg's link, I'll see your Crysis benchie and throw you fallout3.

http://www.guru3d.com/article/radeon-hd-5770-review-test/20

Notice how fast the 5770CF setup is? It's faster then the 5870, so fast I would argue its faster then a single 6870.

For pure performance the 5770 is the way to go. In most games they should be faster then a single 6850. I've heard they are just above a single 6870 most of the time. Up to you if you want the performance, or the better thermal/power numbers of the 6850.

 

[Wisecracker]

I don't want to be accused of taking a dump on this thread or insulting the OP, so please don't take it that way ... but WTF?

2xHD5770s whup up on a single HD6850 pretty good, but for the sake of argument let's say 2xHD5770s with the PhII 965 are equal to an HD6850 on a new Core processor (I don't really think that would be the case but bear with me ...)

If gaming is the thing, here, and the OP already has the HD6850, adding a second HD6850 for $150 or so and he enters the budget-gaming stratosphere, even with the PhII 965.

He's blowing past the HD5970 and approaching GTX 580 territory. But here is where I think it gets really interesting ...

If he hasn't got the HD6850 yet (or can return it) he needs to snag a third HD5770 for around $110 before they all disappear. I'm thinking 3xHD5770 > 2xHD6850, and run cooler with a lower power envelop to boot.

In most cases I'd be all over a single card solution, but the HD5770 is one of 'those' special video cards that scale exceptionally well at 3x Crossfire.

And instead of *2 OCZ 128Gb SSD's* I would suggest 2x Samsung Spinpoint SATA 3Gb/s HDDs in RAID on your SATA 6Gb/s

Over and out - LOL

 

[4745454b]

3way CF would be nice, but from what I see in this review two 5850s would be faster. This means even two 6850s would be faster.

http://www.guru3d.com/article/radeon-hd-5770-in-3way-crossfirex-review-test/8

I'm also not sure why you suggest two slower hdds in AID0. I personally would get one fast SSD for speed, and however many drives you need for storage.

 

[pjmoses]

I don't want to be accused of taking a dump on this thread or insulting the OP, so please don't take it that way ... but WTF?

2xHD5770s whup up on a single HD6850 pretty good, but for the sake of argument let's say 2xHD5770s with the PhII 965 are equal to an HD6850 on a new Core processor (I don't really think that would be the case but bear with me ...)

If gaming is the thing, here, and the OP already has the HD6850, adding a second HD6850 for $150 or so and he enters the budget-gaming stratosphere, even with the PhII 965.

He's blowing past the HD5970 and approaching GTX 580 territory. But here is where I think it gets really interesting ...

If he hasn't got the HD6850 yet (or can return it) he needs to snag a third HD5770 for around $110 before they all disappear. I'm thinking 3xHD5770 > 2xHD6850, and run cooler with a lower power envelop to boot.

In most cases I'd be all over a single card solution, but the HD5770 is one of 'those' special video cards that scale exceptionally well at 3x Crossfire.

And instead of *2 OCZ 128Gb SSD's* I would suggest 2x Samsung Spinpoint SATA 3Gb/s HDDs in RAID on your SATA 6Gb/s

Over and out - LOL

I can add another HD6850 if it would put it way over the top, but I only have 2 PCIe 2.1, both @ X 16. So a third 5770 is out of the equation. I use my 55 inch HDTV as my monitor and only need 1080p resolution. I will eventually do some Blu-ray editing and recording.

Also, will either play in 3D? I also have two SATA III 128Gb SSD's because I want speed on boot and a few games and a platter drive is not that fast. I also need to add a card with a couple SATA 6.0's on it. Any suggestions?

 

[Wisecracker]

I can add another HD6850 if it would put it way over the top, but I only have 2 PCIe 2.1, both @ X 16. So a third 5770 is out of the equation. I use my 55 inch HDTV as my monitor and only need 1080p resolution. I will eventually do some Blu-ray editing and recording.

Also, will either play in 3D? I also have two SATA III 128Gb SSD's because I want speed on boot and a few games and a platter drive is not that fast. I also need to add a card with a couple SATA 6.0's on it. Any suggestions?

It's probably a good thing you don't have that 3rd slot from that link when tri-fire worked, it worked great, but the other 40% of the time not-so-great. It was interesting that even some Crossfires were a dud, so the HD6850 is the smart move -- just keep an eye out for EOL when the 7xxx series gets here if you wish to Crossfire.

If you want speed at boot -- don't boot simply let your rig sleep. My Asus sleeps at 5-6w and wakes in a handful of seconds (essentially as fast as I can turn on my monitor).

I'm not up to speed on current RAID controller cards but in previous workstation experience (not with SSDs) it extended boot times for me. Once up I got great throughput, though, certainly better than an onboard controller.