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Currently have 5850, is it worth it to upgrade

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  • Graphics Cards
  • Monitors
  • Graphics
  • Product
Last response: in Graphics & Displays
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March 6, 2012 3:29:12 AM

I currently am running a radeon hd5850.

I have up to 400 bucks for a new card, is it worth it to upgrade? Id like to stay with ATI because i have 3 monitors and like using eyefinity, but it kinda sucks because when i first built comp i have a x58 board so cant go crossfire.

If it is worth an upgrade, what video card in your opinion would be best worth the 400 bucks?

Thanks!

current specs
W7
i7 930
6gigs ddr3
5850 radeon
3x 23 in monitors

More about : 5850 worth upgrade

a c 109 U Graphics card
March 6, 2012 3:41:31 AM

No! overclock your 5850 or get another one for crossfire! Though a 7950 looks good, hold out a little longer :) 
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March 6, 2012 3:43:14 AM

i just actually googled it and it looks like x58 does do crossfire! i never knew, i just assumed sense it was x58 SLI that no crossfire was supported!
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a c 365 U Graphics card
a c 196 C Monitor
March 6, 2012 3:44:04 AM

The OP stated his motherboard does not allow Crossfire.
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March 6, 2012 3:53:50 AM

But i guess the main problem by the looks of it is FINDING a 5850. When i bought it in 2010 it was 319 bucks, and i cant even find one for that price, the ones that are available and NOT sold out are about 350 bucks.
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a c 123 U Graphics card
a b C Monitor
March 6, 2012 3:58:57 AM

for 3 monitors the minimum card would be a 6950 with 2gigs of vram.
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Best solution

a c 365 U Graphics card
a c 196 C Monitor
March 6, 2012 4:38:17 AM

Currently there is a huge gap in the Radeon 7000 series line up. The HD 7770 (~$170) is a bit too weak for an upgrade. The HD 7950 is a little over your budget (~$460). That leaves the HD 7800 cards that should be released relatively soon which fills the gap.

You can check out benchmarks for the HD 7850 and HD 7870 in the following link:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-hd-7870-revi...

Looking at the benchmark results for 2560x1440, the difference in performance is roughly 10% or less depending on the game between the HD 7950 and HD 7870. In Batman Arkham Asylum the HD 7950 has a 20%+ performance advantage.

The HD 7870 is expected to have a street price of $349. Based on the benchmarks in the above review, I don't think it would be worth the extra $100+ for a HD 7950. However, if you are looking to max out graphics settings then neither cards are ideal.

A 2560 x 1440 resolution monitor which has 3,686,400 pixels. An Eyefinity setup with 1920 x 1080 monitors would have a total 6,220,800 pixels. That is almost a 70% increase in total number of pixels. You can expect around a 40% decrease in benchmark performance.
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