HD 7850 or 7870?

buehleea

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Apr 17, 2012
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Hello,

I am looking at buying either the HD 7850 or 7870. Obviously the 7870 is more capable, but my decision is really going to come down to the performance/price ratio. Another consideration is that my power supply (Corsair TX650 V2) only has two 6-pin PCI-e inputs so I would be able to Xfire the 7850 but not the 7870. Right now I'm leaning towards the Sapphire HD 7870 OC because of the noticeable performance gains, but I'd really appreciate further suggestions!

CPU: i5-2500k
Mobo: Asrock z68 Extreme3 gen3
HDD: WD Caviar Black 1 TB 7200rpm
PSU: Corsair TX650 V2
 
Solution
It really depends. I mean, I bought 5850s over 5870s because of price/performance, and then I overclocked them on stock voltage to match 5870 speeds. I know 7850s can do the same.

However, a 7870 can certainly OC to even higher levels, so yeah you'd get more performance.

If you are running 1080 though, a single 7870 will kick ass, whereas you might find yourself wishing for a little more power with a 7850 in certain titles.

Crossfire is a powerful solution, but I wouldn't really worry about it right now. The single GPU cards are so powerful that there isn't a lot of reason to deal with multi GPU headaches.
It really depends. I mean, I bought 5850s over 5870s because of price/performance, and then I overclocked them on stock voltage to match 5870 speeds. I know 7850s can do the same.

However, a 7870 can certainly OC to even higher levels, so yeah you'd get more performance.

If you are running 1080 though, a single 7870 will kick ass, whereas you might find yourself wishing for a little more power with a 7850 in certain titles.

Crossfire is a powerful solution, but I wouldn't really worry about it right now. The single GPU cards are so powerful that there isn't a lot of reason to deal with multi GPU headaches.
 
Solution

ricardois

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Dec 21, 2011
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go with the 7870 it worth the extra cash, the tx650 is certified to 560 ti sli and they use more power than the 7870 so i think you can yes do 7870 Crossfire, just don't overclock anything and you will be ok. go with the 7870 if those are your only options. if you in a close future have a good offer on another 7870 buy it and you can Crossfire them you can use Molex to pci adapter for the extra 2x 6 pin cables.

EDIT: sorry the 7870 just uses 1 connector you don't need molex adapter, your psu can handle both very well.
 


+1,a single powerful card>weaker cards in SLi/CF.
 

tuffluck

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Oct 2, 2009
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7850 is a good card and even by TH standards, one of the best for your money right now. but it's not that good. it's not like blow you away amazing. it does OC, but i'm still skeptical just how safe that is. my particular 7850 seems to have lingering side effects of an OC, even under safe temps and stock voltage. remember, GPUs don't have temp sensors on the voltage board or the memory chips, so no telling what an OC is doing to those items temp-wise. so i'd prepare to buy something that you don't need to OC for at least a year.

the 7870 is no longer a wise buy with the 7950 at the same price point. the 7850 or the 7950 are the better choices right now in the market. if $150 isn't a big deal to you, i would get the 7950...wait a few years before you feel like you have to OC it. if you can't justify a $400 card then the 7850 will be plenty and you likely will not regret it. as for the 7870, it's a complete waste of money when compared to the prices of other cards nearby.