How do other video cards match up?

[SingingThroughTheStorm]

Right now this is pretty much complete conversation and not what I will be buying in the near future, so bear with me.
I built a fairly mediocre PC around 6 months ago, and I look to do a rebuild in roughly 6 months from now. This is really a curiosity thing about AMD's new 7000 series cards against the 6000 series.

I currently own a 6850 and it runs pretty much everything I throw at it nicely at 1080P.
The one game I have a few low frame rate issues is Minecraft. No it isn't vanilla Minecraft, but Minecraft with high res textures and Sonic Ether's shaders. It looks like this:

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8141/7227759878_0c9fb44a3f_h.jpg
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7232/7227763182_707a3597f8_h.jpg
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7212/7227761404_63dbb8f24e_b.jpg


Anyways, I hear the 7850 is supposed to be a great card that essentially wipes the floor of the 6850, but I seem to be missing something. I have my 6850 OCed to 900 Core and 4500Mhz Ram. How much faster is the 7850 compared to the 6850?
In benchmarks I am really not seeing a huge lead over the 6850 (barely any in some)

 

[k1114]

The 7850 sits in between the 6950 and 6970. Totally different tier than the 6850. Model numbers are really only relevant comparison for the same generation. I believe you think 7850 replaces 6850 but it's not like that. It actually replaces the 6950 which is why it costs ~$260 where the 6950 initially was at.

 

[refillable]

7850 is equal to 560 Ti 448, it will still mop your 6850 900Mhz and it can overclock to 1050Mhz without issues.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150608

 

[Zero_]

Minecraft takes a lot off your CPU so if you are running a weak CPU, that could be a problem.

Btw, wicked mods.