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7870 worth the premium over 7850 for my use?

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Hi, looking to upgrade my 6670, which is inadequate even for even older games.

I know there are similar threads, but this is more specific I think.

Right now i'm mostly playing MMO's, but will get back into FPS's with the new BioShock game and want most of the eye candy. I keep screen resolution at 1920x1080 for everyhing.

As I said, the 6670 is pretty useless, and have bean leaning towards a 7850 (2 GB), but for the games I'm going to play (medium-high gpu demand I'm guessing) nothing like Crysis 3 or Skyrim, would a 7870 be worht the extra money? Or would it not be noticeable since I only play on one monitor at 1080p, and not the super-most demanding games at that.

Thanks, looking for opinions if I "need" a 7870 for best graphics for what I do, or if a 7850 will be pretty much the same.

Also, plese tell me either upgrade will be night and day from a 6670!!! I badly need an upgrade and am too impatient for the 8000 series.

System: i5-2310 2.9 GHz, 6 GB 1333 MHz, 650w psu

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jcharger said:
Hi, looking to upgrade my 6670, which is inadequate even for even older games.

I know there are similar threads, but this is more specific I think.

Right now i'm mostly playing MMO's, but will get back into FPS's with the new BioShock game and want most of the eye candy. I keep screen resolution at 1920x1080 for everyhing.

As I said, the 6670 is pretty useless, and have bean leaning towards a 7850 (2 GB), but for the games I'm going to play (medium-high gpu demand I'm guessing) nothing like Crysis 3 or Skyrim, would a 7870 be worht the extra money? Or would it not be noticeable since I only play on one monitor at 1080p, and not the super-most demanding games at that.

Thanks, looking for opinions if I "need" a 7870 for best graphics for what I do, or if a 7850 will be pretty much the same.

Also, plese tell me either upgrade will be night and day from a 6670!!! I badly need an upgrade and am too impatient for the 8000 series.

System: i5-2310 2.9 GHz, 6 GB 1333 MHz, 650w psu


7870 is better than 7850 but for you I do not think it will give any extra PREMIUM for the applications you are demanding on a single monitor. A 7850 is a steady card at high details for FPS games.I have it and I highly recommend it.Plays BF3/Metro 2033/Farcry 3/Crysis2/Prototype 2/COD series all in high.And if you want to go up why compromise on 7870 ....get something even higher.But if budget matters go for 7850 blindfolded.However heres a little comparision link on technical terms in case you need.

http://www.hwcompare.com/12187/radeon-hd-7850-vs-radeon...

Best of luck!

jcharger said:
Good info, and great site, thanks! It seems like a 7850 would be best for me. Guess I just wanted confirmation so i don't get mad at myself for not spending and extra $40. But seems I probably wouldn't notice the difference.


Yeah go for it.You will be real happy.And yeah be sure to upgrade your CPu after a while.It will give ya better gameplay.


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The 7850 is a super good card, especially for what you want it for. But as I just told another guy earlier.. grab the 7870 ghz edition on newegg. Its only $20 more and its quite a bit faster then the 7850. Def worth $20 more.. plus the 7870 will last you a long time without the need of upgrading. It'll allow for plenty of head room later on.

Quick update, have had the 7870 for almost a week now. For anyone else that was in my situation with a low-end card like the 6670, the difference is NIGHT and DAY!

Games that used to play at 1920x1080 with medium graphics at 45 fps (that would sometimes drop to 20 fps) and no aa, now play at same resolution with ultra-high, 8x aa, and a constant near 60 fps (that rarely drops to 50 fps), not to mention it runs fairly cool.

Maybe it's not the best performance out there, but the 7870 is pretty impressive. And if you have a budget like me, it is pure awesome. So glad I didn't wait for the 8000 series, and can't believe what I was missing by using a 6670.

This is just one man's opinion for anyone in a similar position as me.

Awwwww shoot. Now that you mentioned it, I searched the forum and found where a 7870 XT should really be called a 7930. I just figured any 79xx was way out of my price range.

Now I don't want to return because I just barely started playing my free Tomb Raier (which looks awesome btw). Problem is, at max settings and 1080, the 7870 on T.R. only gives an avg of 45 fps with a low of 20 fps. Can I OC this card to get around 50-60 fps avg, with nothing lower than mid-30ish fps on everything maxed on Tomb Raider?

Also, for anyone else, take the above sages advice and get a 7870 XT, not a GHZ, smh.

Probably. 7870's are pretty decent overclockers, Anandtech got theirs to 1200 on stock voltages (Which is extremely rare so I do not recommend you to go to that right off the bat). Go and try, and you might get some success.

I tried that, oc'd to 1100 and it is very stable, and for some weird reason, it seems to be running about 1-2 degrees cooler, go figure. It only gave me a very modest increase in average fps in Tomb Raider, but the minimum framerate went up by almost 10, so its very playable at Ultimate (highest) detail.

Moral of the story, 7870 Ghz is good, but go with 7870 XT for that price range. Thanks for the help and advice everyone!
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