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• Radeon HD 5850: Knocking Down GTX 295 In CrossFire

  The Radeon HD 4870 1GB sure dropped to $150 pretty quickly, didn’t it? The Radeon HD 4890 really isn’t all that far behind at $190 (as low as $170 with mail-in rebates). So, for the Radeon HD 5850 to be a success at $259, it’d better be appreciably quicker, right? Nvidia has its own high-end bruisers around the same price range, too. A GeForce GTX 275 at $210 is mighty tasty. And a GTX 285—the company’s fastest single-GPU board available—isn’t bad at $330 or so given its single-GPU flagship status (less than $300, after some of those rebates). If you haven’t yet checked out our review of the Radeon HD 5870, you might want to give it a quick peek. After all, the Radeon HD 5850 under our microscope today centers on the same fundamental architecture as that board (and I don’t think I can swing another 10,000 word story this week, so this piece isn't going to cover all of the GPU nuances). Answering The Lynnfield Question But that doesn’t mean we can’t break some new ground. One of the criticisms I saw come up in the comments section was that we used a $1,000 processor overclocked to 4 GHz for testing AMD’s Radeon HD 5870. Of course, that configuration was by design. These new GPUs are so powerful that we wanted to give them as much room to “breathe” as possible, without seeing congestion in the benchmarks due to processor bottlenecks. This presents a bit of a theoretical question to the folks running Core i7, LGA 1156-based Core i7s, a Core 2-series chip on P45, or 790GX. Mainly, does the move from a x16 PCI Express 2.0 slot to a x8 connection affect the performance of such a powerful GPU. In order to help answer that, we took our Core i7-870 and overclocked it to 4 GHz on Asus P7P55D Premium. I suspect that in a Lynnfield-based configuration, the Radeon HD 5870 will be a less-popular choice than the cheaper Radeon HD 5850, so we tested a pair of 5850s on both Intel-based platforms to shed a little light on this one. We also dropped the Core i7-870 to its stock speeds in order to isolate the effect of processor performance versus our overclocked Lynnfield-based results. Is CrossFire Worth It? GeForce GTX 295 Video... Newegg.com $499.99 PC Connection $529.95 Compuvest $541.54 CDW.com $574.99 When ATI launched the Radeon HD 4770 at $110, we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to compare two of the cards together against Radeon HD 4890s and GeForce GTX 275s. But the Radeon HD 5850 is not a cheap piece of hardware at $259. A pair costs just under $520. The only single card in that neighborhood is a GeForce GTX 295, which can be found for roughly $500 and hasn’t yet been discounted, despite AMD’s Cypress launch. To be fair, there isn’t yet a need, as the 5870s are still in extremely limited supply, so the challenge seems to be getting your hands on one. But maybe the Radeon HD 5850 will change that. Today, we’ll be looking for a single Radeon HD 5850 to stand up to Nvidia’s GeForce GTX 285—a card AMD couldn’t contend with using a single-GPU solution in the past—and a pair of 5850s to at least eke past the GeForce GTX 295, priced similarly.

• ADVERTORIAL: ATI Radeon HD 4650/70: Top Value for Bottom Dollar

  All right, so the AMD ATI Radeon HD 5000-series graphics generation has arrived and quickly swept the field in performance tests. If you want the whole story backed up by benchmark tests and deeply technical explanation, see our recent coverage here (http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-hd-5870,2422.html). We love a great come-back story as much as anybody else, but the fact remains that a lot of buyers can’t spring $350+ for the latest dream card, much less two of them to run in a dual-card configuration. In reality, there are two kinds of graphics enthusiasts: those who will buy the latest and greatest no matter what and those who stand ready to pounce on yesterday’s must-have technology at freshly (and deeply) discounted prices. There’s nothing like a little recession to help boost the ranks of the latter group, so we thought we’d turn the spotlight just a bit and revisit AMD’s former mainstream stars, the 4670 and 4650. Why? Because while cards based on the new HD 5870 may be selling for $379, HD 4650 and HD 4670 cards start at about $55 and $67, respectively. If you feel like getting 80% of the ATI bang for only 20% of the flagship’s bucks, then read on. We think there’s still a very persuasive case to be made for going a little retro.         

• Best Graphics Cards For The Money: November '09

  Detailed graphics card specifications and reviews are great—that is, if you have the time to do the research. But at the end of the day, what a gamer needs is the best graphics card within a certain budget. So, if you don’t have the time to research the benchmarks, or if you don’t feel confident enough in your ability to pick the right card, then fear not. We at Tom’s Hardware have come to your aid with a simple list of the best gaming cards offered for the money. October Review and November Updates: A whole lot has happened on the graphics scene since our last update, most notably the introduction of ATI's new Radeon 5000-series, which includes the Radeon HD 5870, 5850, 5770, and 5750. Nvidia also launched a couple of low-end cards, the GeForce GT 220 and GeForce 210. We've reviewed the entire list in painstaking detail, so if you missed any of last month's excitement, feel free to give those stories a read. Let's start with ATI's new flagship, the Radeon HD 5870. With 1,600 shaders, 80 texture units, and 32 ROPs, it sports almost identical specifications compared to the Radeon HD 4870 X2, the main difference being that it uses a single 40nm GPU instead of two 55nm processors, making it a lot more cost-effective to produce (of course, there are other, finer-grained improvements incorporated into the new GPU, too). It boasts full DirectX 11 compatibility and Eyefinity technology (AMD's new multi-monitor gaming/productivity feature) on top of relatively low power consumption for such a potent card. The downside is that the new Radeon HD 5870 isn't the fastest add-in board on the block. In fact, as far as raw frame rates go, the Radeon HD 4870 X2 and Nvidia's GeForce GTX 295 often best it. We can expect some performance increases as the drivers mature, but the card's main saving graces are a $390 price tag, almost $70 below that of the GeForce GTX 295, and the aforementioned value adds. Unfortunately, availability is disappointingly scarce right now so close to launch. We're hoping that ATI can catch up with consumer demand over the holiday rush. The Radeon HD 5850 is the 5870's little brother, sporting 1,440 shaders, 72 texture units, and 32 ROPs. At $290, it costs $100 less than the 5870 and performs a bit faster than a GeForce GTX 285, which was previously the fastest single-GPU card out there. So, there is a lot of value here for folks who want to jump on the DirectX 11 bandwagon. Unfortunately, it is suffering from the same availability issues as its big brother. Additionally, this board was supposed to launch at $259, and we're sure some folks were lucky enough to buy it at that price. Prices on the card are more than 10% higher today, though. When you descend another rung on ATI's new hierarchy, you run into the Radeon HD 5770 and 5750, which are roughly as powerful as the Radeon HD 4870 and 4850, respectively. But once again, the two new 40nm chips offer lower power usage, DirectX 11, and the Eyefinity feature. At this time, these cards are priced a bit higher than their older counterparts, but they are more readily available that the flagship boards. From the Nvidia side of the fence comes the new GeForce GT 220 and GeForce 210. The GeForce GT 220 has some potential, as it is Nvidia's first GPU built on the 40nm process, offering DirectX 10.1 and lower power usage. With 48 stream processors, you can consider the GeForce GT 220 similar to a GeForce 9600 GSO that has also been cut down with a 128-bit memory interface. It dominates ATI's Radeon HD 4650, but for now, it's priced too closely to the powerful Radeon HD 4670, a card that bests it more often than not. We suspect that, as prices drop, it might end up being an attractive option for budget buyers, and we've already seen it provide promising results as a dedicated PhysX card. As for the new GeForce 210, with its 16 shaders and a 64-bit memory interface, you can consider it an overclocked 8400 GS: nothing to see here, gamers. There is a lot going on in the graphics world aside from these launches as well. Nvidia's exclusive PhysX feature seems to be gaining more traction with appealing use in titles like the new Batman: Arkham Asylum. But AMD now has an answer with currently-exclusive support for DirectX 11. Of course, Nvidia will inevitably offer its own DirectX 11 cards, but those are almost surely months away still (at least far enough that Nvidia has kept completely silent in discussions of the next generation). The common theory tossed around online is that Nvidia is giving up the high-end graphics market for now, and we'll be seeing cards faster than the GeForce GTX 260 wane in availability before its next architecture emerges. Indeed, it is already getting difficult to find a new GeForce GTX 275 or GTX 285 available for purchase. The same can be said for the Radeon HD 4870 X2, 4870, and 4850, actually, but with cost-effective 40nm replacements here or on the way, this isn't much of a problem for AMD (Ed.: though I must say, the lack of availability at the high-end and higher-than-launch prices are oddly reminiscent of the Radeon HD 4770 debut, which was chalked up to poor 40nm yields). As a result, we expect the old-school 4800-series Radeons to disappear in the weeks to come, with the new 5000-series Radeons taking their places. This means those of you who are considering an upgrade to a low-priced Radeon HD 4800-series card might want to act while they're still available. Some Notes About Our Recommendations A few simple guidelines to keep in mind when reading this list: This list is for gamers who want to get the most for their money. If you don’t play games, then the cards on this list are more expensive than what you really need. We've added a reference page at the end of the column covering integrated graphics processors, which is likely more apropos.The criteria to get on this list are strictly price/performance. We acknowledge that recommendations for multiple video cards, such as two Radeon cards in CrossFire mode or two GeForce cards in SLI, typically require a motherboard that supports CrossFire or SLI and a chassis with more space to install multiple graphics cards. They also require a beefier power supply compared to what a single card needs, and will almost certainly produce more heat than a single card. Keep these factors in mind when making your purchasing decision. In most cases, if we have recommended a multiple-card solution, we try to recommend a single-card honorable mention at a comparable price point for those who find multi-card setups undesirable. Prices and availability change on a daily basis. We can’t base our decisions on always-changing pricing information, but we can list some good cards that you probably won’t regret buying at the price ranges we suggest, along with real-time prices from our PriceGrabber engine, for your reference. The list is based on some of the best U.S. prices from online retailers. In other countries or at retail stores, your mileage will most certainly vary. These are new card prices. No used or open-box cards are in the list; they might represent a good deal, but it’s outside the scope of what we’re trying to do.