Am I missing something here? Is the 5870 now the best bang for the buck?

[RedBeard]

I had to order a video card last night and was looking at the 6850/6870 (which seem to be the best ~$200 range cards. But then I noticed that newegg is selling a 5870 for 169 AR with free shipping.

After reviewing some quick benchmarks, it seems stronger that both the 6800 parts. So I placed my order. Did I make a mistake?

I do not plan on ever using crossfire in the future.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150476

 

[Arkadrel]

well.. a 5870 is somewhere between a 470 and a 480, in performance.
Its faster than a 6850 or 6870.

No you didnt make a mistake ordering the 5870, its a great card, esp at 169$ you bought it. Also that model has double lifetime warrenty, thats always a plus.

the cheapest 480s I could find (the card right above the 5870 in performance), is going for like 330$.
A 5870 @169$ -> 480 @330$, is a big jump in price, for not so much differnce in performance.

so yeah, a 5870 is great value atm.

 

[darckhart]

agree.

you haven't stated what your needs are, and what your res is, but comparing against what you were looking at, it's darn good deal, esp when you oc that sucker.

 

[dma0991]

That is one heck of a deal. The HD5870 is too cheap. Must grab one :twisted: but I don't have the money :\

This card should be good in a single GC configuration. Awsm find.

 

[RedBeard]

agree.

you haven't stated what your needs are, and what your res is, but comparing against what you were looking at, it's darn good deal, esp when you oc that sucker.

It is for a brand new sandy bridge build. i5 2500k based.
My target resolution is 1920x1200.

 

[Borealis7]

sweet deal. enjoy!

 

[Nintendesert]

I'm still using my 5870. I just never saw the jump in performance from it with the 5xx and the 69xx cards to justify spending more money on it. Instead I used that money for a new 120hz monitor. The prices are tempting for Crossfire however the one 5870 is keeping me happy at x1080.

 

[betasub]

Great clearance prices on 5870. It's longer and more power-hungry than the newer 68x0 cards, but still has the raw performance.

 

[randomlinh]

Great clearance prices on 5870. It's longer and more power-hungry than the newer 68x0 cards, but still has the raw performance.

how much more power hungry than the 6850? 6850 is only a hair more expensive it seems. but if performance isn't that much different, I'm voting for less power.

 

[-Slacker-]

^It should be at least 15% faster.

 

[Termie]

^It should be at least 15% faster.

Closer to 25% faster. It's way more card for $10 more.

 

[tweakboy]

That honor belongs to nVidia

 

[nanaki333]

even by today's generation of cards, it's still a top performer up there with the 6950. excellent card for the money.

 

[RussianSensation]

For $170, it's the best mid-range card by a mile.

 

[betasub]

how much more power hungry than the 6850? 6850 is only a hair more expensive it seems. but if performance isn't that much different, I'm voting for less power.

6850 can't compete with 5870 performance-wise.
http://www.anandtech.com/show/4002/amd-radeon-hd-6850-overclocking-roundup-asus-xfx-msi/6

But 6850 (only single PCIe power required) is cooler/quieter at load (if you pick the correct design!). The long 5870 is equally cool/quiet at idle though.
http://www.anandtech.com/show/4002/amd-radeon-hd-6850-overclocking-roundup-asus-xfx-msi/7

 

[dma0991]

how much more power hungry than the 6850? 6850 is only a hair more expensive it seems. but if performance isn't that much different, I'm voting for less power.

If less power consumption is the main priority here I'd rather wait it out for the newer 28nm GPUs coming out soon. The reduced fabrication size should bring about greater power consumption reduction and reduced temperatures and most importantly greater performance.

But for OP he wants to use a single card so I don't think power consumption is a big concern. Now only if I can get my hands on one of these :awe:

 

[Gikaseixas]

I'm still using my 5870. I just never saw the jump in performance from it with the 5xx and the 69xx cards to justify spending more money on it. Instead I used that money for a new 120hz monitor. The prices are tempting for Crossfire however the one 5870 is keeping me happy at x1080.

same here. I get great performance form it. It's a great card, enjoy it

 

[de8212]

I am trying to decide a new card for my upcoming build and this exact card keeps rearing it head. I was almost decided on a 560 Ti. Can someone quickly compare the two? I don't want 20 pages of benchmarks just someone thats tried both or knows enough to give me a good breakdown. I realize the 560 Ti is more $ but it's within my budget. I won't be able to buy another card for at least a year and probably closer to two.

 

[1h4x4s3x]

Wrong thread but the 560 is a great card, can't do much wrong. Cool, quite and powerful.

The 5870 should be as fast as a 560 Ti but last gen.

 

[aldamon]

Dunno. My GTX 460 1GB was $132.55AR after selling the game bundle. The 768MB cards keep being blown out for well under or just about $100. I would put them up against anything, bang for buck. Besides, looking at Metro performance, I think all of the cards in the $100 - $250 range are going to be obsolete at the same time.

 

[Qianglong]

I must say hats off to the 5870 - it really feels like the Radeon 9700 pro days!

 

[dma0991]

I am trying to decide a new card for my upcoming build and this exact card keeps rearing it head. I was almost decided on a 560 Ti. Can someone quickly compare the two? I don't want 20 pages of benchmarks just someone thats tried both or knows enough to give me a good breakdown. I realize the 560 Ti is more $ but it's within my budget. I won't be able to buy another card for at least a year and probably closer to two.

You could also try HD6950 1GB. It is slightly cheaper than the GTX560 Ti but offer a little bit more performance. It outperforms the HD5870 and the GTX560 Ti.

 

[RussianSensation]

Dunno. My GTX 460 1GB was $132.55AR after selling the game bundle. The 768MB cards keep being blown out for well under or just about $100. I would put them up against anything, bang for buck. Besides, looking at Metro performance, I think all of the cards in the $100 - $250 range are going to be obsolete at the same time.

At stock speeds, the 5870 is a whopping 43% faster than a 460 1GB at 1920x1200. So at $170, the 5870 is still the better card out of the box imo. The $100 768mb is a steal, but for 1680x1050 resolutions. Also, at current prices, the cheapest GTX460 1GB on Newegg is $140 + $8 shipping. $148 for a 460 vs. $170 for an HD5870? The 5870 hands down.

 

[aldamon]

At stock speeds, the 5870 is a whopping 43% faster than a 460 1GB at 1920x1200

Yeah, but let's be honest here. NVIDIA did a disservice to the 460 with those stock speeds. They basically had an * next to them.


* wink wink, nod nod

 

[Gikaseixas]

I must say hats off to the 5870 - it really feels like the Radeon 9700 pro days!

+1

The only bad thing about it is CF scaling but other than that it's a very solid performer, gets close to GTX480 in a lot of cases, not too far for GTX 570, HD6970 performance.