best brand for ATI 5870

[lazkataz]

Hey guys, new to the forums.

I was wondering, my birthday is tomorow, and i need a new graphics card becuz my old GTX 280 broke recently (i already RMA'd it, so this is the second time it broke) Im pretty set on getting a 5870, but since my old card broke twice, and it was a BFG Tech card, i wanna make sure i buy it from a reliable manufacturer first.

Whadyou guys think the most reliable brand is for buying a 5870?
Not only for card reliability, but for warranty and customer service as well.

Thanks guys!

 

[Avalon]

I'd venture a guess and say XFX is your best bet. They have double lifetime warranties on their cards, and customer service is supposedly decent, although I've never experienced it.

 

[Phynaz]

Card reliability is probably all the same amongst vendors that use reference designs.

 

[bamacre]

I second the recommendation XFX.

 

[lsv]

If two cards have broken so far I'd be worried about something in your setup/house power causing that problem

 

[lavaheadache]

anything that is reference designed is what i would be looking for. Especially when it comes to resale value.

 

[Obsoleet]

I had the XFX 5870 but had a few problems with it. I got an MSI and haven't had any issues with the quality. MSI has a few special features that the other brands don't have like solid state chokes and solid capacitors.
When I buy hardware I try to always buy the brand offering the best quality (Japanese) capacitors. MSI is the only one I know advertising this for Radeon cards.

edit to add- XFX was a bit of trouble when dealing with RMA/tech support as well. I simply returned the card where I bought it and got the MSI instead of deal with them. Won't be buying XFX again.

 

[ViRGE]

I had the XFX 5870 but had a few problems with it. I got an MSI and haven't had any issues with the quality. MSI has a few special features that the other brands don't have like solid state chokes and solid capacitors.

Not really. That's just what MSI's unclear marketing leads everyone to believe.

The reference 5870 already uses solid state caps and chokes (we're talking about 180W on a 10" long card, after all), so everyone is already using those component types. MSI is not unique in that respect. They may still be using better components than the competition, but for non-overclocking cards I really doubt they're deviating much from the reference design here.

 

[tweakboy]

Go with ASUS or EVGA .

good luck and GB and GG

 

[NIGELG]

Go with ASUS or EVGA .

good luck and GB and GG

EVGA doesn't partner with ATi.I use Sapphire but XFX has the best warranty.

 

[lazkataz]

If two cards have broken so far I'd be worried about something in your setup/house power causing that problem

i already checked my CPU, ram, and really everything else in my rig and ive narrowed it down to the GPU as the problem. as for house power, it might be an issue but i doubt it. the only thing im running in my room is my computer and monitor, but maybe somethings wrong. but, anyways, i need a new graphics card either way so

 

[lazkataz]

anything that is reference designed is what i would be looking for. Especially when it comes to resale value.

please pardon my stupidity,
but whatdyou mean by a reference design?

 

[Obsoleet]

Hmm that's interesting. I will have to look into that. MSI has been known to use higher quality components than all their competition in the past, so I trusted their claims of using better parts. I'm sure it is partly or mostly marketing, but it was a more sure-fire bet when comparing cards..
especially once I did have a whining noise from my XFX 5870.

 

[RussianSensation]

Honestly, a 5870 is a huge waste of $ at the moment - $380 for a part that's almost 10 months old. Not to mention, GTX480s are awfully close to 5870's pricing and are a good deal faster for an extra $40. Consider a 5850 for $270 or a GTX470 for $260 or so instead. If you want to spend $400, there is also GTX460 SLI.

For ATI brands, I would go XFX if you care about the warranty. For NV, EVGA.

Based on Xbitlabs latest look at DX11 games, 5870 didnt' do so well compared to the 480: http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/hardware-tesselation_5.html#sect1

While it was a lot easier to recommend the 5870 for $380 3 months ago when GTX470 was $350 and GTX480 was $499, with today's pricing and new NV drivers, it's almost impossible to recommend it.

 

[lazkataz]

Honestly, a 5870 is a huge waste of $ at the moment - $380 for a part that's almost 10 months old. Not to mention, GTX480s are awfully close to 5870's pricing and are a good deal faster for an extra $40. Consider a 5850 for $270 or a GTX470 for $260 or so instead. If you want to spend $400, there is also GTX460 SLI.

For ATI brands, I would go XFX if you care about the warranty. For NV, EVGA.

Based on Xbitlabs latest look at DX11 games, 5870 didnt' do so well compared to the 480: http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/hardware-tesselation_5.html#sect1

While it was a lot easier to recommend the 5870 for $380 3 months ago when GTX470 was $350 and GTX480 was $499, with today's pricing and new NV drivers, it's almost impossible to recommend it.

i would be fine getting a 480 if it actually WAS $40 more, the only problem is, its not. from looking online, the 480 is at least $70-100 more. if you can find a good 480 for $450 or less, ill probably buy it, but until then im stickin with a 5870

 

[RussianSensation]

2 days ago Gigabyte GTX480 on the Egg was $449.99 before $40 MIR. So the deals on the 480 pop up once in a while.

I found this MSI for $430 with Metro 2033: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-502-_-Product

At 1920x1200 4AA/16AF, the 5870 is on average just 7% faster than the GTX470, but it costs 44% more ($390 for XFX on the egg - cheapest):
http://www.computerbase.de/artikel/...x_11/18/#abschnitt_performancerating_mit_aaaf

If you look at DX11 games, 5870 is barely faster than the 470. On the other hand, GTX480 is 16% faster, and yet it costs 10% more than the 5870.

I don't see how paying $120 over GTX470 for a 5870 is justified given the performance delta. If you are going for top performance, might as well get the 480 + 1 free game. The 5870 is a great card. I just think it's overpriced at the moment.

 

[lazkataz]

hmmm..

well, im not the one buying this card, and im pretty sure my parents arent going to pay more than $400. you think theres a card out there that outperforms the 5870 for the same price, maybe less?

 

[happy medium]

hmmm..

well, im not the one buying this card, and im pretty sure my parents arent going to pay more than $400. you think theres a card out there that outperforms the 5870 for the same price, maybe less?

Gtx 470 is a much better deal for the money.
Like Russian said above, why pay 44% more for a card thats 7% faster.
The 5870 is a bad deal.

 

[RussianSensation]

hmmm..

well, im not the one buying this card, and im pretty sure my parents arent going to pay more than $400. you think theres a card out there that outperforms the 5870 for the same price, maybe less?

Performance wise, <$400 5870 is the fastest single card. If you are just getting it as a gift, then it is ultimately better than 470 from performance, power consumption and noise perspectives.

How fast is your CPU? ATI cards tend to run better with slower CPUs.

 

[happy medium]

Performance wise, <$400 5870 is the fastest single card. If you are just getting it as a gift, then it is ultimately better than 470 from performance, power consumption and noise perspectives.

How fast is your CPU? ATI cards tend to run better with slower CPUs.

Yea, hell, if mom and dad are buying, spend it all.

 

[lazkataz]

How fast is your CPU? ATI cards tend to run better with slower CPUs.

i have an i5 processor, 3.2 Ghz

 

[lazkataz]

Yea, hell, if mom and dad are buying, spend it all.

Excactly

 

[Obsoleet]

The 5870 is holding it's value for a reason.

I recommend always purchasing a new card on launch day though. I always buy my cards on their launch day and you get the best prices, bragging rights, and check out the features first.

I paid $380 shipped for my 5870 on launch day. If you pay attention to the market you can tell who is going to have the best hardware, right now if you consider all things that is and has been ATI. Nvidia is going for the price/performance jugular even though Evergreen is still the superior engineered part.

Cool, quiet, fast... it works and works well. Launch day drivers were perfect. People want it, hence the price being $380 today.

A less subjective analysis for me is image quality, I switched from diehard Nvidia to using ATI again and I swear the picture quality (mainly color richness) seems better on ATI. Digital vibrance doesnt really compensate for it. I'm not sure what the difference is but I've noticed it since the original Radeon vs Geforce.

 

[iufan4lifeul]

I got my 5870 on sale with COD MW:2 for $350 from newegg. I couldn't pass on the deal. It is a HIS V-cooler, it is not the turbo (factory overclocked) model. I love this card. It has never reached higher than 64 degrees via CPUID Hardware monitor. You can barely hear the fan and even at 100&#37; load playing crysis maxed or running milkyway@home it doesn't get over the low 60's and the fan doesn't have to work at all. Overclocked to 900/1300 (factory voltage, no voltage control is the only bad part) it still does not get over low 60's. Great card, great price, couldn't be happier.

 

[betasub]

How fast is your CPU? ATI cards tend to run better with slower CPUs.

I understand what you mean by this, but it could be easily mis-read.

"I underclocked my CPU to 900MHz, 'cos Russian said ATI cards run better with a slower CPU".