• We’re currently investigating an issue related to the forum theme and styling that is impacting page layout and visual formatting. The problem has been identified, and we are actively working on a resolution. There is no impact to user data or functionality, this is strictly a front-end display issue. We’ll post an update once the fix has been deployed. Thanks for your patience while we get this sorted.

Buying a new card this weekend!

F

Face2Face

Diamond Member
Alright guys,

I am buying a new card this weekend. I am selling my 6870 today for $100 and will be looking at the MSI 7850 Power edition or the MSI TF3 7950.

http://www.compusa.com/applications/...170&CatId=7387

http://www.compusa.com/applications/...845&CatId=7387


I know I can buy these cheaper online, but buying these from a retail store is what I am doing this time around. Too many RMA's and paying for shipping scenarios in the past.

I only play two games now, GTA 4 and Skyrim. GTA 4 is vanilla, but with Skyrim I have been installing every graphical mod that STEAM has. My 1GB card is not cutting it.

I was thinking of buying the 7850 PE and a new Phenom II 1045T for my PLEX media server

OR

MSI TF3 7950

I would love to have the extra cores for transcoding multiple streams using my Media server (Currently have X3 445). But, I also want a smooth modded Skyrim experience.

I can't make up my damn mind - so I call on the members of the video cards forums!!
 
The 7850 isn't enough of an upgrade from the 6870 to really even be worthwhile. The 7950 is a much better upgrade in terms of performance gains.
 
Yeah, that's what I am thinking. I also wondering if 2GB of ram would be ok for a modded skyrim. Or would 3GB be that much better?
 
I have a 7950 and It can pretty much poop on anything you throw at it. However, I am not into the whole overclocking scene...so I can't tell you much about that. All my stuff is at stock and it runs like a dream.
 
If you play Skyrim get the 7950 for the memory & bus width.

I'm so glad I have a 6970 over the 580 with the texture packs for Skyrim right now. I've got a severe upgrade itch for a 7900 card right now.
 
Well I was impatient and grabbed the R7850 Power edition after work today. I will test it out later tonight or tomorrow. I am trying to spend less on the video card because I would like to dump more money in my media server. If it doesn't impress me, I will exchange it for the R7950 TF3.
 
the 7850 will be fine.

I've owned 2 Asus 7850s.... although one was like the above, the other would top out around 1150 MHz. Hope your's is a good one! (1300 Core 3DMARK11 found here: http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/3443308)

O/C the hell out of it. It will be in the stock 7950 ballpark performance wise if you can get it over 1200 core.



EDIT: I just picked up the same Power Edition 7850, will do some OC Testing this weekend.
 
Last edited:
I can't wait overclock this card. BTW, what are the best programs to use for overclocking? I have zero exp overclocking these new AMD cards. I assume the Afterburner software that comes with the card?
 
Greenhell6 said:
I can't wait overclock this card. BTW, what are the best programs to use for overclocking? I have zero exp overclocking these new AMD cards. I assume the Afterburner software that comes with the card?
Click to expand...
Yep. Afterburner is going to be your best bet.🙂
 
RussianSensation said:
Not for Skyrim. Although, I seriously question the HD7850 upgrade. It's barely an improvement over the 6870. I would have gone with HD7950 and OC. With HD7870 going for $225, that price on the 7850 wasn't great either (although I realize he wanted to buy it in the store).
Click to expand...

I am not necessarily saying he should get a gtx 660. The launch of the gtx 660 could favorably impact prices on other cards.
 
RussianSensation said:
Not for Skyrim. Although, I seriously question the HD7850 upgrade for $215 over the 6870. I would have gone with HD7950 and OC. With HD7870 going for $225, that price on the 7850 wasn't great either (although I realize he wanted to buy it in the store).
Click to expand...

Yes, I know my upgrade was spur of the moment and probably not the best step up. I am going to play with the card this week and see if I am happy with it. Worst case scenario, I box it back up and exchange it for the MSI TF3 7950. Didn't want to wait for the GTX 660, I feel like I have waited long enough.
 
I was going to come on and say the savings you pocket can be insurance for return costs but that is not a bad price for the 7950 at all...
 
adam_the_giant said:
the 7850 will be fine.

I've owned 2 Asus 7850s.... although one was like the above, the other would top out around 1150 MHz. Hope your's is a good one! (1300 Core 3DMARK11 found here: http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/3443308)

O/C the hell out of it. It will be in the stock 7950 ballpark performance wise if you can get it over 1200 core.



EDIT: I just picked up the same Power Edition 7850, will do some OC Testing this weekend.
Click to expand...


keep me in the loop with your overclocks. I should be able to do some testing soon.
 
Tried to overclock this card last night. Not impressed thus far. Of course, I could be doing something wrong. Looks like this has a ASIC rating of 76%. Not too great. The card will do 1050 and 1450 no problem on stock volts. I was able to get it to do 1100 core with 1.2 volts. I tried to get it to 1200 core - went up to 1.25 volts and computer kept shutting down. using MSI afterburner. Hmm any suggestions?

BTW it runs Skyrim like a champ @ 1050/1450 60FPS almost all of time. I have seen it dip into the mids 30's in some heavy cities. Afterburner says I am using a max of 1650MB of video ram with all of the mods I am using. Not too bad..
 
Last edited:
Greenhell6 said:
Tried to overclock this card last night. Not impressed thus far. Of course, I could be doing something wrong. Looks like this had a ASIC rating of 76%. Not too great. The card will do 1050 and 1450 no problem on stock volts. I was able to get it to do 1100 core with 1.2 volts. I tried to get it to 1200 core - went up to 1.25 volts and computer kept shutting down. using MSI afterburner. Hmm any suggestions?

BTW it runs Skyrim like a champ @ 1050/1450 60FPS almost all of time. I have seen it dip into the mids 30's in some heavy cities. Afterburner says I am using a max of 1650MB of video ram with all of the mods I am using. Not too bad..
Click to expand...

Thats too bad. Most hit 1200 but like I said earlier, there are some that don't. The good Asus card I used to own had an Asic around 87% and hit 1300 core at 1.25v. Getting it to 1310 required 1.29v though. It ran 24/7 for me at 1.235v at 1250/1375

I will toy with mine tonight most likely and let you know. I'm too curious now, I've read different reviews and posts online of people getting this card to 1250, and I prefer MSI, so I gave it a chance over the Asus. Wish I kept my first Asus card to begin with.

Remeber, the Core speed is much more important on these cards. When I owned my Asus, I barely saw any difference once above 1375 on memory. Maybe dial your memory back to see if it helps Stabilize core speeds?
 
Last edited:
adam_the_giant said:
Thats too bad. Most hit 1200 but like I said earlier, there are some that don't. The good Asus card I used to own had an Asic around 87% and hit 1300 core at 1.25v. Getting it to 1310 required 1.29v though. It ran 24/7 for me at 1.235v.

I will toy with mine tonight most likely and let you know. I'm too curious now, I've read different reviews and posts online of people getting this card to 1250, and I prefer MSI, so I gave it a chance over the Asus. Wish I kept my first Asus card to begin with.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I am kinda meh.. I may bring it back and get a 7950 TF3....?? I am going to play with it more tonight before I decide.
 
Greenhell6 said:
Yeah, I am kinda meh.. I may bring it back and get a 7950 TF3....?? I am going to play with it more tonight before I decide.
Click to expand...

Going from a 6870 to a 7850 was probably not worth the cost to begin with, but if you have the upgrade itch, the 7950 prob makes sense. (Stock is like going from a 6870 to a 6950)


I turned down the $227 MSI 7870 TF3 on Newegg to buy this 7850 PE for $219 just for the better cooler (TF4 comes on PE models) and chance of better overclocking, as when evenly clocked theres only 3-8% difference in gaming. Hope it works out.

Will do my testing tonight.
 
adam_the_giant said:
Going from a 6870 to a 7850 was probably not worth the cost to begin with, but if you have the upgrade itch, the 7950 prob makes sense. (Stock is like going from a 6870 to a 6950)


I turned down the $227 MSI 7870 TF3 on Newegg to buy this 7850 PE for $219 just for the better cooler (TF4 comes on PE models) and chance of better overclocking, as when evenly clocked theres only 3-8% difference in gaming. Hope it works out.

Will do my testing tonight.
Click to expand...

I will agree with you that going from a 6870 to a 7850 was not a huge upgrade. The thing I needed most was the increased memory for Skyrim with mods. I can tell you I can run the game much smoother now and increase the AA to 4X without an issue. But I bought this model thinking I could get 1200c core or more from it to reach GTX 580/7950 stock speeds. Well, that hasn't happened thus far, so I may get a 7950.. We will see. I look forward to your results.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Back
Top