I figure with all the fear and negativity I have posted about the purchase I was making I should give a general feeling now that it's all said and done. I ended up with a 5850 powercolor pcs+.
First thing I noted was how freaking long this card was. WOW!
I uninstalled, went safemode, driver cleaned and installed the drivers.
Not a single issue installing the drivers whatsoever. Pretty impressed there.
The second thing I noticed was the silence. I didn't think my 8800gts 320 was loud. Infact didn't realize I could even hear it, until I popped the pcs+ in. Now I really can't hear it. Wow.
The next thing I noted was temps. My 8800 idled at 50-54. I expected this to be a bit cooler but not 32-34C. incredible.
Next up I started playing games. I noted that the card never gets audible. I also noted temps never really got very high at all. Further I noted a lower temp in my case and on my proc while gaming (likely due to the stress being removed from it by the card). That really impressed me.
I did have a few issues with the drivers in games, but was able to remedy them all through patches.
I have tested the card and even OC it a bit and the card has worked without issue (minus a grey screen when I pushed the ram too far).
Very impressed with the hardware. I don't have any issues with the drivers.
One last thing is I find the color a little better. Not sure what has caused this, but it is deeper.
So over all pretty impressed with the 5850. For $270 bucks this is a fantastic upgrade. All my games run really fast at 1920x1080. I find myself cranking everything up.
Anyway... thanks for everyone's help!
First thing I noted was how freaking long this card was. WOW!
I uninstalled, went safemode, driver cleaned and installed the drivers.
Not a single issue installing the drivers whatsoever. Pretty impressed there.
The second thing I noticed was the silence. I didn't think my 8800gts 320 was loud. Infact didn't realize I could even hear it, until I popped the pcs+ in. Now I really can't hear it. Wow.
The next thing I noted was temps. My 8800 idled at 50-54. I expected this to be a bit cooler but not 32-34C. incredible.
Next up I started playing games. I noted that the card never gets audible. I also noted temps never really got very high at all. Further I noted a lower temp in my case and on my proc while gaming (likely due to the stress being removed from it by the card). That really impressed me.
I did have a few issues with the drivers in games, but was able to remedy them all through patches.
I have tested the card and even OC it a bit and the card has worked without issue (minus a grey screen when I pushed the ram too far).
Very impressed with the hardware. I don't have any issues with the drivers.
One last thing is I find the color a little better. Not sure what has caused this, but it is deeper.
So over all pretty impressed with the 5850. For $270 bucks this is a fantastic upgrade. All my games run really fast at 1920x1080. I find myself cranking everything up.
Anyway... thanks for everyone's help!
