Gtx 470/ ati 5850

Jaydip

Diamond Member
Mar 29, 2010
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Hi I am currently using a XFX 9800 GT(512 Mb) in my rig along with a core i7 920 and a 19" lcd.I wish to upgrade both my graphics card and the lcd.I waited for fermi and now that it is here which u believe would be the most prudent choice a gtx 470 or a 5850?I would have bought a 5850 but i have had very negative feedback about ati drivers and that is my real concern.I don't care much about Physx,Cuda though but i do need a stable driver .Any help would be appreciated.Thank u.
 

zerocool84

Lifer
Nov 11, 2004
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Both ATI and Nvidia have driver problems as we all know. Currently the 5850 is the better bang for the buck.
 

Dark4ng3l

Diamond Member
Sep 17, 2000
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Drivers have been fine on both sides for years now. Nvidia recently had the card killing driver problem but besides that I can't remember any significant problems with drivers in the last couple of years.

Both cards are good. Since you don't care about CUDA and physx I would say the 5850 is better value but the 470 is going to be somewhat faster.

Something else to consider is that the 470 will take MUCH more power and run MUCH hotter than the 5850. It's also more expensive and you might have trouble finding one in April when they are supposed to come out(expect to pay more than MSRP too).

Both cards are going to serve you well in terms of performance. I like the 5850 better(probably the best bang for your buck in the high end right now) because it wins in power consumption, heat and price.
 

Jaydip

Diamond Member
Mar 29, 2010
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Thanks.I have another question regarding the temperatures.Can some one please clarify what was ambient temperature when ryan tested gtx 480/470?It is my concern because i live in India and at summers it becomes very hot indeed(room temp reaching 36-38 degree).
 

Blurry

Senior member
Mar 19, 2002
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Also, while it may not be a dealbreaker for you, both cards output audio via HDMI differently.

The Radeon does bitstream DTSMA, DolbyTruHD,
The Geforce does 7.1 LPCM over HDMI - and not bitstream.

If you're deciding to put any of these cards thru a receiver, the radeon is the better choice.

Both are great gaming cards.
 

Jaydip

Diamond Member
Mar 29, 2010
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I asked about drivers because i heard ati has some strange issues with windows 7 like big mouse cursor and the like.
 

zerocool84

Lifer
Nov 11, 2004
36,041
472
126
Thanks.I have another question regarding the temperatures.Can some one please clarify what was ambient temperature when ryan tested gtx 480/470?It is my concern because i live in India and at summers it becomes very hot indeed(room temp reaching 36-38 degree).

They'd probably have to email them but I'm sure it's safe to assume they were in air conditioning and the room temp was normal room temp, low 70's possibly???
 

error8

Diamond Member
Nov 28, 2007
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At 36-38 C room temperature, no videocard is safe. GTX 470/480 have very high working temperatures: 94-96 C at ambients of 20-24 C. Imagine what will happen at 38 C ambient. Probably the fan will work at 100% speed and would still not be able to keep the card bellow 105 C and I don't know what threshold Nvidia has on these cards, but I would never feel safe to see my card running at more then 100 C. So for Nvidia's card, you will need air conditioning, no doubt about it.
 

Jaydip

Diamond Member
Mar 29, 2010
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Thanks every one for their valuable suggestion.I think i am going to buy 5850(my first ever ati card).My only concern is the driver glitches associated with win 7.I hope a corsair 750 tx will be enough for 5850.
 

SolMiester

Diamond Member
Dec 19, 2004
5,331
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Thanks.I have another question regarding the temperatures.Can some one please clarify what was ambient temperature when ryan tested gtx 480/470?It is my concern because i live in India and at summers it becomes very hot indeed(room temp reaching 36-38 degree).

India is probably the worst place to run a GTX470...dont get me wrong, I love nvidia products, but the 4x0 series does run warm, although that is probably due to default fan setting....

5850 is undoubtedly the better bang for buck as stated, however the 470 will get quicker with driver releases...if your not concerned with heat and power usage.
 

Dark4ng3l

Diamond Member
Sep 17, 2000
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Thanks every one for their valuable suggestion.I think i am going to buy 5850(my first ever ati card).My only concern is the driver glitches associated with win 7.I hope a corsair 750 tx will be enough for 5850.

Good enough for 2 of them and probably 3 if you have enough molex converters... The 5850 uses like half the power of a 470.
 

Apocalypse23

Golden Member
Jul 14, 2003
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Thanks every one for their valuable suggestion.I think i am going to buy 5850(my first ever ati card).My only concern is the driver glitches associated with win 7.I hope a corsair 750 tx will be enough for 5850.

You'll be fine, I have a 750 W Corsair TX as well, I've tested 5870+5850 CF on it no problems at all, that PSU should also do tri crossfire with 5850/5870s.
 

GodisanAtheist

Diamond Member
Nov 16, 2006
6,715
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ATI and Nvidia split the driver difference. They both have their share of stinkers and long running unresolved issues, but on the whole both sets of drivers are on the level.

The 470 and the 5850 are pretty much dead even in terms of performance. The 470 has better minimums, but at the cost of much higher power requirements (100 watts over the 5850 at load, ~40 watts over at idle) and much greater fan noise (esp. if you get your hands on an aftermarket 5850).

The 470 is bound to be more expensive and much harder to find than the 5850 when it releases.

Thems the facts. Rest is up to you.

Oh yeah and god knows when GTX4's are coming to India...
 
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Jaydip

Diamond Member
Mar 29, 2010
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Thanx,so a 5850 it is.Has anyone here encountered any problems with 5850 and win 7?.One of my friends is having a lot of issues lately like system freezing,big mouse cursor.
 

Apocalypse23

Golden Member
Jul 14, 2003
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Thanx,so a 5850 it is.Has anyone here encountered any problems with 5850 and win 7?.One of my friends is having a lot of issues lately like system freezing,big mouse cursor.

NO issues dude, things like you mentioned could be due to spyware and malware...
 

Jaydip

Diamond Member
Mar 29, 2010
3,691
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That is really a relief then:D. Do u have any brand suggestions? In my place the available brands are xfx,asus,msi,sapphire and zotac with xfx being the most expensive.
 

zerocool84

Lifer
Nov 11, 2004
36,041
472
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How much more expensive is the XFX??? I bought them cus of the double lifetime warranty but if it's a lot more expensive just go with any of the other ones.
 

Apocalypse23

Golden Member
Jul 14, 2003
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That is really a relief then:D. Do u have any brand suggestions? In my place the available brands are xfx,asus,msi,sapphire and zotac with xfx being the most expensive.

I'd go with Asus, no need to modify the Bios, no caps for overclocking, and a 3 year warranty. See if it comes with free Dirt 2.

MSI will be another option, no need to modify the Bios, you can oc to the max like the Asus, and you have a 3 year warranty. But you may not get any free games with it.

XFX is lifetime warranty but at a higher cost, and you'd have to flash the bios as well for higher overclocking. See what they have bundled with it.

So Asus, MSI or XFX.
 

Jaydip

Diamond Member
Mar 29, 2010
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Sorry for pestering with so many questions but i want to know are the 5850 black editions worth it?
 

Apocalypse23

Golden Member
Jul 14, 2003
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Sorry for pestering with so many questions but i want to know are the 5850 black editions worth it?

I don't think so because you can overclock way higher than the black edition speeds on any reference 5850. It's just a slightly higher clocked card, but makes no difference if you plan on overclocking.
 

zagood

Diamond Member
Mar 28, 2005
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I've been an nVidia fan for years, but if you don't care about PhysX or Cuda the 5850 is such a better buy right now. If nV magically solves some issues via drivers, or if an amazing tesselation-based game comes out tomorrow, then I'd go that way.

As far as which brand/model, first thing I would do is look through the warranties for the different ones and try to find one that has a warranty center in India or close. I'd hate to have to send a card halfway across the world for RMA replacement.
 

bryanW1995

Lifer
May 22, 2007
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I would check around for a 5850 with custom cooling. Your summer temps get high enough that even a stock 5850 will have the fan running pretty high most likely.

Alternatively, you could, um, you know, buy an AC unit and a cheap $50 card... of course, if you were practical like that then you wouldn't exactly be an enthusiast gamer, huh?
 

Apocalypse23

Golden Member
Jul 14, 2003
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What zagood and bryan said, also depending on your location in India, you may need to get a UPS as well since there may be frequent power outages. A system with a high end card should be used in Air conditioned rooms, or well ventilated ones to say the least. But yeah you want to be operating your system up to 26 degrees room temp I'd say.
 
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busydude

Diamond Member
Feb 5, 2010
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From my personal experience, being an enthusiast PC builder in India is a rarity. Jaydip, if you are planning to run this kind of system all I can say is for you to take good care of it like a baby.Use after market/custom cooling. Keep an eye on the temps of CPU/GPU and never ever run 24/7.

Having an air conditioner is a luxury in India. More then 90% of the homes don't have them and even if they do they just use it at night to get good 8 hrs sleep. Basically,there is no concept of climate control for regular consumers.

TC and and enjoy the summer.