HD 5870 Vs HD 7850

[ensign_lee]

At $200, you should get the 7850, but only because the going price for a 5870 seems to be around $150 right now (give or take $20).

 

[Don Karnage]

By the way, I'm not sure a 5870 or a 7850 is that great of an upgrade from 5770 crossfire. You'll get slightly more consistent performance, and with the 7850 you'd have more VRAM to work with, but overall, unless you already purchased that 5870 for $125, I'd hold off for different options once nVidia brings something to the table in that price range.

I paid 125 for the 5870 Lightning and just sold my 2 5770's for 172 so IMO a good tradeoff. :biggrin:

I'll be going for 1150 core tonight with the Lightning

Pretty much was going to post this. 5770 xfre to a 5870 is basically the same. If I remember right, even with the hit from Crossfire the 5870 is actually a bit slower, probably something to do with keep all those VLIW5 shaders full. So, unless you are having CF issues or notice microstutter, I probably would not go with the 5870.

See above

 

[Termie]

I paid 125 for the 5870 Lightning and just sold my 2 5770's for 172 so IMO a good tradeoff. :biggrin:

I'll be going for 1150 core tonight with the Lightning

That's a nice deal - definitely worth trading up to the 5870 (but how did you ever get so much money for those 5770s?!?).

On a different note, I think 1150 is a bit of a reach for a 5870. Most people were running them at 950, or maybe 1050 with a lot of voltage. 1150 would be pretty much impossible. In fact, you're proposing a 35% overclock from stock - I don't think there's ever been a video card in history that could hit that kind of OC.

 

[Don Karnage]

That's a nice deal - definitely worth trading up to the 5870 (but how did you ever get so much money for those 5770s?!?).

On a different note, I think 1150 is a bit of a reach for a 5870. Most people were running them at 950, or maybe 1050 with a lot of voltage. 1150 would be pretty much impossible. In fact, you're proposing a 35% overclock from stock - I don't think there's ever been a video card in history that could hit that kind of OC.

Normally i'd agree with you but this is no regular 5870.

 

[Termie]

Normally i'd agree with you but this is no regular 5870.

Impressive card indeed. Tweaktown was able to get it to 1000 with a minor voltage bump: http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/3188/msi_radeon_hd_5870_lightning_video_card/index3.html

I'd still say 1150 is going to be tough unless you're watercooling, and even then, it might be difficult.

 

[Don Karnage]

Impressive card indeed. Tweaktown was able to get it to 1000 with a minor voltage bump: http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/3188/msi_radeon_hd_5870_lightning_video_card/index3.html

I'd still say 1150 is going to be tough unless you're watercooling, and even then, it might be difficult.

Guy over at Overclock did 1Ghz core on stock volts and 1150 on the stock cooler. Depending on how well it overclocks on air i might put it on water.

 

[NikolaeVarius]

Got me a new 5870 for 150 during black friday. It overclocks like a beast and runs BF2 at almost max settings really well.

 

[BallaTheFeared]

In fact, you're proposing a 35% overclock from stock - I don't think there's ever been a video card in history that could hit that kind of OC.

What? Did I read that wrong?

607 (stock) + 57% = 953MHz

Put it on water Don, I want to race you

 

[Termie]

What? Did I read that wrong?

607 (stock) + 57% = 953MHz

Put it on water Don, I want to race you

Well, a 35% GPU OC would certainly be impossible on any stock cooler. It wasn't clear whether the OP was thinking of shooting for that OC with the Lighting cooler. I'll stand by my assertion that an OC like that would be impossible even with non-reference air cooling.

 

[Arzachel]

In fact, you're proposing a 35% overclock from stock - I don't think there's ever been a video card in history that could hit that kind of OC.

Just to one up Balla

1290 mhz is an 50% overclock from stock and that's on a reference card with a stock cooler. (shamelessly stolen from here)

 

[blackened23]

Whoa, not bad.

 

[BallaTheFeared]

Just to one up Balla

1290 mhz is an 50% overclock from stock and that's on a reference card with a stock cooler. (shamelessly stolen from here)

Yeah not bad at all, what does he get with CF?

Near perfect scaling would put him at what 14k, not too shabby beats out my 470s with 12.8k by a little over 1k.

Pitty two of them would run you $500 and 470s are going for $130ea or lower. 28nm makes me a sad panda

 

[Termie]

What? Did I read that wrong?

607 (stock) + 57% = 953MHz

Put it on water Don, I want to race you

Just to one up Balla

1290 mhz is an 50% overclock from stock and that's on a reference card with a stock cooler. (shamelessly stolen from here)

Ok, ok, you guys got me. Can we just agree that 1150 on a 5870 is a challenge and call it a day?

 

[Don Karnage]

Just to one up Balla

1290 mhz is an 50% overclock from stock and that's on a reference card with a stock cooler. (shamelessly stolen from here)

Must be a processor bottleneck. Didn't expect two 5770's to come close to a 1300 core 7850

 

[Arzachel]

Yeah not bad at all, what does he get with CF?

*pic*

Near perfect scaling would put him at what 14k, not too shabby beats out my 470s with 12.8k by a little over 1k.

Pitty two of them would run you $500 and 470s are going for $130ea or lower. 28nm makes me a sad panda

That's on a stock 2500k, there is another guy with a 7296 score on similar clocks but with a 4.2ghz 2500k. Still, fire sales on last gen cards have always been the best value and with the 40nm process being much mature now, the early Fermi cards are fantastic overclockers. Also, you're running on water and now I want to see how much more performance can be gotten out of these with water cooling

 

[Don Karnage]

Ok, ok, you guys got me. Can we just agree that 1150 on a 5870 is a challenge and call it a day?

We'll see tonight what a severely overclocked 5870 can really do.....

Also Balla. I'd love to put her on water but the only place to get a full cover block is from EK Europe and it'll run me 140 bones with shipping.

 

[Arzachel]

Must be a processor bottleneck. Didn't expect two 5770's to come close to a 1300 core 7850

*pic*

Yeah, the stock 2500k is holding it back a little. The difference should be far greater in dx11 and in things that vliw5/4 has problems with, though.

We'll see tonight what a severely overclocked 5870 can really do.....

Worst case, it's a poor overclocker and you break even from some bitcoin miners, best case it'll clock to the moon. Win/win

 

[Don Karnage]

Yeah, the stock 2500k is holding it back a little. The difference should be far greater in dx11 and in things that vliw5/4 has problems with, though.

Agreed. Heaven for example.

 

[SlowSpyder]

We'll see tonight what a severely overclocked 5870 can really do.....

Also Balla. I'd love to put her on water but the only place to get a full cover block is from EK Europe and it'll run me 140 bones with shipping.

I loved my 5870, I got a second for a good deal to go CF also. I bought a 7970 simply to get more VRAM, and in all honesty because I was a bit bored using the 5870's for two years and wanted a new toy.

I know that the 5870's don't play the newest games as well as other cards, but considering they are two and a half years old and can still play most games at fairly high settings is pretty amazing to me. Even DX11 games seem to bench pretty well (unless 48FPS average at 19x12 and ultra quality is bad these days).

Anyway, enjoy your new card!

 

[Don Karnage]

Worst case, it's a poor overclocker and you break even from some bitcoin miners, best case it'll clock to the moon. Win/win

If it hits 1000 core i'll be happy. If it hits 1100 i'll be extatic

 

[Don Karnage]

You guys were all right. Card overclocks like crap. 1050 core at 1.35v. It's already on ebay. Ordering 7850 Tomorrow

 

[Termie]

You guys were all right. Card overclocks like crap. 1050 core at 1.35v. It's already on ebay. Ordering 7850 Tomorrow

Bummer to hear that. It would still perform pretty well even around 1GHz, but if you're into overclocking, the 7850 will be a much better bet.

 

[BallaTheFeared]

Must be a processor bottleneck. Didn't expect two 5770's to come close to a 1300 core 7850

Can't be a processor bottleneck, my 13k score came off a stock i5

Just look at the gpu scores, that's all you're really comparing anyways. 6k for your two cards, 7k for the one overclocked 7850.

Agreed. Heaven for example.

Anything with tess is going to murder 5 series. And they're not doing as well in some of the more modern DX11 titles like Batman.

If it hits 1000 core i'll be happy. If it hits 1100 i'll be extatic

Heh, but if it hits 1050 you'll ebay it? :twisted:

Which 7850 are you buying, clearly not the XFX one :biggrin:

 

[Don Karnage]

Heh, but if it hits 1050 you'll ebay it? :twisted:

Which 7850 are you buying, clearly not the XFX one :biggrin:

Asus will probably be the easy choice.

 

[lavaheadache]

1050 is not crap for a 5870. You did have the voltage way up but I bet just a little back down on the clock speed would have netted a much lower v core.

I probably would have kept the card.