Need an upgrade - 7850 or 7870?

[TylerS]

Hi folks…

I’m not an avid poster here, but like to read the advice. Usually I’m not posting because I have been running dated gear for a while.

However, now looking to upgrade and I have some questions around video cards. I think I’m pretty much settled on an AMD card as the price/performance in the mid-tier cards seems to be better (I could be convinced otherwise).

So… 7850 or 7870?
Parameters:
- 1920 × 1080
- I am looking to get a good card that will play games at a decent rate for several years (my card now is a 8800GT, a good soldier but time to retire)
- I do not play the “latest and greatest shooter” and I don’t care about max frames
- Games I would play (that I can’t now): Skyrim; Civ V; Mass Effect 2; Witcher 2
- Games I will want to play soon: Fallout 4; Mass Effect 3; Dragon Age 3
- I want to play at max settings (within reason)
- trying to keep to minimum cost (obviously) while still hitting the above requirements; will the 7850 do me or should I spend the extra $50? (Or am I dreaming and I should just suck it up and go for the 7950 or 660ti?)

I have never purchased an AMD card before; are there any brands I that excel or should be avoided?

I am also looking for quite (cool doesn’t really matter). Any recommendations on a card? My thoughts were Asus or Gigabyte, though they aren’t always the cheapest. Sapphire has a nice looking card, but I know nothing about it.

For reference the base system it will be paired with: i5 3570K (light OC), Z77, 8GB PC1600 ram, no SSD

Thanks in advance!

 

[TylerS]

Oh - I should have mentioned that I do a fair amount of video transcoding. I'll likely stick to Handbrake (and therefore GPU doesn't matter) but if someone has a "deal breaker" solution here I would liek to hear it.

 

[Jaydip]

If the cost difference between 7850 and 7870 isn't much go with the later.Avoid XFX as it is utter crap.Sapphire is probably the best amd vendor out there.If Physx or Cuda is needed grab a 660 instead.

 

[aaksheytalwar]

Depends on the prices and your budget. Onwards of 7850 each card is good at its price.

 

[raghu78]

Which country are you from ? Depends on prices in your country. Unless the HD 7850 is atleast 20% cheaper its not a good deal. HD 7870 beats HD 7850 by 20% in stock configuration. clock for clock its close to 10% faster. But on average HD 7870 also has better max overclocks than HD 7850. So it boils down to price. if the HD 7870 is 250 bucks and HD 7850 is 190 get the HD 7850. If HD 7850 is 220 while HD 7870 is 260 get the HD 7870.

The best HD 7870s are Gigabyte HD 7870 OC , HIS ICEQ HD 7870, Sapphire HD 7870. they have the best coolers and are voltage unlocked. the asus DC II cards are voltage locked. so avoid them

 

[Tweak155]

I had a 6870 Sapphire that I had to return due to overheating. I replaced it with an XFX and have had no issues. I think it is hit or miss with any company.

 

[zaydq]

Looking at the gamea you want to play and the length of use you seem to have with your pcs ten i'd pick the 7870/660. If you can spend the cash get the 7950 over te 660ti since te 660ti will eventually be a huge bottleneck due to it's memory bus where as the 7950 will outlast it due to the higher memory bus and the higher amount of vram. Also, if you're looking to OC, the 7950s can get some monster overclocks. A lot of 7950s are oc'd to 7970ghz ed and gtx 680 speeds.

The 7950 is the performance/price ratio king this generation.

 

[TylerS]

Okay – let’s add to the confusion.

I am really looking to keep costs down on this, so going the 7950 may be too much, however I also don’t want to have to upgrade in 2 years. (I’d like it to last 4 to 5 years – am I crazy?) Again considering I am not playing the bleeding edge games and only trying to push 1920X1080 pixels.

Given the below costs/cards, what would you choose?

The cards I would consider buying are (Canadian prices on NewEgg):

7850:
$200 - SAPPHIRE 100355L Radeon HD 7850 2GB

7870:
$230 - MSI R7870 Twin Frozr 2GD5/OC Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition - $230 (great price but I’m worried about how loud this card might be – I can’t find any reviews that list noise)
Or
$260 - ASUS HD7870-DC2-2GD5-V2 Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition 2GB

7950:
$310 - SAPPHIRE 100352-2L Radeon HD 7950 3GB

Anyone know how loud the MSI card is? Noise is important because I have a pretty open-air case (Lian Li PC-V1000).

 

[Jaydip]

MSI R7870 Twin Frozr is a solid card and should be a decent overclocker.But no cards will probably last for 4-5 years unless pc gaming is going to be dead in the next few years.

 

[KingFatty]

There is currently a deal on a Newegg 7870 (Sapphire) for $185 AR; check the Anandtech forum for hot deals.

 

[Eureka]

A top of the line card will serve you 4-5 years, but by the end of that you'll be running on low settings. Since the OP is Canadian, a lot of the American deals do not apply. With the rest of the system (i5, SSD), I would say it would pair up very nicely with a 7950 or 7970, if price permits. Save up and look for one of those cards on sale, and it will last you a good long time (I'm still running a 4890 in one of my other computers, and it will handle a lot of current games at a decent level).

 

[jacktesterson]

http://ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=77258&vpn=11200-16-20G&manufacture=SAPPHIRE&promoid=1296

Sapphire 7850 for $164.99 and comes with Far Cry 3 at NCIX in Canada.

 

[MentalIlness]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102983

 

[jacktesterson]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102983

He is Canadian

I find NCIX or Direct Canada to usually beat newegg canada

That $199 card you quoted is $289 on newegg.ca

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product...&SID=u00000687

Newegg Canada does have some good deals at times though

 

[jacktesterson]

Ive owned both a 7850 and 7870 and my opinion is the 7870 is not worth the extra coin if overclocking.

Also, when the 7850 has reached the end of its life, the 7870 has too

 

[Alusan]

Okay – let’s add to the confusion.
Anyone know how loud the MSI card is? Noise is important because I have a pretty open-air case (Lian Li PC-V1000).

I had two different MSI 7870's with the Twin Frozr 4 coolers and I found them both fairly loud, especially compared to the dual-fan Sapphire 7950 I settled with. That Sapphire 7850 for $165 looks good. I don't know that it would last 4 years, but you can look at it as saving some money now that you can put toward an upgrade 2 or 3 years down the line for a similar price.

 

[dragantoe]

I would go with the 7870 just because of its overclocking potential just don't go with the sapphire because other than the quality control issues, the sapphire 7870's have all been black screening resulting in a force restart, go with msi, asus, gigabyte or xfx

 

[raghu78]

Okay – let’s add to the confusion.

I am really looking to keep costs down on this, so going the 7950 may be too much, however I also don’t want to have to upgrade in 2 years. (I’d like it to last 4 to 5 years – am I crazy?) Again considering I am not playing the bleeding edge games and only trying to push 1920X1080 pixels.

Given the below costs/cards, what would you choose?

The cards I would consider buying are (Canadian prices on NewEgg):

7850:
$200 - SAPPHIRE 100355L Radeon HD 7850 2GB

7870:
$230 - MSI R7870 Twin Frozr 2GD5/OC Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition - $230 (great price but I’m worried about how loud this card might be – I can’t find any reviews that list noise)
Or
$260 - ASUS HD7870-DC2-2GD5-V2 Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition 2GB

7950:
$310 - SAPPHIRE 100352-2L Radeon HD 7950 3GB

Anyone know how loud the MSI card is? Noise is important because I have a pretty open-air case (Lian Li PC-V1000).

The Sapphire HD 7950 is the card to get . definitely worth spending the extra money over a HD 7870. atleast 25 - 30% faster at max overclocks

 

[HydroSqueegee]

MSI R7870 Twin Frozr is a solid card and should be a decent overclocker.But no cards will probably last for 4-5 years unless pc gaming is going to be dead in the next few years.

not true. i replaced my 5 year old 9600GT with a 7870. the 9600GT played every modern game i tossed at it, on low... the 7870 was a HUGE upgrade that will last me another 4-5 years.

OP, i pondered the 7850 or the 7870 for a while and eded up with the 7870. Its a fantastic card and worth the cash over the 7850.

 

[TylerS]

He is Canadian

I find NCIX or Direct Canada to usually beat newegg canada

That $199 card you quoted is $289 on newegg.ca

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product...&SID=u00000687

Newegg Canada does have some good deals at times though

Thanks for the NewEgg and NCIX tip. They do seem to have some good deals there, but they REALLY need an upgrade on their site. It's very difficult to find anything.

I like MemoryExpress as well, but I'm on IE6 at work (believe it or not) and can't use their site - so I don't get time to do my "window shopping" at lunch.

 

[TylerS]

I had two different MSI 7870's with the Twin Frozr 4 coolers and I found them both fairly loud

That's what I was afraid of; I've heard that before, but I wasn't sure if it was the case with the 7870/50. Thanks.

 

[Jaydip]

not true. i replaced my 5 year old 9600GT with a 7870. the 9600GT played every modern game i tossed at it, on low... the 7870 was a HUGE upgrade that will last me another 4-5 years.

OP, i pondered the 7850 or the 7870 for a while and eded up with the 7870. Its a fantastic card and worth the cash over the 7850.

Not everybody has the same perspective

 

[dragantoe]

i just bought a gigabyte hd7870, still shipping, looked like it had the best cooling for all the cards and got better results than the fancy HIS one, any thoughts?

 

[3DVagabond]

i just bought a gigabyte hd7870, still shipping, looked like it had the best cooling for all the cards and got better results than the fancy HIS one, any thoughts?

Personally, I would go with the MSI Hawk. $5 more out of pocket, $15 cheaper after rebate (At least at Newegg). The Gigabyte is probably as good performing a card as the MSI is. It's just my personal preference.

 

[TylerS]

So I bought a card... I could not miss out on this deal:

Asus HD7870-DC2-2GD5-V2: $229 + a $20 rebate.
http://www.canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?cPath=43_557_558&item_id=054057

I haven't purchased the rest of my system upgrade, so I'm running this on:
C2D E7500 @ 2.93
Gigabyte GA-P35-DS4
6 GB RAM
Corsair 620W PSU

Runs like a dream and I can't hear it at all!! Now I just have to test it out on some real games. Though runs Fallout 3 NV at Ultra detail nicely. I'll be testing Skyrim next. I know my CPU is likely a bit of a bottleneck - that's next! (i5 3570K (light OC), Z77, 8GB PC1600 ram).