SAPPHIRE 100282XTREME Radeon HD 5850 $140 FS@newegg

[bunnyfubbles]

How much better is this compare to my gtx 275?

you can expect a moderate boost across the board but nothing staggering

the 5850 shines when it can be overclocked (I could easily match 5870 speeds and beyond with mine), something this model is currently limited at because it cannot be overvolted until Sapphire update's their TriXX utility

however you also have to consider this card should also provide significantly lower operating temps/noise/power consumption, so while performance alone might not be enticing those other benefits might do the trick

personally I wouldn't do it unless I could easily unload the GTX275 to help offset the cost.

 

[Modular]

Looks like voltage control is coming for these cards http://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/showpost.php?p=55110825&postcount=80

Deal just got even hotter. So glad I bought one!

 

[raystorm]

mmm..is this worth getting to replace my 4870? I have a modest pc (q6600, 4gb ram, 4870 and play on my 1080p tv) and dont plan on upgrading the cpu/mobo..etc..until next year but this looks like a solid card to get so I can at least see some DX11 effects in some of the games I have.

 

[Docnasty]

mmm..is this worth getting to replace my 4870? I have a modest pc (q6600, 4gb ram, 4870 and play on my 1080p tv) and dont plan on upgrading the cpu/mobo..etc..until next year but this looks like a solid card to get so I can at least see some DX11 effects in some of the games I have.

I have a similar setup with a i7-920. Definitely worth the money, you can sell your 4870 cheap and recoup the costs to make it easy under $100.00.

 

[Termie]

mmm..is this worth getting to replace my 4870? I have a modest pc (q6600, 4gb ram, 4870 and play on my 1080p tv) and dont plan on upgrading the cpu/mobo..etc..until next year but this looks like a solid card to get so I can at least see some DX11 effects in some of the games I have.

The 4870 is still a pretty strong card, especially if it's the 1GB version: http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/176?vs=164. The HD5850 is at most 50% faster. I'd say it's not worth upgrading on your system unless (1) your q6600 is overclocked over 3Ghz, which is a solid threshold for gaming, and (2) you have the 512MB version of the card, which is heavily bottlenecked by many new games. The 1GB version is more than enough for a stock q6600 and probably enough for an overclocked q6600.

 

[you2]

but is it worth upgrading to this from an 8800 gts (g92) ?

 

[Termie]

but is it worth upgrading to this from an 8800 gts (g92) ?

Absolutely. Double the performance.

 

[teatime0315]

Just picked one up. For $139.99 and free shipping, I just couldn't stand to wait any longer. The 4850 512mb was getting a little long in the tooth - even with an 800mhz core clock.

wuts the rest of ur system look like?
I have the 4850 512mb and i'm debating on whether to get one.

 

[hdfxst]

I was running a 4830 512 @700/1100 which should be around a stock 4850 and the biggest increase was being able to crank up AA and use SSAA, where my 4830 would fall on it's face this card keeps 60 fps.

 

[teatime0315]

I was running a 4830 512 @700/1100 which should be around a stock 4850 and the biggest increase was being able to crank up AA and use SSAA, where my 4830 would fall on it's face this card keeps 60 fps.

Thats seems like a huge increase. As of late, the newer games are struggling with AA.
Would a Q9550 (stock) + 8GB Ram be a bottleneck?

 

[hdfxst]

I should have put in there that i'm still on xp and the newest game i play is L4D2.Just using edge detect on the 4830 would make the game unplayable.And thats at 1920x1080

 

[Termie]

Thats seems like a huge increase. As of late, the newer games are struggling with AA.
Would a Q9550 (stock) + 8GB Ram be a bottleneck?

You'll be fine. If you could OC that q9550, it would be even better, but you'll probably max out the HD5850 in most games, especially modern games that use more than two cores.

 

[Spikesoldier]

You'll be fine. If you could OC that q9550, it would be even better, but you'll probably max out the HD5850 in most games, especially modern games that use more than two cores.

seconded. even today, the q9550 is still a very capable CPU that can keep up especially when OC'ed.

 

[Modular]

wuts the rest of ur system look like?
I have the 4850 512mb and i'm debating on whether to get one.

- Phenom II X4 920 @ stock for now - but will overclock when I get this card
- 4GB DDR2 1066 RAM
- Earthwatts 500 watter
- Vista 64 Ultimate

I can't even max out Starcraft 2, Bad Company 2, STALKER and a few other games on my 4850 and have playable rates. This card will breathe new life into my system and tide me over for at least a year - for under $140, it was a no brainer for me.

 

[you2]

I think I want a 150 dollar card with a big rebate and shogun 2
-
tiger direct has xfx for $130 after rebate; but the reviews on newegg really pan xfx as one of those vendors to avoid.

 

[psychmych]

OOS again! Ordered one yesterday afternoon. Shipped...close to the last one. :=)) Thanks OP!

 

[arkcom]

I think I want a 150 dollar card with a big rebate and shogun 2
-
tiger direct has xfx for $130 after rebate; but the reviews on newegg really pan xfx as one of those vendors to avoid.

Use ebillme and get another $20 cashback

they also have this one -

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...434&CatId=3669

 

[hdfxst]

Amazon has them in stock also

http://www.amazon.com/Sapphire-Rade...ef=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1303853775&sr=8-1-spell

 

[Termie]

Got mine a few days ago, but I'm having a strange problem. According to GPU-Z, the GPU load gets stuck at 100% even when I'm not doing anything. Right now I have only a web browser and GPU-Z open, but GPU-Z shows 100% GPU load, voltage and clocks at their 3D values, and temperatures in the mid 50's. This has happened a few times now, the only way to fix it is to restart windows. Any thoughts?

What browser? There's a known firefox 4 bug that does this.

Turns out the FF4 99% load bug was an AMD driver issue. It has been resolved in the latest 11.4 release:

"Resolved Issues for the Windows 7 Operating System
This section provides information on resolved known issues in this release of the AMD Catalyst 11.4 software suite for Windows 7. These include:

The GPU no longer shows high GPU usage after running Firefox 4 with hardware acceleration enabled."

 

[hdfxst]

Maybe that's why it wasn't doing it for me,I've been using the 11.4 preview drivers

 

[Lazlo Panaflex]

FYI...it's back in stock ($139.99 FS)...in for 1! Tks OP! :awe:

 

[jhbball]

Just to clarify: will this card crossfire with a Powercolor 5850? Also, would a 650w Antec psu be able to power a pair of these?

Thanks!

 

[MagickMan]

Just to clarify: will this card crossfire with a Powercolor 5850? Also, would a 650w Antec psu be able to power a pair of these?

Thanks!

Yes and probably.

 

[Termie]

Yes and probably.

He should be fine on the PSU, but if he posts the specs of his Antec, we can say for sure.

Magick - How do you like the performance of your crossfire setup? Any issues with crossfire? Huge overclock on those cards, by the way.

 

[MagickMan]

They've been great. I bought the first one just after 5850 release and got the second 4 months later. I've been blown away by the longevity of these cards, both in still offering cutting edge performance and with how stable they've been after what they've been through. Every once in a while an older game will give me some minor issue, but I usually get it worked out quickly.

That's my normal OC, BTW, they'll do more but I don't see any reason to stress them further. I'm just going to keep running them until they aren't fast enough anymore, which will probably be some time.