Should I upgrade to ATI 5850 or 5870?

[sainyam]

Dear Community,

My current graphics card is an NV 8800gt, from which I would like to upgrade.

System Specs:
----------------- x --------------------------------------------
Chip: E8400@3.0Ghz
Mother Board: Intel DP35DP
RAM: 4GB Transcend DDR-2 800
Graphics Card: MSI 8800GT
Power Supply Unit: Cooler Master Extreme Power Plus (500 Watt)
Monitor: 22" Samsung 2243NWX
----------------- x ---------------------------------------------

Note:
-Ill be gaming on the TV instead of my monitor. Its a 37" Samsung. In case that helps us with the decision..


I have my sights set on ATI's 5850 1GB. Its a just little below my budget, so was pondering whether to step up to a 5870 or something. No point if the rest of my system cant keep up with them, in which case I might as well get the former along with necessary updgrades to stay within my budget. Wanted to check with you guys 'bout the same.

Considerations to keep in mind:
1. Any price drops anticipated for near future?
2. Any other cards in close range with better value?
3. My system's capability of driving the card to its potential?
4. Price effective Future Proofing Strategy - Stuff like - Should I be considering an SLI? I plan to upgrade again by July 2011 or switch to console if the next gen is within a year from then. Graphics tech isn't expected to jump by leaps in games I hear so doesn't make sense in getting anything badder I suppose? Etc etc..

 

[Kuzi]

What resolution does your TV run at? I'd say if you want better future proofing, and the ability to run at higher quality/DX11 settings, go with the 5870.

Don't forget Nvidia will release their next-gen cards on the 26th of this month, so there is a chance there will be price drops soon if these cards are competitive (and they release with good quantities). I'd say wait a few weeks and see how things turn up first, then decide.

 

[Borealis7]

i don't foresee price drops on ATI's side in the near future especially if nVidia's Fermi performs close to the 5870. for future proofing, i'd get the 5870 which is noticeably stronger than the 5850 but costs more. but also the 5870 might be overkill with your monitor unless it is capable of 1920x1200 resolution.

you can get a 5850 and be happy now (it'll run anything you throw at it barring Crysis maxed), sell it in about a year and get the latest card. or you can get the 5870 and sit on it for a couple of years. its quite strong.

 

[sainyam]

Thanks for writing in guys.

I'll be gaming mostly on the TV, so the monitors not of concern here. The TV runs at 1080p. At that resolution would there be a marked difference between 5850 and 5870?

I live in India. The cards here are priced a bit higher, have smaller range and take time to catch up with trends. From what I gathered about the Fermi, it's not necessarily going to make a significant dent in ATI prices and anyhow, the price adjustment would take time to make itself felt in the US/Europe, let alone all the way at India.

Would the rest of my rig hold up fine with a 5870.

Further input welcomed.

 

[ScorcherDarkly]

Given the rest of your system, I think you'll probably be bottlenecked with the 5850, so upgrading to a 5870 wouldn't show much, if any, improvement.

 

[SlowSpyder]

With 1080P resolution I imagine you'll get a good boost in performance over an 8800GT. I say go for it if your current card is holding you back.

Nvidia is releasing it's new cards in a few weeks, but early rumors say it'll be very difficult to find due to limited quanities and it's not all that much faster than the current AMD cards. So, I don't think you'll see any huge price cuts in the immediate future. It's possible AMD may drop the price a bit, but if the rumors are true about Fermi I doubt AMD will be too pressed to drop prices.

 

[Kuzi]

Given the rest of your system, I think you'll probably be bottlenecked with the 5850, so upgrading to a 5870 wouldn't show much, if any, improvement.

His system is fine. A 5870 would net him a noticeable gain in most games over a 5850, especially when he uses the highest quality settings and AA/AF. Plus, future DX11 titles will be even more GPU limited, so a 5870 will definitely help even on his "stock" system.

 

[toyota]

His system is fine. A 5870 would net him a noticeable gain in most games over a 5850, especially when he uses the highest quality settings and AA/AF. Plus, future DX11 titles will be even more GPU limited, so a 5870 will definitely help even on his "stock" system.

if he is going to oc the gpu then he might as well save 100 bucks and get the 5850 since they are within 5% of each other when maxed out. with his dual core cpu he will never even see the extra 5% in many newer games anyway.

 

[MagickMan]

if he is going to oc then he might as well save 100 bucks and get the 5850 since they are within 5% of each other when maxed out. with his dual core cpu he will never even see the extra 5% in many newer games anyway.

This. If a person OCs the difference between the 5850 and 5870 is almost negligible.

 

[ScorcherDarkly]

with his dual core cpu he will never even see the extra 5% in many newer games anyway.

This was my point. Yes his system is "fine", but by adding in a 5850 the bottleneck in the system becomes the CPU. Adding a GPU stronger than the 5850 isn't going to show any improvement, thus my recommendation.

 

[nemesismk2]

This was my point. Yes his system is "fine", but by adding in a 5850 the bottleneck in the system becomes the CPU. Adding a GPU stronger than the 5850 isn't going to show any improvement, thus my recommendation.

I also agree with your recommendation

 

[sainyam]

Appreciate all the input guys.

Wot wud be the minimum upgrades required on my system to ease any bottlenecking if a 5870s on it?

I cud go about the upgrades in phases.. Gpu now, CPU a bit later..

 

[zerocool84]

Go 5850. The difference between the 2 isn't worth $100.

 

[blanketyblank]

Appreciate all the input guys.

Wot wud be the minimum upgrades required on my system to ease any bottlenecking if a 5870s on it?

I cud go about the upgrades in phases.. Gpu now, CPU a bit later..

I don't think it's worth it to upgrade CPU since you'll need something like an overclocked i5 or i7 to keep a 5870 from being bottlenecked at your resolution (1920 x 1080) depending on the game (like left 4 dead). On the other hand though in an extremely demanding new game like metro 2033, a 5850 appears to be unplayable on dx11 with everything maxed and tesselation even at just 1680 x 1050. Then again not even a 5870 may be enough to max everything in that game, but there is still hope performance improves with future driver updates.

http://www.pcgameshardware.de/aid,7...t-DirectX-11-und-GPU-PhysX/Action-Spiel/Test/

Also based on screenshots not sure if dx11 really adds anything worthwhile besides lighting.

 

[MisterDonut]

Go 5850. The difference between the 2 isn't worth $100.

What he said. Just OC the 5850, and you'll get pretty close to a stock 5870. I wouldn't pay that $100.

 

[Apocalypse23]

I don't think you should bother getting a single 5850 or 5870, go crossfire for futureproofing....I have been forced to play BC2 at 1440x900 on Medium settings on my overclocked E8400@3.9 with an overclocked 5850, there isn't enough juice in a single card to squeeze out smooth gameplay in BC2....

5870 crossfire would be the ideal solution if I were you.

 

[zerocool84]

I don't think you should bother getting a single 5850 or 5870, go crossfire for futureproofing....I have been forced to play BC2 at 1440x900 on Medium settings on my overclocked E8400@3.9 with an overclocked 5850, there isn't enough juice in a single card to squeeze out smooth gameplay in BC2....

5870 crossfire would be the ideal solution if I were you.

That game uses quads better. I get smooth gaming @ 1920x1080 4xAA everything turned up 5870. Don't know why you're having problems.

 

[Apocalypse23]

That game uses quads better. I get smooth gaming @ 1920x1080 4xAA everything turned up 5870. Don't know why you're having problems.

You mean you get 60 + fps in multi player with high settings?

what's your lowest fps?

I needed 70fps constant and had to lower my settings as a result...

 

[Danacee]

Price drops!!!


I would wait, since after all this time supposedly we are at the eve of fermi. Its not that I think it will blow hd5870/5850 out of the water, just its only a few more weeks and nomatter what prices can only drop, dramatically. Radeon prices have been climbing since launch, even slowly. 3 months ago I could get a top bran OC'ed 5870 for $370, now you can hardly fine plain ones for $420.

 

[ZimZum]

Given your display, 5850.

 

[1h4x4s3x]

A 5800 will be bottlenecked by your E8400. Of course, it won't happen in every game but more often than not.

 

[crisium]

Clock for clock, the 5870 is maybe 5% faster tops. And the 5870 does OC to max generally a little bit more than a 5850, but not much. So being pessimistic, max OC on both and you'd get at most 7-10% worse performance on a 5850. Newegg prices generally have a 5870 costing 25% more. It used to be more like 33%, but 5850 prices have inflated more than 5870 recently.

Still, I think you're better off saving that $80+ for your next video card upgrade. $80+ might give you more than 7% performance boost in a few years when you upgrade your 5850 to whatever card.

 

[sainyam]

Thanks a tonne for all the input guys.

I ordered a Sapphire 5850. You guys got me confident about it when id come in with 5870 on my head.

Cheers Every1! xx

 

[earl3]

Just switched from a 8800gts 640 (similar to your 8800gt) to a 5850 -you'll love it! great upgrade

 

[sainyam]

Awesome! > u just spiked up my impatitence to receive it Earl3!