torn between 6850 CF vs 6870 CF *updated* Arrived and installed.

[WaTaGuMp]

Not gonna tinker the CPU..just GPU :thumbsup:

And after reading many post, threads, forums and also a couple of reviews. Now I have decided to jump on the 6850 CF.

Now what type of brand should i get...

XFX ( i heard that you need to flash bios thingymajig to adjust the fan speed... lol !, although the warranty is the best, and experienced it myself)

Sapphire (reliable then ATi vendor)

HiS (the card so far that has been reviewed for 6850 CF from a couple of websites)

Gigabyte (the cooler...but OOS)

Asus (OOS on new egg I read that had tweaked bios that GPU can go up to 1000 GHz w/o a problem)

Power color (my powercolor 5770 x 2 are running like champs, so i have np w/ those guys)

what ya guys think?

I would buy the one that comes out the cheapest.

 

[Powermoloch]

I would buy the one that comes out the cheapest.

PowerColor and HiS are the cheapest at the moment

The sapphire being the 2nd cheapest 186...although it was 179.99 yesterday!!!!!!!

XFX and the rest going for 189.99

 

[WaTaGuMp]

PowerColor and HiS are the cheapest at the moment

The sapphire being the 2nd cheapest 186...although it was 179.99 yesterday!!!!!!!

XFX and the rest going for 189.99

Yeah, I check the egg every day to watch for price fluctuations. Someone mentioned something on another site about places using algorithms for items that get a surge in sales and it adjusts the prices. Kinda makes sense since the day after the sale prices jumped.

 

[MrK6]

PowerColor and HiS are the cheapest at the moment

The sapphire being the 2nd cheapest 186...although it was 179.99 yesterday!!!!!!!

XFX and the rest going for 189.99

I don't think you can go wrong here. It might be worth it to buy the XFX if it's reference design (sometimes they cheap out). If not, the Sapphire is good too. Whatever you buy, use the 10% off coupon and save yourself some cash - EMCZZYR24 (expires on 11/12 or when funds run out, so buy soon).

 

[Powermoloch]

well XFX just just went OOS

now it's MSi or HiS

I like the MSi, especially w/ their cooler...supposively 9C cooler than a Ref design.

What ya guys think ?

 

[WaTaGuMp]

well XFX just just went OOS

now it's MSi or HiS

I like the MSi, especially w/ their cooler...supposively 9C cooler than a Ref design.

What ya guys think ?

I will just ask why not?

 

[Powermoloch]

pulled the trigger....

2 x 6850 sapphire

now..the waiting game

YEAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Can't wait to test these new babies out...and of course post benchmarks just for fun whoooo

 

[WaTaGuMp]

pulled the trigger....

2 x 6850 sapphire

now..the waiting game

YEAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Can't wait to test these new babies out...and of course post benchmarks just for fun whoooo

If they both get along and agree to overclock the same, it should be great. I have always been against 2 cards or single card dual GPU's. With these 6 series my chances of making the leap are pretty good.

 

[Powermoloch]

It's getting shipped !

couple days to go =O

 

[blastingcap]

It's getting shipped !

couple days to go =O

Sapphire is good--just a notch below ASUS, but also a bit cheaper and with a better shroud that directs more heat out of the case. I did a TON of homework on the 6850 and settled on a Sapphire.

You dodged a bullet with the HIS and Powercolor. HIS's cooler stinks compared to others like Sapphire and ASUS. Powercolor doesn't use software-overvoltable VRMs.

Overall, I'd rank the cards as:

ASUS DirectCU
MSI/Sapphire
HIS
Powercolor (this would move up above HIS if not planning on overvolting)

Not sure where to stick Gigabyte since I haven't seen what their heatsink/fan looks like under the hood. Ditto the XFX--I've looked everywhere I could think of and still haven't seen any "naked" shots of the HSF!

 

[Dark Shroud]

Powercolor doesn't use software-overvoltable VRMs.

Is that on both of their 6850s or just the launch model? Because Powercolor's AX "Premium Edition" models usually seem pretty good.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814131375

 

[blastingcap]

Is that on both of their 6850s or just the launch model? Because Powercolor's AX "Premium Edition" models usually seem pretty good.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814131375

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Powercolor/HD_6850_PCS_Plus/4.html

"Instead of the expensive CHiL voltage regulator from the reference design, PowerColor has chosen to use a more cost effective uP6213 which unfortunately does not offer software voltage control via I2C."

This is for the PCS+ but I don't know if that's the same thing as the card you linked to. Your model was different than the model that TPU reviewed I think? AX6850 1GBD5-PPDHG?

Edit: the PCS+ and "Premium Edition" are different cards.

http://www.powercolor.com/Global/products_layer_2.asp?SeriesID=70

TPU reviewed the PCS+ version which apparently has no software overvolting. Not sure about the PE card.

 

[Powermoloch]

Sapphire cards arrived on time, the cards are beautiful, loved the HSF design.

I had a problem in the first few hours. But found out it was a driver issue (lol Ati!). Used 10.10 d drivers and able to start simple benches and gaming.

One vast improvement I noticed was the tessalation performance improvement after my 5770CF. It was smooth as silk and Overall happy about it (even crysis, the game suck, but it runs crysis @ 4AA w/o slow downs)

20K ~ performance 13 K ~ extreme on vantage (meh, my cpu was holding me back)
1350 ~ points on unigine heaven (biggest improvement)

At stock settings for my cpu and GPU by the way

 

[Arkadrel]

Time to take those 6850s up to 1050-1100 mhz ram, and as far up as your GPU can go without extra voltage.

And enjoy haveing a GFX setup thats faster than a single 580 in almost every game possible at 1920x1200 res (at stock GPU speeds).

 

[Skurge]

Sapphire is good--just a notch below ASUS, but also a bit cheaper and with a better shroud that directs more heat out of the case. I did a TON of homework on the 6850 and settled on a Sapphire.

You dodged a bullet with the HIS and Powercolor. HIS's cooler stinks compared to others like Sapphire and ASUS. Powercolor doesn't use software-overvoltable VRMs.

Overall, I'd rank the cards as:

ASUS DirectCU
MSI/Sapphire
HIS
Powercolor (this would move up above HIS if not planning on overvolting)

Not sure where to stick Gigabyte since I haven't seen what their heatsink/fan looks like under the hood. Ditto the XFX--I've looked everywhere I could think of and still haven't seen any "naked" shots of the HSF!

:hmm: we are getting Gigabyte cards this week (finally), so I don't know if I should just jump on one of those or wait for the ASUS cards a little later.

 

[Powermoloch]

Time to take those 6850s up to 1050-1100 mhz ram, and as far up as your GPU can go without extra voltage.

And enjoy haveing a GFX setup thats faster than a single 580 in almost every game possible at 1920x1200 res (at stock GPU speeds).

Yeah, as soon I get the my other stuff done for the week. I'm gonna do some mild OC to get some extra juice of out these guys.

 

[busydude]

we are getting Gigabyte cards this week (finally), so I don't know if I should just jump on one of those or wait for the ASUS cards a little later.

Christmas arrived early this year.

 

[Skurge]

Christmas arrived early this year.

Yeah can't wait. They wont tell us pricing yet though.

 

[mazeroth]

Congrats on the new cards. My 6850 is arriving today. It will be a glorious weekend, for sure.