Upgrading question - new 7950 or buy second 5850 for CF?

[The Sauce]

Aside from power saving issues, is there any compelling reason to buy a $450 7950 vs. $120 to drop in a used second 5850 for Crossfire? Looks like the 5850's would likely be faster and a whole lot cheaper. Currently playing BF3, Skyrim, Tribes:Ascend (beta) and planning on D3 when it comes out. I have more than enough PSU to handle two 5850's.

 

[The Sauce]

Perhaps if I had looked three threads down I would have seen the thread with a lengthy discussion on the subject. Nevermind. MrK6 pretty much already answered this.

 

[RavenSEAL]

Allow me to do the honors...

Get a 7950

 

[Termie]

The 7950 will be slower at stock, but slightly faster when overclocked. And power use will be much lower.

Plus Skyrim doesn't work with crossfire.

So that all makes the 7950 sound better, and it is. But you're talking $450 versus $120. Only you can make that call. That's not even remotely in the same ballpark. I bought a new 5850 in October for $150 to crossfire for BF3, and it was the best purchase I made last year. I am incredibly happy I didn't wait until February for the $450 7950.

 

[wand3r3r]

This is the exact segment of gamers who get screwed by the 7950 price point... It's so high that it's nearly on the price point of the top tier, but upgrading a 2 generation old card to xfire is not the greatest alternative either. I guess it's down to whether you feel like coughing up. (similar situation myself, I'm likely going 7970)

 

[WMD]

5850 in CF will perform better than 7950 or maybe even 7970 at a fraction of the cost. Both setup will can be overclocked just as well. 7950 will of course be more power efficient but even that wont save you the upfront cost difference before it becomes obsolete.

 

[RavenSEAL]

5850 in CF will perform better than 7950 or maybe even 7970 at a fraction of the cost. Both setup will can be overclocked just as well. 7950 will of course be more power efficient but even that wont save you the upfront cost difference before it becomes obsolete.

Yeah, but then you have other things like heat, airflow, case size, etc.

 

[blackened23]

I personally would get the 7950. Consider the resale value and future upgrade ability, 5850 will be a deadend down the road.

 

[Stuka87]

Even if both setups offer the same performance, the 7950 won't have any sorts of issues related to running a crossfire setup. Be it micro stutter, or the game simply not supporting it.

I say get the 7950, and then sell your current 5850. In the end, it will cost you a bit more to get the 7950 compared to just buying another 5850, but I think you will have a better setup.

I am just waiting for the Saphire 7950 to get back in stock. Pretty sure its the card I am going to go with, even if it does cost more than I originally wanted to spend.

 

[Maximilian]

3rd option - Stick with 1 5850 to see what nvidia brings to the table and wait till prices drop.

 

[SickBeast]

3rd option - Stick with 1 5850 to see what nvidia brings to the table and wait till prices drop.

I would do this. Prices need to settle.

 

[Ieat]

I personally would get the 7950. Consider the resale value and future upgrade ability, 5850 will be a deadend down the road.

Resale value of the 7950 will probably take a huge hit when competition rolls around.

 

[-Slacker-]

The 7950 will be slower at stock, but slightly faster when overclocked. And power use will be much lower.

Plus Skyrim doesn't work with crossfire.

So that all makes the 7950 sound better, and it is. But you're talking $450 versus $120. Only you can make that call. That's not even remotely in the same ballpark. I bought a new 5850 in October for $150 to crossfire for BF3, and it was the best purchase I made last year. I am incredibly happy I didn't wait until February for the $450 7950.

Seems to me that the 7950 is about as fast as a hd5970, which in turn is about as fast as 2 5850s in crossfire, so the advantage will be almost 100w less in power consumption, less heat, noise and no micro stutter. The disadvantage is obviously the price...

If the OP can afford a hd7950 he should go for it, unless he can wait until the 1.5gb 7950s hit the market (I'm guessing they'll be about $50 cheaper)

 

[Stuka87]

3rd option - Stick with 1 5850 to see what nvidia brings to the table and wait till prices drop.

I actually doubt this will happen. If Rumors are correct (And who knows if they are) nVidia is basing their prices off of AMD's. So if an nVidia card is faster, its going cost more than what AMD currently has.

 

[Ieat]

I actually doubt this will happen. If Rumors are correct (And who knows if they are) nVidia is basing their prices off of AMD's. So if an nVidia card is faster, its going cost more than what AMD currently has.

Even if Nvida slots their cards in between and sets the prices similar to AMD prices should come down regardless. There is limited demand for $400+ video cards and once the earlier adopters get theirs they will need to lower prices to move product.

 

[Jhatfie]

Even if Nvida slots their cards in between and sets the prices similar to AMD prices should come down regardless. There is limited demand for $400+ video cards and once the earlier adopters get theirs they will need to lower prices to move product.

You would think this would be the case, but look at how long the GTX580 has been at nearly $500 MSRP. Sure you can get it a bit cheaper with rebates but........since release that price has not budged.

 

[Maximilian]

I actually doubt this will happen. If Rumors are correct (And who knows if they are) nVidia is basing their prices off of AMD's. So if an nVidia card is faster, its going cost more than what AMD currently has.

I didn't say nvidia would be cheaper, I said wait till prices drop. Meaning wait till prices are back to sane levels for either nvidia or AMD or until one of them releases a gtx460/6850 type bang for buck card.

 

[Ieat]

You would think this would be the case, but look at how long the GTX580 has been at nearly $500 MSRP. Sure you can get it a bit cheaper with rebates but........since release that price has not budged.

Gtx 580 was the top single gpu. Logic doesn't apply to the top card. Sure the market can support one $400+ card. But can it support 4 or 5 of them? I don't think so. You can already see this in effect at newegg. HD 7970 all sold because its the top card. But the HD 7950 launched almost a week ago and is still in stock even with incentives throw in. I'll even go out on a limb and say rebates will start showing up on HD 7950 in 2 or 3 weeks if not an outright price drop.

 

[BD231]

No way in hell is a 7950 worth buying over adding another 5850 for pennies, that's nonsense.

 

[quest55720]

I would just wait a bit. There is a chance once the initial surge in demand for the 7950 is over you will see rebates to move them. Or NVIDIA lowers the price of the 580 and forces down the prices of the 7950. Unless you are an early adoptor with extra cash it usually pays off to wait a little. It is not like you have a slow card right now.

 

[The Sauce]

Just checked Newegg and every single 5850 is sold out. Ebay may be the only option if I decide to get another 5850.

 

[Termie]

Just checked Newegg and every single 5850 is sold out. Ebay may be the only option if I decide to get another 5850.

Last new 5850s were available back in October, and sold out quickly. You'll have to go used.

 

[pmurgs]

I bought a new 5850 in October for $150 to crossfire for BF3, and it was the best purchase I made last year. I am incredibly happy I didn't wait until February for the $450 7950.

Same here although I paid $120 in November. Very happy with BF3 performance now.

I'm guessing the op has to decide just how much money he wants to spend. 7950 is the better option in the long run but at least 3 times the price of a going a second 5850.

Personally I would go with a 7970 over a 7950 if you have the money. Amd has priced the 7950 too high.

 

[OptimumSlinky]

I bought my second 5850 back in October, same time as Termie. If you can't find a second one on the market and don't want to go new, I would wait. Both the 6970 and the 7970 aren't enough of a performance jump to warrant their prices, so I would see what else is in the pipeline first (or at least wait for prices to drop).

 

[BD231]

Anandtech FS/FT, amazing how many people horde computer parts I'm sure if you posted a want to buy thread you'll come up with one around 120 to 130. Otherwise there's a pretty good supply of them on Amazon.com at a slight premium ($160) with free shipping.