Which 7850? (templated)

[Rikard]

Hi guys,

My new card will be a 7850. I need some help in selecting exactly which 7850 card to get. My PSU is dying so I will do some computer shopping anyway this Saturday, but I am not sure if I should wait for something better or go with the limited choice available right now.

My specs (templated for your convenience ):

System Specifications:

I. Processor/CPU:
i5 2500

II. Current Graphics Card:
9800 GT (ehrm...)

III. Display Resolution:
1920x1080

IV. Power Supply Unit Specification (Brand, Wattage, Ampage, Age). If possible, please provide a link to a website containing the power supply specifications:
Will be replaced together with the video card. Probably 500-650W, good quality, 80+ bronze or better efficiency

V. Case Specifications(N/A, Model, Length, Low Profile, Cooling, HTPC, Water, Silent):
Old Viper "OpenAir" ATX case
I need to measure dimensions and post back if needed
No extra fans or water cooling
Filtered air intakes on the sides and front

VI. Motherboard (added to template)
ASUS Z68 V/GEN3

VII. Memory (added to template)
2x4 GB 1600

Purchase Details:

I. Budget? Please be sure to include currency (If not USD), retailer preferences & specify whether rebates are a viable option.
Max 300 CHF (Swiss francs)


II. Any particular preferences (Manufacturer[nV or AMD], Brand[XFX, Sapphire, EVGA, etc], Cooling Solutions)?
Not really. My old XFX died. And I hear Gigabyte's version has problems with noisy fan. I need a quiet card.

III. Do you plan to have any Multi-GPU solutions such as Crossfire or SLI?
No

IV. Have you previously looked at a product(s) which you feel would fit your needs?
No

V. What are your needs for this GPU? Which games(If any)do you intend to play? If you have this information at hand, what are the desired detail levels?
BF3 at High, 1920x1080, playing casually
Other games are less demanding.

VI. Do you plan on overclocking the card you intend to purchase?
Moderate overclocking, keeping within stock voltages


Additional Notes

The local stores do not have much in stock at the moment, but my power supply is dying so now is the right time to buy new power supply and GPU.
This is available:
HIS HD 7850 Fan 2GB GDDR5 PCIe ( Radeon HD7850 2048MB DVI HDMI 2x DisplayPort) @ 260 chf

This will be available within 48h, if you believe the websites:
GIGABYTE GV-R785OC-2GD PCIe ( Radeon HD7850 2048MB DVI HDMI 2x DisplayPort) @ 273 chf
Asus HD7850-DC2-2GD5 -2 GB (PCIe) @ 290 chf

...and there are some MSI and Sapphire etc that are listed but marked "not available" that I could wait for but I have no idea if we are talking days, weeks, months... For those I better have them shipped from abroad.

 

[Don Karnage]

Asus bro... Asus

 

[Jaydip]

The Asus is superior and worth every penny.But if i remeber correctly it takes 3 slots.

 

[Don Karnage]

The Asus is superior and worth every penny.But if i remeber correctly it takes 3 slots.

Not on the 78xx series. Only a 2 slot cooler

 

[Jaydip]

Its a no brainier then

 

[lehtv]

Sapphire's cooler is also excellent. It is shorter than Asus, and the fans are more directly on top of the card.

EDIT: I see though that Sapphire is not available at your local stores. :<. Asus is the best out of the three you listed.

 

[Don Karnage]

Sapphire's cooler is also excellent, the fans on it are a bit bigger than on the Asus card.

Sapphire cooler only has 2 heatpipes compared to Asus 3. Heatpipes are what matter more then fan size

 

[blastingcap]

Don't reflexively think the ASUS DirectCU II design is best. Their cooler on the 79xx series didn't cool VRMs that well. This is not a direct comparison because the ASUS was a 7970 and the Sapphire OC and MSI TFIII were 7950, but you can see what I mean: http://www.hardware.fr/articles/853-16/thermographie-infrarouge-cartes-graphiques.html And the MSI Lighting's 7970 cooler completely destroyed the ASUS DirectCU II 7970's cooler

I would go with the Sapphire OC 7850 because it is likely to have the best cooling regardless of number of heatpipes or whatever; the thermal images speak for themselves. The ASUS 7850 cooler isn't even meant for the card, with the fan drooping off the side of it, so air might not even blow where it's needed most. Great engineering there, ASUS. :eyeroll: Not to mention the problems I've heard about ASUS DirectCU II's cooler losing contact with the GPU or whatever. http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2228553

Btw I like ASUS and prefer it for my mobos, but their GPU division needs to step it up.

 

[lehtv]

Sapphire cooler only has 2 heatpipes compared to Asus 3. Heatpipes are what matter more then fan size

Edited my post. It actually doesn't look like the fans are bigger, it's just that Asus' cooler is longer :>

Also, @op, have you considered ordering from abroad? I think Amazon.de might ship to switzerland, no?

 

[Don Karnage]

Don't reflexively think the ASUS DirectCU II design is best. Their cooler on the 79xx series didn't cool VRMs that well. This is not a direct comparison because the ASUS was a 7970 and the Sapphire OC and MSI TFIII were 7950, but you can see what I mean: http://www.hardware.fr/articles/853-16/thermographie-infrarouge-cartes-graphiques.html

I would go with the Sapphire OC 7850 because it is likely to have the best cooling regardless of number of heatpipes or whatever; the thermal images speak for themselves. The ASUS 7850 cooler isn't even meant for the card, with the fan drooping off the side of it, so air might not even blow where it's needed most. Great engineering there, ASUS. :eyeroll: Not to mention the problems I've heard about ASUS DirectCU II's cooler losing contact with the GPU or whatever.

Btw I like ASUS and prefer it for my mobos, but their GPU division needs to step it up.

7950 and 7850 use different coolers also

Sapphire HD 7850 cooler

Asus HD 7850 cooler

 

[blastingcap]

snip

Interesting. I could have gotten the ASUS version for $10 cheaper than the 7850 Sapphire OC I wound up getting, too. On the other hand, XFX proved that fan placement is very important, so I just could not bring myself to buy the ASUS on account of their not designing a fan specifically for the 7850. I was probably just paranoid after looking at the XFX 7970 DD's results, though.

 

[blastingcap]

Btw the Sapphire uses 8mm copper heatpipes, http://www.neoseeker.com/Articles/Hardware/Reviews/Sapphire_HD_7850_OC/3.html

I have been unable to find information on what size heatpipes ASUS uses. Anyone know? Hard to tell from photos.

Edit to add: Look at how Sapphire has one thick copper heat pipe per section vs. ASUS's 3 copper heatpipes of indeterminate size all going one way. I don't think it's possible to say which is the better cooling solution without testing with a thermal camera.

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ASUS/HD_7870_Direct_Cu_II/4.html

 

[FalconHorse]

Does the direct contact make a difference?

 

[Rikard]

Wow, thank you all for the very fast and informative replies!

Also, @op, have you considered ordering from abroad? I think Amazon.de might ship to switzerland, no?

That is correct, also amazon.fr sends to Switzerland. (The interesting thing is that the same Sapphire card cost 10 euro more in the French version than the German version which I find somewhat bizarre.) Converting the prices from euro to chf Amazon is quite a lot more expensive than the local stores so if they get the cards any time soon my preferred vendor is of course one of the local stores.

What about pre-OC cards? For example the Sapphire regular is listed as 257 chf while the Sapphire OC is listed as 295 chf in the same store. Is this worth it if I anyway will OC myself? I mean, do the pre-OC version have a better cooling or something to motivate the higher price? I also looked at MSI R7850 Twin Frozr 2GD5/OC PCIe for 289 chf. Of course, none of these cards are in store yet...

The only card that is in store is the HIS. Strangely enough there are almost no mention of this card on forums or reviews. Reason?

 

[blastingcap]

Does the direct contact make a difference?

Given what I know about thermal diffusivity, it won't be enough to make a big difference compared to using a highly thermally conductive plate. Doesn't stop ASUS's marketing department though lol.

Wow, thank you all for the very fast and informative replies!


That is correct, also amazon.fr sends to Switzerland. (The interesting thing is that the same Sapphire card cost 10 euro more in the French version than the German version which I find somewhat bizarre.) Converting the prices from euro to chf Amazon is quite a lot more expensive than the local stores so if they get the cards any time soon my preferred vendor is of course one of the local stores.

What about pre-OC cards? For example the Sapphire regular is listed as 257 chf while the Sapphire OC is listed as 295 chf in the same store. Is this worth it if I anyway will OC myself? I mean, do the pre-OC version have a better cooling or something to motivate the higher price? I also looked at MSI R7850 Twin Frozr 2GD5/OC PCIe for 289 chf. Of course, none of these cards are in store yet...

The only card that is in store is the HIS. Strangely enough there are almost no mention of this card on forums or reviews. Reason?

Avoid HIS's IceQ which isn't as good as rivals unless it's the same as the 7870 cooler which is actually pretty good. And if it's a reference card you can already see the thermals of how the "B" version does. The "A" version isn't bad but it's getting harder to find "A" reference models.

Pre-OC cards are just pre-OC. You can do the same at home for free. The exception is binned cards but those are very rare.

 

[flexy]

Purely based on theory and specs, i would say the new (!) MSI R7850 "Power Edition".
Otherwise maybe the Sapphire OC, but that only based on people's experience with overclocks and the low price of the Sapphire.

There is really no "studies" out there yet which one would be "best", although people in general are saying good things about the (older) MSI...and BAD things about XFX's fans.

 

[bigsnyder]

This has been a great card so far:
http://www.msi.com/product/vga/R7850-Twin-Frozr-2GD5-OC.html

Hard to find though.

 

[DeeJayeS]

still not seeing the power edition on sale anywhere...wtb from amazon sigh