Another 5850 worth it??

[SamLB]

Hi
I've just recently brought a XFX Radeon 5850 XXX and its not as good as I expected it to be. My current system is a Q6600 at 3.5GHz, 4GB of 1066MHz Ram, Radeon 5850, Windows 7 etc. I've been playing Crysis and Stalker: Clear Sky lately and my 5850 seems to be struggling to max out both of the games. Maxing at Crysis I get rougly 20-45FPS and with Stalker I get 20-40FPS. However when reading the reviews they seem to be getting much higher FPS, So would another 5850 be worth it because I hate not having a smooth game. Also I'm currently playing at 1280x1024 which I will soon be upgrading to 28" and i7 rig. So what do you think?

 

[ac1d1ty]

Thats strange, on the sameish rig (slightly slower in fact) I had no problems running those games at max quality @ 1920x1200.


Maybe lower the AA if you have it on?

 

[SamLB]

well on crysis and stalker I have 4aa on, on Stalker I had to lower it down 2aa because of the FPS, but haven't seen what it runs like now.

 

[marcus_667]

also most review pcs have core i7 cpus in for the 5800 reviews. and you have a core 2 quad nothing up with that cpu or clock but not as fast as an i7

 

[SamLB]

Hmmm, just run Stalker and i seem to get 30-45FPS with 2aa on, so should I invest on another 5850 or wait? :/

 

[arc@css]

If you're playing at 1280x1024 I wouldn't think you are allowing the 5850 to really get in to its stride. I know you said that you'll be purchasing a better monitor soon, if it was me I would wait until you set your new screen up. Then decide.

Btw..have you tried overclocking it to see if it pushes the frames up?

I was running both Shadows of Chernobyl and Clear Sky on my 4870X2 but usually without AA enabled (you possibly won't be as bothered about AA when the 28" arrives ) and got good fps with it but even with this card AA can be a crippler, in fact it can be for any of the highest end video cards with certain games, except maybe the current top card of the time.

If then you are still not happy then yeah, get another.

 

[SamLB]

Well it came pre-overclocked but I overclocked it more to 775Mhz, 1125Mhz using Ati Overdrive. But surely if I get my 28" moniter the FPS will be even lower than it already is, does AA become less noticeable when getting bigger moniters then?

 

[bigjimmyauk]

Well it came pre-overclocked but I overclocked it more to 775Mhz, 1125Mhz using Ati Overdrive. But surely if I get my 28" moniter the FPS will be even lower than it already is, does AA become less noticeable when getting bigger moniters then?

i don't use AA hardly at all i'm using a 22 inch 1920x1080
crysis looks very good at full AA,AF but i can't play at 5FPS lol

seriously tho it does become less obvious the bigger the monitor i don't know technical reasons why but it does

 

[arc@css]

The image will be sharper, hence higher resolution so it will look better. When you get your new monitor run a game at the new 1920x1200 then run it at your current 1280x1024 (no AA for either res) and you'll see what I mean.

Try leaving the AA off just to see what fps increase you get. (Try that now, too, with your 1280x1024 res)

 

[WHAT!!!]

i've been playing crysis at very high settings and 1920x1440 with no aa and the game looks very nice.

I have a 5850 at 775mhz and 1125mhz and running my i5 750 at 3.8ghz not tried it at 4ghz yet, got a feeling it will get it easily tho

game run's smooth, do not know what fps im getting as i've not bothered to look as it's not an issue at the moment.

was thinking of getting a nice monitor as an upgrade from my what must be almost 10 year old 19" flat iiyama crt which i must admit is still a lovely screen.


As for getting another 5850 i would say dont bother just yet, wait till prices drop and new stuff comes out

 

[atmax1]

I run crysis 1920x1200 max aa and everything on highest (my setup is in my sig) and i get about 30 - 40 fps and i ant overclocked it (with my 5850) I was going to get a 2nd one but isn't worth it as new cards come out all the time so I decided to wait for price drop or buy a nvidia card if they any good when there out.

But if you going to get a 28" then maybe get another one for xfire for the power boost

 

[SamLB]

Just tried crysis with no aa and I seem to be getting 30-45FPS stable, so I just might invest in better moniter first and see what that plays like. Not too sure what moniter to go for, did want a 28". What would you suggest?

 

[OLDPHART]

i7 975 EXT > 4.0GHz / 6GB memory, this will give you some idea what you will get FPS wise playing Stalker-CS at various resolutions, with 5850 / 5850 xfire. Your set up is ok turn AA + AF OFF, get a better monitor agood 24" and play stalker at decent resolution, make sure all your drivers are upto date.

 

[arc@css]

Just tried crysis with no aa and I seem to be getting 30-45FPS stable, so I just might invest in better moniter first and see what that plays like. Not too sure what moniter to go for, did want a 28". What would you suggest?

The minimum I would get would be a 24" and preferably one that can reach 1920x1200.

You're doing the right thing by getting the monitor first. Remember AA (not so much perhaps with AF) will substantially lower frame rates perhaps too much in all but the best set-ups. Using a 4870X2 and no AA @ 1920x1200 res on Clear Sky and the fps usually is between 60 - 100, occasionally nearly touching 150, at least for me anyway. Add 4 / 8 x AA to that and its a lot lower, around 30 - 40ish. Maybe 50 - 60 tops. (dx10.1)

 

[SamLB]

I might just a new moniter at the moment, but not too sure which one to buy:
Samsung SM2433LW
Samsung SM2494HS
Acer V243HBD
Not too sure, what would you suggest?

 

[arc@css]

Out of the Samsung monitors, me personally, I would opt for the first one in the list. As for the acer I can't say, I'll have a look when I get home from work.

Do wait to hear from others though, they may think of something that I haven't.

Samsung are nice, that's what I've got.

Edit : Had a brief look at the Acer, however I'd still go for the first Samsung on your list.