5850 vs. 5870 (I know another one but any feedback would be greatly appreciated!)

[hughythomas]

Hi guys!

I am terribly sorry to ask this as I know (having been following the forums for a while on this topic) that there are loads of threads aboot it but I have some specific needs which I don't think have been covered and was wondering if anyone could give me some impartial insight into which card would be better for me?

Many thanks in advance!

Here is my setup:

Core i5 750 @ 4.00Ghz
4GB G.Skill 1600Mhz RAM @ rated speeds
MSI GD65 Mobo
NVIDIA GTX 285 @ 765 / 1600 / 1300
Be Quiet! Dark Power 850W Modular PSU
M-Audio Firewire Solo
Silverstone TJ07
Custom watercooling
Dell Ultrasharp 2407WFP (1920x1200)

My question is:

As I use watercooling, I would be overclocking the hell out of any graphics card I buy to try and maximise the FPS on games such as:

Oblivion (totally modded up), Anno 1404, BF2 BC, TF2 & GTA 4.

Now, I am into modding games. My Oblivion for example has over 100 modifications to enhance the gameplay, immersion, sound and last but not least, GRAPHICS. I like to run my games with 2x/4xAA and 16xAF. With this in mind, what would be better for me:

5850 OR 5870?

Is there a 2GB version of either coming out? If so would Oblivion (with Qarls Texture Pack installed) see any benefit? I would need a full cover waterblock for either but if say I was to buy a 5850 would I be able to overclock it to silly speeds or for watercooling will the 5870 go further?

I'd like to say money isn't an issue however I do have the 285 which I can put on the bay.

Would anybody be so kind as to give me some insight into this? My current 285 can't keep up at my resolution and I am unwilling to go CROSSFIRE or SLI (I happen to notice micro-stuttering and mouse lag which puts me off in a big way).

Many thanks and apologies for posting yet another one of these but I hope I have justified how my needs are a little different to others? If not just say so and we can close the thread!

Cheers

Tom

 

[mmj_uk]

5870 are cherry picked cores so obviously if you want the best go with that.

Asus have a 2GB one in the pipeline I think but it will probably be quite expensive.

 

[hughythomas]

OK lovely thanks for that - I thought that was the case but I had heard that the 5850s were clocking really high and got tempted.

Anyone else care to share their thoughts?!

 

[fluffmyster]

http://www.overclockersclub.com/reviews/xfx5850/7.htm

5850 overclocked to 1ghz on core is just above a 5870

 

[pastymuncher]

Personally i don't think that the 5850 is worth the premium over a £220-230 5850 which is why i got my Asus 5850. Any more than £230 though and the 5850 starts becoming less attractive as you can get 5870's for £294 now.

 

[555BUK]

As you overclock, I suggest getting the 5850 unless £100 means nothing to you. 5850's overclock similar to 5870's but generally require less volts to reach 1000core. This is most probably due to the 10% fewer shaders, but these missing shaders tend to make very little real difference within games and benchmarks.

Checkout http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18112756

 

[straxusii]

one's faster, one's better value, take your pick

 

[dmxdex2020]

I was thinking about this. should i get a 5870 over a 5850?

 

[straxusii]

but these missing shaders tend to make very little real difference within games and benchmarks.

At the moment

 

[555BUK]

At the moment

Theoretically the 10% difference in shader cores can equal a maximum of 10% performance drops for the 5850. However, for this to occur the 5850 would need to be bottlenecked solely in the area of shader processing. At the moment only individually shader focussed benchmarks can achieve this. Any game that relies so heavily on shader performance alone would have to be extremely poorly coded and would risk eliminating the vast majority of gamers who own lesser cards.

10% difference in real games will never happen. CPU power, memory bandwidth, PCI-E bandwidth, architecture and many other elements are just as likely to restrict real world performance as shaders are.

At the same clock speeds the likely differences will be 0 to 6% dependent on game. Just look at the GTX260 vs GTX280 when they first hit the scene. The GTX260 was much more heavily crippled (20% less SP's, 10% less memory, and 10% less memory bandwidth) but when overclocked to GTX280 speeds the differences were much smaller. ATI has only slighly nobbled the 5850 in comparison.

But, if you want the absolute best performance the 5870 will of course offer more chance of getting it.

The other question is whether the OP will actually notice any difference between the two cards whilst playing games? For me the answer will clearly be NO. Any game that an overclocked 5850 strugles to play will also struggle on a 5870.

 

[MoRT489]

i went 5850 but wasnt happy so i switched for a 5870, if ur picky about eyecandy and money isnt an issue go for the 5870. Yes a 5850 will reach 5870 speeds, but so what, OC the 5870 way above that.

 

[555BUK]

By all accounts both cards overclock to similar levels. You get good and bad clockers for each card but so far there is little evidence to suggest the 5870 will go any higher than the 5850 (with volts at the same level 5850's actually seem to go higher). A 5870 will not overclock "way and above" a 5850. Both cards average 1000-1050core and 1250-1300mem when overclocked and voltage tweaked. I have owned and extensively tested both.

 

[hughythomas]

Ok

So we reckon the 5850 then? That's good cos its cheaper! I should be able to get ~£200 back for my 285 with the EK block and put it towards a 5850 and a wb.

Shame ocuk are out of stock on the waterblocks atm.

Cheers guys

Tom

 

[el Kuarlos]

Yea- be all and end all the performance would be better seen elsewhere in your rig for the price difference- what kind of processor could you have got have you spend £70 more?