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4890x2 or 5850?
- Thread starter wardogz
- Start date
Maybe if you already have a 4890 but this is a new rig.
Go 5850 and if you feel adventurous get a zalman vf1000 and keep the stock VRM front cooling plate, take it to 1ghz core and watch it slap around those 4890s.
If you shop around you can do it for about £250 with the zalman.
Soldato
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- 11 May 2006
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I doubt it very much. A single 4890 is already not far behind a 5850, so two of them will definitely be faster, unless you have one of those 'magical' 5850 that can overclock to match any card.
You have to remember that the 5850 is effectivly underclocked and gets similar performance to a 5870 at the same speed.
Their cores tend to go further than 5870 cores too.
It will certainly feel faster than a crossfire setup since the minimum frame rates will be a lot higher and there is no micro sttter.
Combine that with a quieter card, lower power consumption and less space taken up in the case with the option to add a second at some point and IMO it's a no brainer.
If you are willing to overclock.
Their cores tend to go further than 5870 cores too.
It will certainly feel faster than a crossfire setup since the minimum frame rates will be a lot higher and there is no micro sttter.
Combine that with a quieter card, lower power consumption and less space taken up in the case with the option to add a second at some point and IMO it's a no brainer.
If you are willing to overclock.
Soldato
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That's the thing, you're going to need a major overclock (1ghz +) to come anywhere close to crossfire 4890 performance, regardless of microstutter (which doesn't seem to affect everyone).
Also how many people get those clocks and what exactly are they doing to get them? I think reading these forums gives a very, very skewed representation of overclocking as I honestly think for every person who claims they have an amazing overclock, there are at least ten other people who can't go above the standard 900mhz.
Finally, the 5850 clocking higher than the 5870 is most likely BS. Relatively speaking, it probably overclocks more than a 5870, but in terms of absolute overclocks I very much doubt it will go higher than a 5870 as they are essentially salvaged 5870 cores.
Personally though, I'd still go for a 5870/5850, definitely not for raw performance.
Sorry but I find that hard to believe, show some benchmarks.
http://www.guru3d.com/article/radeon-hd-5770-review-test/14
Remember that the latest drivers have moved 5770 crossfire performance further on than the old sets most reviewers used.
Remember that the latest drivers have moved 5770 crossfire performance further on than the old sets most reviewers used.
Associate
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From a generalised rule on thumb, a 4870x2 is about the same as a 5870.
A 4890 is 20% faster than a 4870?
And a 5770 is the same as a 4870
SO realistically a 5850 is going to be nowere near as much horsepower as Xfire 4890's.
Yes it has DX11 and powerplay but nothing else.
People are forgetting recently that DX11 is not everything, the 5***(minus the 5970) won't be able to hande DX11 very well anyway. So futureproofing doesn't work out too well.
And correct me if im wrong but the 5850 is just a chip that didn't make out life as a 5870 chip. So a 5950 will not always OC to a 5870 + level.
A 4890 is 20% faster than a 4870?
And a 5770 is the same as a 4870
SO realistically a 5850 is going to be nowere near as much horsepower as Xfire 4890's.
Yes it has DX11 and powerplay but nothing else.
People are forgetting recently that DX11 is not everything, the 5***(minus the 5970) won't be able to hande DX11 very well anyway. So futureproofing doesn't work out too well.
And correct me if im wrong but the 5850 is just a chip that didn't make out life as a 5870 chip. So a 5950 will not always OC to a 5870 + level.
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Also with the zalman cooler:
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c235/Snatch362/lilbetter.jpg
Along with voltage tuning (5850s come at a lower voltage) getting over 1ghz should not be an issue.
4890 is 10-15% faster than the 4870.
A 5850 is a 5870 with a defective transistor in the cut off unit. The rest tend to be just as good. Its because of the characteristics of the 40nm process, you get the odd slow/leaky transistor.
Crossfire does not always scale, it does not always scale well when it does and minimum frame rates improve less than the average.
Soldato
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But does that apply to every 5850? I'd suspect otherwise.
are u sure its zalman vf1000 i thought they are orange coper color ?
I'm pretty sure since the extra voltage gives them breathing space. They start out at less than 1.1v but its safe to take them right up to 1.35v with the improved cooling.
As for the cooler pictured thats a GF1000 which is just a black coloured VF1000.
Soldato
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Agree, the CF5770 comfortably beats the 4870 X2 2GB in all but one of the games in this review which I would think puts them at or near 4890 X2.
