6850 still good for 1680x1050?

[charlaph]

Looking for opinions before pulling the trigger on a new card purchase. I only game at 1680x1050, and circumstances dictate that it's likely to stay that way for a while. I need a new card and came close to buying a 6950 last week when they were on offer for £150, byut then got cold feet thinking it'd be too much card for my needs and I could get away with spending £60 less and getting a 6850 instead.

The only niggling doubt is that the 6850 is a bit long in the tooth now, and the 7 series is making it look old, benchmark tests tend to be with games that are now 2-3 years old. So can anyone lay my doubts to rest? Is the 6850 still a good match for 1680x1050 with modern game, or is there a valid reason for spending significantly more on a 6950 ot 7850, bearing in mind that futureproofing isn't important to me?

The rest of my setup;
I3-2100
4Gb Mushkin Blackline
H67 Asus mobo
Corsair force3 SSD
Coolermaster 500W Psu

 

[spain]

At your res, the 6850 will be a very good buy and will serve you well.

 

[Krono5]

Looking for opinions before pulling the trigger on a new card purchase. I only game at 1680x1050, and circumstances dictate that it's likely to stay that way for a while. I need a new card and came close to buying a 6950 last week when they were on offer for £150, byut then got cold feet thinking it'd be too much card for my needs and I could get away with spending £60 less and getting a 6850 instead.

The only niggling doubt is that the 6850 is a bit long in the tooth now, and the 7 series is making it look old, benchmark tests tend to be with games that are now 2-3 years old. So can anyone lay my doubts to rest? Is the 6850 still a good match for 1680x1050 with modern game, or is there a valid reason for spending significantly more on a 6950 ot 7850, bearing in mind that futureproofing isn't important to me?

The rest of my setup;
I3-2100
4Gb Mushkin Blackline
H67 Asus mobo
Corsair force3 SSD
Coolermaster 500W Psu

It depends entirely on what settings/FPS you want. For the latest games such as BF3 you're looking at 35-40 FPS on Ultra 1680* with a 6850, 60 on medium etc

Bear in mind BF3 is one of the most demanding games at present and you'll get better performance from the likes of Skyrim and what not. Essentially you get exactly what you pay for and depends on what you want to pay for.

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/539

That should give you a good indication of how each card performs and you can choose what settings and FPS you're happy with. You should add about 20% extra performance if you intend to OC, probably more for the 7850 than 6850.

 

[charlaph]

Not too fussed about BF3 to be honest, I play more racing games and slower paced stuff such as Skyrim. The hectic highly detailed fps'es aren't really my bag. I do want to be able to play as much as possible at maximum settings though. My thinking is that if it can handle current games at high settings then I should be alright with the next generation games at slightly reduced settings, which is fine for me when I'm aware I'm on a budget.

Thanks for the input.

 

[the_director]

Another option is picking up a second hand 5850/5870 as they are great value.

 

[charlaph]

I'm not sure my PSU is up to powering a 5850 - I believe they're more power hungry than the 6850?

Also the deciding factor for the 6850 is the MSI model in the clearance zone - actually cheaper than a secondhand 5850! speaking of which, secondhand prices seem to be crazy right now. Wherever I look things are going to very little (and often more!) than new prices. I guess it's with the recent nvidia releases and ivybridge getting released - maybe more people than usual are upgrading and there's a lot of interest in getting an updated card on the cheap. Heck, that's exactly what I'm doing!

 

[spain]

Get the 6850 if all you want is some decent gaming, I can tell from your first post thats all you require. The games you play like skyrim and racing "sims" will run just fine. Your clearly not wanting ultra settings in anything, just buy and enjoy.