MSI 7850 vs 7870

[PMol]

I just ordered an MSI 7850 (Frozr IV)

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-157-MS&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=411

As far as I can tell, the only difference between this and the 7870 is a faster core. (950/1050). I plan on overclocking mine to 1050MHz, hopefully giving me 7870 performance right?
Then I noticed the Stream processors. The 7850 has 1024 and the 7870 has 1280. What the hell are these things? Is there much difference?
Also, the 7870 Hawk has an even faster core (1100MHz) but the same Stream processors. What does this mean?

 

[wazza300]

stick with the 7850,7870 can be matched by slight overclock of the 7850,

http://www.ehow.com/facts_5561280_do-processors-mean-graphics-card.html

 

[Marine-RX179]

It really is depend on the price gap between the 7850 and the 7870. If the 7870 is not more than £20-£30 extra comparing to the 7850, it would be well worth it even just for the extra stream processors. We are not talking about £50-£100 price difference here. If someone can find a 7850 2GB for £150, that would be probably worth getting that; but if someone have to pay nearly £170 for a 7850 2GB, then he'd be better off going for a 7870 for £190 or less.

 

[PMol]

Interesting. I've bought the card now. I just wondered if overclocking it gave me the same performance as the 7870's. Thanks for your help.

 

[arc@css]

In some cases, an overclocked 7850 will equal a stock 7950.

 

[FoxEye]

In some cases, an overclocked 7850 will equal a stock 7950.

I'm not really sure what the point of comparing oc'd cards to stock cards is (in principle).

Given that all three cards (7850, 7870, 7950) will overclock, there really is no reason to compare oc to stock that I can think of.

Not aimed at you per se, this reply

[edit] I guess I should explain a bit better:

If you have a choice between, say, a 7850 and a 7870, it is a logical fallacy to conclude "I will buy the 7850 and OC it to 7870 performance."

Why? Because if you are prepared to overclock a 7850 then you would also be prepared to overclock a 7870. Therefore, you are *not* getting 7870 performance from your oc'd 7850, because the real performance of the 7870 includes an overclock to that card also.

 

[arc@css]

Not aimed at you per se, this reply

No worries, in fact I think you make a valid point.

I guess I was just highlighting how far in some cases this capable gpu will go (price for performance / overclocking being the best).

 

[PMol]

Got my 7850, and just run EVE Online with max settings beautifully!!!! Gonna try BF3 next. Just one thing though, my Windows Experience Index has changed (obviously).
The Graphics and Gaming Graphics have gone from 6.6 & 6.6 to 7.9 & 7.9 which is fine, but the Memory score has gone from 7.8 to 7.6. Why could this be? Before I was using 1Gb of the RAM for the onboard graphics, now I am not, it should have gone up if anything?!?!?!?

 

[psychodil]

Got my 7850, and just run EVE Online with max settings beautifully!!!! Gonna try BF3 next. Just one thing though, my Windows Experience Index has changed (obviously).
The Graphics and Gaming Graphics have gone from 6.6 & 6.6 to 7.9 & 7.9 which is fine, but the Memory score has gone from 7.8 to 7.6. Why could this be? Before I was using 1Gb of the RAM for the onboard graphics, now I am not, it should have gone up if anything?!?!?!?

Dont pay any attention to crappy windows experience index. Have a look at your gaming performance.

 

[wazza300]

Got my 7850, and just run EVE Online with max settings beautifully!!!! Gonna try BF3 next. Just one thing though, my Windows Experience Index has changed (obviously).
The Graphics and Gaming Graphics have gone from 6.6 & 6.6 to 7.9 & 7.9 which is fine, but the Memory score has gone from 7.8 to 7.6. Why could this be? Before I was using 1Gb of the RAM for the onboard graphics, now I am not, it should have gone up if anything?!?!?!?

have you enabled memory remapping in bios?

 

[PMol]

have you enabled memory remapping in bios?

No, I don't think so. Where, what, and why do I do this?

 

[wazza300]

it wont free up the 1gb you were using for onboard graphics if you dont,depends on the board,some do it auto some have memory remapping option in the bios

 

[PMol]

The memory has been freed up. System info now says 16Gb rather than 16Gb (15Gb available). The thing is, the score has gone down!! I know WEI is a pile of garbage anyway, I just wondered how it came up with these figures.

 

[555BUK]

Clock for clock the true performance gap between the two cards is between 5-10%. Unless you leave the cards at stock, you're never going to notice any difference between them.

 

[FoxEye]

Clock for clock the true performance gap between the two cards is between 5-10%. Unless you leave the cards at stock, you're never going to notice any difference between them.

Got a source for that? All the benchmarks I've seen have put an oc'd 7870 quite a ways ahead of an oc'd 7850...

 

[555BUK]

Got a source for that? All the benchmarks I've seen have put an oc'd 7870 quite a ways ahead of an oc'd 7850...

There are some comparissons within the 7850 sticky. Clock for clock (where both cards run the same speed GPU and mem) there is very little difference. Out of the box, the 7870 has a big advantage, but this is an overclockers forum.