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HD5850 upgrade advice!!

WingZero30

WingZero30

WingZero30

Soldato
Joined
1 Jun 2010
Posts
7,058
Location
Bedford
Hello guys

I have probably mentioned it before that I am currently running HD5850 1GB for the past 3 years, going into 4th year now. The card has been brilliant for the duration of its usage but is now showing it's age and lack of enough vram in modern games. I feel the time has come for an upgrade. I would be selling my 5850 and there is mention of bitcoin/litcoin etc and that my current gpu is still in demand for those tasks.

I only game at 1080p on a 60Hz single monitor. I have been looking at several options including Nvidia's offering. There is also talk of AMD refresh cards (possibly 8000 series) at the end of the year and I am not sure if I buy an AMD card now, would the refresh bring the prices of 7000 series further. Plus with Nivida releasing 700 series soon, no one seems sure enough how it will impact the 600 series prices either.

My budget is around £250. I have looked at 670,680 & 7970 but they are out of my reach. So it seems to be either 660ti or 7950, though I am more gearing towards 7950 with extra memory bandwidth, vram and AMD neversettle games.

What would you guys suggest? Should I buy now or wait for the refresh? I would like my new card to last 2-3 years just as 5850 has done on 1080p res.

I would also be upgrading my 775 platform but that is later on.

Rest of the specs:

Q9650@4Ghz
4GB DDR2
GA-EP45-UD3LR mobo
 
You would prob be very happy with a 7950 card. Just do a bit of research on which make (prob best to stay clear of MSI - see other thread)
HIS are meant to be cool and quiet.

Just noticed it say £270.79, it does indeed when you go through checkout.

However £259.99 + £9 = £268.99

Is there a card fee too ?

I thought debit cards were fee free.

Also WingZero30 should get free shipping anyway.
 
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I was looking for Gigabyte Windforce x3 7950 but it seems to be out of stock. Any difference between HIS and Gigabyte ? :)

Yeah I get free shipping :p
 
I sold my 5850 and got a 7870 le. It's the myst version which is supposed to be very noisy. After undervolting it (a hassle to manually change 2D/3D clocks) to 1050 from 1180/1250 (boost) and changing the fan profile so at 25% fan @70C under load; silent while gaming. It picks up a bit when stability testing.

After selling all four game codes it didn't cost much at all. I'm quite happy with my upgrade. Its worth looking at res vs performance for your setup; up to 1920x1080 I don't think there is much in it between the 7870le and 7950. Boost is broken though which is what you're stuck with newer AMD cards.

The thing is that miners are going to realise you can get a 7850/7870 for about the price they're paying for a 5850 soon. And difficulty will increase or BTC price will fall. Your 5850 is only going to lose value.

EDIT I would go for the his iceq if I wanted a 7950.
 
Thanks for further info:)

My PSU is OCZ 600W Modxstream which has one 6 pin power connector and the other is 6/8 pin power connector, so my PSU should be fine, right?

Is the HIS voltage unlocked and Gigabyte voltage locked?
 
WingZero30 said:
I was looking for Gigabyte Windforce x3 7950 but it seems to be out of stock. Any difference between HIS and Gigabyte ? :)

Yeah I get free shipping :p
Click to expand...

The HIS is voltage unlocked (I believe) and the Gigabyte is voltage locked. I would prefer Gigabyte personally but for voltages, I would go with HIS.
 
Hmmm

I presume that HIS still comes with AMD neversettle games even though they aren't listed on the ocuk webpage.

Tbh I am not much into overclocking gpus and I am not really liking the look of HIS card. I think I would wait for the Gigabyte Windforce x3 card to appear back on ocuk. :)
 
WingZero30 said:
Hmmm

I presume that HIS still comes with AMD neversettle games even though they aren't listed on the ocuk webpage.

Tbh I am not much into overclocking gpus and I am not really liking the look of HIS card. I think I would wait for the Gigabyte Windforce x3 card to appear back on ocuk. :)
Click to expand...

It is very strange why the Gigabyte card isn't listed. It also has been on special at £230 a couple of times. It could be worth asking CS if they are aware of any stock coming in.
 
Just ordered Gigabyte Windforce 3x 7950 from another website. Hoping to overclock it to 7970 speeds. I have been reading that some windforce 7950 cards have been coming with 1000MHz core speeds out of the box.

Although I am not into heavily overclocking my gpus I would like to see how far it overclocks. I am hoping to overclock it to 1100/1200Mhz core speed leaving even 7970 GHz ed behind lol :):D
 
I got £72 for my Asus 5850 just last week on the auction site, just FYI to help you budget.

Edit: just saw I was too late and you've already bought something.
 
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wesimmo said:
I got £72 for my Asus 5850 just last week on the auction site, just FYI to help you budget.

Edit: just saw I was too late and you've already bought something.
Click to expand...

Wow that's impressive you managed to get £72 for 5850. I will also be selling my 5850 and hope there is still demand for it :)
 
My Gigabyte WF 3x 7950 card arrived today. :cool:

It's around 10.6 inches in length. Pics to follow soon :D

However it is Rev 2.0 and has 8+6 pin power connectors. What does this mean? I thought 7950s mainly came with 6+6 pin power connectors ??

I am running OCZ Modxstream 600W PSU for the past 3 years and its still going solid. Would this PSU be enough if I wanted to overclock the card?
 
should be fine maybe might use more power but not much more.

my 6970 had a 8 and 6 pin but my 7950 boost has two 6 pin.
 
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