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4870 to a 5850. worth it?

jamesgoss

jamesgoss

jamesgoss

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Joined
6 Jan 2009
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425
Hi all,

I was just considering a cpu/mobo upgrade to an i5 750,but then I bought myself a tasty 24 inch screen and the 5850s are very tempting!

To keep it brief, would a 5850 be a worthwhile upgrade from my 4870?

Any and all thoughts welcome!:)
 
I think so - a 4890 to 5850 is a worthwhile upgrade, so defiantely so with a 4870.

Though having said that, if you are currently maxing out the games you play, stick with the 4870 until you no longer can - then get whatever looks to be the best option then (maybe Fermi, or the 6000 series or the 5000 refresh or whatever).
 
I could play all games maxed out... maybe not FSAA or AF but it was ok with my 4870.

Today I played Battlefield Bad Company 2 Beta and for me, it's completely unplayable at High settings 1920x1200.... a friend of mine with a i7 920 and a 4890 says he can play ok.... I'm confused a little... medium settings is ok but I feel I need to upgrade now
 
I have a 24" screen and went from a 4870 to 5850 via a gtx260 216 in the middle.

Each one was a big improvement.

Everything (except crysis of course) runs at great framerates with lots of aa and 16af.

Couldn't be happier.
 
Marvin said:
I think so - a 4890 to 5850 is a worthwhile upgrade, so defiantely so with a 4870.

Though having said that, if you are currently maxing out the games you play, stick with the 4870 until you no longer can - then get whatever looks to be the best option then (maybe Fermi, or the 6000 series or the 5000 refresh or whatever).
Click to expand...

Well, I play Dawn of War II occasionally, but Mass Effect 2 and Bioshock 2 are on the horizon...I want to play more PC games as opposed to purely xbox360 like I have been of late (MW2 has stolen all my spare time!). So it seems to run everything fine, though I'm getting slowdown on Mass Effect 1, I don't know how demanding the game is graphically, I always assumed it wasn't exactly Crysis...

Devrij said:
As above, it's worth it. You can always add another for xfire later too.
Click to expand...

I'd be getting the Gigabyte UD2 - would the x8 Xfire lanes cripple performance?

Greebo said:
I have a 24" screen and went from a 4870 to 5850 via a gtx260 216 in the middle.

Each one was a big improvement.

Everything (except crysis of course) runs at great framerates with lots of aa and 16af.

Couldn't be happier.
Click to expand...

It's funny you say that, I thought the 260(216) and the 4870 1GB were equivalent cards?

I'm gradually being persuaded... :D
 
jamesgoss said:
It's funny you say that, I thought the 260(216) and the 4870 1GB were equivalent cards?

I'm gradually being persuaded... :D
Click to expand...

Well my gtx260 216 was the EVGA superclocked one ;)

Seriously though the 4870 was on par with a gtx260 192sp. The 216 versions especially overlocked almost matched a gtx285. a 4890 vs a gtx260 216sp or gtx275 is a closer match IMO. In fact very overclocked like my card was, it beat a lot of gtx285 cards.

The gap was much more dramatic going from the gtx260 to the 5850 than the 4870 to the gtx260 though,

A overclocked 5850 at 1000/1300 which they will all do on the stock cooler with a voltage tweak beats a stock 5870 so is about on par with a gtx295.

So for a rough guide as to how much an improvement your upgrade would be especially if you overclock the 5850, compare the 4870 to a gtx295 at 1920 x 1200.

Or to compare stock to stock look here:

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3650

Depending on the game a 5850 is 20 to 40% faster than a 4870 at 1920 x 1200

Of course you get dx11 as well plus the 5xxx series shine at 8xaa.

EDIt: In fact the 4870 1gb matches the gtx260 in those reviews. I guess ATI drivers has closed the gap as my gtx260 was definitely so much more faster than my 4870 but my 4870 was the 512mb version so may make a difference.
 
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Greebo said:
A overclocked 5850 at 1000/1300 which they will all do on the stock cooler with a voltage tweak beats a stock 5870 so is about on par with a gtx295.

So for a rough guide as to how much an improvement your upgrade would be especially if you overclock the 5850, compare the 4870 to a gtx295 at 1920 x 1200.

Or to compare stock to stock look here:

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3650

Depending on the game a 5850 is 20 to 40% faster than a 4870 at 1920 x 1200

Of course you get dx11 as well plus the 5xxx series shine at 8xaa.

EDIt: In fact the 4870 1gb matches the gtx260 in those reviews. I guess ATI drivers has closed the gap as my gtx260 was definitely so much more faster than my 4870 but my 4870 was the 512mb version so may make a difference.
Click to expand...

That's a very interesting article there, thanks for putting it up. It shows that the 5850 is almost 20fps faster than the 4870 1GB at 1900x1200, that's insane. The thing is I know my 4870 is a good card, but I like new things and silky smooth gaming. And I don't think I'm alone! :D
 
It was one of the many things I read up on when trying to work out i5 or i7, overall it appears unless you are gaming at über resolution, anything x4 and above should lose minimal frames. All the people who say it'll cripple the card make me laugh, between 0.5 and 4 frames lost :p
 
..that was part of my upgrade a 4870 to a 5850 .... i bought a MS236H monitor and i wanted a better card to handle the higher resolution.
.....plays all my games at 1920 x 1080 at 100FPS+ ... so i think it is a worthy upgade ...
 
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