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5850 vs 4890

Only reason I'm spending the extra 50 quid over a 4890 myself is because I'm hoping DX11 will be quite big in the future, otherwise I'd go for the 4890. If you aren't bothered about DX11, save yourself the cash.
 
The low power usage is the reason i am looking at the 5850 27w idle is decent compared to most of the ones about today.
 
Well ive got a 1gb 4870 and i don't think a 5850 is worth it, as its mostly around 8 frames faster, its only in about 1 - 2 games where its about 20 faster.
 
THe biggest question, when they come in stock, is how far they overclock, a same clocked 5850 basically performs equally to a 5870, they aren't shader limited, but ROP limited, ATi made the odd decision to make them 32 ROP aswell, rather than 24/28 ROP. If they overclock exactly the same as a 5870, then you are buying a 5870, just cheaper in need of further overclocking.

We'll have to see though, I've seen 5850's in reviews do default 5870 clocks, but depends how high the max clocks of each card come in.

4850's just didn't(AFAIK) clock near a 4870 and miles away from a 4890. but most significantly had a massive bandwidth difference. These have the same mem, same amount of mem and only the dropped shaders and clocks. Its completely not shader limited, so its basically just a lower clocked version, if they hit the same clocks they are a freaking steal, and easily worth the extra £50.
 
cm1179 said:
what's the downside of overclocking?
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not a huge amount, if you're really fussed by the risks of warranty, get a MSI/Asus card that supports their overclocking utilities, as it is you can overclock to the CCC(ati driver panel) maximum allowed without losing warranty and fairly safely. Not sure what they've stuck as max clocks for a 5850 in the driver panel though. Asus's version will no doubt allow volt increase(through their own app, again, to basically safe levels) and higher clock adjustment.

You can also use the MSI App to change voltage on other cards, the Asus app needs an Asus card, however you can flash an Asus bios to another brand if you want.

Theres little to no risk killing cards by overclocking, at worst, and the worst outcome I've seen to date, is unstable, crash restart and you'll be at default clocks.

But this is the killer question that will make the 5850 the best card to date, or average, is its overclocking limited by a worse PCB/power circuitry. If it can hit 1Ghz like a 5870, its a ridiculously good card, if it can hit 900Mhz, its a damn great card, if it can't hit 800Mhz on average, its decent but won't ever match a 5870.

I'd recommend waiting a few days after availability, people will work out how far they clock within, well, hours tbh.
 
Well its very hard to tell if you have broke the card through overclocking but yes effectively it voids the warranty, whether they will find out is a different matter

Technically gives the card a shorter lifespan but I have had my 4850 overclocked by 75mhz for over a year now and its still going strong

And the coolers on these new cards seem good enough even for an overclock, the temps don't go up much unless you start playing with voltages, personally I don't think I will go as far to over volt the card (apart from testing ;)) but I will overclock :D
 
widnesjohn said:
is there much difference think i might buy the 5859 if there is big enough gain

thanks john
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It isn't so much a question of performance but more of future proofing. As the 5850 supports DirectX 11 it will last longer than the 4890. Personally I wouldn't hesitate to get the 5850 if I had the money and wasn't currently in Singapore :).
 
if the manufacturers supply overclocking capabilities why don't they just produce the card to that spec in the first place?
 
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