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5850, where would you go from here?

I still run 2x 5850s and believe me when i say that there is no reason to upgrade from here just yet. There is no game i cannot play completely maxed out with those cards. BF3 in single player runs over 60 fps on ultra and in multiplayer i just have to turn off AA.
 
I'm in a similar quandry. My GTX460 1GB is doing just fine and although i know I really should upgrade it, it still plays everything at acceptable frame rates IMO. if I wanted double the performance i would have to pay £300+ at the moment which isn't going to happen! I know if i upgrade to a 1080p or bigger screen I'll have to, but I don't plan on that for a while yet unless I get a windfall from somewhere.

The current 'new' cards are dreadfully poor value IMO.
 
The current 'new' cards are dreadfully poor value IMO.

According to you, who has absolutely and totally no clue as to what they cost to make.

There's a good post somewhere on here from Drunkenmaster, pointing out that a 28nm wafer costs far more than a older one.
 
According to you, who has absolutely and totally no clue as to what they cost to make.

There's a good post somewhere on here from Drunkenmaster, pointing out that a 28nm wafer costs far more than a older one.

I did say 'IMO' and when you consider I more or less doubled performance from my 8800GT to my 460 for less than £200 at launch (and even then I caught pre-order hype and probably paid £20-£30 more than i could have if I waited a few weeks) I still stand by having to pay £300+ to get double the performance. That, to me, makes a card poor value.
 
I did say 'IMO' and when you consider I more or less doubled performance from my 8800GT to my 460 for less than £200 at launch (and even then I caught pre-order hype and probably paid £20-£30 more than i could have if I waited a few weeks) I still stand by having to pay £300+ to get double the performance. That, to me, makes a card poor value.

Opinions are just that though and not based on facts.

The reason your 460 was cheap was because Nvidia were being battered by AMD at the time so had no choice. IIRC on launch the 1gb 460 was around £200 or so, roughly the same price as the 5850 with NOT the same performance.

You need to remember that at that time Nvidia were so deep in the crap that they resorted to making, boxing and selling their own 460s trying to rake back some cash out of the Fermi fiasco.

Wasn't until AMD flopped with the 6 series that Nvidia got a foot back on the ladder.

One thing I can tell you based on parts and all of that is that the 79xx cards are massively better value than the 680.
 
Also remember the cost of parts has gone up.

Why don't new cards have 2 DVI outputs like my current 5850?
 
Also remember the cost of parts has gone up.

Why don't new cards have 2 DVI outputs like my current 5850?

Because DVI isn't as popular as it used to be?

Personally I prefer it, but HDMI is becoming the standard more and more as time goes by.
 
In the same exact boat as you bleek. I have just ordered myself a msi twin frozer 7850 upgrading from my asus 5850. My 5850 is a great clocker, i had 900mhz on the core at times and was solid as a rock. I only ever gamed with it a stock settings most of the time though, the main downfall is it just doesn't have the little extra vram the some games require these days. If my 5850 had 1.2-1.5 vram i wouldn't be upgrading!

I am pretty much paying 200 quid for an extra 1gb of vram lol although the 7850's are supposed to overclock well, the msi core comes in at 900mhz default all be it overclocked slightly

Let me know how you get on with that MSI 7850, im wanting to upgrade from a GTX460 and not sure what card to get next but did look at the Frozor version of that and also the 560ti I like nvidea for the PhsX so shame they ain't done a 448 version.
 
I'm in a similar quandry. My GTX460 1GB is doing just fine and although i know I really should upgrade it, it still plays everything at acceptable frame rates IMO. if I wanted double the performance i would have to pay £300+ at the moment which isn't going to happen! I know if i upgrade to a 1080p or bigger screen I'll have to, but I don't plan on that for a while yet unless I get a windfall from somewhere.

The current 'new' cards are dreadfully poor value IMO.

This exactly for me. Can play everything else full at acceptable levels now I have my i5. Apart from BF3 I have on high and some things ultra and get steady 35-55fps so very much playable. Just hate the update bug and got offered £120 for the card so would be a cheaper upgrade option. But still even with the £120 off an upgrade I still find it hard to choose one and wonder if I'm best off just sticking until games make me drop to medium. Maybe I still got another 6months left with this card.
 
I'm in a similar quandry. My GTX460 1GB is doing just fine and although i know I really should upgrade it, it still plays everything at acceptable frame rates IMO. if I wanted double the performance i would have to pay £300+ at the moment which isn't going to happen! I know if i upgrade to a 1080p or bigger screen I'll have to, but I don't plan on that for a while yet unless I get a windfall from somewhere.

The current 'new' cards are dreadfully poor value IMO.

Same here really. Bought my GTX 460 for £180 on release (July 2010) and nothing appeals to me for the price at the moment. 6950 just isn't enough of an increase for the money and not interested in a £300+ card.
 
Same, I've never bothered with a £300+ card because I've never needed one!

I think I'll drop my 5850 on the bay and grab a 7850. Seems like the logical step.

I take it the branding issue is none existent as they all use reference designs, so go with the cheapest or best (none ref) cooler?
 
Go with the MSI or Sapphires. MSI are in stock so that'd be the one to go for, plus the TFIII coolers are superb.
 
Muhuhhaha, mine gets here between 13:38-14:38 :p

But i'm at work, so I won't get to do anything but look at the box until about 6ish :(
 
According to you, who has absolutely and totally no clue as to what they cost to make.

There's a good post somewhere on here from Drunkenmaster, pointing out that a 28nm wafer costs far more than a older one.

Completely irrelevant. As consumers it is not our inclination to care about the profit margins or the cost of manufacture of the products we buy - it is up to the companies in question to provide a competitive product at a price that provides enough incentive for consumers to buy.

The entire 28nm generation currently fails in this regard. If you are defending the high prices you are only doing so in some kind of misguided allegiance to said companies involved. The fact that the price performance ratio increase of this generation over the 2nd 40nm generation is actually lower than it was from the first 40nm generation to the second 40nm generation is a clear indication that it is not worth buying a 28nm GPU based graphics card until enough of a performance jump is offered at currently accepted price brackets.



As for anyone else, going from a 5850 to a 7850 you will be disappointed if you're expecting any more than a 20-30% performance boost, but you may get lucky from overclocking.
 
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