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Ati 6850 v older tech

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Hi my old 8800gt is starting to die and I'm trying to find the best replacement 8.5" in length ie no longer than the gt .My main goal is bang for buck .Looks like a choice between Sapphire 5850 extreme, gtx 460 1gb or maybe spend a bit more for the hd 6850 and hope it is more future proof. Anyone with and ideas or comments.
 
I have the 6850 and it clocks really well. Much better than the current available 5850's I believe too. However if not clocking then 5850 may be best bet, especially one that can be voltage adjusted.

I get 850/1100 with no voltage bump but haven't played around with it much. Also had 1000/1200 with a voltage bump.

The 6850 with the 3 free games is a good deal mate (HIS ICECOOL??). And they run cooler and use only 1 pcie connector.

Its newer tech and the difference is really marginable. Though the 5850's are a bit of a steal at the moment if budget is an issue?
 
I changed my 8800GT to a HD6850 and I'm really, really happy. Like welshdragon, it's been running 850/1100 since day 1 with no voltage adjustment.

That was before the 5850's were at their current "low prices" - so if you don't mind a slightly older chipset, then for the price, it'll still be better than the 8800GT.
 
5850 is on average around 10% faster than the 6850 and GTX460 1GB.

So what this means is that the 6850 need to overclock from 775MHz to 850MHz (roughly 10% overclock) to roughly match a stock speed 5850.

The current Sapphire 5850 doesn't have voltage tweak support, but most would overclock from 725MHz to 800MHz on stock voltage (around 10% overclock). So basically a 6850 1GB would need to be overclocked to around 925MHz to match a 5850 at 800MHz. But since 6850 has voltage tweak, it is possible to put the overclock beyond 925MHz, at which point it might start to overtake the overclocked 5850 at 800MHz in terms of speed.

But at the end of the day, the 5850 is cheaper, whereas the 6850 is more expensive, but comes with free games.
 
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Thank's hit the button today for the 5850 extreme was after a bit of deliberation over a b grade 460 1gb.The warranty swung it. :D
 
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