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Can't decide on which card to buy!

pBay

pBay

pBay

Associate
Joined
15 Feb 2009
Posts
242
Hi folks,

My 8800GTX passed away last week and I received a full refund. I now have £340 to put towards a new card, but can't decide if it's worth getting the cheaper 5850 or just go all out for the 5870.

I have looked through various threads and opinions on which to buy seem somewhat divided for a system similar to mine.

My rig is as follows...

Intel Core Duo 2 e8500 OC @ 4.1GHz
4GB OCZ Reaper DDR2 1066MHz memory
700w Coolermaster Silentpro PSU
Antec 1200 case

Would my rig be too much of a bottleneck for the dearer card and therefore a waste of cash?

Also, is the PSU suitable for the 5870, considering i have 3 HDD's, DVD-ROM, 6case fans?

Any opinions to sway my decision would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks.
 
Go all out! 5870 Vapor X if you can find some!
Not the best bang for buck, but would regret going for the cheaper option persoanlly.
 
I say go with the 5850, just measure the length of the card against the mighty Antec 1200.

PSU, deppends how old it is, if it has the connections. Note older PSU's produce less juice over time.

Cheers

Von
 
thanks for speedy response!

The 8800GTX that came out was approximately 28cm long, but i realise the 5 series cards have daft power connections on the end of the card!

The PSU is approx 7 months old, has 2 x 8 pin connectors (each 6pin with removable 2pins).

I am tempted to just go for a nice 5870, i don't need much persuasion to be honest! Does anyone have experience of the 5870 in the 1200 case?

Monitor is currently 1680 x 1050
 
4Ghz o/c is fine, psu is fine, you really have no problems with any option.

5850 for £200 and leftover for a cpu upgrade?
 
I only upgraded to the mobo and CPU around 7 or 8 months ago with a view to overclocking and save a few bob, so i wouldn't really want to change the core system for a while.

I'll check the dimensions of the 5870 to make sure it's okay. Glad the connectors are on the top, would have been a struggle otherwise!
 
be warned if your running win 7 64 bit - 5870 doesn't work for loads of people (myself included). runs for about 5 mins then get Stripey screen of death (SSOD). new catalyst drivers will hopefully fix this or its going to be yet another computerless month :(
 
doug999 said:
be warned if your running win 7 64 bit - 5870 doesn't work for loads of people (myself included). runs for about 5 mins then get Stripey screen of death (SSOD). new catalyst drivers will hopefully fix this or its going to be yet another computerless month :(
Click to expand...

That is not correct... I have had mine since launch on different rigs and nothing like this with different drivers also.
 
doug999 said:
be warned if your running win 7 64 bit - 5870 doesn't work for loads of people (myself included). runs for about 5 mins then get Stripey screen of death (SSOD). new catalyst drivers will hopefully fix this or its going to be yet another computerless month :(
Click to expand...

A few had this problem myself included and most seemed to have stopped it happening by disabling the ati HD audio drivers or making sure thier overclocks were rock solid stable.

To the op at your res the 5850 but if you can crossfire on your mobo a pair of 5770's or the soon to be released 5830 will give much more performance.
 
Just to update you, I decided to go with the Asus 5850. The 3 year warranty just got me out of trouble, so i will stay loyal! With the remainder of the cash I added the Asus Xonar DX to replace my ageing Audigy 2.

Thanks for all the replies!
 
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