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Decent Card With Low Powerdraw?
- Thread starter Occooler
- Start date
This.
Pretty much the same speed but with dx11, tri display support and lower power consumption.
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- 22 May 2010
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- 273
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- Bristol
My 5850 is able to handle Crysis maxed-out, and it does cost a good deal less than the 5870 (which only gives about a 15% boost in performance). I wouldn't go down the nVidia 400-series route if you want a low power card, as I've heard they get very hot and draw a lot of power to run.
Last edited:
Soldato
- Joined
- 18 May 2010
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- 23,646
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- London
I think what Ko0lHaNDLuKe sais is true.
I have a 5870 is its quiet, cool and has a very low idle power draw.
Its also very powerfull. If your budget conscious than a 5850 would be a good bet.
However with the 6000 series due in the next few months, I personally would wait.
I have a 5870 is its quiet, cool and has a very low idle power draw.
Its also very powerfull. If your budget conscious than a 5850 would be a good bet.
However with the 6000 series due in the next few months, I personally would wait.
Caporegime
- Joined
- 18 Oct 2002
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- 33,188
5850, 50% lower cost, 10% lower performance in worst case scenario(clock both up as far as possible most games are 5-8% apart due to a few less shaders, a couple or 10-12% apart).
A 5850, if you get one with voltage control which is pretty key to getting the highest overclocks, you're talking about a 30% overclock pretty much minimum, 40-45% max, and at that speed it will be faster than a 4870x2 without any of the dual gpu issues that crop up here and there. A overvolted max overclock 5850 will use 20W idle, and around 200W load(150W stock, its as you bump voltage power usage goes up a lot). A 4870x2 uses closer to 100W idle and 280-300W load IIRC, once overclocked it will use a good deal more than that aswell.
I went from a 4870x2 to a 5850, its not massively faster, its much easier, my room is FAR cooler in summer on top of all that its a lot quieter aswell.
You honestly won't notice the difference between a 5850/5870, the price increase for minimal performance gain is just not close to worth it.
There literally isn't another option other than those two cards for same/more performance and a decrease in power. A 470gtx will again rival it for performance, should easily beat it overclocked, but stock power use is around 215-230W depending on the version/voltage used, and heavily overclocked and volted will be up above 300W.
The 6870/6850/6770 are due end of next month though so now's a fairly bad time to buy, good deals on the last few 5850/5870/5970/5770 will be available at some point soon, and a 6850 might offer another 30% speed for around the same power draw which would likely give you a card you will see is noticably faster than the 4870x2.
I don't think they can bump up the 6770 performance enough to really get that close to a 4870x2, but you never know, improved 6770, massive overclock it could be very close and use a heck of a lot less power(closer to 100W than 200W).
Its worth waiting for sure. Launch is 12th Oct, availability from 25th onward is the fairly trustworthy rumour at the moment.
A 5850, if you get one with voltage control which is pretty key to getting the highest overclocks, you're talking about a 30% overclock pretty much minimum, 40-45% max, and at that speed it will be faster than a 4870x2 without any of the dual gpu issues that crop up here and there. A overvolted max overclock 5850 will use 20W idle, and around 200W load(150W stock, its as you bump voltage power usage goes up a lot). A 4870x2 uses closer to 100W idle and 280-300W load IIRC, once overclocked it will use a good deal more than that aswell.
I went from a 4870x2 to a 5850, its not massively faster, its much easier, my room is FAR cooler in summer on top of all that its a lot quieter aswell.
You honestly won't notice the difference between a 5850/5870, the price increase for minimal performance gain is just not close to worth it.
There literally isn't another option other than those two cards for same/more performance and a decrease in power. A 470gtx will again rival it for performance, should easily beat it overclocked, but stock power use is around 215-230W depending on the version/voltage used, and heavily overclocked and volted will be up above 300W.
The 6870/6850/6770 are due end of next month though so now's a fairly bad time to buy, good deals on the last few 5850/5870/5970/5770 will be available at some point soon, and a 6850 might offer another 30% speed for around the same power draw which would likely give you a card you will see is noticably faster than the 4870x2.
I don't think they can bump up the 6770 performance enough to really get that close to a 4870x2, but you never know, improved 6770, massive overclock it could be very close and use a heck of a lot less power(closer to 100W than 200W).
Its worth waiting for sure. Launch is 12th Oct, availability from 25th onward is the fairly trustworthy rumour at the moment.
If you can wait a bit longer see if the 6 series is good for you, could well consume more power and be hotter than the 5 series though. If you need to get a card now a 5850/70 is a good bet but will devalue fast once the 6 series is out so maybe worth picking one up on the bay or the MM.