• Competitor rules

    Please remember that any mention of competitors, hinting at competitors or offering to provide details of competitors will result in an account suspension. The full rules can be found under the 'Terms and Rules' link in the bottom right corner of your screen. Just don't mention competitors in any way, shape or form and you'll be OK.

***The Official ATI Radeon HD 5850 / 5870 Reviews and Discussion Thread***

And idea when we can expect 5850 reviews/benchmarks?

If the minimum frame rates aren't flip book quality I'm definitely getting one. I'll put the £100 saved towards a good quad core or more ram.
 
Well I ordered mine for arrival tomorrow and I must say I am looking foreward to playing with this card.

For all those out there going on about 295 compared with 5870's well I am sorry but you seem to be clinging onto threads for dear life here.

295 = dual GPU
5870 = single GPU

In a few months time the 5870x2 will blow the spots off the 295 simple.
Price wise there is not a lot between the 2 cards and yes maybe the 295 can be purchased for slightly less but to be honest the extra costs in gettign the 5870 gives me this.

- dx11 ( future proof for next year or 2 )

- eyeFinity

- lower power consumption

- Working with DirectCompute ( see example from Guru3d.com Example: if you drop a video file in your iPOD it will be transcoded automatically over the GPU. Yes the GPU will merge much more into the operating system in the years to come. Something new and refreshing is happening here for sure. )


Simple reasons like this makes it worth the extra bucks for me. At least when all those dx11 demos arrive I can sit and watch what my video card can do and enjoy the eye candy whereas with a 295 ( even though it might give me a couple fps extra in games at moment ) I would not be able to watch them.
 
Last edited:
just let me get it straight: you guys have been waiting for the 5870 9 months and bashing nvidia for their insane prices only to save £30 and happily buy a worse performing gpu (5870) that is at the same time noisy with limited overclocking capabilities while the so called "foolish" gtx 295 owners have been enjoying their top gpu for months and months? fair enough, i rest my case.
 
Rancid Elf makes some salient points, although I hate to mention that the 4870 is a DX10.1 part, not DX11 like the 5870 ;)

[fear not, I've been making emergency edits to cover that one myself all morning :D ]
 
Duran said:
just let me get it straight it: you guys have been waiting for the 5870 9 months and bashing nvidia for their insane prices only to save £30 and happily buy a worse performing gpu (5870) that is at the same time noisy with limited overclocking capabilities while the so called "foolish" gtx 295 owners have been enjoying their top gpu for months and months? fair enough, i rest my case.
Click to expand...

DX11.. See my previous post. I rest my case.
 
Duran said:
just let me get it straight it: you guys have been waiting for the 5870 9 months and bashing nvidia for their insane prices only to save £30 and happily buy a worse performing gpu (5870) that is at the same time noisy with limited overclocking capabilities while the so called "foolish" gtx 295 owners have been enjoying their top gpu for months and months? fair enough, i rest my case.
Click to expand...

No I still think it's silly to spend 300ish on a GPU, I won't even buy a 5850 at 200 quid. And how much did you pay for your 295?
 
The Asgard said:
I would put that down to drivers.
Click to expand...

I have my doubts, it's very possible that there is a bandwidth bottleneck. The 5870 is basically two 4870 on one die. Nearly everything is doubled bar the bandwidth which increased by 33% yet at times the 4870x2, which has more bandwidth as each chip has it's own bus, out performs the 5870 despite Xfire overheads.
 
Duran said:
just let me get it straight: you guys have been waiting for the 5870 9 months and bashing nvidia for their insane prices only to save £30 and happily buy a worse performing gpu (5870) that is at the same time noisy with limited overclocking capabilities while the so called "foolish" gtx 295 owners have been enjoying their top gpu for months and months? fair enough, i rest my case.
Click to expand...

I think you're being a bit over-dramatic.

Waiting nine months for a new card release would have been retarded.

However, given that the new cards are now available, buying a 295 now would be a bit daft.

Anyone who has had one since release, or soon after, has had a very good run from it and should be more than satisfied.
 
Vapor-X version soon by the look of it.

1.jpg
 
Owenb said:
I have my doubts, it's very possible that there is a bandwidth bottleneck. The 5870 is basically two 4870 on one die. Nearly everything is doubled bar the bandwidth which increased by 33% yet at times the 4870x2, which has more bandwidth as each chip has it's own bus, out performs the 5870 despite Xfire overheads.
Click to expand...

I am sorry but saying the 5870 is twio 4870s on one die is like saying the next gen Nvidia will just be the 295 with a few extra transistors chucked in for good measure.

All new cards are based around previous ones with upgrades and inprovements.
 
gurusan said:
For those who were worried about x8/x8 potentially bottlenecking their P55 you can put that theory to rest now.

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/AMD/HD_5870_PCI-Express_Scaling/25.html
http://img44.imageshack.us/img44/2434/capturewn.png[IMG][/QUOTE]

That's the best news on this thread for me so far, i bought the gd80 and i5 and was thinking i should have really gone am3 to keep the costs the same and for the benefit of two x16 slots, but i think il live with a 2% drop from x16 x16 to x8 x8 :D

[QUOTE=TPU]It holds even more relevance to users and potential-users of most socket LGA-1156 motherboards, as this is where 16 lanes from the processor's on-die PCI-E switch are split into two 8 lane links. Surprising as it seems, the Radeon HD 5870 is comfortable, with a mere 2% performance drop overall.[/QUOTE]
Click to expand...
 
Originally Posted by Duran View Post
just let me get it straight: you guys have been waiting for the 5870 9 months and bashing nvidia for their insane prices only to save £30 and happily buy a worse performing gpu (5870) that is at the same time noisy with limited overclocking capabilities while the so called "foolish" gtx 295 owners have been enjoying their top gpu for months and months? fair enough, i rest my case.
Click to expand...

Single gpu > dual gpu
DX11>DX10
Eyefinity
Low idle power consumption
Lower load power than a gtx295

Need I go on?

And I haven't been waiting 9 months for this card - I was always planning on upgrading around end of Sept / beginning of Oct. It'd just be foolish to buy a 295 at this moment in time over a 5870.

If I'd have been upgrading 9 months ago then I'd have taken the 295.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Its the drop off that gets me spending this money now on one and in 6 months they will be worth a fraction of the price.
 
Jabbs said:
Its the drop off that gets me spending this money now on one and in 6 months they will be worth a fraction of the price.
Click to expand...

That's always been the case with new tech tho Jabbs - and it always will be. Hell, I bought a 4850 six months ago for £130, you can get them for £80 now, and that wasn't even particularly 'new' at the time!

You wait for prices to drop to 'bargain' levels and you never get anything good ;)
 
Seems no one has reviewed it with any racing games which is a shame as they (and flight sims) make the best use of triple monitors. Also, hope to see some benchmarks for 3x1900 and 3x1680 monitor gaming soon.

I was saving Crysis warhead for the next generation of GPUs to kill it at ultra high res but this doesnt do it :( but will get one in a couple of weeks when the price drops off a bit cos i want the 3 screen support.

Speaking of 3 screens, the sapphire doesnt but do any of the others come with a displayport to DVI converter as my monitors dont have displayport and a converter costs about £15 :confused:

Should think anyone who didnt wait and bought 2x4890s is feeling pretty smug right about now!
 
Last edited:
amigafan2003 said:
Single gpu > dual gpu
DX11>DX10
Eyefinity
Low idle power consumption
Lower load power than a gtx295

Need I go on?

And I haven't been waiting 9 months for this card - I was always planning on upgrading around end of Sept / beginning of Oct. It'd just be foolish to buy a 295 at this moment in time over a 5870.
Click to expand...

3dvision>eyefinity
lower noise output
better performance
physX support
9 months of gaming nirvana already

need i go on?

dont try to twist it guys, its pointless if you cant see whats in front of you. on the other hand the 5850 is a brilliant card with a great price.

gurusan said:
No I still think it's silly to spend 300ish on a GPU, I won't even buy a 5850 at 200 quid. And how much did you pay for your 295?
Click to expand...

£320 in april
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom