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Upgrading from a HD 5850. Help?

SymTax

SymTax

SymTax

Associate
Joined
3 May 2011
Posts
169
Currently running an ATI Radeon HD 5850. Bought it almost 2 years ago now, and have decided to start looking for an upgrade.

I've no real idea where to start, but I've been eyeing up a 7850. Mainly one of these two:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-295-SP&tool=3

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-100-GI

Both the same price. From my limited knowledge, both would suit me fine. I'm mainly playing WoW, BF3, LoL and dabble in a bit of MC. I do play other games, but those are the main ones for me.

Any help would be greatly appreciated, as well as other suggestions.


Edit: Ideally I don't want to spend above £175, unless it's really really worth it.
Feel free to ask for more information if required.
 
arc@css said:
The Gigabyte one you've linked is an excellent choice, and would probably be my first choice if I was in your shoes.

However, if you wanted to save a little, then this would also be worth thinking about :

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-191-MS&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=411
Click to expand...

What are the differences between the two? Anything major?

Edit: Just noticed it's cheaper because of the weekly offer stuff. Might have to snap it up if there is no real performance difference between the two.
 
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SymTax said:
What are the differences between the two? Anything major?

Edit: Just noticed it's cheaper because of the weekly offer stuff. Might have to snap it up if there is no real performance difference between the two.
Click to expand...

The Gigabyte is factory overclocked, though I'm pretty sure you'd notice no difference at all unless you pushed it further (I generally don't see the point in paying extra for a mild / moderate overclock).

However, although both firms offer good customer service and speedy rma turn around, I'd say that the Gigabyte will be even better in that regard.

The other difference 'might' be the acoustics. I doubt that the MSI card will be quieter at idle / load than the Gigabyte, though I don't think it would be a particularly noisy card either. It depends how sensitive you are to noise; if you're very sensitive then get the Gigabyte.
 
What do you think about Nvidia? I've also personally preferred AMD, but a friend just suggested trying one out.

Obviously within the same price range, would there be any real difference in performance between the two brands?

I'm more than likely going to go with the MSI card, but am slightly tempted by the Nvidia cards.
 
SymTax said:
What do you think about Nvidia? I've also personally preferred AMD, but a friend just suggested trying one out.

Obviously within the same price range, would there be any real difference in performance between the two brands?

I'm more than likely going to go with the MSI card, but am slightly tempted by the Nvidia cards.
Click to expand...

Both brands are very good. I've used both over the years, though more ATi than Nvidia (I haven't used an 'AMD' as such yet). My current gpu is an Nvidia one, and it's either the best I've ever owned or nearly the best (dim memories suggest the Voodoo 5 maybe the 'one' :D).

I doubt you'll see a world of difference between the 7850 or 660, but here's how I tend to sum them up in my mind ('my personal experience' & bear in mind I haven't used a card from the red team for nearly two years) :

AMD - value for money / vibrant, rich colours / traditionally (though not always) lower power draw /

Nvidia - not as good value as AMD / image 'style' is very, very nice - though I prefer AMD's by a small margin (I remember a time when in some cases I would notice a substantial difference in image 'style' (note style rather than 'quality'), though these days I don't 'think' there's quite as much difference as there used to be / particularly smooth performance and impressively so at lower frame rates / physx (not a good selling point imo though it does add something)

I've never had what I would call real problems with either company in regard to driver support. Maybe a few quirks towards the end of my time with my 4870X2 (installation became a bit unpredictable), but nothing that bad.

If you do decide to go with Nvidia then I'd look at :

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-193-MS&groupid=701&catid=1914&subcat=2379
 
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Thanks a lot for all the help you've given. I really do appreciate it. I'll probably purchase a card within the next few days. Again, thanks for the help :)
 
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