Radeon HD 5850 Reviews roll in

Sandog

I will be getting two of Sapphire's best 5850 Toxic's when ever they come out. I've read enough about quality, power, and temps to decide this card is perfect for a dual-card solution inside my case. I tried to go CrossFire before with two 3850's but the few games I played were broke. I think CrossFireX has come further since then and I plan on keeping these cards.

#2  

bajo

Seems that pple are buying 5870 a lot more, the average 16% overall performance gain is worth the price difference for many...

#3  

Sandog

I am sure more 5850's will be sold due to affordability. I wonder if the Sapphire Toxic will have Vapor-X or a Zalman looking heat sink. I loved the Sapphire Toxic 4850, it worked great. I am really looking forward to a pair of 5850's.

#4  

bajo

here ya go:

#5  

zapionics<alt>

i'm leaning to Sandogs way of thinking due to the lower noise and heat...

#6  

polonyc2

I still don't get the people that are using dual GPU setups...aren't dual GPU setups supposed to last longer then a traditional single GPU?...if you bought the 4870X2 card and are already upgrading to the 5000 series dual cards what sense does it make buying dual GPU's?...you're still upgrading at the same rate as always, the cards last just as long, a next generation single card GPU comes close to the performance of a dual GPU setup from the previous generation, not to mention the added power/heat issues, dependancy on driver profiles etc...makes absolutely no sense to me

and the people that are not hardcore gamers or hardware enthusiasts (98% of ABX) getting dual GPU's makes even less sense...yes you get some improved FPS but is it enough to justify it?

/end of rant

#7  

JimTram

Hardware Junkies - bless them!

#8  

polonyc2

I don't know if they're hardware junkies or just impulse buyers who react and don't research their buying decisions...the same people who buy the magazines and candy at the checkout counter because they are placed close to the cash register...it takes me weeks, months and sometimes years (in the case of my LCD purchase) of research before I feel comfortable pulling the trigger

Sandog is a different beast because his decisions come down to Intel, Intel, Intel, Intel...but I thought most others would base their decisions on something more rationale

#9  

JimTram

Why did you upgrade XP to Vista? Was it just dx10. How cost effective was that?

If one is an enthusiast - logic/rationale is out the window.

OT - forget the Madison St project - I got it on Google maps.

#10  

polonyc2

I didn't upgrade to Vista right away...I believe I only bought Vista OEM early in 2009 after SP1 was released...it was cost effective because of the price and performance in games that utilized DX10...in fact it was almost necessary to upgrade to Vista to justify the purchase of a DX10 card...otherwise the advanced features of the card would be wasted

but that fits in with my point...there was a reason for me to upgrade...what reasons do others have (some who are not even gamers) for upgrading to dual GPU's or quad core's etc...money to burn or boredom is a good answer I guess

#11  

JimTram

Can you justify the same rationale for Win 7/DX11? I can't. I could barely even see the difference between DX10/11. I skipped an entire series of GPU's. Result, instead of 75+ FPS, I get 50+.

I have a good feeling 'bout Win7/DX11. This GPU may be the way to go. Still need to wait and see NV's offerings

#12  

polonyc2

nope...I keep saying to anyone who will listen...if you currently have Vista SP2 there is zero reason to upgrade to W7...the only reason to upgrade from Vista to W7 is if you have an SSD or are still using XP or earlier...DX11 is backwards compatible with Vista...DX11 is not a radical upgrade from DX10 with tesselation being the biggest new feature

but I don't see a whole bunch of new DX11 titles in the near future for the simple fact that all the consoles use DX9 and since most PC games nowadays are console ports I don't see DX11 taking off until the next wave of consoles are released

#13  

JimTram

I agree - I am looking fwd to the Win 7 upgrade. DX11 is just a wee bit of icing. No reason to rush into a new GPU yet. My current is DX10 compatible - good enough for now.

If I was to upgrade the GPU at this point - the 5850 is appealing!

#14  

zapionics<alt>

Extremely so! I've been considering an upgrade for a while now... my 4870 512MB just doesnt cut it in GTA IV... in fact I stopped playing that until I get a new card with more RAM ... glad I didnt jump on the 4890 although I was tempted... but I like to wait for a decent performance hike over my current setup and the 5850 really delivers there.

Judging from the reviews the 5850 just seems so much quieter and cooler under load than the '70... and a crossfire setup has comparable noise and power levels to my 4870! ...

And the 5850 in xfire is a Clear Sky killer even at high res's...

oh yes, I'd say its appealing, in fact its almost a no-brainer.

#15