Radeon HD 5850 vs 6850?

[benmenftw]

Recently I posted a thread about the ati radeon hd 5870, but now I have decided to go with the 5850 or 6850 because of my budget. This is meant for gaming if your wondering. I don't care about price. I just want to know which one will have better performance.

 

[Nibroc]

First off what PSU do u have? As for AMD's new naming scheme it go's 6850, 5850, 6870 and then the 5870. As for which is better 5850 is faster but AMD has improved somewhat with the 6800's. Personally I would recommended going with the 6870 since it's about the same price as the 5850, and only a little more then the 6850.

 

[benmenftw]

First off what PSU do u have? As for AMD's new naming scheme it go's 6850, 5850, 6870 and then the 5870. As for which is better 5850 is faster but AMD has improved somewhat with the 6800's. Personally I would recommended going with the 6870 since it's about the same price as the 5850, and only a little more then the 6850.

I have a 600 watt in there but I have a 1080 watt sitting here for when I need to put it in. Also I checked on newegg and it seems the 6870s are a bit more than the 5850s. I believe I have another job coming in next week ( I'm a freelance logo designer) so maybe I could get enough for the 6870 if I wait to get paid on that.

 

[Relic]

What resolution do you plan on gaming at? Do you plan on playing the newest releases? I don't recall you answering those in your previous thread. In any case, performance wise depending on the game a stock Radeon 5850 performs somewhat similarly to a Radeon 6850 and in many cases slightly exceeding it. However noticing a difference between the two while in the middle of an intense game is unlikely imo. Both are also pretty good overclockers if you care to squeeze more performance out of your card. I personally own a Radeon 6850 and have been very satisfied with its performance and the small OCing I've done with it.

 

[red1776]

Like Relic said, having the who,what, and how big would help on a recommendation
The 5850 is a few percent faster than the 6850, but unless you are going to OC for maximum you can get out of it, go for the newer 6850. if you are on a budget and want a card that you can clock the living daylights out of. One of these would serve you well:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121375&cm_re=hd_5850-_-14-121-375-_-Product
They overclock better than any 6850 I have worked with (quite a few). I have four of them in my own machine and have them all OC'd (during intensive gaming) to 1020/1215. Thats above HD 5870 specs (or more accurately 5870 production)
Here is a benchmark/review for you to look over.
http://www.guru3d.com/article/msi-radeon-6850-review/1

***note I am recommending specifically the Asus EAH DirectCu I linked to, not a generic 5850. I was using alot of the Asus and MSI 5850's in customer builds for the same reason. The build quality including the power delivery is top notch, and they must get the pick of the bin (I don't really know that )
as they seem to OC better than they're competition.

 

[benmenftw]

I plan on playing at 1600x900 for right now, and I want this upgrade to play games that are coming out this year like Skyrim and Mass Effect 3 with a bit better performance. Hopefully that answers your questions Relic.

Oh yes and also my current card is a radeon hd 5770, I just want a little performance boost and based off of what I have seen from the specifications on AMD's site the 5850/6850 seems like in most ways it is a better card but I want to be sure.

I think this has been resolved. I'm going with crossfiring my 5770.

 

[Relic]

At that resolution I would say either the 5850 or 6850 would be the best fit. But a crossfire configuration should serve you just as well if supported especially with most of today's games. Performance wise it seems to sit between the 5850 & 5870 which is still pretty solid. Just make sure your PSU can handle it, Guru3D recommends at least a 600W+ quality power supply with 55amps on the +12v rail. Also stay on the lookout for deals as I've seen a few with the 5770 on specials going for ~$100 before MIR.


@Red How do you find the noise levels on those ASUS/MSI cards? Currently I am very pleased with the performance of my XFX 6850, however the XFX HSF is a little louder then I'd like.

 

[red1776]

@Red How do you find the noise levels on those ASUS/MSI cards? Currently I am very pleased with the performance of my XFX 6850, however the XFX HSF is a little louder then I'd like.

If I don't OC them they do really well. I don't have a meter, but I would guess around 40db at peak. If I am OC'ing for a very intense game or benchmarking, then 4 of them in quad crossfire can get a bit loud.