XFX, HIS & Sapphire Radeon 5850 and 5870 Review @ DH

Zardon · Oct 10, 2009, 08:49 PM

Read The Review Here
___________
A couple of weeks ago on launch day we looked at the Radeon 5870 and found it to be a very impressive card. It combined excellent performance in today’s games with a great set of features which will be useful in future titles. Today we have a follow-up article where we will look at the 5870 offerings from a selection of ATI’s partners as well as the 5850 to see which cards are worth your hard earned cash. In addition to this full CrossFire results for both cards will be provided as well as GPU computing and media playback performance figures.

**kris23** · Oct 10, 2009, 09:35 PM

seems like the 5850 is a far better value than the 5870.... very nice review

Erroneus · Oct 10, 2009, 09:42 PM

The 5850 do seem pretty impressive and I'm guessing it will drop a bit more in price, when more models are introduced to the market.

**kris23** · Oct 10, 2009, 09:46 PM

now i feel like feeding my GPU urge with dual 5850s instead but i think i can still wait.....

looking at how little the performance gains between 5850 and 5870 are.... i may just wait for whatever X2 model comes out first at a reasonable price...

dual 5850X2s sound incredible as well.....

comp_ali · Oct 11, 2009, 10:01 PM

I like this review.5850 HD has better performance/price , it is nice to see all products include free copy of Dirt 2.

ULJarad · Oct 13, 2009, 01:21 AM

I don't get it. Why did you let GTAIV decide the settings for you and not let the actual performance speak for itself? The VRAM usage is just an estimation. I run the game at max settings use the commandline.txt -norestrictions and get an average of 20-35fps (varies depending on weather) on my 8800GTX. I'd like to know to what I'd be getting with an 5870 because I won't be running it at lower settings than I currently am.

***Veridian3*** · Oct 13, 2009, 09:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ULJarad

I don't get it. Why did you let GTAIV decide the settings for you and not let the actual performance speak for itself? The VRAM usage is just an estimation. I run the game at max settings use the commandline.txt -norestrictions and get an average of 20-35fps (varies depending on weather) on my 8800GTX. I'd like to know to what I'd be getting with an 5870 because I won't be running it at lower settings than I currently am.

Hi, it was simply a case of choosing a setting for this review which allowed parity across a range of cards. We regularly vary the levels (or areas) and detail levels in our testing from one review to another.

I will keep your request in mind for the next time we test GTA, although as GTA is heavily influenced by other components such as the CPU it may not give you a true representation of what you will gain. Unless you happen to have an i7-975 CPU etc.

BlueMak · Oct 13, 2009, 09:51 AM

The 5850 looks very good, but, it is not THAT cheap for a medium model of the 5 series. The 5870 still looks like the better purchase to me if you are asking for performance. Let the X2 come soon.

ULJarad · Oct 14, 2009, 07:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Veridian3

I will keep your request in mind for the next time we test GTA, although as GTA is heavily influenced by other components such as the CPU it may not give you a true representation of what you will gain. Unless you happen to have an i7-975 CPU etc.

Yeah, GTAIV happens to be one of those games that cares about the other components.

But yeah, a max settings GTAIV benchmark would be great. Keep the great reviews coming.

SeraphicSorcerer · Oct 17, 2009, 11:18 AM

So Sapphire, or XFX 5870, which one is a better value in terms of warranty, Which would you choose?

BlueMak · Oct 18, 2009, 08:35 AM

I don't know about warranties, but I have yet to have a Sapphire card fail on me.

Bolletje · Oct 21, 2009, 02:50 AM

Sapphire has a good warranty policy I think. You can just send the card w/o the original box.

I'm looking forward to the 6 mini-DVI version (with eyefinity). I hope there will be a nice review about it

Oct 10, 2009, 08:49 PM	#1
Zardon DriverHeaven Founder Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 32,480 Rep Power: 179	XFX, HIS & Sapphire Radeon 5850 and 5870 Review @ DH Read The Review Here ___________ A couple of weeks ago on launch day we looked at the Radeon 5870 and found it to be a very impressive card. It combined excellent performance in today’s games with a great set of features which will be useful in future titles. Today we have a follow-up article where we will look at the 5870 offerings from a selection of ATI’s partners as well as the 5850 to see which cards are worth your hard earned cash. In addition to this full CrossFire results for both cards will be provided as well as GPU computing and media playback performance figures.

Oct 10, 2009, 09:35 PM	#2
kris23 Going Insane..... Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 6,017 Rep Power: 131 System Specs	Re: XFX, HIS & Sapphire Radeon 5850 and 5870 Review @ DH seems like the 5850 is a far better value than the 5870.... very nice review __________________ Hardwareheaven Super-Moderator Building a new computer system and not sure where to start? Click Here! last updated (5/18/11) Rosewill FUTURE case replaces CM 690 II with its greater interior length. Building a PC: Step by Step Guide Written by Kristopher Pedemonte and Nathan Marks-Forder Edited by Allan Campbell Questions or Comments? feel free to post them in the forums!

Oct 10, 2009, 09:42 PM	#3
Erroneus Get off my lawn! Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Denmark Posts: 13,417 Rep Power: 119 System Specs	Re: XFX, HIS & Sapphire Radeon 5850 and 5870 Review @ DH The 5850 do seem pretty impressive and I'm guessing it will drop a bit more in price, when more models are introduced to the market. __________________

Oct 10, 2009, 09:46 PM	#4
kris23 Going Insane..... Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 6,017 Rep Power: 131 System Specs	Re: XFX, HIS & Sapphire Radeon 5850 and 5870 Review @ DH now i feel like feeding my GPU urge with dual 5850s instead but i think i can still wait..... looking at how little the performance gains between 5850 and 5870 are.... i may just wait for whatever X2 model comes out first at a reasonable price... dual 5850X2s sound incredible as well..... __________________ Hardwareheaven Super-Moderator Building a new computer system and not sure where to start? Click Here! last updated (5/18/11) Rosewill FUTURE case replaces CM 690 II with its greater interior length. Building a PC: Step by Step Guide Written by Kristopher Pedemonte and Nathan Marks-Forder Edited by Allan Campbell Questions or Comments? feel free to post them in the forums!

Oct 11, 2009, 10:01 PM	#5
comp_ali Sniper Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Egypt Posts: 10,469 Rep Power: 339 System Specs	Re: XFX, HIS & Sapphire Radeon 5850 and 5870 Review @ DH I like this review.5850 HD has better performance/price , it is nice to see all products include free copy of Dirt 2. __________________

Oct 13, 2009, 01:21 AM	#6
ULJarad DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Oct 2009 Posts: 2 Rep Power: 0	Re: XFX, HIS & Sapphire Radeon 5850 and 5870 Review @ DH I don't get it. Why did you let GTAIV decide the settings for you and not let the actual performance speak for itself? The VRAM usage is just an estimation. I run the game at max settings use the commandline.txt -norestrictions and get an average of 20-35fps (varies depending on weather) on my 8800GTX. I'd like to know to what I'd be getting with an 5870 because I won't be running it at lower settings than I currently am.

Oct 13, 2009, 09:51 AM	#8
BlueMak HH's Asteroids' Dominator Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Hellas->Macedonia->Thessaloniki Posts: 13,465 Rep Power: 349 System Specs	Re: XFX, HIS & Sapphire Radeon 5850 and 5870 Review @ DH The 5850 looks very good, but, it is not THAT cheap for a medium model of the 5 series. The 5870 still looks like the better purchase to me if you are asking for performance. Let the X2 come soon. __________________ The people who are regarded as moral luminaries are those who forego ordinary pleasures themselves and find compensation in interfering with the pleasures of others(Bertrand Russell)"You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap women around for five years because they didn't wear a veil,You know, guys like that ain't got no manhood left anyway. So it's a hell of a lot of fun to shoot them." - Lt. Gen. James N. Mattis This is slavery, not to speak one's thought. [Euripides-The Phoenician Women (c.411-409 B.C.)] http://www.macedonia.info/FALLACIESANDFACTS.htm *Sic semper tyrannis.*

Oct 17, 2009, 11:18 AM	#10
SeraphicSorcerer HardwareHeaven Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Florida Posts: 2,295 Rep Power: 156 System Specs	Re: XFX, HIS & Sapphire Radeon 5850 and 5870 Review @ DH So Sapphire, or XFX 5870, which one is a better value in terms of warranty, Which would you choose? __________________

Oct 18, 2009, 08:35 AM	#11
BlueMak HH's Asteroids' Dominator Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Hellas->Macedonia->Thessaloniki Posts: 13,465 Rep Power: 349 System Specs	Re: XFX, HIS & Sapphire Radeon 5850 and 5870 Review @ DH I don't know about warranties, but I have yet to have a Sapphire card fail on me. __________________ The people who are regarded as moral luminaries are those who forego ordinary pleasures themselves and find compensation in interfering with the pleasures of others(Bertrand Russell)"You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap women around for five years because they didn't wear a veil,You know, guys like that ain't got no manhood left anyway. So it's a hell of a lot of fun to shoot them." - Lt. Gen. James N. Mattis This is slavery, not to speak one's thought. [Euripides-The Phoenician Women (c.411-409 B.C.)] http://www.macedonia.info/FALLACIESANDFACTS.htm *Sic semper tyrannis.*

Oct 21, 2009, 02:50 AM	#12
Bolletje HardwareHeaven Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: The Netherlands Posts: 1,224 Rep Power: 79 System Specs	Re: XFX, HIS & Sapphire Radeon 5850 and 5870 Review @ DH Sapphire has a good warranty policy I think. You can just send the card w/o the original box. I'm looking forward to the 6 mini-DVI version (with eyefinity). I hope there will be a nice review about it