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5850 vs 5770 (x2)

5850 hands down. the 5770's are bogus. 5850 for future proofing and expecially if you add another 5850
 
While two 5770's is generally faster than the 5850(in games that scale well), I would go the single card route. The mins will be better due to not having additional overhead of Crossfire. Plus, as the poster above said, you can add another 5850 and match a 5970.
 
5770s may have an advantage in some situations now, but I doubt they'll hold up to well into the future as even both of them really aren't that much power. If you get 1 5850 you can always add another one later, and probably for a good bit less then you will pay for one now.
 
Why exactly are 5770s bogus and not as future proof? The CF price/performance scaling is probably the best you can get at the moment.
 
Spare-Flair said:
Why exactly are 5770s bogus and not as future proof? The CF price/performance scaling is probably the best you can get at the moment.
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It's really only worth it to SLI/Crossfire 2 top end cards.

The price of two compared to a 5850, is not that great, especially since a single 5850 has space for another GPU (if you have a xfire capable mobo).
Something like 160 x2 is 320usd for 5770 xfire, and it's 310-360 for a single 5850.... not to mention the xfire mobo.

Also, does anybody remember the 8500gt SLI setups? Had 'em just for the SLI name :p
 
jeremyshaw said:
It's really only worth it to SLI/Crossfire 2 top end cards.

The price of two compared to a 5850, is not that great, especially since a single 5850 has space for another GPU (if you have a xfire capable mobo).
Something like 160 x2 is 320usd for 5770 xfire, and it's 310-360 for a single 5850.... not to mention the xfire mobo.

Also, does anybody remember the 8500gt SLI setups? Had 'em just for the SLI name :p
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Well, as a one time purchase, you still get 5870 performance at 75% of the price if you go with 5770s CF'd.

The real value is for the budget gamer who wants a decent card today but wants to be able to CF in the future and a 5770 will only cost $170 today and in a year or two when he wants more performance, they could probably get another one for $100.

This is completely different from the 8500gt SLI analogy when two 5770's CF'd is near the performance of the top single cards at a lower price.
 
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It's already been said, but let's say it again... 1 5850 now, add another later.

Want more power than your pair of 5770s? Go through the hassle of selling off the 5770s. Get less than what you paid. A 5850 will hold its value because you won't be selling it to free up slots.
 
At 1920x resolutions, 5770 Crossfire outperforms the 5850, sometimes by a considerable amount. But I don't think 5770 Crossfire would be appropriate for Eyefinity triple monitor resolutions; you should be looking at 5850 Crossfire or 5970 for that, but right now it's the worst possible time to buy those.

On newegg this week, two 5770 cards cost $320 and a single 5850 costs $310; that's the reason we're even having this discussion. That will not last. When 5850 supply increases in a month or two, the 5850 will drop back down to the $220-$250 range where it belongs. 5770 prices are not likely to drop very much anytime soon, and the 5850's bang-for-buck value will then be much higher than that of 5770 Crossfire.
 
as a ONE time buy if this is your options and you dont plan on buying another card in the future at all then i agree 2 5770's will beat the 5850. but all i was saying is that prices will drop soon and x2 5850's will easily beat the 5770's thus future proofing your Rig.

im sticking to my guns on this one. im in the same boat as the OP and im building my Rig at the moment but I refuse to put low end cards in my Rig. Im waiting for 5850 price drops for crossfire.
 
SonDa5 said:
When will that be?

Chances are by the time the prices get good there will be a new improved card from ATI or NVIDIA.
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well the only new card slated to come out from ATI in the next year that will be a performance boost is the 5890 which we all now know will be coming out around the time nvidia releases their crap.. when ever that is..

stick to your guns 4LC4PON3 because you are correct.. best bang for the buck is the single card solution with the ability to upgrade to crossfire later on down the road.. that will also give ATI time to work out all the crossfire kinks in some of the newer and older games as the drivers continue to improve..
 
Ahh, seems there is a lot of inappropriate dislike for the 5770s on this forum as well...seems to be a common theme.

At a 1920x1080 resolution two 5770s in CF will perform closer to a 5870 and depending on how you OC it, will outperform the 5870 in some applications.

The only downside to this, of which has been stated is that there really isn't any upgrade room. However, depending on when your next upgrades are the 5770s in CF can last you awhile.

I believe a pair of 5770s are right now the best bang for the buck if you're able to do it. About the same price as a 5850 with the performance of a 5870 that scales extremely well when OC'd.
 
Cook_1 said:
Ahh, seems there is a lot of inappropriate dislike for the 5770s on this forum as well...seems to be a common theme.

At a 1920x1080 resolution two 5770s in CF will perform closer to a 5870 and depending on how you OC it, will outperform the 5870 in some applications.

The only downside to this, of which has been stated is that there really isn't any upgrade room. However, depending on when your next upgrades are the 5770s in CF can last you awhile.

I believe a pair of 5770s are right now the best bang for the buck if you're able to do it. About the same price as a 5850 with the performance of a 5870 that scales extremely well when OC'd.
Click to expand...

Exactly, unfortunately I don't have the link right now but some other forums worked out the calculation that two 5770 in CF are actually the best bang for your buck in FPS per dollar right now. It also has the best scaling.
 
one question what power supply are you currenty running. do you have enough power to run x2 5850's?

the only reason i said a 5850 was because it would give you headroom for a second card wich will outperform the 5770s with ease. its a hard choice to be honest and like everyone else said x2 5770's will out perform a single 5850 and be almsot equal to a 5870.
 
No power supply yet...I'm building this rig from scratch. Chances are I'll go with a solid 600W+ to last me a while.

Do you think the 4890 might be a better value? Or do you recommend going with a dx11 card?
 
well if your building from scratch there is no way i would go with a dx10 card. Dx11 will future proof you. also jsut saying if you decide on a 5850 crossfire your going to need a good 750 watt PSU such as the Corsair 750TX.

not all games benefit from SLI/Crossfire thats why they give you the option to disable crossfire in the options menu.
 
Personally I would prefer a single 5850. Adding two video cards will double the fan noise and heat.

Crossfire/SLI can cause its own compatibility problems also.
 
not overly impressed with the 5770 price/performance. at this point i would go for the 5850.
 
Although you would be happier with the 5770x2 for a few months, in the end there is not a good reason to go with a 5850 now.
 
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