8800GTS -> 5850. Some questions..

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Disconnect

Weaksauce
Joined
Dec 23, 2002
Messages
74
I replaced my 8800GTS with a brand new XFX 5850 last night. I didn't spend a lot of time with it, but a few issues kept me from feeling happy with the purchase.

It runs much better with most games I tested, so I really want to love this card!

Refresh rate:
How do I force the refresh rate above 60Hz? I have a 2209WA and had no problem setting it to 75Hz with a custom resolution with in Nvidia's control panel. I tried Powerstrip, but it doesn't seem to work with the 5xxx cards.

This is a big deal... I can tell the difference between 60Hz and 75Hz.

Tearing:
Tearing is much worse than before in Guild Wars. Maybe it's the higher framerate, but the 8800GTS also ran it well. I didn't have to use Vsync before, but do now. Vsync adds annoying mouse lag, so I'd like to avoid it.

Game Profiles:
Is there any ways to set up different profiles so I don't have to manually change settings before each game?

OpenGL:
I could not get Tribes (older OpenGL FPS) to work well. The framerate goes into the 300s (less than the 8800) when I am not moving. As soon as I turn the screen, the framerate drops like a rock. The faster I move, the lower it gets... into the 30s if I turn fast enough. This rapid fluctuation in framerate makes it unplayable.

I didn't test out any other OpenGl games, so this may be specific to Tribes.

What are the best tweak tools for ATI cards? Ati Tray tools? I tried Rivatuner, but it didn't work. I at least want to be able to adjust the prerender limit.

System Specs:
Windows 7 x64
Q6600 @3.33Ghz
GA-EP45-UD3R
4GB
5850
Corsair 620HX

Thanks
 
Disconnect said:
I replaced my 8800GTS with a brand new XFX 5850 last night. I didn't spend a lot of time with it, but a few issues kept me from feeling happy with the purchase.

It runs much better with most games I tested, so I really want to love this card!

Refresh rate:
How do I force the refresh rate above 60Hz? I have a 2209WA and had no problem setting it to 75Hz with a custom resolution with in Nvidia's control panel. I tried Powerstrip, but it doesn't seem to work with the 5xxx cards.

This is a big deal... I can tell the difference between 60Hz and 75Hz.

Tearing:
Tearing is much worse than before in Guild Wars. Maybe it's the higher framerate, but the 8800GTS also ran it well. I didn't have to use Vsync before, but do now. Vsync adds annoying mouse lag, so I'd like to avoid it.

Game Profiles:
Is there any ways to set up different profiles so I don't have to manually change settings before each game?

OpenGL:
I could not get Tribes (older OpenGL FPS) to work well. The framerate goes into the 300s (less than the 8800) when I am not moving. As soon as I turn the screen, the framerate drops like a rock. The faster I move, the lower it gets... into the 30s if I turn fast enough. This rapid fluctuation in framerate makes it unplayable.

I didn't test out any other OpenGl games, so this may be specific to Tribes.

What are the best tweak tools for ATI cards? Ati Tray tools? I tried Rivatuner, but it didn't work. I at least want to be able to adjust the prerender limit.

System Specs:
Windows 7 x64
Q6600 @3.33Ghz
GA-EP45-UD3R
4GB
5850
Corsair 620HX

Thanks
Click to expand...

Did you completely uninstall the Nvidia drivers and run a driver cleaner to remove all remnants of the Nvidia stuff? If not, I think you're gonna have issues since Nvidia and ATI don't play well together.
 
It kind of sounds like this is what's happening. I've only rarely run into problems with this, but when I have it's been hard to put my finger on what the problem is. Something will perform completely fine, then something else will be choppy or slow. I'd make sure it's not driver related before even bothering to tweak it. (if you haven't already)
 
It's not from the Nvidia drivers since I ran driver sweeper before installing the 5850. Just in case, I ran drivercleaner in safe mode over the weekend, but nothing changed. Also, it's exactly the same in my windows XP partition.

I just found a solution to the refresh rate problem here: http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/7947-force-dvi-hdmi-resolutions-refresh-rates.html
It's a tutorial on creating a custom inf for your monitor to force the refresh rate.

Tearing is better with 75Hz.

The framerate problem with Tribes is strange.. It's old enough that it should be running 200+ fps all the time, yet I got it under 30fps by moving the screen fast enough. Cranking up AA or AF doesn't change anything. This happens in both 7 and xp. It ran fine back when I had a 9800pro.

I tried out Quake Live to see if other OpenGL games have problems, and it ran perfectly.

I've been playing with tray tools.. it's useful, but can't compare to RivaTuner. It can do most of what I want, however I don't know how to use its game profiles with Steam since ATT has to launch them itself.

Overall I'm happy with the card now that I can use 75Hz. It's a hell of a lot faster than the 8800 :)
 
I have no tearing problem with 5870 in Guild Wars...

not quite sure why its tearing for you...

and mine is with vsync off...
 
It was pretty bad at 60Hz, but is ok now that I can use 75Hz.. the same as with the 8800.
 
One possible solution to resolve tearing:
- install rivatuner
- run D3DOverrider
- launch game

it'll run every game v-sync Enabled + triple buffering ON, it eliminates tearing.
 
I use AMD's GPU Tool which allows you to overclock the snot out of it - I have mine at 815/1350 now though I think it's too high. I use MSI's tool to set the fan speed from 21% to 40% since the other tools reset the fan speed. ATI's CCC is pretty good for overclocking at manually setting the fan but you are limited. I easily set mine at the highest overclock in the CCC so you'll need something else if you want to OC higher.

I might do a separate thread but the 4850x2 1GB card is exactly the same performer. I ran 4 suites of tests and the 5850 is the 4850x2 Directx 11 version. I'm debating on selling the 5850 since DirectX11 games are months if not years down the road and I bought the 4850x2 when they first came out for $250 vs $300 for the 5850.

Let me add this as a caveat to what I said in the second paragraph:

The 4850x2 is a poor overclocker and the drivers still suck after a year on the market. Even with a full body water block keeping the temps down into the low 40s under FurMark, I still can't get a 10% overclock. I think ATI's cards are poor overclockers since I remember taking all 3 of the 9600GTs to almost a 50% overclock (on water). The 5850 might do 10% on the core, but most likely I'm looking at 5%. Like I said, 815/1350 was undoable but whatever the max is in CCC was easy (at work so I can't remember what it was). I played a couple of games that give me trouble with the 4850x2 and the 5850 seems to have no issues with them. More testing is needed though. That's a thought if you have one the 48xx X2 cards.
 
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I might do a separate thread but the 4850x2 1GB card is exactly the same performer. I ran 4 suites of tests and the 5850 is the 4850x2 Directx 11 version. I'm debating on selling the 5850 since DirectX11 games are months if not years down the road and I bought the 4850x2 when they first came out for $250 vs $300 for the 5850.
Click to expand...

slow down there ace

5850 has far less power usage and heat output, plus I doubt your 4 suites of tests were run at 1920x1200 or above with high levels of AA.

http://vr-zone.com/articles/sapphire-hd-4850x2-first-look--tested/6157.html?doc=6157

according to this article, 1920x1200 at 0xAA equals the 5850 at 4xAA. and thats the 2GB version

and you'd have to let us know what CPU you have, because it's been shown that a Core 2 at 3.2 or below bottlenecks the Evergreen series
 
dook43 said:
slow down there ace

5850 has far less power usage and heat output, plus I doubt your 4 suites of tests were run at 1920x1200 or above with high levels of AA.

http://vr-zone.com/articles/sapphire-hd-4850x2-first-look--tested/6157.html?doc=6157

according to this article, 1920x1200 at 0xAA equals the 5850 at 4xAA. and thats the 2GB version

and you'd have to let us know what CPU you have, because it's been shown that a Core 2 at 3.2 or below bottlenecks the Evergreen series
Click to expand...

Yeah you are right...I need to slow down. Damn, it was so easy to give performance numbers a few year ago - didn't have to provide different resolutions.

I did my test suites using 1680x1050 since I don't have 23+ inch monitor (22 inch runs at native 1680x1050). So, 1920 x 1200 might show that the 5850 pulls away from the 4850x2. I am using a Q9650 OCed to 4.2 GHz. Also, since I like to watercool, the 5850 actually draws more power since I'm not going to watercool it. I'm disappointed in the overclocking potential of today's video cards since water cooling a graphics card 3 years ago made more of a difference. It could be the components are scattered all over the board making it very difficult to water cool everything. That was true of the 4850x2 - the GPU and memory were fine, but the components under the pci power with the passive sinks are not water cooled.
 
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