AMD's ATI Radeon HD 5850 Video Card Review @ [H]

xXxDieselxXx said:
Can we expect availability today/tomorrow or Friday?

Guru3D's review mentioned Friday. I'm hearing confusing information.
Click to expand...

Here is a direct response from Jay Marsden at AMD on 5850 Availability

The partners will start launching samples into channel as of today and as production ramps up more availability will arrive on a day to day basis.
Click to expand...
 
It should also be noted that 5850 reviews were delayed until the 30th because AMD knew parts would not be out until at least now.
 
After looking over this review... I still want a 5870... :p But we shall see... I may have to "settle" for a 5850 when I do buy a new video card.. and the CF-X later on.. or maybe not.
 
HazardousHalf said:
Are you serious? OF COURSE it's better than the GTX 285. You're comparing a new generation video card to old, outdated technology. Also, the GTX 285 should, in no way possible, compete with an HD5870. If AMD had released a high end chip that was head-to-head with nvidia's "last year's tech", there would have been a lot of pissed off people out there.

*Edit - fixed spelling/grammar errors
Click to expand...

I was comparing the GTX285 to the HD5850. In case, you had forgotten, the GTX285 is nV's current single-GPU champion (basically, it's the only shipping product to compare anything to). True; HD5870 *should* be waxing GTX285 (because AMD actually had time to craft a response); however, that in no way explains the beatdown the lower-end HD5850 is putting on the same part.

As I said, HD5850 costs less, has better performance, and is easier on the electric bill (than not just GTX285, but HD48xx).
 
kcthebrewer said:
Just ordered my XFX being sent overnight :D
Click to expand...

Oh hellz yeah. Me too. Was holding out for a GTX 285 to drop. Early birthday present for myself this year. Woot!

Moving up from a GTX 260 Core 216. I wont lie...... my 260 has served me right for the last year.

Cant wait to fire that bitch up Friday. Great review btw.

Now I cant wait for SSDs to drop another $50-100 from the current price point and I will build a new i5 machine.
 
Since I've decided not to upgrade to the i5, this seems like a freakin AWESOME buy for me right now, I particularily like the ROP's with the intense AA abilities and the really low power requirements, even though I'm rocking a 750watt.
 
Im not gonna lie, I have always loved nvidia cards. However, with their lack of any kind of real pricing or avalibility for gt300, Im probally gonna buy one of these. Eyefinity is also looking pretty appealing.
 
maverick0817 said:
Im not gonna lie, I have always loved nvidia cards. However, with their lack of any kind of real pricing or avalibility for gt300, Im probally gonna buy one of these. Eyefinity is also looking pretty appealing.
Click to expand...

My last ATI Card was the sick Radeon 9800 XT............ seems soooo long ago. I just never got back around to an ATI card after that one........ wasnt fan boying.... just went with whatever the top card was when I was ready to build my new computer...... and whatever was in my wallet.
 
UL said:
So what's the best brand for ATI/AMD cards?

Looking for Warranty + Customer Service + Reliability --> Performance
Click to expand...

X-F-X (double lifetime warranty, best customer service of any AMD AIB, best stock-card reliability, and normally the best at stock cooling; also, unlike most, their warranty is also mod-friendly). It's why I'm going with them for my HD5850.
 
lol my last 3 cards were all ATi lol, my next one will be too, x1800, 3870,4850 hoping this time though it will be the 5870x2. If I cant wait ill probably buy a 5850 now then upgrade a little later.
 
My last ATI card was a 3870. It seems like these 260s will the shortest lasting cards I've ever had. I'm tempted to toss them up for sale, buy a 5850, and then save up for two more monitors and another 5850 when ATI adds CF support to Eyefinity.
 
Derangel said:
My last ATI card was a 3870. It seems like these 260s will the shortest lasting cards I've ever had. I'm tempted to toss them up for sale, buy a 5850, and then save up for two more monitors and another 5850 when ATI adds CF support to Eyefinity.
Click to expand...

Sounds like a good plan. Sell em while the value is still high. Nvidia cards will only drop from here on out due to 5850 price/performance pressure.
 
The 5850s were "cart addable" early on the 30th, 2 brands only for $259. Did they put them up by mistake, or did they just sell out?

I'm holding out for an aftermarket cooled and overclocked deal from XFX, or a GT300 variant if it's a winner. But you gotta love how much performance AMD is giving us for $260, WOW.
 
It's really amazing the performance you can get now for under $300.

Just a small point of confusion: I've noticed publications are starting to refer to dual card configurations as CrossfireX. Doesn't "Crossfire" refer to dual card Radeon configs, while "CrossfireX" means triple, quad card? Or is ATI trying to rebrand all multi-card with an X?

Considering you've repeated yourselves a couple times now, your thoughts on nV not releasing GT300 until Q1'09 are duelly noted. I'm not holding my breath on any competition anymore and have my mind set on a 5870 x2 (or two) once released. Any inkling of when Eyefinity may be supported with CrossfireX.

Teeny typo alert: "We tried literally every "Enthusiast" level setting in Warhead"
 
Last edited:
vick1000 said:
The 5850s were "cart addable" early on the 30th, 2 brands only for $259. Did they put them up by mistake, or did they just sell out?

I'm holding out for an aftermarket cooled and overclocked deal from XFX, or a GT300 variant if it's a winner. But you gotta love how much performance AMD is giving us for $260, WOW.
Click to expand...

They were not put up by mistake. They had them in stock for around three hours. I was one who bought an xfx 5850 :cool:.
 
Ahhhhh......

I want to buy one of these so badly off of Amazon, but I don't want to wait forever for it to come back in stock.
 
Enjoyed the review.

One question that i have about the photos.

It appears that the hd5850s don't fit your MB correctly. there is a gap at the top of the cards like they may be touching. Also the bottom card isn't secured by a screw.

Is there a problem fitting the hd5850 in narrow xfire mother boards?
 
I'll save some money for this plus better PSU and a new LCD for when nVidia launch their card, I'm sure the price will drop to somewhere around $199 that time.
 
Nice card... BUT...

I'm getting a little annoyed at how [H] editors seem to be gushing about how much it's beating nVidia cards at the same price point. They always seem so totally amazed that a new card is faster than a last-generation card that was built on architecture that's over a year old.

Obviously if you are in the market for a card and you just can't bring yourself to wait until next month, these are the cards to get. Personally, I'd wait until the GT300 cards next month before throwing a red-balloon party. When you're talking about spending three or four hundred dollars, I wouldn't think that'd be too long to wait.

Actually, scratch that. These aren't the cards to get, unless you're dead set on owning a single card. I'd get a pair of 4890s or GTX 275s before I'd plunk down the dough on one of these. It pays to pay attention to the savings you can get with multiple cards. My current setup is a pair of GTX 260s (216 core) in SLI, and when I bought them their cost together was actually slightly less than a single stock GTX 285.
 
littledoc said:
Nice card... BUT...

Obviously if you are in the market for a card and you just can't bring yourself to wait until next month, these are the cards to get. Personally, I'd wait until the GT300 cards next month before throwing a red-balloon party. When you're talking about spending three or four hundred dollars, I wouldn't think that'd be too long to wait.
Click to expand...

True, but if the nvidia is late, and waiting 2 months possible more, there isnt anything that touches the ati cards currently.
If one wants a card, I get a ati card.

Nvidia seems to do for example tesselation using shaders which raise questions in how speed is going to be.
It also raise questions if they will ever implement dx11 in their game program development?
If their Fermi gpu isnt as good to do such tasks, I bet they wont make gamedevelopers do it (Tesselation).

There are several ways the market can be stopped from moving on.
Besides, hardocp also get the Nvidia stamp of love from many others.
I guess Kyle dont give a shit anyhow ;)
 
littledoc said:
Nice card... BUT...

I'm getting a little annoyed at how [H] editors seem to be gushing about how much it's beating nVidia cards at the same price point. They always seem so totally amazed that a new card is faster than a last-generation card that was built on architecture that's over a year old.

Obviously if you are in the market for a card and you just can't bring yourself to wait until next month, these are the cards to get. Personally, I'd wait until the GT300 cards next month before throwing a red-balloon party. When you're talking about spending three or four hundred dollars, I wouldn't think that'd be too long to wait.

Actually, scratch that. These aren't the cards to get, unless you're dead set on owning a single card. I'd get a pair of 4890s or GTX 275s before I'd plunk down the dough on one of these. It pays to pay attention to the savings you can get with multiple cards. My current setup is a pair of GTX 260s (216 core) in SLI, and when I bought them their cost together was actually slightly less than a single stock GTX 285.
Click to expand...

it could realistically take up to 5-6 months before nvidia has a fermi gpu at 260$. There`s no guarantee that it`ll be better than the 5850 either.

and there`s definite advantages in getting a single card that`s more powerful. getting a 5850 now and having the option of getting another one later gives a lot of flexibility that last-gen multi-gpu setups simply do not have. We`re not even getting into DX11, eyefinity, lower power consumption, etc.
 
littledoc said:
Obviously if you are in the market for a card and you just can't bring yourself to wait until next month, these are the cards to get. Personally, I'd wait until the GT300 cards next month before throwing a red-balloon party.
Click to expand...

Wow, next month. Sounds a bit optimistic. Would love to see nvidia's new card next month, but just don't think it's gonna happen. For now I've picked up a 5850 because my 9600gt ain't cuttin it anymore.
 
Does anyone expect the 2GB model of the 5870 to be a leap in performance like the 4870 1GB model was to the 4870 512MB card?
 
Hi Guys,

Is this a good score? Ran on High (1680x1050) I have been away from 3DMark stuff for a long time :D

XFX 5850 on default and i7-860 @3.8Ghz

EDIT: Never mind. It looks like everybody uses Performance settings instead. Will have to run it again.

1st3dmark.jpg
 
Last edited:
Brent-

Fabulous review- now if only we can see a next-gen card that is single-slot (even the 57xx is reference-designed as dual-slot)

BTW- Wonderful turn of phrase:

If you are waiting for NVIDIA to jump out of the GPU closet with a 5800 killer and put the fear into you for making a 5800 series purchase for Halloween, we suggest paper dragons are not that scary. We feel as though it will be mid-to-late Q1’10 before we see anything pop out of NVIDIA’s sleeve besides its arm.
Click to expand...

Really fantastic.
 
vjcsmoke said:
The 5850 is looking to be a very nice little video card. It's a gtx 285 slayer in a friendly 9.5 inch form factor. Especially at the asking price of $259. Once bing cash back gets online for these, it could clock in under $225, making it a very popular choice for Holiday present!
Click to expand...

i just checked ebay and they are going for $340-$390+++

Where can I buy one for $225?!:confused: even the egg has them for $310++++
 
THRESHIN said:
great review as usual, but i gotta laugh at the way the market is right now. amd is getting hammered by intel in the cpu market but they're kicking ass in the gpu market. go figure that one.

poor nvidia...they're in for a rough time. especially seeing as how they'll have nothing new for x-mas. thats going to hurt.
Click to expand...

Not really. It's still extremely difficult getting these cards. I actually had the worse thing happen - I backordered from 5 places in hopes I could get one before Thanksgiving and cancel the others but 2 sent out at the same time. I have a 5850 and a 5870. Good thing my brother-in-law needed a new card. Still, nVidia won't be hurting this Xmas since the economy is still tanking and the nVidia drivers are much more robust than the new 5xxx series. They also know there are very few games slated for Christmas that take advantage of DirectX11.
 
Hulk said:
i just checked ebay and they are going for $340-$390+++

Where can I buy one for $225?!:confused: even the egg has them for $310++++
Click to expand...

This will happen anytime you have bleeding-edge tech at very scarce quantities. Supply < Demand = Mucho $$$

Wait until next year.
 
What is the performance increase of the 5870 over the 5850?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top