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Torn Between 7770 and 6850

Which Card

  • Keep my 5750 1GB, wait for Prices to drop on 7k's

    Votes: 27 51.9%

  • 7770 Ghz Model 128bit, 1GB PCIe3.0 ($159)

    Votes: 9 17.3%

  • 6850 1Gb 256bit, PCIe2.1 ($139 AfterMIR)

    Votes: 13 25.0%

  • Get the 6850 to hold over for now

    Votes: 3 5.8%
  • Total voters
    52
  • Poll closed .
M

mazdaboi

Weaksauce
Joined
Nov 18, 2011
Messages
105
Finally AMD/ATI has pushed out the new 77XX series cards. My current 5750 is running all current gen games at DX11 at MED-High settings at an acceptable frame rate (for me atleast). After seeing the pre bench marks at Tomshardware and their comparison to the 6850 at the same price (via newegg), I'm torn between going with the 7770 Core (FX-777A-ZNF4 $159 Newegg) or the 6850 (HD-685X-ZCFC $139 after rebate..$159 orig. Newegg)

The 6850 has more SPU, Memory at 256bit vs 128 and its a Barts vs. the Verde chip.

I know anything is pretty much an upgrade for me right now, would the 128bit..higher clock..faster PCIe interface be better to pick up then the older 6850 at 256bit.

Current games i play are, Rift, NFS, WOW, COD:BO, COD:MW2, BF3, Skyrim.

Comp Specs
i3-2100 (3.1ghz)
H61iCafe Mobo
2x4GB DDR 1333
OCZ Vertex3 SATA3 SSD (90gb- OS n BF3)
Seagate SATA3 500GB HDD (Everything else)
Raidmax 530W PSU (new OCZ 550w PSU will be picked up when i get a new card)
WIN 3.11 .... No Really WIN 7 64bit

ASRock just relased new bios so that i can take advantage of IB when they are released with my current mobo, so the PCIe 3.0 extra bandwidth may be able to benefit slightly from this....i guess.


My friend is holding out to get a new 7850 from his current 4850 (which he gets the same FPS as my 5750 currently) and he is telling me to move away from 128bit cards, but...is this 7770 not worth it? AMD's site is saying the 7850/7870's are still 128bit.

New Architecture pushing the 128bits just as good as previous 256bit?!?


Get 7770 now or 6850 and wait for the 7XXX to drop more?

Thanks for the help.


--UPDATE--

Purchased a Gigabyte 6850OC...even though i was semi partial to XFX. The card was the same price (after MIR) @ $139 as the XFX, but the Gigabyte was dual fan and already overclocked to 820mhz from 775. I have never done overclocking in the 5750, so coming from the factory with a small boost, thats good enough for me.

Love the card. able to play BF3 on all high settings maintaining around 60FPS and on Ultra between 29-40fps. acceptable for me. But im keeping them on High when on Multiplayer.

Good stuff! Thanks for all the feedback and info. I mainly went for the 6850 becuase the extra $25 for a 6870 would of still put me over $150 (my price point after MIR/instant rebates that i set) and the 7770 was still $169-189....with the option of them eventually falling in price after the 6k's are gone. Not looking to spend money to see the price drop not to far afterwards. and the 7800's are estimated between $250-349....no where near what i want to pay.

Ending up selling my RAIDMAX 530W to someone on CL, bought a OCZ ModXtreme Pro 600W to have a slightly higher power and more reputable PSU.

This setup will last me a good 2 years...hopefully, never know...maybe another itch would come along and i spend another few hundred bucks on computer parts i already have that work perfectly fine....this hobby is like a boat... nothing but sinking money into it!!
 
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The HD 6850 is faster if that's the price point you're looking at. If you want something around the performance range of an HD 7850 without waiting or getting soaked buy a GTX 560 Ti.
 
I'd suggest purchasing a used 6850 for about $100.

*ninja edit*

The new Verde gpus at 128-bit interface are competitive to the 256-bit interface. Forget about how many bits the interface uses, and forget about advantages of pci-e 3.0. There will be no noticeable difference between the 6xxx vs 7xxx series for pci-e 2.0 vs pci-e 3.0.

Also, just look at the reviews & benchmarks to see the performance. Stop trying to compare hardware specs.
If the benchmarks show the 7770 with 128-bit interface is faster than the 6850 with 256-bit interface, then that's all that matters.

*slowpoke edit*
It looks like the 6850 is slightly faster than the 7770, but uses more power:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/5541/amd-radeon-hd-7750-radeon-hd-7770-ghz-edition-review/17

but skyrim at 1920x1200 and 4x AA the 7770 is faster
 
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Jimi_Shuffler said:
just hold onto your money for a bit more.
Click to expand...

For what? There's nothing sub-$200 coming that's going to be any better than the offerings out there right now. If he's solidly in the AMD camp he should just get an HD 6870 and be happy.
 
Get a used 6850. You should be able to get one for less than $120. (I'm selling my XFX 6850 with full transferable lifetime warranty over in the FS forum http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1677967). 6850 is a bit faster than the 7770, and is about DOUBLE your 5750 (I know- I had a 5750 then 6850 then 6850 crossfire, now likely moving to a 7950).
 
Either get one or expand your budget by a "few dollars" and get both. Overclocking the 460 will make it a little faster than the 6850 (when both are at max OC), getting two is basically GTX 580 level performance.

http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1675754

Generally if you're not concerned about power consumption I'd go for the 6850. If you have sub-par case airflow or really care about power then get the 6850. But my first choice would be a GTX 460 or two like I suggested ^^^, since you want good bang/buck.
 
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mazdaboi said:
Im not opposed of going to get a 560/560ti or an older 460. Microcenter has a 460 2GB on sale for $139, still a big jump from my current card. (http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0354535)

Im fine with the sub $200 prices now, just want best bang for buck. I am curious on the new 7800's pushing the 6800's lower in price...but we never know
Click to expand...

If you live near a store that has that 2GB model in stock it would be a good deal. It'd be a decent enough deal if it were a 1GB model. Too bad its "in-store" only - I'd grab one (no Micro Center here).
 
J Macker said:
Also, just look at the reviews & benchmarks to see the performance. Stop trying to compare hardware specs
Click to expand...

I agree with that.

If I were in your position and wanted to upgrade, I'd buy a 560 or a 6870. Reviews have them going blow for blow performance wise, and they're priced in the same general area.

Personally, I wouldn't get the 7770. Its about the same price as the 560/6870, but gets outperformed by both.

7770 is great if low heat/power is your goal. It is more efficient than either the 560 or the 6870.
 
@Jeffredo - Yea i have one right up the street. Im going to review more on benchmarks and current owners feedback/reviews on the 2Gb 460.
 
Wait for the Nvidia cards to arrive, and prices to drop. Then you can do a cross comparison in your price range of a multitude of available products, including used old generation cards. Then weigh the advantages of the new technology to your needs/wants.

I would advise on waiting at least until prices on the 7770 drop, and then upgrade to it. I would personally go for the 7770 over the older generation to take advantage of the new features and improved ones, when the prices drop.

EDIT

Also:
Im fine with the sub $200 prices now, just want best bang for buck. I am curious on the new 7800's pushing the 6800's lower in price...but we never know
Click to expand...
I believe AMD has priced their new cards above the existing stock, so as to allow the existing stock to sell out. I do not believe there for, that the 6800 series will drop in price due to the introduction of the 7 series. However, when Nvidia enters the market, AMD may lower prices across the board for competetive reasons, and thus have the drop you want then. But, stock of the 6800 series may not exist by then, though a used market most certainly will.
 
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mazdaboi said:
@Jeffredo - Yea i have one right up the street. Im going to review more on benchmarks and current owners feedback/reviews on the 2Gb 460.
Click to expand...

I could make use of one - especially at that price. Overclock it to about 825 Mhz (almost always doable on those cards at the least) and Skyrim would behave better with the HD Textures DLC.
 
Id get a card with at least 2gb's, though I am not sure what resolution you are playing at.
 
@Maplehamwich - good thought on the current 68xx supply, letting them run dry before the prices will possibly drop to on the 77xx cards. Might end up getting a used 6850 for the time being

@Jeffredo - I just tried OC'ing my 5750 from 700/1150 to 775/1200 and i pushed a few extra fps on BF3 at High settings - 1900x1080 im around 28-32fps... I usually play at high at 1600x900 and ive been getting around 40fps on stock clock. AA off.
Edit -
All Settings Medium..not High. Just re-checked my settings and posted benchtest below.

@Hagrid - Playing at 1600x900 on a 23" LED Acer Monitor, (full screen, still looks awesome)
 
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So i quickly did a benchmark test via fraps for BF3:

Stock Clocks 700/1150
Min-32
Max 47
Avg- 39.121

OC 825/1335 (from a website suggestion)
Min-33
Max-58
Avg- 45.199

Both were only around 60seconds of fraps capture. Dont think ill keep the OC here, but its not that gret of an improvement for 5-6fps to risk the card at this OC level.....

All Settings Medium, AA Off, AF 4X, AO SSAO 1920x1080 60hz.

----
Another OC (Setting i found online to come close to a 5770)
800/1200
Settings High, Motion Blur On, AF 16x, HBAO
Min 27, Max 42, Avg 33. Screen shutter was aweful!
 
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UPDATE:

I ended up picking the Gigabyte 6850OC cause it was pre-overclocked, dual fans, and onsale for $139 after MIR. Going to try to sell the 5750 XFX card i got BUT if it doesnt sell, ill keep it for a backup or spare card for another budget build down the road.

I replaced my RAIDMAX (budget) PSU for a higher quality one, an OCZ 600MXSP. Just to be on the safe side, i have seen alot of users pushing the RAIDMAX 530W on a 6870 and 6950, however, its a $39 PSU and i wasn't risking any high voltage from it. Plus the OCZ was $49 after MIR and Instant savings (reg $89) Cant beat it!

The 7850/7870 were expected to be around $250-349 from what Tomshardware said, and the 7770 i didnt believe would keep me satisfied for longer then 1 year LOL.



Thanks for all the info and help.
 
6850 should handle youre current games fine.
Though it does depend on youre resolution.
When the newer 7770 card reaches 139-120 then it would be the card to go for.
Though if running 1920x1080 or above I would wait and spend slightly more on a 7870 or 7950.
It will simply last you very long time.
(me love you long time.)
 
@Maximilian144 - Dont plan on OC, thats why i figured id spend the extra $10 on the OC edition vs the regular and also it had the dual fans.

@{NG}Fidel - Its handling Skyrim on (VeryHigh) @ 1920x1080, BF3 on Ultra, but i may push it down to High and 8xAA, or keep it on Ultra and put AA down to 2X. Still playing around with that. WOW is on Ultra and MassEffect 3 is full 1080 no shutter (doesnt seem like that intensive of a game anyways)

Very happy with the 6850...for now, After the updated drivers (like i was thinking before) come out for the 7770 and 7750 with more benching of the card, id really look forward to a good comparison between that 7770 being 128bit and a higher clock then my 256bit slower clock 6850. (i know there are more within the architecture of the card then just that for comparisons)
 
6850 on ultra? you must not mind pretty low fps! I used to have a 6850 and I never liked going higher than medium
 
stevelopez91 said:
6850 on ultra? you must not mind pretty low fps! I used to have a 6850 and I never liked going higher than medium
Click to expand...

I was doing an avg 37-42fps. Keep in mind on MED settings on my 5750 i was doing ALMOST 30 and as its not excellent, i was so used to it that now the extra 8-10 fps and being able to do ultra is awesome. I'm going to keep playing around with the settings to see if High settings will push me to 60fps and i may just keep it there.

(all this is based off fraps screen capture, i know fraps sucks resources and posts at a slower frame rate running then it does off)
 
Goodfellah said:
Thats odd, I seem to get a pretty decent frame rate on a mix of high/ultra on my 6870.
Click to expand...

I really couldn't get more than 30 fps on my 6850, but you do have a 6870. 6870's are pretty damn beast. Really regretted not spilling 20 more bucks for the 6870 back when I got my 6850. Whatever, doesn't matter now! 7970 is owning :cool:
 
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