5770 or 5850

So I'm kind of torn here, currently running the system in my signature, and I've decided it's finally time to get a new vid card. Currently I play at 1680x1050, but considering getting a new monitor as well (native res 1920x1080).

Right now, the 5770 is right in my pricepoint, and I know it will work well with most of the games I play/plan on playing (MW2, SC2, BFBC2, D3, WoW etc.) but I'd like to get the 5850 so it'll last a bit longer, and is from what I've read quite a bit more powerful.

So my question is, should I just get the 5770 now, or should I wait a bit and get the 5850? Also, how much, if at all, do you think the 5850 is going to drop in price and how far away?

I know theres know way to know for sure when, but I haven't paid attention to vid cards for awhile, figured some of you may just know based on previous trends. Thanks for the help/reading the post!

Wait and get 5850. 5770 is nothing more than a GTX260 216 with DX11 (performance wise of course).

EarthDog said:

Wait and get 5850. 5770 is nothing more than a GTX260 216 with DX11 (performance wise of course).

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Yeah, I get that, but thing is right now and for the next little bit, it's good enough. Doing a lot of reading to see if I can't figure out an approximate price drop and time line to see whether I should wait or not.

Save yourself the trouble. You'll only end up spending a lot more or waiting a hell of a lot longer until 'something more' is cheaper than dirt if you get the 5770 merely to satisfy you "for the next little bit."

If there will be one it would be towards the end of march when gf100 supposedly releases.

Back in September of 2008 4870 1gb cards were going for $280 to $300. 2 months later my brother bought a 512 version for $190. Last September I bought my first 4870 1gb card from Newegg for $109. It was an open box purchase but it came with all the goodies inside. 1 month later I picked up another card for $125. If you can wait a year the prices well be lower.

Id say buy it. If your gaming at 1920x1080 then it should do fine..
I like buying mid end stuff @ decent prices then upgrade in like 6 months to a year. buy it, use it for now and save the extra $ for something in a few months/year

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-graphics-card,2521.html
Check that link out

There will likely not be a price drop on the 5800 series for a long time. When Fermi comes out the cards will be more powerful and priced higher than the radeon 5k's, nobody is sure exactly how much faster they will be though, and how they will OC (another big factor nobody seems to have mentioned so far).

So, ATI/AMD will have no reason to drop their gpu prices, unless Nvidia prices each of their more powerful cards the same as the respective radeon cards they're meant to compete with; which, knowing Nvidia, is very unlikely. I'm expecting them to price gouge the hell out of the higher end Fermis, which has been the trend with each new gen gpu for many years now.

But I'd like to see myself be proven wrong. :/

fermi is due out when? i was watching some info on it at guru3d and it handles things better but doesent seem to have much in raw horsepower, it seems to me nvidia figured out a bit of fine tuning and some better instruction sets and lay out is better than brute force but to me its too little too late. there were some demos recorded and from what i saw in the recorded demos its more feature rich than blazingly fast, its hard to explain.

any way i was also reading that 5770's take well to crossfire X so when they do go down in price you could stick another one in there (if you have a seccond slot) and see a nice boost. even 3 xfire 5770 did really well in games but there are others where it did about as good as 2 so theres a bug for some going from 2 to 3 but they'll get it.

if you want to wait a bit i'll post results with mine, it should get here tommorow so i could possibly post results some time next week

I'd be surprised if the next round of DX11 hardware from nVidia/ATI doesn't address the missing link in performance/price between the 5770 and 5850.

Last I checked Fermi is due sometime this quarter... is it pushed back?

Timing advice: If you're happy with your current performance - wait it out. If/when you feel your GPU is lowering the quality of the games you're playing (not what's new, necessarily) to a degree that it cheapens the experience, then the time has come . If you want a strategy to psychologically hold out until the next big pricing shakeup, find/rediscover a few great games of yesteryear to tide you over.

I will tell you what. I have always went the cheap route on video cards. A year and a half ago I bought a single 9800gt. Before that I bought another mid-range card. I've always been unhappy with my performance.

I'm finally going to spend the money on a 5850. In all honesty, the 5770 is nice, if your going to keep your current monitor then it will run like a low.mid range card. But if you want to be happy with your choice a 5850 is in order, 1920x1080 with full AA and AF will make a 5770 cry. Your current monitor at full AA and AF might make a 5770 cry :-(

Just find the cheapest 5850 online with free shipping and nag it. You wont regret it.

Option A: Single 5770
Option B: 5850 (Great Choice)

Option C:
Wait for the ATI Radeon 5830. It was just delayed but has a price point of about $240. ATI just delayed the release so it may be another month or two before they come out.

Option D:
5770 XFIRE. Get one 5770 now within your budget to run your currently display, and purchase a second one for xfire when you buy a new monitor. At times this can be faster than a single 5850 but the price ends up being a bit higher.

ChaosInMind said:

I will tell you what. I have always went the cheap route on video cards. A year and a half ago I bought a single 9800gt. Before that I bought another mid-range card. I've always been unhappy with my performance.

I'm finally going to spend the money on a 5850. In all honesty, the 5770 is nice, if your going to keep your current monitor then it will run like a low.mid range card. But if you want to be happy with your choice a 5850 is in order, 1920x1080 with full AA and AF will make a 5770 cry. Your current monitor at full AA and AF might make a 5770 cry :-(

Just find the cheapest 5850 online with free shipping and nag it. You wont regret it.

Option A: Single 5770
Option B: 5850 (Great Choice)

Option C:
Wait for the ATI Radeon 5830. It was just delayed but has a price point of about $240. ATI just delayed the release so it may be another month or two before they come out.

Option D:
5770 XFIRE. Get one 5770 now within your budget to run your currently display, and purchase a second one for xfire when you buy a new monitor. At times this can be faster than a single 5850 but the price ends up being a bit higher.

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I like how you laid out some options, but feel compelled to clarify:

My single 5770 is playing Dragon Age at 1900x1200, maxed out quality (with some enhanced texture mods), 8x SSAA with zero hiccups. Quite gorgeous really.

Granted, Dragon Age is not the most taxing, but I'm not sure the 1920x180=cry comment is a fair generalization at this point in time.

Chixofnix said:

I like how you laid out some options, but feel compelled to clarify:

My single 5770 is playing Dragon Age at 1900x1200, maxed out quality (with some enhanced texture mods), 8x SSAA with zero hiccups. Quite gorgeous really.

Granted, Dragon Age is not the most taxing, but I'm not sure the 1920x180=cry comment is a fair generalization at this point in time.

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Maybe CRY was a bit of an overstatement, but just trying to emphasize my point. Do you have all AA and AF turned up? I know Dragon Age runs very smooth on my 9800gt too... so maybe the rendering engine in the game is just very good?

Let me correct my statement.

In all honesty, the 5770 is nice, if your going to keep your current monitor then it will run like a low or upper-mid range card. But if you want to be happy with your choice a 5850 is in order, 1920x1080 with full AA and AF will make a 5770 cry ON CERTAIN GAMES :"o(