5850 or 5870???

mas5acre · Jan 31, 2010

was hearing a 5850 can achieve the performance of a 5870 with a bios flash and overclocking. I have a pair of copper thermalright v2(s) laying around and read they are compatible with 5850/70 if I buy the vrm-r3/vrm-r4, well that might be what i do...I love copper coolers and when i saw they discontinued them I snatched up two v2(s).So is flashing these 5850(s) to 5870(s) hard? I want to crossfire without a doubt. Should look rather wicked when I'm finished. I really do like the copper look of coolers. Any recommendation on 80mm fans?

EDIT Forgive me wrong place, had multiple tabs open. That said what do u guys think?

4GHZ_or_bust · Feb 1, 2010

You don't need bios flash, you can use MSI Afterburner and edit the config file to bypass limit on non Asus and MSI video card. Also turn on voltage option if you want to be able to raise voltage.

And yes it is true a good overclocked 5850 can beat a stock 5870, which is well worth the $100 savings

3line · Feb 1, 2010

4GHZ_or_bust said:
You don't need bios flash, you can use MSI Afterburner and edit the config file to bypass limit on non Asus and MSI video card. Also turn on voltage option if you want to be able to raise voltage.

And yes it is true a good overclocked 5850 can beat a stock 5870, which is well worth the $100 savings

Yes you do need a flash. If your 5850 is not Asus or MSI, the default bios locks the oc max to 775/1125.

You need to reflash with the Asus or MSI bios, either the 5850 or 5870 bios will do.

Rattle · Feb 1, 2010

ok not to disagree with everyone but this is how it works for me. With stock bios and EnableUnofficialOverclocking set to "1" in afterburner i can go as high as the card will let me BUT after you set clocks past the ccc max it stays in 3d mode.

If i use asus bios i can clock as far as i want with afterburner and the 2d/3d clock switch still works and the cards idle at 157/300 even after you set past 775/1125 or whatever the stock bios max is.

mas5acre · Feb 1, 2010

Outside of clock speed is there any other benefits like the amount of stream processor or something between 5850 and 5870?

Chris_F · Feb 1, 2010

mas5acre said:
Outside of clock speed is there any other benefits like the amount of stream processor or something between 5850 and 5870?

Clock speed really isn't much of an issue. The 5850 will clock just as high as a 5870. The real differences are that the 5850 is a bit smaller and the core has 1440 stream processors enabled as opposed to 1600.

mas5acre · Feb 1, 2010

Chris_F said:
Clock speed really isn't much of an issue. The 5850 will clock just as high as a 5870. The real differences are that the 5850 is a bit smaller and the core has 1440 stream processors enabled as opposed to 1600.

well, i care for more than clock speed. So Ill probably go with 5870s, was really hoping ro save $.

......Wait a sec....If i flash it, can i get more stream processors enabled? My case is HUGE, size really doesn't matter. (thats wat she said.)

Rattle · Feb 1, 2010

no still 1440 shaders but u get 5870 voltage.

JonSimonzi · Feb 1, 2010

If you're already spending $300 on a graphics card, might as well just pony up the extra $100 and get the best.

psionic98 · Feb 1, 2010

JonSimonzi said:
If you're already spending $300 on a graphics card, might as well just pony up the extra $100 and get the best.

thats cause 100s grow on trees!!

3line · Feb 1, 2010

psionic98 said:
thats cause 100s grow on trees!!

Spending 33% extra for a <10% increase in performance is a waste of money. 10%, you say? Yeah, because you can actually overclock the 5850s higher.

Marshmallow64 · Feb 1, 2010

I would get the 5850. Unless you have the dough to get the best =)

Chris_F · Feb 1, 2010

3line said:
Spending 33% extra for a <10% increase in performance is a waste of money. 10%, you say? Yeah, because you can actually overclock the 5850s higher.

yes, assuming the both overclock as far (which they tend to do) you only have a 10% performance edge. That's like getting 4fps more in crysis. Not worth $100 imo.

5850 or 5870???

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