Posts by Paul Wright7

Kevin Kim6 said:Which graphics card should I pick up for about $333 at Protis?

Like the others mentioned above, you should always provide your current specs (power supply, CPU, motherboard) when asking for a GPU recommendation. That’s the only way anyone can give you a useful answer.

Assuming your build can actually handle it:

If there is any way to justify paying an extra $9.99, then absolutely:

http://www.compusa.com/applications/...004&CatId=3585

The page lists it at $229.99, but the current price is slashed, making it available for $209.99.

Otherwise, you can grab an HD 6870 for $199.99.

There is also an HD 6870 listed for $179.99:

http://www.compusa.com/applications/...=WARRANTY#tabs

However, it's labeled "Refurbished." That could mean it had a defect and was repaired, but more likely, a customer used it for 30 days and returned it—standard practice since American retailers frequently offer money-back guarantees within that window. It’s also possible the packaging was damaged during shipping, leading to a return.

Looking closer, I see they actually provide a 36-month warranty on it.

James Fisher11 said:You can't just throw out some random tenth card and claim it's better.
1. Look closer at the FPS. You'll see the 5850 SLI setup only beats it by 1 FPS at 1280x1024, while the 6850 gains a single frame at 2560x1600.
2. Here’s the review for the EVGA Graphics Card (which is actually stronger than the one you suggested I get, the 5850) in Crysis Warhead. Compared to my results, there's a 10-15 FPS difference, and since the 5850 is weaker, expect a 15-20 FPS gap.
I like what Ryan Hayes82 mentioned, but I'm sticking with this Cyclone because it clocks much better. Once both are overclocked, I think this one actually comes out ahead. Plus, it runs cooler and quieter, which is important to me.😁

Whatever... I'm done arguing. If you don't believe me, ask the others for their input, but I'm telling you the 5830 is stronger than the 5850.🤣

James Fisher11 said:Damn, I didn't realize that was a 5830. I can't find a Guru3D review for the 5850 TwinFrozr II somewhere.

It’s fine. There isn't a specific review for that card, but I checked the reviews for the standard 5850 single and CrossFire setups, including the overclocking sections:

http://www.guru3d.com/article/radeon...w-crossfire/21

- For example, it says here: "As you can see, this is a substantial overclock. As a result you are nearing 5870 performance" in Crysis Warhead.

http://www.guru3d.com/article/msi-ra...ower-review/19

- In this section, the standard HD 5850 beats this 6850 Cyclone by a hair, yet your card clearly has the edge in certain games.

The suggestion from Ryan Hayes82 is solid. 👍 If you were willing to pay $33 more, you could grab:

A GTX 560 Ti at $1,552.19 via Rolling Stone, or an XFX HD 6950 1GB DDR5 at $1,563.35 also via Rolling Stone. That would be a significant jump in performance—the Radeon starts off slightly stronger, but NVIDIA clocks better.

That said, I still think you're getting the best value for your money with $0.38. Good luck with the new build.🙂

EDIT: How can you think the 5830 is stronger? It might have a slightly higher core clock, but the actual performance gap comes down to this:

Radeon HD 5830 has 7x 160 Shader clusters = 1120 Shader processors
Radeon HD 5850 has 9x 160 Shader clusters = 1440 Shader processors

There's also a comparison in this second link featuring the 5830, 5850, and the Cyclone.

James Fisher11 said:http://www.guru3d.com/article/msi-ra...ower-review/21
http://www.guru3d.com/article/msi-r5...r-ii-review/24
😁

The first link shows it has great overclocking potential.

However, in the second link, you used the 5830 for comparison, which is significantly weaker than the 5850.🙂

dustyskipper77 said:He’s looking at getting the Cyclone, not the reference model. The Cyclone has great cooling and overclocks well...

My point was that it beats the reference card, and if you overclock it like he plans to, they're basically equal. Just like his card, it has solid cooling and scales well with overclocking. Plus, once you push it, you'll see performance levels approaching a 5870 in certain games.

Paying nearly $100 more—that's a 26% markup—for two cards with essentially the same performance doesn't strike me as a smart move.

But hey, that's just my take. It's not my money.

James Fisher11 said:I'm picking up the MSI Cyclone 6850 from Rolling Stone—they ship nationwide, so that's convenient. Out of everything listed here, it's clearly the best option. Honestly, when I first saw it a couple of months back, it was love at first sight.😍

I’d suggest going with this instead:

EVGA Graphics Card - $1,149.45 - Rolling Stone

Performance-wise, this card beats the reference 6850 series and holds its own against yours. On top of that, the 5850 series is legendary for overclocking potential—over at Guru3D, they managed to push them close to 5870 levels in Crysis Warhead. Plus, this specific model has excellent cooling. At the end of the day, the price speaks for itself.

Sean Rivera4 - same recommendation.

Bryan Evans77 said:there are cheaper options available 👍
http://www.google.com/search?q=hd5850
plus Gilbert gave us the heads up on this a few weeks ago 🙂

I wasn't aware there were cheaper ones, but I think the EVGA Graphics Card has a slightly better cooling system. Whether that makes it worth the extra money is debatable.

Hey everyone, I just stumbled upon a link for a decent deal on a 5850, though you'll need to check if it's actually in stock:

I've got a 24-inch monitor, so I'll probably go with the 1GB model. Is it actually worth picking up the Radeon 5750 1GB instead?

Hey everyone, I need some help picking out a new GPU. My old 8800 just died on me.

MY SETUP:

Intel Core 2 Duo E4300 (overclocked to 3.0GHz)
ASUS motherboard - P965
2GB OCZ platinum RAM
PSU: 550W unit

I'm torn between the NVIDIA GTX 460 or the Radeon 6850.
If this build is too weak for those cards, let me know which one would actually make sense here.