[Double Helix]

Has anyone got any benchies with new and up to date drivers? I heard there were some drivers that boosted performance on the 68 series cards?

Reason I ask is, when I google it everyone says that 6850s are slightly worse as single cards but are better than 5850s in CF.

Basically I'm gonna go for one or the other, I just want to know what's faster. Bearing in mind I have only a x16 and an x4 slot on my mobo, I figured only midrange cards wouldn't be bottlenecked by that. The only single card I was looking at is a 6950, which is around the same price...

Help!

 

[BradleyW]

6850 CF will win in Tesselation. Raw power, i would pick the 5850's.

google for 6850 CF review and compare!

 

[xsf]

If you're using your current sig monitor, I would go with a better single card (the 6950), then crossfire cards. With the lower res from your monitor (if it's under 1920x1980) you'll need more from your CPU and less from your GPU. With that being said, if you go single you'll be better off.

With a higher res, you might see better numbers from the crossfire setup, over the single card.

 

[BradleyW]

This review shows the 5850 single vs 6850 single, the 5850 is around 4-6fps faster so in CF the 5850's might just win by 4-5fps at a guess, however, like i said, the 6850's are far better tesselation and will have better driver support.

What resolution do you game on? If the res is low, more is needed from the CPU rather than GPU so CF might not be the best option.

 

[Double Helix]

Oh, I'm going for a 1080p 120hz monitor too, and I want to be up there in the FPS, near to 100+ as possible if I can in most games.

 

[B!0HaZard]

AFAIK HD 5850 CF has far more raw power, while HD 6850 CF has better optimization (which only rarely makes up for it's lack of raw power). HD 6850's should get better CF scaling. HD 6850 power draw is lower IIRC.

Basically, I think HD 6850 CF is the better choice because they should perform the same as HD 5850 CF, but have lower power draw, but it's so little that it's basically all down to price. Pick the cheapest.

What games will you be playing?

 

[BradleyW]

Could you push for 6870 CF? I mean....i don't even hit 100fps with 2 6970's mate.

(Based on BFBC2 and All crysis games max out 1080p)

 

[Double Helix]

Well I don't need to run every thing top-top. I would rather knock the detail down and get a better FPS. I have a budget of £200.

It's gonna mainly be so I can comfortably play Skyrim and BF3, aswell as all the games I'm playing that are getting released atm.

 

[Alphonze]

The 6850's would win if you're comparing CF solely, the 6000 series scales waaaaay better than the 5000 series ever could.

 

[The Master Chief]

6850's are a few FPS better...

If you already have a 5850, no point in getting crossfire 6850's when you can get a 5850 for cheap and get the same performance.

 

[BradleyW]

I would say, try and push for 6870 CrossfireX. Just save more money to increase budget and sell the 4870x2.

Edit: You have a 58505 already? Either get another 5850 with it or sell both 5850 and 4870x2 and use your budget to get 6870CF.

 

[Double Helix]

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Master Chief;13098740
6850's are a few FPS better...

If you already have a 5850, no point in getting crossfire 6850's when you can get a 5850 for cheap and get the same performance.

Yeah I don't though. I'm, rocking a 4870 512, and I'm still impressed by it.

You got any proof with benchmarks though? All the ones I find the 5850s win, but I appreciate these are old drivers for the 68 series now.

 

[BradleyW]

I've helped you as much as i can mate. Hope you get some nice shiny cards mate, good luck!

 

[Double Helix]

Quote:

Originally Posted by BradleyW;13098780
I've helped you as much as i can mate. Hope you get some nice shiny cards mate, good luck!

Yeah, thanks for the help. I'd love a pair of 6870s, but that's a massive leap to the budget. I'm pushing it already with the 6850s, I can get 2 for £222...

 

[The Master Chief]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Double Helix;13098763
Yeah I don't though. I'm, rocking a 4870 512, and I'm still impressed by it.

You got any proof with benchmarks though? All the ones I find the 5850s win, but I appreciate these are old drivers for the 68 series now.

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/303?vs=302

 

[Ironcobra]

i would definitely go with 2 asus eah 6850, i just went thru this same senario a week ago and after a week of reading and second guessing i went with the 6850 based on this article: http://www.anandtech.com/show/3987/amds-radeon-6870-6850-renewing-competition-in-the-midrange-market/1
it shows multiple cards and comparisons imo 2x asus 6850 at 310 after rebate is a no brainer only 1 or 3 games on there bench showed the 5850 with higher fps and it was only by .3 or so

so 5850 cost more and the gain in performance is nominal
the 6850 has better scaling and tess plus draws way less power, another review i cant find that made me decide on the 6850 was it showed at least 80percent gain in all the most popular games in crossfire which tells me the performance of crossfire is greatly improved with the 6 series..good luck

 

[damric]

HD 5850 and 6850 are both outstanding value/performance.

HD 5850

- Reference models and models with appropriate voltage regulators will overclock to around 1GHZ
- Will outperform in most non-dx11 situations
- Could get one on clearance $$$

HD 6850

- Overclock to 900+ without voltage bump and over 1GHZ with a voltage bump.
- Catches up to the 5850 in DX11 due to better tessellation
- Superior scaling in crossfire, but 6800's can only crossfire two cards
- 11.4 drivers added huge performance gain
- More efficient
- Can be found under $150 per card if you look hard enough

I liked the Sapphire 6850 enough that I bought a second a few months later.

 

[Double Helix]

Ok, thanks for all the help guys. I think the 6850s are a decent choice, given my budget. I think I'll be totally happy with them (They're faster than a 580!) And they're just affordable.

 

[Ironcobra]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Double Helix;13099385
Ok, thanks for all the help guys. I think the 6850s are a decent choice, given my budget. I think I'll be totally happy with them (They're faster than a 580!) And they're just affordable.

good choice i got one right now and couldnt be happier with one havnt attempted metro or crysis yet but its smooth as butter with dragon age mass effect 2 and bulletstorm maxed out 1080p