XFX Radeon HD 5850 1GB GDDR5 Review Comment Thread

[SKYMTL]

Well guys, the HD 5850 review has finally been posted. I know you have been waiting for this one so I won't bore you with talk.

Here is the review: XFX Radeon HD 5850 1GB GDDR5 Review

Please use this thread to post all of your questions and comments.

Enjoy!!

[bojangles]

Sweet, sweet card. I'd buy it in a heartbeat if I didn't buy a GTX275 a few months ago.

SKYMTL, you mentioned the card had one PCI-E connector, when in fact it has two? Typo somewhere in there?

XFX Radeon HD 5850 1GB GDDR5 Review

The back of the heatsink shroud has a pair of holes that are somewhat gaudily dressed up in red. These allow some additional air to enter from under the fan in addition to making the necessary space for the HD 5850’s single PCI-E 6-pin connector.

[mattlef]

hmmm, tough decision lay ahead.
Looking forward to a 5770 review

[SKYMTL]

Yes, that was a typo. Sorry about that.

[belgolas]

This is a nice card. Great review. Hurry up nvidia......

[Thund3rball]

Indeed a sweet card. I mean looking at the performance compared to the GTX 260 or 275... no comparison. This thing blows em all away. It's like the G92 8800GT of 2009 (which I paid almost $300 for in 2007). Only thing is I am apprehensive about with ATI is AA support on some titles and of course all this open source, new tech they are pushing. Will it actually go anywhere? Being on Nvidia for years now, maybe I have become spoiled.

[feerof]

hopefully nvidia comes out with something that pulls the price on this beast even lower =P

[Dr_BenD_over]

Now I really want one. Anybody want to buy a pair of 4770's?

[SKYMTL]

I just can't see NVIDIA coming out with a $269 part at launch but you never know.

[Surfer_2099]

Great review!

I think two things are important with XFX's package...

1- The warranty is stupendous and had I the patience, I might have waited for one instead of buying a Gigabyte 5850. But I have no complaints.

2- It's nice to see their potential price point includes the Dirt2 coupon. I am not one for racing games so the absence of the Dirt2 coupon with my card is not an issue, but if you are looking for added value, then I admit, this card surpasses mine.

As for the card, I game at 1680x1050 on my 22in LCD. Sure, some cards run nearly as quickly (like the 4890), but considering I am installing Win 7 next week anyways and moving up from a 3870, for 283$ (cdn), I feel the 5850 is a good purchase!


As for temps, I have a question:

SKYMTL, when you were running the temperature tests, you had a range from 41 C at idle to 77 C at load. When it got up around 77, did you notice if the fan spun up a bit over 33%? I ask because you said the fan spun up to 40% at times and I was wondering if this was one of those times.

My own card never spins above 33% (so it's very very quiet on auto), however, like in other reviews I've read on the Radeon 5850, I've read of temps that go to 86 C, which is where mine goes up to if I run the FurBench for a few hours.

Would this be attributable to a BIOS scripting decision, or do you think my factory thermal compound install may be an issue?

Cheers!
Happy_Canuck :)