Gigabyte HD 5870 1GB Super Overclock Review Comment Thread

[SKYMTL]

In the cat fight that is the current GPU marketplace, there are those who are content to stick with reference designs and those who are willing to go out on a limb and push technology to the bleeding edge. Falling into the latter category, Gigabyte has released their HD 5870 Super Overclock which is basically a HD 5870 that has been pumped up on steroids. In this review we put this card to the test and see if it has anything left in the tank for even higher clock speeds.


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[MonsterSound]

Thanks for another enjoyable and informative review. Those OC's and temps are amazing. If the temperatures are that low I can imagine keeping the fans rpms down a bit (if it seems slightly louder than the ref 5870).
The high premium price is my only concern but sometimes the prices that show up are better than msrp.
thnX again
(does it play Crysis? )

[SKYMTL]

FYI guys, this card IS NOT going up for sale. Rather, it will be given away in the HWC Chimp Challenge Contest.

[_dangtx_]

oy sky. you thin ka proper shroud to get the warm air properly out will make a big difference i ncase temps? :)

the leds remember me of my x48 board. oh the memories.nice!

grammaticals look ok(i skipped most of everything but still..)


power consumption sux. not sure how it stands vs a reference oc'ed card....

Originally Posted by SKYMTL

FYI guys, this card IS NOT going up for sale. Rather, it will be given away in the HWC Chimp Challenge Contest.

good! go folders go!!!

[mikellini]

Interesting about the power consumption, seems way out of whack like you say in the review... however, I read a review of the GTX 480 that calculated the difference in electricity bills for the average user (in the U.S.) over the course of one month (GTX 480 vs 5870) is about $0.80, and if you ran it 24/7 for folding it would be less than $6... so I don't really think power consumption is something anyone buying one of these cards should really worry about. Anyone buying any video card, really.

[Delavan]

Good review SKY!
I like the comment on OC guru. It remembers me the OC software that came with my oldie Gigabyte GA-965P-DS3 motherboard (I uninstalled that software REALLY quick...didn't like the interface at all)

I chose my stock XFX HD5870, because performance-wise and price-wise ($425 PMed) it was located in between the GTX470 and GTX480 (closer to 470 in price and 480 in perf.).
Anyway, I'm not sure that raising the price of Radeon cards is the way to go. They fit quite nicely (price and perf.) between the FERMI cards, at regular price . Offering cards reaching $500 is NOT what I'd do (If I were ATI)! At $500 price point, I would've got a FERMI 480...

So IMHO, everything ATI/AMD tries to do to knock FERMI down (Eyefinity 6, 2GB cards, OCed models) is NOT gonna work, because the price reaches close to GTX 480 prices, unless ATI capitalizes on FERMI low availability to warrant these high prices.

Eyefinity= pretty low customer base, especially for eyefinity 6.

Cards with 2 GB of RAM= Performance increase next to nil at popular gaming resolutions.

OCed/custom fan models= Not bad if the noise is lower than stock and if the performance catches up on FERMI, but in either cases, the truth is not quite like it.

Ati, we like you when you're cheaper than Nvidia! That's your goal, to gain market shares right now.


My HD5870 reaches 69 degrees celsius MAX after hours of playing BC2 ( with a GELID silent 12 blowing on it from the side panel window of my Antec300). Much less that your stock 5870 at 83 max load. I guess I got a cool running chip.

If I were ATI/AMD, I would go above and beyond to sell HD5870 at GTX470 prices. A good drop on the HD5850 would also ensure a lot of sales...If ATI want to keep a little bit of "momentum", they have to keep the ball rolling fast!!!

[SKYMTL]

I do agree about the price in this scenario but with this card you are paying for three things: exclusivity, performance and features. Yes, I think it is too expensive from the perspective of someone that only cares about performance but these cards are routinely selling out at Newegg which obviously means people are more than happy to take the plunge.

One of the main problems with these overclocked cards is their performance is still limited by the architecture itself; not clock speeds. You can overclock a HD 5870 until its transistors bleed but its performance in high resolution, high detail scenarios will likely stay the same.

[crazyhorsejohnny]

Originally Posted by mikellini

Interesting about the power consumption, seems way out of whack like you say in the review... however, I read a review of the GTX 480 that calculated the difference in electricity bills for the average user (in the U.S.) over the course of one month (GTX 480 vs 5870) is about $0.80, and if you ran it 24/7 for folding it would be less than $6... so I don't really think power consumption is something anyone buying one of these cards should really worry about. Anyone buying any video card, really.

Maybe not for you but for me it does.

[Deviant]

[quote=crazyhorsejohnny;372088]

Originally Posted by mikellini

Interesting about the power consumption, seems way out of whack like you say in the review... however, I read a review of the GTX 480 that calculated the difference in electricity bills for the average user (in the U.S.) over the course of one month (GTX 480 vs 5870) is about $0.80, and if you ran it 24/7 for folding it would be less than $6... so I don't really think power consumption is something anyone buying one of these cards should really worry about. Anyone buying any video card, really.[/quote]

Maybe not for you but for me it does.

Any particular reason why?

[crazyhorsejohnny]

[quote=Deviant;372089]

Originally Posted by crazyhorsejohnny

Any particular reason why?

Pretty simple. $$$$$.