Graphics Is the 5850 worth twice the price of a 4870 1GB?

I run a 24" and play games at 1920x1200 but I can't tell if the 5850 is really worth almost twice the price of the 4870. I don't currently play hugely demanding games, but my 7800GT is definitely not cutting it right now and it's time for an upgrade. what do you think?

 

All that the 5800 series brings to the table is DX11 compatibility.

Now if your not that excited about DX11, then save some cash and grab a 4870 because most games are still DX9

 

Check this and judge for yourself.
I would say it's well worth buying.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ATI/Radeon_HD_5870_CrossFire/3.html
Over twice the frames in many games.


Games are already starting to use dx11

 

Well according to those benchmarks its around 10%-15% slower than the 5870... you can pick up 3-10% in an overclock.

So at £100 cheaper I reckon it maybe a better option.

Hopefully those benchmarks are right, if not will be better.

Not to mention graphics cards get faster with new drivers etc.

 

edit: deleted because of stupid reply (i read the title wrong)

 

In terms of the price/performance, no, probably not. The price/performance ratio is a little lower on the 5800-series right now. That's entirely expected, since the 4800 series is a very mature product line and the 5800 series is very immature, but for now that's how it is.

I would, however, give it a serious look if you're concerned about power usage. So far, the 5800-series cards have proven to give ~50-75% of the performance of the previous generation within nearly the same power envelope (and that's with very immature drivers). They also offer lower idle power usage than almost any other graphics card in existence (~20-30W at idle). If that's worth the extra upfront cost to you, you'll start saving on your power bill pretty soon afterwards.

- Diosjenin -

 

If the card gives twice the performance of a 4870 though so surely it's worth getting at twice the price of a 4870?
That is not losing on price performance plus you need to take into account the DX11 vs dx10.

 

Those are odd charts over at techpowerup. No 4870 1GB on them... just 4870 512MB and 4890. Try anandtech's or bit-tech's reviews - 5870 1GB generally gives a 50%-70% performance boost over the 4870 1GB, so the 5850 will probably do the same over the 4850.

- Diosjenin -

 

Well, DX11 would be nice, but I don't think I want to pay that much for it. a lot depends on whether or not my Maze4 waterblock will fit too as I don't want to have to fork out for a new one on top of that. I know it works for the 4870 so I'm guessing it will work for the 5850 but just need some confirmation first.

 

looks like it will be worth it to me. the w/c block is a good question.

 

I'm guessing it's going to be about $200.

That's a damned good buy, although being $50 more than the Hd4870, the HD5850 does offer those benefits that Diosjennin has said.

 

I'm thinking it's gonna drop to 4870 1GB price, especially at Christmas sale time.
Yay, iPhone, Razer Makos and 5870. Love ya Santa ;D

 

If they do that to the 512MB aswell, I'm gonna have a party with the money I save... probably will be a lameass party but still ...

 

I'd be suprised if it drops by about £80-90 in 3 months, 4870's would have to go down to something like £60-70 to be somewhat competitive.

 

My main question would be where does this leave the 4770? I'm thinking 2 for crossfire for under £100, thats just messed up... especially as they beat a single 4890 when they're in XFire...

 

I doubt they'll go down to £50 each. Maybe £60 at a push. And then the 4890 will probably be down to around £120 anyway, so the faster single GPU would be a better buy IMO.

 

^ a 4890 is pretty much already around £120, scan have the Power Color one at £127.

 

judging from DX10 these early cards wont give great performance in DX11 anyways. go for a 4890 imo

 

I'm going to wait for some DX11 games to be released and see how the new HD58xx cards perform. It is still very tempting just to take the plunge...

 

Wait for Nvidia to show their hand. Even if you can't afford them, it will drive down the cost of the HD58xx.