ATI's Radeon HD 5870 first saw the (
official) light of day in late September of last year, but the GPU has managed to age well. In the months since that original debut, we've seen an
Eyefinity 6 Edition hit the market for multi-monitor maniacs, and quite a few factory overclocked options have also made their way out. The benchmarking gurus over at
Hot Hardware scrounged up three of the latest and greatest, all priced just below the $500 mark, which have core clock speeds that are 100MHz higher than standard and memory clock speeds that are up 50MHz above the norm. Cards from MSI, HIS and Gigabyte were represented, and while each of 'em put up a better-than-average fight, the latter card came out on top in nearly every single test. Gigabyte's Super Overclock technology tended to outperform the other OC'ing solutions, but the whole lot managed to show up the non-overclocked alternatives by a good bit. Still, you'll be forced to pay a 25 percent premium for an 11 to 16 percent boost in performance, so these are still probably best for enthusiasts who can't stand to leave a single frame behind. Peep that source if you're in need of more coaching before pulling the trigger either way.
posted May 9th 2010 10:02AM
I think I'll stick with my HIS Eyefinity 6 card. It's a beast.
@MRCUR Okay, then I'll stick with HER... lame joke
@futurerheza That's what she...nah.
Happy Mother's Day to all the geek moms out there!
@aubreyq We already had other mothers day.
If you need more fps than these guys put out, you're probably better off just hiring some stunt men to act out your favorite FPS live in front of you. Might be cheaper, too.
@CRA1G
No one really "needs" this kind of graphics prowess, I think most people looking at this kind of setup see it as a hobby; much the way people will pay exorbitant amounts of money for old wine they will never drink or old guns they will never shoot.
@Josh S
Only a Tri SLI GTX480 setup is good enough to run Crysis at max settings with AA at 2560x1600 at good framerates... So technically it is possible to use all the power they can provide.
@CRA1G
These graphics are so powerful they can alter reality to provide the stuntmen.
Or, y'know, you could just buy a standard card and overclock it yourself, saving some money in the process.
@r3loaded, reference boards are not designed to sustain such overheating nor their layout suited for aggressive cooling that OC requires.
Just saying. I'm myself not into the OC.
I don't see any mini-displayport ports in the cards above. Does anyone know of any good quality cards that have this connection?
@Joanna D
The Eyefinity 6 version has 6 mini Displayports:
http://www.guru3d.com/article/radeon-hd-5870-eyefinity6-review/3
@Joanna D Why would you want to have a mini port? I mean, even if you need mini-one, thats what cables are for right?
@Joanna D - These have a standard display port out connection. The Eyefinity 6 cards have six mini DP connections.
@futurerheza
Yes... the adapter will cost $249.99
*Looks at Radeon 4670*
*Weeps silently*
@Nitesh
*Looks at Radeon X1650*
*Cries loudly*
@anttotarella
Lol, yup. I was actually using one of those as well up until a few months ago.
@Nitesh - Man, you really need to upgrade Nitesh. I had an XFX HD 5850 but wanted some more power, so I jumped to an HIS HD 5870 Eyefinity 6.
@Nitesh *Looks at GeForce Go 7400*
I think I win.
@Nitesh 2600 mobility, markolic sad
@revoltracers
You indeed win/lose.
@Nitesh
*looks at ATI Radeon 2400 HD*
I lose. :(
@SolidSnake
I can beat all of you guys - I have a GTX260 in my main PC, but I have a laptop kicking around with a Go 5100 :D
@Nitesh *looks at his 8600 GTS*
*sighs*
@Nitesh *Looks at his 9300m GS, thinks he should get a desktop*
@Alistair
*Looks at everyone copying what I started and smiles*
@HikaKao
Looks at my (parents) GeForce4 MX 440 :**(
And they ask my why their computer runs so slow
@Nitesh
Looks at Nvidia 9400m
*kills self*
*Looks at GMA 4500MHD*
Hey, at least I get reasonably good framerates in classic Unreal Tournament and Quake II....
@Nitesh
Looks at the Diamond Monster 3D supporting my ATi Mach 64.
*Looks at GTX 480*
Woot! Bacon and eggs are ready.
I'd change from my 4870 but I'm not sure...
@PCG
AND it will only be available in February 2011
Can I blow it too?
I mean... it's a really hot card.
@futurerheza
And it will needlessly be engaged while using twitter instead of just games causing your battery life to vanish.
Wow, so that's what overkill looks like.
"Latter" is correct when comparing two items. "Last" is the appropriate term when comparing more than two items.
What kind of an ugly fence is that?
@grandmainger There's been a DELAY, it will be available in 2012 right before the end of days...