Bargain Alerts/Adverts Discussion Thread

Dublin_Gunner

Monotype wrote: »

That's sooo cheap. Are we expecting a 7xxx series that I don't know about?
I could do with a new card but I would have no chance to use it for a couple of months. The 6850/6870s are dropping quite fast these days so hopefully I can get something when I need it.

It gives a whole new meaning to budget build and really puts the power of current consoles to shame now.

68xx & 69xx have taken over. 58xx are EOL, hence being sold off to make room for the newer SKU's.

a 5850 for €109 is amazing though. The best dual card solution for €200 without a doubt (ala HD5970).

I just posted this too

HD6870 for €159 on Pix.

Incredible stuff.

Fnz

Couldn't resist buying a pair of 5850s, despite never wanting the hassle of dual GPU setups.... and never wanting to give Pixmania my business again.

I may have sold out but the 'bang for buck' is off the charts - I'm not made of stone!

Some reviews of this edition of the card:

http://www.kitguru.net/components/graphic-cards/zardon/sapphire-hd5830-hd5850-xtreme-edition-review-crossfirex/

http://hitechlegion.com/reviews/video-cards/9605-sapphire-hd-5850-xtreme-dx11


Now, where's the best place to buy a Crossfire bridge? Here?

savemejebus

Damn you Fnz, you've inadvertently reminded me I have a crossfire board...

Brian

Would it be a good idea to buy one of these and hold on to it for the two or three months it will take to afford the rest of my build? Would I be better off still going with a 6850 since if I want to crossfire in the future it may be hard to get my hands on one of these EOL 5850s?

Fnz

savemejebus wrote: »

Damn you Fnz, you've inadvertently reminded me I have a crossfire board...

Damn you Jebus! You've made me realize my board is not suitable for crossfire!

savemejebus

Fnz wrote: »

Damn you Jebus! You've made me realize my board is not suitable for crossfire!

Damn you back again, i've googled and found that my board is too old to crossfire this card, poor old trusty ip35 pro....

Tea_Bag

Fnz wrote: »

Couldn't resist buying a pair of 5850s, despite never wanting the hassle of dual GPU setups.... and never wanting to give Pixmania my business again.

I may have sold out but the 'bang for buck' is off the charts - I'm not made of stone!

Some reviews of this edition of the card:

http://www.kitguru.net/components/graphic-cards/zardon/sapphire-hd5830-hd5850-xtreme-edition-review-crossfirex/

http://hitechlegion.com/reviews/video-cards/9605-sapphire-hd-5850-xtreme-dx11


Now, where's the best place to buy a Crossfire bridge? Here?

i think its great value for money to get one of these, but only if you already own one of them.

by getting 2 (+delivery charges), you're getting awfully close to 6970 and passing 6950 money. and 5850's in CFx only narrowly beat that, but then you have the hassle of CFx. i dunno.

savemejebus

I dunno, i think it's not that narrow http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/303?vs=292

Jonny7

Dublin_Gunner wrote: »

68xx & 69xx have taken over. 58xx are EOL, hence being sold off to make room for the newer SKU's.

a 5850 for €109 is amazing though. The best dual card solution for €200 without a doubt (ala HD5970).

I just posted this too

HD6870 for €159 on Pix.

Incredible stuff.

6870 only on average 5 to 10% faster than the 5850 it seems

Jesus I'm nearly thinking of getting that 5850 btu the damn thing won't fit in my case

Dublin_Gunner

Jonny7 wrote: »

6870 only on average 5 to 10% faster than the 5850 it seems

Jesus I'm nearly thinking of getting that 5850 btu the damn thing won't fit in my case

What have you got, a Commodore 64 or something? These are around 9" are they not? You must only have a mini tower or something.

Upgrade that case man!

Tea_Bag

savemejebus wrote: »

I dunno, i think it's not that narrow http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/303?vs=292

thats a bit clearer than the benchmarks i was looking at. dunno why i didnt consult anandtech...

what are the advantages of the 6000 series cards over the 5000 series?

savemejebus

I read on OCUK forums that these new cards are actually shorter than the originals 8.5". As for advantages of 6000? Well they lose in power but they are newer tech with all the advantages that come with that.

Brian

Anybody able to give me a steer on one of these discount 5850s vs a 6850?

Tea_Bag

Baza210 wrote: »

Anybody able to give me a steer on one of these discount 5850s vs a 6850?

the 5850 is definately more powerful than 6850, but its hotter and draws more power.
if it was between the 2, id take the 5850. but id do 6850's CF over 5850's.

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/295?vs=291

savemejebus

Baza210 wrote: »

Anybody able to give me a steer on one of these discount 5850s vs a 6850?

AFAIK AMD changed their naming conventions with the 6 series of cards. You should be comparing 5850s with 6870s
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/295?vs=290

Brian

I can't afford a 6870

Dublin_Gunner

Baza210 wrote: »

I can't afford a 6870

They are down to 159 now on pix... (though still might be just over your budget)

5850 is still an excellent card though.

Fnz

Tea_Bag wrote: »

the 5850 is definately more powerful than 6850, but its hotter and draws more power.
if it was between the 2, id take the 5850. but id do 6850's CF over 5850's.

These 5xxx series Sapphire Xtreme cards are using 6xxx series coolers according the the Kitguru review.

Strangely though, the 5830 seems to have a better cooler of the two.

Monotype

Baza210 wrote: »

Would it be a good idea to buy one of these and hold on to it for the two or three months it will take to afford the rest of my build? Would I be better off still going with a 6850 since if I want to crossfire in the future it may be hard to get my hands on one of these EOL 5850s?

Three months is a long time in the graphics world. The 6850 has fallen €50 since Christmas! The 6870 is moving down too so hopefully we'll see 6950s and 560s going down to take their place.
I doubt we'll see 6870s for €109 for a while, but factor in the postage that you'll be spreading across a whole system too.

Tea_Bag wrote: »

the 5850 is definately more powerful than 6850, but its hotter and draws more power.
if it was between the 2, id take the 5850. but id do 6850's CF over 5850's.

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/295?vs=291

Just looked at crossfire results. It's surprising how close they are.
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/303?vs=302

Tea_Bag

Monotype wrote: »

Three months is a long time in the graphics world. The 6850 has fallen €50 since Christmas! The 6870 is moving down too so hopefully we'll see 6950s and 560s going down to take their place.
I doubt we'll see 6870s for €109 for a while, but factor in the postage that you'll be spreading across a whole system too.



Just looked at crossfire results. It's surprising how close they are.
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/303?vs=302

yea when you CF them they're pretty much identicle, but the 6850's will draw less power and heat. thats the reasoning behind my opinion to take the 6850's.

Dublin_Gunner

I think I know why the 58xx series are now being sold off..

http://www.guru3d.com/news/radeon-hd-7000-series-in-q2-already/

7000 series heading to production already??? AMD really have the bull by the horns the last year or two.

Excellent 5 series, lower power, well priced 68xx series, excellent performing 69xx series, and now a new 7000 series that noone knows anything about?

This combined with the Llano releases and Bulldozer coming, would say to me that if you have a few quid lying around, AMD shares are mighty cheap at the minute...

Unregistered.

Dublin_Gunner wrote: »

...and now a new 7000 series that noone knows anything about?

It's a die shrink and a possible move from VLIW5 to VLWI4. Of course, with the die shrink, there's room to squeeze in more shaders and execution units and what not. So chances are that's what's happening rather than a completely new architecture.

Dublin_Gunner

Unregistered. wrote: »

It's a die shrink and a possible move from VLIW5 to VLWI4. Of course, with the die shrink, there's room to squeeze in more shaders and execution units and what not. So chances are that's what's happening rather than a completely new architecture.

A backwards move to VLIW4? Were they having problems with it? That's a lot more than a mere die shrink, that a fair bit of re-engineering.

Sounds more like a die shrink of 5 series than 6 series so...

Faster clocks I'm sure will be on the agenda - the first 1Ghz vanilla GPU?

Unregistered.

Dublin_Gunner wrote: »

A backwards move to VLIW4? That's a lot more than a mere die shrink, that a fair bit of re-engineering.

Huh? The moved from VLIW5 to VLIW4 with the 69** series. The 5*** series used VLIW5 SPUs and and so did the 4*** series. It has been a while since they've gone with VLIW4 I think.

I think a bump in speed is a given at such a significant die shrink. 40nm -> 28nm is quite a jump.

Rsaeire

While it's a significant die shrink, AMD are supposedly only introducing a major architectural change after the 7xxx series is released. As a result, it'll probably be Summer 2012 before we see anything significant.

Unregistered.

It wouldn't be a bad idea if they adaptoed the tick-tock approach. The fact that they could squeeze more stream processors on die - plus a speed bump - after each shrink would yield just as much of an improvement as a new architecture would.

savemejebus

My 5850 just arrived . Won't be able to install it for a while but compared to the 8800gtx it's replacing it seems tiny.

Tea_Bag

savemejebus wrote: »

My 5850 just arrived . Won't be able to install it for a while but compared to the 8800gtx it's replacing it seems tiny.

does the 5850's from pix come with a DVi -> VGA adapter?
im running an older 19" that only has VGA and im thinking of upgrading from my GTX 460 768mb.

EDIT: to answer my own question, according to pix it does..

1 x VGA - 15 pin HD D-Sub (HD-15) ( with adapter )

now is it a worthy upgrade, that is the question...

savemejebus

Yes, it's a bit cheap looking though, one of the small transparent ones.

Tea_Bag

savemejebus wrote: »

Yes, it's a bit cheap looking though, one of the small transparent ones.

just looking at the benchmarks now though, and its hard to tell if its an upgrade really.

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/295?vs=315

shows a clearly better card, but according to

http://hitechlegion.com/reviews/video-cards/9605

the gtx 460 768mb clearly has the advantage.