xxx Radeon HD 5850?

[Fmp]

So, I was checking at Radeon HD 5850, and i notice that one Card was called MSI Radeon HD 5850 1GB and one called Sapphire Radeon HD 5850 1GB, is there anything different on them other then the name ? :S

Cheers !

[Jiran]

So, I was checking at Radeon HD 5850, and i notice that one Card was called MSI Radeon HD 5850 1GB and one called Sapphire Radeon HD 5850 1GB, is there anything different on them other then the name ? :S

Cheers !

ATI develops the processor which is the 5850. Sapphire, and MSI are manufacturers who use a reference board design and cooler.

If its a reference card with a standard cooler theyre the exact same thing, just different manufacturers. If they use a non ref board and an upgraded cooler then there could be differences since they are probably factory overclocked.

Only differences with reference designs are warranties.

If you are going to buy a 5850, I'd look for a deal on XFX.

[PennyRust]

It's true both MSI and Sapphire use a reference design, yet the source of the components used to build the cards are often different manufacturers whose components can vary in quality. Certain video board manufacturers have developed reputations for using quality components and others are known for producing cards that are frequently replaced due to failure. Sapphire's warranty process is often lamented on enthusiast message boards. MSI has improved in quality over the years and they now make respectable motherboards as well. XFX and ASUS are the top manufacturers for ATi cards in my opinion. If you can get a good deal and a respectable warranty for a 5850 then I say go for it, as long as your CPU can handle it. My E8400 Intel doesn't work all that great with the 5850, it isn't fast enough. Oh, stay away from HiS video cards, I've had a few of those and have been extremely disappointed.

[Jiran]

HiS is an interesting company to say the least lol. Again, definitely if youre going with ATI look for XFX, Asus as a close second, Gigabyte as well.

nVidia, it's EVGA, Asus.

[Tonrar]

Bought a XFX HD 5850 for a new build about 2 months ago and it’s given me nothing but trouble - Black screen of death when Windows 7 tries to load and constant WoW crashes when I can get into Windows 7.

Done everything I can think of to test the various components of the PC and nothing gives me an error, even done a format and clean install of Windows 7. When I replaced the 5850 with an older Nvidia 8800 GTX everything worked smoothly the way it should.

Even tried installing (cleaned out the previous driver version first) numerous older versions of the ATl GPU driver to see if any of them would work with the 5850 but nothing, still causes crashes.

PC Specs are:

Intel Core i7 920 2.66Ghz
Asus P6X58D-E Intel X58 Motherboard
OCZ Gold 6GB (3x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800 C8 1600MHz Triple Channel Kit
Noctua NH-U9B SE2 Dual Fan Quiet CPU Cooler
XFX ATI Radeon 5850 HD 1GB PCI-Express 2.1 x16 HDMI DX11 AvP
Western Digital 1TB Caviar Black 3.5" SATA-III 6GB/S
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium OEM 64-bit
Coolermaster Silent Pro Modular 850W Power Supply
Coolermaster Storm Scout Gaming Case – Black

Always gone with AMD/Nvidia in the past with no problems, I’m ripping out the 5850 and sticking the bloody thing on ebay and buying myself a proper GPU, i.e. Nvidia – not sure which one yet though.

I’m impressed with the i7 920 CPU and the Asus motherboard, overcloacked to 4 Ghz without too much trouble.

[Cilraaz]

Sounds like a bad unit, Tonrar. Good thing XFX has a killer warranty. Just have them replace it.

[Tonrar]

Hopefully, just waiting on a reply from one of their support people - they seem a friendly and helpful lot so far.

[Cilraaz]

Hopefully, just waiting on a reply from one of their support people - they seem a friendly and helpful lot so far.

Good luck with it. Luckily, I haven't had to use their warranty yet, but stories I've heard from others who have mark it as a positive experience.

[blahism]

black screen is usually the card rebooting.. you haven't heat problems there?

[Tonrar]

black screen is usually the card rebooting.. you haven't heat problems there?

Nope, no issues with heat (case has 6 fans in push/pull) - card is run at stock speeds, at idle I'm getting a temp of 40C .

Get the black screen from a cold boot before the blue Windows 7 loading screen. Do a hard reset and Windows 7 will load on the second attempt.

It's a driver problem, ATI have always been crap with their drivers - knew I should have continued using Nvidia cards. ;P

[Cilraaz]

It's a driver problem, ATI have always been crap with their drivers - knew I should have continued using Nvidia cards. ;P

I've always had more fatal problems with nVidia drivers. ATi may not squeeze every frame out of their cards through the drivers, but they've historically been more stable.

[Tonrar]

I've always had more fatal problems with nVidia drivers. ATi may not squeeze every frame out of their cards through the drivers, but they've historically been more stable.

I've had the complete opposite experience, always found nVidia drivers and cards to be rock solid and had problems with ATi. Sorry if I'm coming across as a nVidia fanboy but this 5850 problem is starting to annoy the hell out of me.

The XFX support people aren’t being much help at the moment either, keep telling me to do things that I’ve already tried and not worked. Guess they have to cover all the bases first before offering a RMA.

I’ll get it sorted somehow.

[El Pollo Petit]

I have almost the same specs in my comp as tonrar but only i have for the moment a 4890 with a intel i7 920, but tho i also gonna go soon in august propably for a Nvidea GTX 460, very nice card, nice price,etc...

[Cilraaz]

Sorry if I'm coming across as a nVidia fanboy but this 5850 problem is starting to annoy the hell out of me.

Not at all, and I'm not trying to argue your experiences. I'm just tossing in what I've experienced.

Hope it all works out in the end for you!

[Tonrar]

XFX have finally told me to RMA the 5850 back to them through the retailer, looks like I'll be sticking my old nVidia 8800GTX in the PC until the new card turns up.

Hopefully it won't be the 6 weeks that Dabs are quoting as a return time.