Hi guys, I have a bit of delimma. I was planning on getting a 5850, they are fast and offer decent bang for the buck even, which is some what rare on the higher end usually.
My wife got a nice bonus at work and we got a very decent tax return, so I have pretty much been given the green light on whatever video card I want. I think the 5850 has enugh horse power for my resolution, but I plan on keeping the card for 12 - 18 months, so who knows what we'll get in the future. If we keep getting console ports then it probaby won't matter.
The 5870 is starts at about $80 more (thought the Sapphire Vapor-X has my eye at $430 or over $100 more). I like the idea of having more oomph and I'm leaning towards a 5870, but I still can't get the 5850 out of my mind... I don't want to spend more money just to spend more money if I wouldn't notice a difference between the two.
Right now the only game I'm really playing a lot is Age of Conan. My 4870 512MB does suprisingly well at my resolution, even with 2xAA. But, I cannot run DX10 mode with AA as my frame rates are in the teens. I think at this res and with those settings 512MB of frame buffer just doesn't cut it. But, I'm sure I will play other games too, I'd like to play a few good FPS games, it's been quite some time since I've played one, I think HL2 was the last one I played. The other types of games I tend to enjoy our strategy games. I think either the 5850 or the 5870 will play AoC in DX10 with 4xAA, but eventually I'll play more RPG's (can't wait for Diablo 3) and probably try out some other new games.
So if you were in my shoes, hoping to get 18 months out of the card (but would settle for 12 depending on what's out there at the time... but more time is what I'm aiming for) at this resolution with a solid, though not spectacular CPU, what woud you do? It's very unlikely I'll upgrade my monitor any time soon, nor is it very likely I'd jump to a different platform any time soon. Any input is appreciated.
My wife got a nice bonus at work and we got a very decent tax return, so I have pretty much been given the green light on whatever video card I want. I think the 5850 has enugh horse power for my resolution, but I plan on keeping the card for 12 - 18 months, so who knows what we'll get in the future. If we keep getting console ports then it probaby won't matter.
The 5870 is starts at about $80 more (thought the Sapphire Vapor-X has my eye at $430 or over $100 more). I like the idea of having more oomph and I'm leaning towards a 5870, but I still can't get the 5850 out of my mind... I don't want to spend more money just to spend more money if I wouldn't notice a difference between the two.
Right now the only game I'm really playing a lot is Age of Conan. My 4870 512MB does suprisingly well at my resolution, even with 2xAA. But, I cannot run DX10 mode with AA as my frame rates are in the teens. I think at this res and with those settings 512MB of frame buffer just doesn't cut it. But, I'm sure I will play other games too, I'd like to play a few good FPS games, it's been quite some time since I've played one, I think HL2 was the last one I played. The other types of games I tend to enjoy our strategy games. I think either the 5850 or the 5870 will play AoC in DX10 with 4xAA, but eventually I'll play more RPG's (can't wait for Diablo 3) and probably try out some other new games.
So if you were in my shoes, hoping to get 18 months out of the card (but would settle for 12 depending on what's out there at the time... but more time is what I'm aiming for) at this resolution with a solid, though not spectacular CPU, what woud you do? It's very unlikely I'll upgrade my monitor any time soon, nor is it very likely I'd jump to a different platform any time soon. Any input is appreciated.