5850 or 5870?

[DaddyRabbit]

I won't bother asking if either of these cards will be faster than my existing 4870 512M at 1920x1200 as I know the answer to that.

My situation is:

- Don't multi-GPU so no Xfire required
- I'm not a hard core gamer but I do game and like a good IQ and framerate experience when I do.
- I like quiet
- Eyefinity looks interesting to me for the future

So I guess the question is "is the 5870 worth the additional $100 USD (especially with Eyefinity in the future)"?

Thanks for any opinions

[DeusEx]

If i had to choose between those two id go for the 5850, b/c thats the best bang for the buck (which is the whole point of AMD systems). If i could choose a card outside of that, id wait to see how fast/expensive Hemlock is.

[stopthekilling77]

I still see ATI a little differently than I see AMD/ATI as a whole, so I'd really be slow to say ATI should be included in the "budget" category when their current flagship GPU is stomping all over Nvidia.

- Eyefinity looks interesting to me for the future

That being the case, I'd suggest the 5870 if you can swing it, otherwise the 5850 should keep you happy for a few years, especially if you get another 2 LCDs :D

[Apoptosis]

both the 5850 and 5870 do 3 monitor Eyefinity, so i don't think that will be a main influence on which route you go. If you aren't a gamer I would think the 5850 would be a better choice.