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| Thread ID: 104719 | 2009-11-06 04:45:00 | Radeon HD5850 sell or hold on to it? | Lizard (2409) | PC World Chat |
| Post ID | Timestamp | Content | User | ||
| 827635 | 2009-11-06 04:45:00 | Well, I’ve finally received all the parts for my new rig, but I had to settle for a Powercolor HD5850, as the supply issues affecting the new Radeon Cards meant at least a 4 week wait for one of the good brands (Gigabyte, XFX), and even then there’s no guarantee of supply. But then I read this blog on Anandtech which scared me a bit. www.anandtech.com It made me wonder whether the card I’ve received has got a "defective unit". As I understand the manufacturing process, the dies are all the same, and based on testing they assign an individual die to either the 5870 line or 5850 line, and then disable a couple of SIMDs and lower the clock speeds to produce the 5850s. But talk of using the "ineligible" 5870 dies suggests that the 5850s might not be reliable in the mid- to long-term. So, is this enough of a reason to avoid the 5850 in the meantime, and go with something like the HD 4890, or am I just being ultra paranoid? I figure if I wanted to sell it, I could put it on Trademe (brand new, unopened), and with supply being the way it is, there’s bound to be a buyer. Or should I just suck it up, and stick with the HD 5850? Your thoughts? |
Lizard (2409) | ||
| 827636 | 2009-11-06 04:52:00 | The PowerColor is just a reference model, the difference between that and the XFX or Gigabyte reference models are ............. the box it comes in, and maybe warranty support. Here is NZ warranty boils down to the retailer. Id say 100% keep it. |
Battleneter2 (9361) | ||
| 827637 | 2009-11-06 04:55:00 | Thanks Battleneter. Anything in that Anandtech article that would make you think twice about the 5850s? | Lizard (2409) | ||
| 827638 | 2009-11-06 06:50:00 | Na not really, its really only talking about yeild and supply issues unless I am missing something. | Battleneter2 (9361) | ||
| 827639 | 2009-11-06 07:23:00 | Isn't that what happens to all chip yields? All chips that come out of the oven are individually tested; those that passes a certain test gets to be a 5870, and those that fail the 5870 test but passes a certain 5850 test will become a 5850. | qazwsxokmijn (102) | ||
| 827640 | 2009-11-06 07:37:00 | Na not really, its really only talking about yeild and supply issues unless I am missing something. It was really this line that got me wondering... "The only things that should be going in to the 5850 are dice with a defective functional unit, making them ineligible for use in a 5870" It makes it sound like rather than taking perfectly fine 5870 dies and scaling them back for 5850s (i.e. the situation I imagine would happen with no supply issues) they are putting the "scraps" into the 5850 bin because they are struggling to fill supply, and if they are going to supply anything it'll be 5870s first (with the best dies) and 5850s second with anything that'll past muster. I'm probably going to stick with it, but I haven't yet shaken the niggly feeling that I've somehow bought a lemon graphics card. |
Lizard (2409) | ||
| 827641 | 2009-11-06 19:05:00 | The PowerColor is just a reference model, the difference between that and the XFX or Gigabyte reference models are ............. the box it comes in, and maybe warranty support. Here is NZ warranty boils down to the retailer. Id say 100% keep it. Crap. There are other components other than the main chip on a graphics card. Which is why there is such a variation in warranty with them. Gigabyte and ASUS have 3 years warranty for a reason. The retailer has nothing to do with the warranty - the warranty is what it is, and any retailer not giving the full manufacturers warranty is ripping you off. And Gigabyte does have theirs out now. |
pctek (84) | ||
| 827642 | 2009-11-07 00:47:00 | Its actualy quite a common thing for defective chips to have parts of them disabled and sold off as a lower performance part, whats the point of wasteing a chip that can be used in a 5870 if you can turn it into a 5850 :) | Fifthdawn (9467) | ||
| 827643 | 2009-11-07 01:57:00 | A 5850 has has lower voltage/clocks than a 5870, so what you're measuring as 'defective' is only defective on it's own terms. They wouldn't sell it if it were broken. We're talking major corporations here, not some Chinese knock offs. All chips are unique, so it's to be expected that some aren't going to be able to clock up to the 5870 (which as far as I know is still the fastest single GPU in the world) as well as others. | Thebananamonkey (7741) | ||
| 827644 | 2009-11-07 08:13:00 | I bit the bullet and built the rig today. I figured what will be, will be, and if I have probs with the card I'll deal with it when it happens. For now it's going well. Got all the hardware setup, installing OS 2moro | Lizard (2409) | ||
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