Customer Reviews

XFX RADEON HD 5850 1 GB DDR5 PCI Express Card HD585AZNFC

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This replaced my GTX 260 216 and I can say it is an amazing card

Exceeds the performance of the GTX260 in everything except PhysX enabled levels/games, but runs 10c cooler with stock fan control, and my overall case temps went down 5-10c

Batman:AA is the only thing I can think of that you would want an nVidia card for right now, otherwise the feature set, tri display, HDMI audio streaming, power/performance makes it a champ, and the XFX double lifetime warranty is great, just remember to register the card first thing

I have built many computers over the last 15 years usually with nVidia graphics though. I have to say that the drivers on this one were a pain to install. I was upgrading from an nVidia card and wanted to give ATI another chance. After going though the process of cleaning the old drivers after failed installs it did finally work. Now that it's running it's very good. I'm mostly just using it for Starcraft 2 and WoW with 2 monitors at 1900x1200 each.

I have more than six months with the card and I can tell you the following:

Pros:
everything is OK with the card, and yes is Reference one, I can play at a resolution of 1680x1050 almost all the titles with the maxed configuration and keep the Games over the 42FPS (I think this is the perfect resolution for this card).

* the card is rather quite and works cool, in idle with the fan set to 36%, the temp is about 36C and on load (playing the Bad company) with the fan set to 65%, the temp is about 60C.

Cons:
for some reason ATI doesn't want this card controls the revolutions of the fan by using the settings predefined in the BIOS of the card, the drivers in windows are taking control of the fan and avoiding the fan increase the revolutions no more than 27% while the temp is about 75C that is so hot.

* To solve this problem, you'll have to use a third-party software known as "Afterburner" from MSI to override the action the drivers cause to the fan, and you could make your own configuration to keep your card cool as possible. Also there is another software to control the fan revolutions, the Sapphire TRIXX.


Other Thoughts:

I think could get be better FPS, just need a better CPU, mine is a AMD Athlon II X3 435.

This is the best bang for the buck. I love this card, period! The warranty is the best around which sold me.

If you're looking at this card, I'm sure you already know all about how great the performance is so I won't go more into detail about that. I'll just talk about my experience with it. I've had this card for nearly a year now and everything on it is working like it did on day one. It's very quiet at idle when the fans are at 20%. But if the fan hits over 30%, start expecting some noise. It's not a pleasant noise either; a very hollow, whiney sound. At 45%, it's about the only noise you'll hear from your computer. So if you're going to get a 5850, I guess I recommend going with a non-reference fan design. Unless of course you need a card that will vent out the back only, in which case this card may be an option.

This card plays anything you throw at it at highest settings. Once you have a good board/processor/ram combination you are good to go. I5 750 processor and up recommended it will maximise your fps and ensure you utilize the card to its fullest.