Customer Reviews

XFX ATI Radeon HD 5870 1 GB DDR5 PCI-Express Card HD587AZNF9

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

My previous card was the XLR8 Nvidia 9800 GT 1024mb ddr3. it would play crysis on very high spec with no anti-aliasing about 15-20 fps on my 40" tv. I can now play it on very high spec with 8x anti aliasing and maintain 30-40 fps. However, if you start a game without AAx8 on then switch it on, it will drop fps to about 10-15 for about a minute while it catches up, it's best to just start with AA already on. if you have a monitor that shows resolutions up to 1600p i couldn't tell you if this card can hit those resolutions with the same performance, but 1080p works like a charm. it comes with the ati catalist program that allows you to overclock it. all this performace is without overclocking.

WARNING: it does take two slots on the back of your computer. it only takes one pci express slot, but the card is so thick that it has 2 metal brackets instead of just one, where you connect your monitors. also it is 11 inches long. make sure it will fit before buying.


current build:
Dell XPS 420
vista 32 bit home premium
3G of Ram
Intel quad core processor Q6600 @ 2.4GHz
XFX Radeon HD5870 1024mb DDR5
320 gb hard drive
Thermal take black widow 850w power supply

Insanely fast, overclocking "out-of-the-box" is ok, goes to 900/1250.
After applying ASUS Bios and using MSI Afterburner, can get the GPU all the way to 1100-1200Mhz stable (can go to 1400 but good luck trying it), however no luck with the memory going over 1250.

Pros:
- Fastest video card on the market, can run anything with full details on my 24" at 1920x1200
- Can use an MCW-60 to watercool it (uses standard Ati holes/plate) and go to even higher clocks with low noise ;)
- Looks great on the case, a big card with a nice design on it (other brands place a girl/axe/other stuff on the side of the card that IMO looks ugly)
- Ati has the only DX11 cards on the market right now
- Display Port finally!
- Eyefinity with 3 monitors

Cons:
- A bit more overclockability from the memory will be nice.
- Over 1000Mhz the standard hsf can become noisy
- Eyefinity with 3 monitors (a con since it makes me think to buy 2 more monitors... lol!)

I am an avid Nvidia fan. I have been using Nvidia cards even when I did not realise it, back with the 3DFX "Voodoo cards" which was bought by Nvidia. I was wanting to turn my system into a dedicated Gaming machine for about a year now. But was waiting to see the next installment of the Intel CPU's and the new Cards from Nvidia.

Well after seeing the release of the GTX 470 and GTX 480 I was not completly impressed with the cards, as I and many thought it was going to be better. After hours and hours of thought I decided to go with the ATI HD 5870's in crossfire. This was a hard decision to make since I was an Nvidia boy.

But since I already had a high end PC which I built, plus since after reading review after review and seeing that my setup was onpare with some of the Core I7 PC's and added to that, the fact that my Gaming motherboard only supported dual ATI cards, I went with ATI and I am very happy indeed.

For someone who never used ATI cards because of the driver issues and incompatibility in games and programs. I have not experianced any glitches thats others claim after only a few weeks or days of owning their cards. So knock on wood, So far, so extreamly good !!!!

Fastest shipping I've yet to receive from any company I didn't dictate instruction to over the phone. I had been using predecessor XFG Radeon 4970 before deciding to upgrade; an upgrade resulting my overwhelming interest increase for the ground-breaking leaps manifesting through this generation GPU. My former XFX had been satisfactory for high resolution textures @ above-fair frame-rates, but with DirectX 11's soon mainstream adoption, I wanted an equipped position for experiencing games acclimated to this technology. In mean-time of these various capabilities making ascent, toppin off damn near every current title swayed me enough to buy.

Having used the 5870? Seems theres no valid, practical justification opting in Nvidia's GTX-480 favor. Heat, noise, minutia performance disparity & cost clearly earn the 5870 distinction of best overall card.

Although it seems obvious without mention, to maintain healthy ambient temperature in mid-sized & smaller computer towers, it will be necessary to develop and customize a cooling strategy. The card's girth has been marginally overstated: my system seemed primary candidate elect as far too confined to allow it's fitting. Indeed, I've used condoms that were looser fit.. nevertheless, some clumsy maneuvering was enough to overcome it. That said, though, this cannot be said enough! Failing to fabricate an air-flow & heat dissipation network with this beastly card intertwined with likely other sweltering high-performance components will end ruinously!

This is the best investment I've made in a while. For about 2 months I was researching in forums and looking the reviews of numerous sites and after evaluating all the information available the HD5870 was my pick (Btw I've always been a Nvidia fan)... Why?... Compared with the GTX 480 it use less power (130w difference under load is a lot) and the real improvement on FPS with the GTX 480 is about 10 to 15 and in some games is equal so in terms of money vs performance is not a great buy. At this moment Nvidia fans (like I was) reading this may say that FPS difference is higher and I say that is true but when playing with a lame AA 4x... Real gamers use AA at least at 8X and AF at 16X an that's when you see the 10 to 15 FPS difference (that includes DX9, DX10 and DX11 games)... The other issue is the heat problem... If you have to wait 2 minutes after turning the pc off to touch the GTX 480 for me that's not a good sales point... Don't get me wrong, the HD 5870 gets hot too but the temp is lower and lower temps makes me happy... That is if you are air cooling your card... I'm using a koolance waterblock to cool it and the hottest it gets is about 42C compared with my older EVGA GTX 280 with the EVGA waterblock the temp was 60C... Now comparing the HD 5870 with the HD 5970... The only issue is that a HD 5970 is very hard to find...
I have 2 HD 5870 in Xfire and all I can say is WOW!... Using the latest driver (10.4 is the current) and profiles I get smooth as silk FPS...
Some of the games used to test the HD 5870 were: Company of Heroes ToV, Wings of Prey, Crysis, Far Cry 2, Fallout 3, Left 4 Dead 1 and 2, Dirt 1 and 2, Grid, GTA IV, GTA EFLC, NFS Shift, Flight Simulator X Accel., Borderlands, Street Fighter IV, Strike Fighters 2 Israel and DCS Black Shark...

P.S. XFX is a great brand!!!...

My system: Intel 980x @ 4.1Ghz 24/7, Asus P6T7 WS Supercomputer MOBO (0804 bios), 6GB Corsair Dominator Memory, 2 x XFX HD5870, Asus Essence STX sound card, Logitech Z-5500 speakers, Intel X-25 80GB SSD, 2 x WD Velociraptor Raid 0, 3 x WD 1TB Caviar Black, Pioneer BDR-205 Blu-ray burner, Antec Quattro 1000w PSU, ViewSonic 22" monitor, Hanns-G 28" monitor, Coolermaster Cosmos 1000, Logitech G27, Logitech G940, Logitech Performance MX mouse, Logitech Illuminated Keyboard, Windows 7 Ultimate and Roccaforte Ultimate Game Desk (MS-010)... CPU, MOBO, Video are watercooled by Koolance and HDD waterblocks, pumps, reservoirs and radiators are from Thermaltake (dual loop)...

Installed without issue on Windows 7 Professional 64bit. Solid, fast performance on all my games. Runs Crysis on maximum setting around 50fps. Can't complain. Double Lifetime Warranty too. XFX rocks.

Replaced a 4870 video card with this 5870 XFX card in Windows 7 64 bit with a 1980x1200 digital display.

Pro: Replacement was real simple - just uninstall the 4870 (hardware and software) and then install the 5870.
Compared to the 4870, the 5870 is dramatically faster both in games and when just running on the desktop with other programs. The new card is also considerable quieter than the 4870 - probably not quiet enough for a home theater but certainly for a desktop system. Color and general video quality are excellent.

Con: It is not the cheapest video card on the market, but, compared to video card prices 4-5 years ago it is reasonable if you need this level of performance.

I bought this card to replace my GeForce 260 GTX and it is so much better (besides the fact that the GeForce went dead after about 2 months). Plenty of room in my full tower. The selling point for me was the HDMI port on it and that it was ranked #1 for gaming graphics cards. Runs great with my comp.
My Build
Asus P6T MOBO
Corsair 6GB Ram 3x2
Intel i7 920 @ 2.66ghz
Corsair 750w Power supply
Bigfoot Killer NIC network card
Cooler Master Cosmos ATX Full Tower Case
Cooler Master V8 CPU Cooler

There are two ways to describe this card. Big, and Fast. When I pulled it out of the box, I was in awe, this thing was a solid four or five inches longer than my old video card (A budget antique from 2005 or thereabouts). I have a full tower case, so I didn't have much trouble putting this monster in, but if you have a mid-tower case, then you may have some trouble, I doubt that it is impossible though. This thing is fast though. You are definitely getting your money's worth if you are purchasing this for gaming. (And really why else you buy a card like this?) It runs crysis at 1650x1050 with 8x AA and all settings at enthusiast at good speeds, and it's absolutely beautiful, and it will be even more so once directX 10 games start coming out. All in all, an amazing card, if you have the money for it. Or you know, you stop eating for a little while to save the money.

Awesome card.... runs games like clockwork. I am very satisfied. I brought and got a little later than expected but it was worth the wait!