SAPPHIRE 100281SR Radeon HD 5870 (Cypress XT) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card w/ATI Eyefinity - Retail

Excellent Video Card

Reviewed By: Cramer5853 on 9/24/2009

Tech Level: somewhat high - Ownership: less than 1 day

This user purchased this item from Newegg

Pros: I got my 5870 today and installed it in my system. Before I did that, I ran 3DMark 06, and Vantage while my 4870 X2 was installed. Here are the numbers I got when I tested the 5870, and then compared the results to my earlier 4870 X2 results. In 3DMark 06 the 4870 X2 scored 23,379 Points and the 5870 scored 23,127 Points. The separation between the two cards was 1%. In Vantage, my 4870 X2 scored 17,190 points, while my 5870 scored 17,161 points. The difference here is 0.1%. All in all, the cards pretty much ran Identical. Thats great considering the 5870 has a single GPU. I also noted temperature and fan speed differences at idle. The 4870 X2 at idle was 68 degrees Celsius with a fan speed of 27%. The 5870 was 43 degrees Celsius with a fan speed of 21%. The 5870 is significantly cooler, and quieter. All cards were tested at there default clock speeds.

Cons: None... Great card

Other Thoughts: My system... Asus P6T6 Revolution mainboard, Intel i7 940 overclocked to 3.65Ghz, Corsair 1600 Mhz DDR3 Dominator Ram, Corsair 750 Watt Power supply, and of course the Radeon HD 5870.

Since these cards ran so close in speed, could I be Processor Limited?? Not sure. I do know the higher I overclock the processor, the better the frame rates in these tests.

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Reviewed By: on 10/9/2009

Tech Level: somewhat high - Ownership: 1 week to 1 month

This user purchased this item from Newegg

Pros: So far its just insane, you WILL not beat it for the money. The 295 can out run it on some games and not on others but it stays pretty close considering its a single gpu card and a lot cheaper, you can crossfire these for not much more than a 295 and absolutely smoke any game you want to play. This card runs fairly cool, of course I have case ventilation. There is not much in the way of utilities and the drivers are still a little rough, but so far I have not had a single issue with this card and really do not expect any. 2 thumbs up ATI for making a top notch card people can afford.

Cons: I have absolutely nothing bad to say about this card. The drivers will get better - they are not bad now. The price is as high as its going to get which is just great in the bang for the buck rating. When the drivers fully mature this will be the best video card for the money made.

Other Thoughts: I read a few reviewers that said the new 300 series are just going to blow this away, the 295 is a DUAL GPU card that can't beat it all the time and costs 50% more, on top of that its just a dumb thing to say, if you want to buy Nvidia then buy Nvidia just quit trashing stuff because its not the brand YOU want, it just wastes the time of people who are seriously trying to figure out what they want to buy. When the 300 series cards are released they will probably cost more than the 295 and still not be fast enough to justify the price difference. If they are cheaper then they will have just managed to again anger a lot of their customers over their pricing. They are both good cards, but I think I will stick with ATI, they seem a little more concerned with quality vs price than the competition.

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Awsome

Reviewed By: on 2/9/2010

Tech Level: high - Ownership: 1 day to 1 week

This user purchased this item from Newegg

Pros: Size of the card really isnt much bigger then the GTX series. Fit perfect in my antec 902.
This card runs extremely cool, 25c at idle. Brought my case temp and CPU temp even under load a good 5-10c.
Had a 280SLI setup prior to this and to be honest the graphics look alot better.

Cons: couldnt find any.

Other Thoughts: 1st ati card since an AGP x800 i bought a long time ago. Used to be die hard Nvidia, after waiting months for the GTX3xx or GF100 whatever they are gonna call it I went ahead and got these. Wanted to play dx11 Bad company 2. Dont be afraid to make the transition from nivida. I remember being a die hard AMD fan until intel made better chips took the plunge and havent looked back. Of course though I will always buy whatever company makes the better product as neither company is paying me to use their stuff.

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So far, not good!

Reviewed By: Jal on 2/9/2010

Tech Level: high - Ownership: less than 1 day

This user purchased this item from Newegg

Pros: None, did not work at all

Cons: Did not work out of the box.
Had to pay to return it to them to try to get a replacement for it, seems they do not honor failures of their own company, regardless of if they outsource it to other companies or not.

Other Thoughts: This seems like it would be a great card, unfortunately, it never worked from stage 1, and until I get the next card, can only have bad things to say about the card and the operation of the companies RMA return setup.

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Reviewed By: on 2/8/2010

Tech Level: somewhat high - Ownership: less than 1 day

This user purchased this item from Newegg

Pros: Fast

Cons: Not DOA

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