new video card

i know this kind of question comes up alot, but i need a little help from those more knowledgeable than i.

i was going to get me a Radeon HD 5870 for around $300. when i was looking around today i found a Radeon HD 6850 for $200. they seem to me to be about the same, but i wanted to make sure.

thanks for any help

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Oh no, there not the same. The HD 5870 is faster than the HD 6850, at least at stock clocks by around 20-25%.

Also note that the HD 5870 uses, worse case, about 60 watts more power, hence the need for a 2nd PCIe power connector (one 6-pin and one 8-pin in this case). Not to mention that the HD 5870 is a long card.

That all said, a card that's 20% slower for 1/3rd of the cost and uses a lot less power, which means less heat produced, is attractive. Now if you think the HD 6750 is a slouch it's performance is similar to the GTX 285 or a stock clock GTX 460 1GB card.

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