The fastest GPU on the planet combined with a terrific warranty
All of the Radeon HD 5870s reviewed here are essentially identical—they’re the fastest single-GPU graphics cards you can buy currently. Out of the box, you get a typical one-year limited warranty. But if you register XFX’s product online within 30 days of purchase, the warranty lasts for “the duration of your life.” Not a bad deal, assuming the company is around that long.
It’s nice having a great warranty, but you want great performance for your $390. You’ll get that in spades. The XFX card burned through our performance tests, posting the highest scores in the 3DMark Vantage Extreme and Crysis benchmarks. The differences were minimal, though, and other 5870s won in other benchmarks.
Note that our benchmarks were exclusively run with 4x AA enabled, at 1920x1200—and we still got 32fps in Crysis and more than 60fps in both Far Cry 2 scenes. By the same token, idle power draw was minimal, a scant 140W.
The bottom line with the XFX Radeon HD 5870 is simple: You get world-leading 3D gaming performance, minimal power usage when you’re not gaming, and a warranty that offers you peace of mind if the card dies. What’s not to like (other than the price tag)?
Review Roundup:
XFX Radeon HD 5870 HID Radeon HD 5870
Sapphire Radeon HD 5870 Asus EAHH5850
Diamond Radeon HD 5850 Sapphire Radeon HD 5850
Gigabyte 260 GTX Super OC HIS Radeon HD 5770
Terrific 3D gaming performance; triple monitor support; lifetime warranty (with product registration)
Expensive.
| XFX 5870 | EVGA 285 GTX SSC | |
|---|---|---|
| 3DMark Vantage Performance | 17,089 | 13,941 |
| 3DMark Vantage Extreme | 8,312 | 6,276 |
| HAWX (fps) | 68 | 62 |
| Far Cry / Action (fps) | 62 | 47 |
| Far Cry 2 / Ranch Long (fps) | 74 | 56 |
| Battle Forge / DX10 (fps) | 47 | 46 |
| Crysis / DX10 (fps) | 32 | 22 |
| Resident Evil 5 (fps) | 100 | 87 |
| X3: Terran Conflict (fps) | 101 | 93 |
| STALKER: Clear Skies (fps) | 36 | 27 |
Best scores are bolded. All games were run at 1920x1200 with all detail levels maxed out and 4x AA enabled. Anisotropic filtering was also enabled in game, where available.
Links:
[1] http://www.maximumpc.com/user/loyd
[2] http://www.xfxforce.com
[3] http://dl.maximumpc.com/galleries/radeonroundup/amd_hd_5870_full.jpg
[4] http://www.maximumpc.com/article/reviews/xfx_radeon_hd_5870
[5] http://www.maximumpc.com/article/reviews/his_radeon_hd_5870
[6] http://www.maximumpc.com/article/reviews/sapphire_radeon_hd_5870
[7] http://www.maximumpc.com/article/reviews/asus_eah5850
[8] http://www.maximumpc.com/article/reviews/diamond_radeon_hd_5850
[9] http://www.maximumpc.com/article/reviews/sapphire_radeon_hd_5850
[10] http://www.maximumpc.com/article/reviews/gigabyte_260_gtx_super_oc
[11] http://www.maximumpc.com/article/reviews/his_hd_5770
[12] http://www.maximumpc.com/article/features/ati_mangles_competition_8_hot_new_video_cards_reviewed
[13] http://www.maximumpc.com/tags/5870
[14] http://www.maximumpc.com/tags/ati
[15] http://www.maximumpc.com/tags/buildapc
[16] http://www.maximumpc.com/tags/features
[17] http://www.maximumpc.com/articles/reviews/hardware
[18] http://www.maximumpc.com/tags/hardware
[19] http://www.maximumpc.com/tags/radeon
[20] http://www.maximumpc.com/tags/radeon_hd_5870
[21] http://www.maximumpc.com/tags/reviews
[22] http://www.maximumpc.com/tags/videocards
[23] http://www.maximumpc.com/articles/reviews
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