XFX RADEON HD 5850 1 GB DDR5 Preorder $260 at Amazon

I thought this was pretty good.
It's a preorder. I'm not sure when they will be released.

Linky

not sure who would know that you are the first one to get this card since it is hidden under the case , which is usually preorder - way too expensive. Not like Iphone.

updownstock said: not sure who would know that you are the first one to get this card since it is hidden under the case , which is usually preorder - way too expensive. Not like Iphone.Yeah because the iphone was a real bargain when it was first released.

oos at Newegg

shingletingle said: I have a graphics card I bought in Jan 2008 and it STILL plays today's games with max settings at 1920x1200 resolution. There's no reason to buy a new graphics card.

You assume that everyone has a graphics card from Jan 2008 that still plays today's games with max settings at 1920x1200 resolution.

shingletingle said: I have a graphics card I bought in Jan 2008 and it STILL plays today's games with max settings at 1920x1200 resolution. There's no reason to buy a new graphics card.

Yes, but can your graphics card play DX11 enhanced games? This thing is a freaking sweet bargain, thanks OP.

wow I've become out of touch with hardware.. DDR5?

Paperbag said: shingletingle said: I have a graphics card I bought in Jan 2008 and it STILL plays today's games with max settings at 1920x1200 resolution. There's no reason to buy a new graphics card.

You assume that everyone has a graphics card from Jan 2008 that still plays today's games with max settings at 1920x1200 resolution.
I'm sure his comment was intended to waste our time reading and responding to it, and while I'm at it, here are some benefits:
-DirectX 11 capable
-Single-card solution that can handle high-res
-What MeIsCheap above me stated, and man is that sweet to have all of those video outputs
-<$300 for one of the newest/best single-card, single-GPU solutions out there
-For those people that play new games with settings cranked, your minimum FPS rates during high-action won't be as low as your older cards

My last point just above is why most people will buy a new video card. I play my games with eye-candy sky high. I got my eyes used to that back in 2001, a few months after I started playing Half-Life Deathmatch and started getting used to high framerates with settings maxed. Since then, I always buy the video card that can play my PC games with an average of roughly 100FPS. I only play L4D and TF2 really nowadays when I have time, which is why my HD4890 is plenty for. I don't need this upgrade, but I can FEEL the need for those out there that play newer games than I do. I support those people in this post!!

The 5850 is rated as the 2nd fastest GPU on the market ($260) .... 1st place goes to it's big brother 5870 ($380).
A full product review for AMD's Radeon HD 5850
If you can afford the ride, check out the fastest GPU on the market .... AMD's Radeon HD 5870 graphics processor
Speed is not the only advantages for above cards. They run cooler, use less power (idle and max push).

bluechipwi said: The 5850 is rated as the 2nd fastest GPU on the market ($260) .... 1st place goes to it's big brother 5870 ($380).
A full product review for AMD's Radeon HD 5850
If you can afford the ride, check out the fastest GPU on the market .... AMD's Radeon HD 5870 graphics processor
Speed is not the only advantages for above cards. They run cooler, use less power (idle and max push).

Spot on. The only thing giving the 5850 a run for its money is the dual gpu setups at a much higher price point (and electricity point), and the 5870 goes even further.

I think the 5850 will be the top dog (at it's price point) for a few months. Rumor has it that nvidia will only compete with lower prices for right now.

MeIsCheap said: Bit-streams DTS_HD & True-HD from Blu-Ray to your receiver. only way before this was buying an Asus card that was either $130 or $200. Some may want the analogue out, but i made it a point not to buy another card until they would bitstream.

I don't remember seeing any audio headers on the card to feed audio in. How would HDMI bitstream HD audio?

New to this forum. Sorry for double posting.

VirtuaL said: sr1nath said: I don't remember seeing any audio headers on the card to feed audio in. How would HDMI bitstream HD audio?
The video card essentially has a sound card built in. You install the drivers for teh HDMI sound, you can download them from the RealTek site, or perhaps newer Catalyst drivers have them built-in.

This is an inferior solution. When you bitstream audio from a PC to a receiver, you will only get 2 channel sound and lose any surround sound. The only way around this is to utilize a soundcard that has Dolby Digital or DTS encoding.

shingletingle said: This is an inferior solution. When you bitstream audio from a PC to a receiver, you will only get 2 channel sound and lose any surround sound. The only way around this is to utilize a soundcard that has Dolby Digital or DTS encoding.
I can always bitstream legacy audio (DD/DTS) via S/PDIF on sound card. I am interested in bitstreaming HD audio over HDMI.

VirtuaL said:
The video card essentially has a sound card built in. You install the drivers for teh HDMI sound, you can download them from the RealTek site, or perhaps newer Catalyst drivers have them built-in.

Will my existing optical out port does not work anymore?

shingletingle said: VirtuaL said: sr1nath said: I don't remember seeing any audio headers on the card to feed audio in. How would HDMI bitstream HD audio?
The video card essentially has a sound card built in. You install the drivers for teh HDMI sound, you can download them from the RealTek site, or perhaps newer Catalyst drivers have them built-in.

This is an inferior solution. When you bitstream audio from a PC to a receiver, you will only get 2 channel sound and lose any surround sound. The only way around this is to utilize a soundcard that has Dolby Digital or DTS encoding.

According to the specs:

# Output protected high bit rate 7.1 channel surround sound over HDMI with no additional cables required
# Supports AC-3, AAC, Dolby TrueHD and DTS Master Audio formats

Utilizing a soundcard with Dolby digital or DTS encoding would be inferior as those are not true HD. Support for Dolby TrueHD or DTS Master is needed... which the card can output via HDMI. I actually like that facts as most cards, if any, before the 5 series did not have a Displayport output which takes advantage of the 7.1 HD sound.

shingletingle said: VirtuaL said: sr1nath said: I don't remember seeing any audio headers on the card to feed audio in. How would HDMI bitstream HD audio?
The video card essentially has a sound card built in. You install the drivers for teh HDMI sound, you can download them from the RealTek site, or perhaps newer Catalyst drivers have them built-in.

This is an inferior solution. When you bitstream audio from a PC to a receiver, you will only get 2 channel sound and lose any surround sound. The only way around this is to utilize a soundcard that has Dolby Digital or DTS encoding.

Blatantly wrong. The ATI 5xxx series fully supports 8-channel LPCM and is able to bitstream Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD MA tracks. See http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3643&p=10

Dolby Digital and DTS-ES are actually the inferior solutions since their audio tracks are compressed. People seeking Blu-Ray playback from their HTPCs have been waiting for proper Dolby TrueHD/DTS-HD MA bitstreaming support without the need to purchase a specialized separate sound card.

Why is this a hot deal? The AMD suggested retail price for the HD 5850 is $259 and Amazon selling it for $260 is suddenly a "deal". I could understand if the product was hard to find and in stock, but it's not even in stock. When did we start rating out of stock retail prices as hot?

lousygolfer said: shingletingle said: I have a graphics card I bought in Jan 2008 and it STILL plays today's games with max settings at 1920x1200 resolution. There's no reason to buy a new graphics card.

Thanks for sharing that with us SprinkleTinkle. But how does your particular situation apply to anyone else who might be interested in upgrading their video cards? Does the fact that you own seven cats (while this is a guess that you own cats, I bet this is probably accurate to within +- two felines) entitle you to threadcrap on a post about a sale on dog food?

calm down golfer, he is just frustrated because of his small shingle tingle ...

mausdmchl said: It's a preorder for those that want to jump on the next gen. of GPU's ASAP.
It's nice being able to pre-order a hot tech item, but that in of itself does not make it a hot deal. If somebody posted a link to pre-order say the next iPhone on Apple.com for retail price, it would get huge red.

mausdmchl said: Those that do and live in CA can appreciate the fact that there is no tax and free shipping as well.

To me, ~$30 savings makes it a good deal.
So you're saying everything you can buy off of Amazon should get huge green? If I take the 2 points you make in combination, that means I should rate anything you can pre-order at Amazon green.

mausdmchl said: No, everything that I want to buy that's on Amazon at a net low price deserves green.

I bought the card at Amazon and saved money = green from me.
Alright, fair enough. The spirit of Fatwallet is to point out deals that people will be willing to pay for even if the price isn't necessarily special in of itself.

You'll likely be waiting a while...
http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1467271

Someone ordered October 20 and is still waiting I think I saw.

I personally ordered October 30, so good luck to us both =).