XFX 7850 1GB Double D Ed Video Card w/Never Settle $150AR @Newegg

I bought the 7850 core from amazon on Sunday. Looking back for 10 bucks more I could have had the 2GB. I am hoping the 1GB won't make a huge difference running at 720p with Tomb Raider.

Do these cards die after 2 years. I don't plan on overclocking at all. I have noticed on most electronics that is they work for the first 6 months they typically don't fail. Is that true for video cards?

Quote from improvius : Mine died after a couple of months. No overclocking or anything. I've been dealing with Xforce for about a week so far trying to get an RMA. It seems to take them 2-3 business days to get back to me each time I respond to their questions. I've been using Nvida cards for the past 15 years with no failures, then the first time I try an AMD card it dies after a very short time. Could be just bad luck, but I'll be more inclined to stick with Nvida in the future. The card was great when it worked, though.

I understand your sentiments, but I think a sample size of one is kind of unreasonable to judge the brand. I'm kind of the opposite -- I've bought AMD for the last 5 or so years (since switching from a 9800GT, Nvidia before that), and I haven't had an AMD card fail yet (knock on wood). Everything from my 6870s to my 4890 work flawlessly. On the contrary, 2/3 Nvidia cards I've bought in this span went kaput. I'm not going to rule out Nvidia though based on this. I rule them out because their price/performance ratio is horrible compared to AMD at the moment. Failures happen, and 80% of the time, it's actually the fault of the specific manufacturer (XFX, Sapphire, etc) than AMD or Nvidia.

That said, AMD is one of those companies that cannot get market penetration due to people's perceptions that its CPUs are so much worse than Intel's or likewise with graphics and Nvidia. It's puzzling for me that people still think this when the AMD's offerings are comparable/better performing and anywhere from 100-150 cheaper than competitors from Nvidia right now anyway.

Quote from protivakid : If newegg had an easier return policy I would try this but for me w/o FC3 guaranteed I can't bring myself to jump on this. Anyone else in here find anything about the FC3 promo, or can confirm / deny?

I just downloaded FC3 from my XFX DD 7850 1GB yesterday.

Quote from Slomo4shO : Yes, register with XFX. Need to include the serial number and personal activation code. The personal activation code is on the back of the door hanger that is in the box. That is interesting. I have used both Nvidia and AMD over the last 15ish years a well. I had 1 card "die" on me and that was due to the fan clogging up with dirt and letting the GPU overheat.Replacing the fan would have resolved the issues but the card was a low profile 2600 Pro that I had picked up for $10

Quote from xBanzai89 : I just downloaded FC3 from my XFX DD 7850 1GB yesterday.

And when did you buy / register the card? Also was it a steam key?

Quote from protivakid : If newegg had an easier return policy I would try this but for me w/o FC3 guaranteed I can't bring myself to jump on this. Anyone else in here find anything about the FC3 promo, or can confirm / deny?

Quote from protivakid : And when did you buy / register the card? Also was is a steam key?

I bought mine back in December. I can't confirm its still working at the moment if you buy today. This isn't a steam key, but a uplay. Were any of the FC3 promos with AMD cards steam keys anyway?

Quote from protivakid : And when did you buy / register the card? Also was is a steam key?

Bought the card from Newegg on Feb 19 and registered it last week. The key is through ubisoft. I was pleasantly surprised, I had sold the Bioshock and Tomb Raider game coupon for $55 and this additional key made this card come out to under $80

Quote from Slomo4shO : That's not the Double D. I would not recommend the core edition over the Double D especially when the core edition costs more. The double D has better cooling and comes with a lifetime warranty(once you register the card).

Not necessarily. At least two reviews showed the dual-fan version to cool noticeably worse than the single-fan version. Dual-fan was quieter, though.

Could be something like if you tweak the fan speed with software it would then be cooler again and not at much of a noise penalty, but who knows.

Quote from drbrock : I bought the 7850 core from amazon on Sunday. Looking back for 10 bucks more I could have had the 2GB. I am hoping the 1GB won't make a huge difference running at 720p with Tomb Raider.

I'd be surprised if 1gb of memory is ever a problem at only 720p.

Quote from improvius : I don't think it makes much of a difference unless you're using a monitor with higher than 1080p resolution.

Just an FYI, even with 1080p all rockstar games (even Max payne 3) takes almost 2 GBs.

Voted and repped. I jumped on it. I have two 4830s in CrossFire now. This looks like I will be able to sell the old cards plus the game coupon(s) and make a nearly-free swap into this model.

I got the EVGA 660 GTX at BestBuy during the Mastercard $50 off deal in January. Which is the better video card? Not sure I can resell the 660 GTX without losing at least $10. I think the 660GTX might be better even though the 7850 is a better deal (if you can collect the rebate and get a decent deal on the never settle bundle on ebay)

Quote from Slomo4shO : Bought the card from Newegg on Feb 19 and registered it last week. The key is through ubisoft. I was pleasantly surprised, I had sold the Bioshock and Tomb Raider game coupon for $55 and this additional key made this card come out to under $80

Did you sign up on AMD's site for both bundles then? (It gives the choice of bundle but says you get a max of two games.) Or did you get the key directly from Ubi's site entirely without needing an email code of some kind from AMD's site first? I looked on Ubi's site and it looks like it needs a code from AMD's site first.

Btw, for those who are missing it, the 2gb XFX core (single fan) version with game bundle is $160 shipped after rebate from NCIX. Make sure to be on the U.S. version of the site when ordering, cause otherwise they're Canadian eh.

Today is the last day for their sale, ($13 off), though the $20 XFX rebate goes until the 15th.
This is the third XFX rebate in the last 45 days, so I assume there'll be a new one on the 16th, but then again maybe not.

Oh heck, I'll link it: http://us.ncix.com/products/?sku=...omoid=1276

Tough call if you need a card in this ballpark right now.
There's the $90 after rebate + free 3dMark MSI dual-fan 2-3 year warranty 7770 at Newegg.
There's the 2g XFX 7850 single-fan with two good games and 2-year warranty for $160 at Ncix.
There's this 1gb XFX 7850 dual-fan with two good games and lifetime warranty for $150 at Newegg.
There's the $188 660 at... someplace I forget. Decent yet worse bundle with it, though.

Quote from slicksder : I got the EVGA 660 GTX at BestBuy during the Mastercard $50 off deal in January. Which is the better video card? Not sure I can resell the 660 GTX without losing at least $10. I think the 660GTX might be better even though the 7850 is a better deal (if you can collect the rebate and get a decent deal on the never settle bundle on ebay)

660 GTX is equal or better. In old reviews it was way better, but then AMD made better drivers, so I think the 7850 is still behind but oc'ing it gets it close. So 660 should still be better, and the 660 can run 3+ monitors without needing $30 adapters too which is nice to have even if it's not used. If 7850 can run 3+ monitors without $30 adapters, let me know.

Quote from timropp : Well, the 2gb is $30 more, not a "few dollars". If you're going to spend $180 AR to get the 7850 2gb, why not go for the $199 AR 7870 2gb?

There's a 2GB XFX 7850 on sale at NCIX (same OP BTW) for $10 more, but it's the standard edition not the double D. To each his own, but I would rather spend $10 for a card that I would be less likely to outgrow in a year.

Question is, can anyone confirm if the Far Cry 3 code is included with the just XFX's double D 1GB 7850 or is it with other 7850s such as the core version and/or the 2GB versions? This is the first time I'm hearing about this. I'm interested in keeping Bioshock and Tomb Raider (I actually planned on getting those anyway), but that FC3 would be great to sell and make this deal hot for me.

Quote from improvius : I don't think it makes much of a difference unless you're using a monitor with higher than 1080p resolution.

Most of us are using 1080p monitors... spend the few extra bucks and grab the 2gb.

Quote from Deusxmachina : Did you sign up on AMD's site for both bundles then? (It gives the choice of bundle but says you get a max of two games.) Or did you get the key directly from Ubi's site entirely without needing an email code of some kind from AMD's site first? I looked on Ubi's site and it looks like it needs a code from AMD's site first. Btw, for those who are missing it, the 2gb XFX core (single fan) version with game bundle is $160 shipped after rebate from NCIX. Make sure to be on the U.S. version of the site when ordering, cause otherwise they're Canadian eh. Today is the last day for their sale, ($13 off), though the $20 XFX rebate goes until the 15th. This is the third XFX rebate in the last 45 days, so I assume there'll be a new one on the 16th, but then again maybe not. Oh heck, I'll link it: http://us.ncix.com/products/?sku=...omoid=1276 Tough call if you need a card in this ballpark right now. There's the $90 after rebate + free 3dMark MSI dual-fan 2-3 year warranty 7770 at Newegg. There's the 2g XFX 7850 single-fan with two good games and 2-year warranty for $160 at Ncix. There's this 1gb XFX 7850 dual-fan with two good games and lifetime warranty for $150 at Newegg. There's the $188 660 at... someplace I forget. Decent yet worse bundle with it, though. 660 GTX is equal or better. In old reviews it was way better, but then AMD made better drivers, so I think the 7850 is still behind but oc'ing it gets it close. So 660 should still be better, and the 660 can run 3+ monitors without needing $30 adapters too which is nice to have even if it's not used. If 7850 can run 3+ monitors without $30 adapters, let me know.

I am using my 660 GTX for 1080p. So based on the comments about the 1GB version, I should stick with my GTX 660