Sapphire Radeon HD 6850 1GB PCI Express Video Card + $10 Newegg Gift Card $133 After $15 Rebate + Free shipping [Archive]

tienvu18

03-18-2011, 07:37 PM

SAPPHIRE 100315L Radeon HD 6850 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity

164.99 -16.50 from 10% coupon code VG3TENOFF and then 15$ MIR and 10 dollar newegg gift card!

Ending price of 133.49 after MIR with 10 dollar gift card!

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102908

redsolar

03-18-2011, 07:37 PM

Newegg (http://slickdeals.net/?pno=48677&lno=1&afsrc=1) has Sapphire Radeon HD 6850 1GB PCI Express Video Card + $10 Newegg Gift Card for $165 - 10% off coupon VG3TENOFF - $15 rebate (http://slickdeals.net/?pno=48677&lno=2&afsrc=1) = $133 with free shipping. Add to cart to see the gift card. Thanks tienvu18

vivisimonvi

03-18-2011, 08:38 PM

I think the XFX 6870 deal outshines this one but I am considering a 2nd of these Sapphire cards for Crossfire. I bought this back in December and still waiting for my rebate (their tracking info from their rebate site says I was approved back in early January and that's it).

wiiwok

03-18-2011, 09:25 PM

Surprised this isn't getting more attention. Same card made FP last week (http://slickdeals.net/forums/showthread.php?sduid=209452&t=2735921) at $11 more.

Thanks OP! Thumbs up and repped.

Doremon

03-18-2011, 10:31 PM

nice deal, still holding out for a 6950 to drop under 200.

awing

03-18-2011, 10:49 PM

I chose the 6850 over the 6870 as it was $30 cheaper plus the $10 gift card and the fact that it can be overclocked up to or near the 6870 stock levels.
You can overclock the 6870 too, of course, but if we're talking about stock cards, for me the price difference outweighs 5-10 more fps you get in most games.

The 6870 is around 20% better than the 6850. http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ASUS/GeForce_GTX_550_Ti_Direct_Cu/23.html

Saiyagame

03-18-2011, 10:54 PM

lightfoot3b

03-18-2011, 11:03 PM

O geez. This is at my required price point to buy AND a $10 gift card. I'm going to have some backbone and wait for the sub $200 6950 with some other people.

Hardwyre

03-18-2011, 11:10 PM

for those thinking of upgrading, it's recommended you jump at least 3 tiers.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-hd-6950-1gb-geforce-gtx-560-ti-gaming-graphics-card,2857-7.html

do i upgrade from a gtx 260? just to play shogun 2 on ultra settings? or wait until a higher tier card is available at a cheaper price..
Your GTX 260 is in the same category as my 4870. I would hold off for the 5970 to drop in price. TH suggests a three tier jump, but if you're able to run most of your games at good settings and still enjoy the game, hangout for a bit and get a better upgrade.

I went from an 8800 GTS to the 4870 which was 5 or 6 tiers and that was a wickedly noticeable upgrade. Three tiers I don't think it worth the money with as fast as cards drop, and ATI-based cards drop into the sub-200 range at a fairly quick clip.

incogito

03-18-2011, 11:10 PM

why do all great deals have to be on newegg? Damn CA tax.

Hotwheels

03-18-2011, 11:27 PM

If I only would have waited two months. I have this same exact card and it's pretty sick.

tattare

03-18-2011, 11:35 PM

Nice. $123.49 if I get the rebate and count the gift card.

Free 3 day shipping Im stoked.

Dondino

03-19-2011, 12:08 AM

How do you guys think a pair of these would compare to my 4870x2?

Joshewah

03-19-2011, 12:20 AM

Dm22

03-19-2011, 12:33 AM

I currently have an HD4850 512mb

I'm starting to notice it struggling at 1080P resolution. It just doesn't have the right ammount of VRAM and muscle anymore.

Think I should bother with an upgrade or hold off for the HD 7000 series?

if u already have a 4850 or higher gpu, i'd hold it in and use lower res for now if you're struggling.

it's probably worth the wait... the 7000 series are going to be smaller manufacturing process (28 nm) compared to 6x/5x series (40nm)

the 6x series are just re-badged 5x series...only with better driver and power efficiency / fancy stuff... not necessarily more powerful

darksim001

03-19-2011, 01:04 AM

Picked one up, it was time to upgrade from my good old Open Box 8800gt from newegg 2.5 years ago. :D.
Btw, this is my first ATI card, do they have as good support on most games and frequent driver updates like Nvidia? Might be a dumb question but I usually see problems with ATI cards on game forums more often than Nvidia cards.

waltzendless

03-19-2011, 01:09 AM

i bought the other one a few days ago for $145 after rebate D=

kfuzion

03-19-2011, 01:16 AM

I currently have an HD4850 512mb

I'm starting to notice it struggling at 1080P resolution. It just doesn't have the right ammount of VRAM and muscle anymore.

Think I should bother with an upgrade or hold off for the HD 7000 series?

You should go for this, it's a great price. I suggest the minimum card for gaming at 1080p for newer games is a GTX 460 1GB, or 5830 or 6850. The performance gap between the 460/6850 and 5700/450/4800 and such is about 30-50% depending, so you'll notice a huge difference.

Picked one up, it was time to upgrade from my good old Open Box 8800gt from newegg 2.5 years ago. :D.
Btw, this is my first ATI card, do they have as good support on most games and frequent driver updates like Nvidia? Might be a dumb question but I usually see problems with ATI cards on game forums more often than Nvidia cards.

On occasion people have driver issues- personally I haven't since I had a 2000 series ATi card(which may have been the card's fault, died out). AMD/ATi releases new drivers every month.

TheMove

03-19-2011, 01:52 AM

I have been watching this card all week hoping for a deal. Its about that time to upgrade as I had my 4850 for 2 years. I play rift and get about 40fps on high, but in citys or crowded areas it can go all the way down to 10fps.

Im not sure how big of a upgrade this card would be. I read ppl saying with the 6850 they get about 45fps on high in Rift. Doesnt seem like much of a upgrade from my card which I think I paid $140 for 2 years ago.

besi

03-19-2011, 01:58 AM

little review

http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=631&Itemid=72

Core2Quad

03-19-2011, 02:37 AM

Good deal, but hoping to find it elsewhere without CA tax! Don't forget another 1% off at some CB sites + use your CC for another 1%+.

chavalo_nm1

03-19-2011, 04:10 AM

would this be a big upgrade from my 5770?

ThatsNotADeal

03-19-2011, 05:28 AM

FINALLY! Some downward movement on these 6850's. Even when they dropped the 6870 and the 6900's in response to nvidia's 560, the 6850's did not move in price.

Guess they finally lost demand at this price point. Makes sense, since you could almost buy a 6870 for the price of these 6850's.

I'm hoping this starts a downward trend.

29er

03-19-2011, 06:26 AM

go to cash_back_holic_dot_com (remove underscores); one website is offering a 3.2% cashback rebate. Use them all the time when buying from newegg. Every little bit of $ back in the wallet is welcome.

smashtheguitar

03-19-2011, 06:41 AM

would this be a big upgrade from my 5770?

Not incredibly, no. Not worth spending the money for the increase in performance you'll get, in my opinion. Wait until prices drop a bit further or think about jumping to a 5870 or 6870 if the price point hits you right.

neteng101

03-19-2011, 07:34 AM

would this be a big upgrade from my 5770?

I am going to make the jump... it won't be huge as some other cards might but the 6850 is the only thing close to the 5770 with power requirements, and I don't have the PSU or case to handle the bigger cards right now.

Doesn't look too shabby of an upgrade though, I'd say a 33% improvement?...

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/296?vs=291

Plus the Sapphire 6850 looks to be very OCable and has voltage control.

trip1eX

03-19-2011, 07:57 AM

in for one.

aznshrek88

03-19-2011, 08:26 AM

+1 repped, gotta love that CA sales tax!

dayv

03-19-2011, 09:19 AM

terabyte

03-19-2011, 10:24 AM

Nice find! repped!

bob13bob

03-19-2011, 11:18 AM

signifcatnly lower minimum fps than gtx 460. for those who know, min fps is the thing that matters most.

http://www.hardocp.com/article/2010/10/21/amd_radeon_hd_6870_6850_video_card_review/6

Skorp1on

03-19-2011, 11:44 AM

i have HD 4850. Is this worth the upgrade, as compared to HD 4850 in CF? I hate the noise in my HD 4850 - anybody know how quiet the cooler fan is?

tattare

03-19-2011, 11:46 AM

signifcatnly lower minimum fps than gtx 460. for those who know, min fps is the thing that matters most.

http://www.hardocp.com/article/2010/10/21/amd_radeon_hd_6870_6850_video_card_review/6

Those benchmarks are with Catalyst 10.10 Beta.
Catalyst 11.4 is soon to be released.
http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2150106

Here is a review with a preview of the new 11.4 drivers.
http://www.anandtech.com/show/4221/nvidias-gtx-550-ti-coming-up-short-at-150/4

TheMove

03-19-2011, 01:43 PM

I grabed a 6850 last nite. I have a 4850. Should be a good purchase for rift, swtor, bf3, diablo 3 in the next year for me.

quik

03-19-2011, 01:46 PM

Bought one. In CA, the 6850 was ~$135 including tax with the rebate/gift card and the 6870 was ~$174 including tax with the rebate.

trip1eX

03-19-2011, 02:04 PM

signifcatnly lower minimum fps than gtx 460. for those who know, min fps is the thing that matters most.

http://www.hardocp.com/article/2010/10/21/amd_radeon_hd_6870_6850_video_card_review/6

toms hardware showed same/slightly greater minimum fps in BF:BC2 as GTX 460 in their reviews last year. (http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-hd-6870-radeon-hd-6850-barts,2776-13.html)

Also toms hardware showed much greater minimum fps in BF:BC2 when used in crossfire than 460 gtx SLI (http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-hd-6970-radeon-hd-6950-cayman,2818-12.html).

In general toms hardware noted radeons run BF:BC2 a bit better than nvidia cards.

I have a 460 gtx too so I'll test out both in BF:BC2.

Drivers can influence numbers quite a bit as you can other hardware. AS well as game patches. gtx 460 drivers by now could be better in SLI for example. Works both ways.

norazi

03-19-2011, 10:20 PM

is this the most powerful single 6-pin card?

smashtheguitar

03-20-2011, 06:47 AM

is this the most powerful single 6-pin card?

Well, you at least have the 6870 ahead of it... so, no, I don't think so.

BIGFOOT_PI

03-20-2011, 07:13 AM

signifcatnly lower minimum fps than gtx 460. for those who know, min fps is the thing that matters most.

http://www.hardocp.com/article/2010/10/21/amd_radeon_hd_6870_6850_video_card_review/6
thats only in the one using nvidia's TRMSAA (and only that one game)
looks like more of an anti-aliasing tech performance comparison than a general card comparison = "apples to oranges "
At the bottom of the page in the "apples-to-apples" comparison, @2x AA theres only a 1frame difference minimum with an average of 3fps higher for the 6850.
(And its narrow minded of them to only run BF2 benches with AA on. I dont use AA at all in ANY of my gaming. I game @1080p and sit far enough away I cant see jaggies at all anyway.)

look at metro 2033 and at the bottom of page the 6850 wins at minimum AND average.

neteng101

03-20-2011, 07:52 AM

Well, you at least have the 6870 ahead of it... so, no, I don't think so.

I thought all 6870s are dual 6-pin cards? :confused:

Phasers

03-20-2011, 08:01 AM

How would this compare to my gtx 260 1.75GB. Obviously much less video memory, but does the faster chip/more shaders, etc make up for it?

I run most things at 1920x1200.

BIGFOOT_PI

03-20-2011, 08:22 AM

How would this compare to my gtx 260 1.75GB. Obviously much less video memory, but does the faster chip/more shaders, etc make up for it?

I run most things at 1920x1200.
not worth it
you need to be aiming for a HD 6970 or higher as your next upgrade and thats only assuming you can sell your current card for a good percentage of the new cards out-of-pocket (50-75% or more of new card cost) ..or have another valuable place for the 260- like a secondary or family members gaming rig.

ddrddrddrddr

03-20-2011, 08:29 AM

Too bad the rebate limit is just 1. Why don't they make it 2....

norazi

03-20-2011, 12:25 PM

Well, you at least have the 6870 ahead of it... so, no, I don't think so.

6870 has 2 6-pin AFAIK

Phasers

03-20-2011, 02:35 PM

not worth it
you need to be aiming for a HD 6970 or higher as your next upgrade and thats only assuming you can sell your current card for a good percentage of the new cards out-of-pocket (50-75% or more of new card cost) ..or have another valuable place for the 260- like a secondary or family members gaming rig.

Thanks, appreciate the reply. I'll rep you soon as I get back to a computer.

besi

03-20-2011, 07:07 PM

finally pulled the trigger.i'm on a budget so 100-120$ was the sweet-spot for me.
i looked around and i couldn't find a better card in this price range.very good reviews everywhere.probably it will go lower $$ in the next couple of months ,if its goes much lower i'm in for a second one.
the card is short- 9",quiet fan,"low power" so its perfect even for an htpc.
119$ with rebate,cashback,coupon. nice!

BIGFOOT_PI

03-20-2011, 07:13 PM

finally pulled the trigger.i'm on a budget so this 100-120 was the sweet-spot for me.
i looked around everywhere and i couldn't find a better card in this price range.very good reviews everywhere.probably will go lower in the next couple of months ,if its goes much lower i'm in for a second one.
the card is short- 9",quiet fan,"low power" so its perfect even for an htpc.
119$ with rebate,cashback,coupon. nice!

based on the numbers in the OP its $123, can you please explain how you saved another $4?

anyway- Im going to guess FatWlt CB

MetalliTooL

03-20-2011, 09:37 PM

based on the numbers in the OP its $123, can you please explain how you saved another $4?

anyway- Im going to guess FatWlt CB

Actually based on the numbers in the OP it's $133.

woodbutcher

03-21-2011, 07:21 AM

based on the numbers in the OP its $123, can you please explain how you saved another $4?

anyway- Im going to guess FatWlt CB

Fatwallet sent me an email denying cash back on 2 purchases made from Newegg over the month. Even though I used Promo codes on Newegg's own product page the were not approved by Fatwallet.
Bottom line, I would not expect cash back on purchases involving coupons from Newegg using Fatwallet. I have never had problems with this before, apparently Fatwallet is becoming more adherent to its' coupon policies.

Oh, and this deal is dead, product price raised to $174.99.

WB

BIGFOOT_PI

03-21-2011, 07:22 AM

Actually based on the numbers in the OP it's $133.
I took into account he was subtracting the $10 gift card since is good as cash.

whathuh

03-21-2011, 08:19 AM

Sapphire rebates are slow.

I sent mine in with the wrong package slip somehow (due to RMA stuff) but I still managed to get it sent in. Took 4 months to get the card.

wiiwok

03-21-2011, 09:23 AM

For all intents and purposes this deal is dead... price went up to $174.99 and shipping is no longer free.

$10 gift card and coupon code are still working, however.

Cost is now $147.48 AR, shipped.

genci88

03-21-2011, 07:26 PM

Is anyone else not being offered the "No Wait Rebate" option when preparing the rebate?

The typical rebate takes 3+ months, and I'll be moving before then. So I was willing to pay a little for the "No Wait Rebate" option. Guess this means I won't be getting the rebate at all. :(

Feels like false advertising on Sapphire's part, since No Wait Rebate is mentioned as an option in the PDF document.

teon

03-22-2011, 09:21 AM

neteng101

03-22-2011, 08:07 PM

Just got my card today - amazing what it can do! :drool:

Easily overclocks to 940/1150 (per Anandtech) though MSI Afterburner is at 1.174v for me when I set it to 1.172v initially. At this speed it outdoes a stock 6870.

In Mafia II benchmark with Catalyst 11.4 Preview, I went from 39.9 fps on OCed 5770 to 53.4 fps with the 6850 OCed (on High + AA turned on, 1680x1050). That's a 34% increase in frame rate and definitely noticeable stuff.

Off to figure out the rebate.

trip1eX

03-23-2011, 10:04 AM

Got mine. BF:BC2 locked up about 5 times after playing for 20 minutes or so. :)

Still testing it. I switched the power plug going into it. Maybe it just wasn't getting enough juice. I think other plug is from other 12 V rail.

Power Supply isn't the biggest but GTX 460 in same rig has no problems although it uses more power.

GTX 460 does have 2 power plugs which means, in my mind at least, that it can get the power it needs from whatever is available on both 12V rails.

Card seems a bit faster while playing. It's close to a GTX 460 so don't notice much difference.

Ultimately it is for a 2nd machine. Just testing it out in current machine for now.

enzymez

03-23-2011, 12:20 PM

I am going to be building a new i5 p67 rig. Coming from e6300 with xfx geforce 7600gt fatal1ty. At this point any card out there would be a massive upgrade for me I suspect. I just need a little advice.

I am no longer playing games on the PC or at least not graphic intensive games. Most of the duties would be video editing, photoshopping, and viewing hd / blueray content. Is this card too overkill for those tasks? Should I opt for the hd5770 deal instead?

I am hoping to be able to perform these tasks without falling too far behind with this next card for about 4-6 years. Open to any suggestions or recommendations.

trip1eX

03-23-2011, 09:50 PM

Card is working fine now. No freezes since I switched my power cables to the card. Looks like it may have been getting low on juice. (Crosses fingers.)

btw, low details ain't what low details used to be. IN a good way. I turned BF:BC2 down to low details at 1920x1080 and I was like wow. This is medium to high in Battlefield 2. Only the trees were that noticeablely worse on the surface. They were 2d sprites from a distance. Chnaged to 3d up close.

Fine with that and started playing at low details for a bit because it was so buttery smooth.

Used to be able to "cheat" some and see better with low details because less shadows and textures were more plain which made it easier to pick out the enemy. Now though doesn't work.

Of course game was made for consoles first so there aren't as many options to change as in a pc-first game like the previous BF2 was.

Anyway card is good enough to do high details at 1920x1080 in BF:BC2 with 4xAA and 4xAF. It gets slow in heavy firefights, effects so better to tone it down for smooth play.

Seems mostly the same as gtx 460 in my subjective testing. No worse, maybe a bit smoother.

oh and btw, hooked it up to a 42" plasma 720p tv whose resolution in 1024x768. Game flies unbelievably and looks pretty darn good. You can turn up full AA and AF and since I sit back a bit more from 42" don't notice the lower resolution. Colors in plasma stand out. Definitely a different picture than lcd which is a bit washed out. AT least my cheap 24" is. Don't what the refresh rate on a plasma is with a pc input. I played through its vga pc input.

genci88

03-25-2011, 01:11 AM

Wow, I can run Crysis Warhead with everything on max (Enthusiast), 8x MSAA, 16x AF, and DirectX 10 mode without lag. Framerate fluctuates between 30 and 50 FPS.

Amazing upgrade from my 4850. Really happy with this purchase. :D

tattare

03-25-2011, 06:12 PM

I just rma'd mine back to newegg. Cost me $10 to ship back to them :mad:
defective card. Soon after I installed catalyst 11.2 on a fresh OS install I started getting black screens. Flickering and flashing black screens. Unable to even try a video game.

I hope the rebate is still redeemable after I get the replacement as Im sure I wont get it till after the 31st.
Might not be such a great deal after all.

neteng101

03-25-2011, 08:34 PM

Soon after I installed catalyst 11.2 on a fresh OS install I started getting black screens. Flickering and flashing black screens.

Bad move. 11.2 is terrible bad, a lot of people had black screen issues with it. Should have tried 11.4 Early Preview - the card is probably perfect, just defective drivers. I had issues with 11.2 before on my previous 5770 that was perfectly fine with older drivers.

tattare

03-25-2011, 08:48 PM

Bad move. 11.2 is terrible bad, a lot of people had black screen issues with it. Should have tried 11.4 Early Preview - the card is probably perfect, just defective drivers. I had issues with 11.2 before on my previous 5770 that was perfectly fine with older drivers.

I was going to try 11.4 today after messing around for 4 hours with 11.2 last night but I took someones advice on anandtech and decided to rma it instead of trying 11.4
Alot of the black screen issues where in games. This was happening in windows with no games running. Start flickering black screens right after booting into windows.

neteng101

03-26-2011, 01:11 PM

This was happening in windows with no games running. Start flickering black screens right after booting into windows.

My 5770 issues with 11.2 happened in Windows soon enough after login - didn't even get as far as a game. Same thing, those flickering black screens. I had to reboot in Safe Mode and such to get rid of it because I couldn't even uninstall 11.2 before it would lock up.

Tried 11.4 Early Preview with both the 5770 and then swapped in the 6850 when it arrived. 11.4 was even good for a bump in WEI from 7.1 to 7.4 on the 5770 for graphics/gaming graphics.

tattare

03-27-2011, 10:27 AM

My 5770 issues with 11.2 happened in Windows soon enough after login - didn't even get as far as a game. Same thing, those flickering black screens. I had to reboot in Safe Mode and such to get rid of it because I couldn't even uninstall 11.2 before it would lock up.

Tried 11.4 Early Preview with both the 5770 and then swapped in the 6850 when it arrived. 11.4 was even good for a bump in WEI from 7.1 to 7.4 on the 5770 for graphics/gaming graphics.

dang I should of tried it instead of being lazy. hopefully 11.4 will be polished in two weeks and released as a final.