30 Days With: PowerColor Radeon HD 5870

Value
As everybody else in AMD's world, PowerColor originally valued this product at $399.99, only to drop it down to $375.99. However, due to well-known shortage, a lot of retailers jacked up prices to $399.00, and checking the prices today revealed a $404.99. Unlike HD 5970, street price grew by only $30 from AMD's launch MSRP [Manufacturer Suggested Retail Price]. Given that the prices of high-end hardware dropped from the $499 bracket to $399, current availability can only get better from now. We spoke with PowerColor and got the information that is equal to everybody else - Radeon 5700 Series is massively available, while 5800 Series should improve on week-by-week basis.

Conclusion
Our opinion has been the same since the dawn of DirectX 9. When a company debuts a high-end product for the new generation of DirectX, you should go ahead and purchase it even if you usually buy a mainstream product only, and do a bi-annual refresh cycle. Owners of Radeon 9700 had a good ride for a few years, if you purchased nVidia GeForce 8800GTX you still have a mainstream card - especially given the fact nVidia rebranded the 55nm die-shrink to 9800GTX and GTS 250 [even GTX 280M for the notebook part]. Thus, purchasing a high-end hardware the moment new API appears on the market is a sound thing to do, regardless of that API taking off or not. When it comes to PowerColor's take on the Radeon 5870, we were quite happy with the product. Unlike the 5970, this board fits in every case, even micro-ATX ones [tested in SilverStone SG-01 Evolution case]. Given its performance and expected longevity, we give this product a BSN* Prosumer/Enthusiast Editor's Choice award.