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3870 to 4850 upgrade - worth it?

tindale

tindale

tindale

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Joined
12 Jan 2004
Posts
278
Location
Bicester, Oxon
As the thread says, should I upgrade? my PC is a core2duo E6750, with 6gb ram, and I've recently changed screens to a 40" sony bravia which needs to be at 1920x1080 (I was running before at 1360x768), so I'm struggling with some games at top spec.

Is it worth going to a 4850, or do I need to save up some more money? I was thinking about the iceQ model as this is my media / games PC in the lounge and noise is an issue, also I'm in a LianLi cube case so want to keep heat down.

The other question, do I need more than 430w (antec) to run this? Everything's ok with the 3870, but I've no idea how much more power the 4850 will draw.
thanks
 
The 4850 will definitely be a large improvement but for that res you'd prob want to go the 4870 route really.

The 430watt antec could probably deal with the 4850 okay but for the 4870 you'll prob need something a bit more powerful.
 
I would save up some more for a 4870 although the 4850 can hold its own at that resolution can't see it being able to put on to much aa which i feel is needed more on screens your size. Will certainly be faster than the 3870 you have atm though.
 
Oh, and it all seemed such good value! I hope you two are on commision, thats a 4870 and a new PSU I need now ;)
 
Get the 4850 and clock the nads off it. ;) Really though at that res if you like your eye candy and AA then the 4870, btw clock the nads off that too. LoL !!!
 
All that the 4850 will add is the ability to use 2 to 4xAA for free. Without AA, there is not much difference between the two cards. I know this because I went from a 3850 tpo 4850 myself.

If AA is your thing, go for it.
 
I was also wondering this, except I have two 3870's in crossfire.

Will a single 4870 be an upgrade worthy of my time, or should I just suck it up and get an X2 (or two single cards in crossfire)?
 
What resolution?

Anyway a single 4870 will out-do the 3870s as soon as you apply some AA, and probably iwthout it as well. If in doubt just get the 4870x2, but personally I like single card solutions.
 
I like to get high framerates (for example 250 solid in CoD4), as for multiplayer framerate can really count!

So the upcoming CoD:WAW, I'll be looking for a similar 250+fps performance.
 
then I'd go with the 4870x2.....you still won't get those kinds of frames unless you turn down the detail though.

I've never understood this high fps CoD thing....I play at around 100-110 solid 1680x1050 8xAA 16xAF max details and get 1st place on my team almost every time I play :p

Silenced G3 f t w
 
gurusan said:
then I'd go with the 4870x2.....you still won't get those kinds of frames unless you turn down the detail though.

I've never understood this high fps CoD thing....I play at around 100-110 solid 1680x1050 8xAA 16xAF max details and get 1st place on my team almost every time I play :p

Silenced G3 f t w
Click to expand...


1) Its been "traditional" in CoD since the original that certain jumps can ONLY be performed with a framerate of 250fps (sometimes 125fps). There was also the CoD2 333fps "bug" that made walking with certain weapons (like the MP44) totally silent.

2) Play in clanbase and you'd get your bum handed to you on a plate if you have all that eye-candy turned on, due to:

TheRealDeal said:
In cod 4 most people play with low detail anyway it helps to spot the enemy.
Click to expand...

They also turn off decals (litter/junk) in servers that allow. Some class it as a cvar violation however.

3) Silencer = lose. G3 = lose. Only two weapons (bar scope/shotty) worth a look in are the AK47 and AK74u. ;)
 
i game at that res 1920x1080 with my 4850 . it does handles it very well.

example below..
this is at stock on gpu and gpu. settings at ultra, 4x AA at 1920x1080

2008-09-13 17:49:32 - GRID
Frames: 9290 - Time: 160000ms - Avg: 64.063 - Min: 40 - Max: 72
 
See, now to me, that isn't "handling it very well" at all.

Infact, dropping below 60fps is "handling it pretty badly" IMO.
 
paradigm said:
Given that it was modelled on the Q3 engine, its hardly surprising ;)
Click to expand...

I didn't realise CoD4 was also the q3 engine. Though I suspected that might be the case from the shared issues.

There was a fix for the physics/fps weirdness released in Q3 ages ago but the community reacted so badly to it that it was retracted. Kind of odd that they haven't implemented it into CoD really.
 
paradigm said:
See, now to me, that isn't "handling it very well" at all.

Infact, dropping below 60fps is "handling it pretty badly" IMO.
Click to expand...

I'm sure it's fine for the casual player. As you've said though, for serious multiplayer you're going to want more responsiveness.

The best way to practice is to 'handicap' yourself with high AA/etc settings and once you've adjusted, switch back and suddenly feel like you're a god at the game :p

(I had a bad experience in Q3 where I left AA forced in drivers for a week or so and for some reason had turned off display FPS. It took me the full week to work out why I was suddenly much worse at the game :/ )
 
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