Upgrade path?

[Bleek]

Current spec is:

AMD Phenom II 720 (triple core) @3.9GHz
ATI 4870 512MB
500w PSU

I game at 2048x (23" Samsung) so obviously the ATI card above is just starting to struggle especially as also run 2-4AA and full AF.

I'd like to stay ATI, is crossfire a good option or will my PSU go bang? What card should I be looking at for a good increase in performance but not at a silly cost?

 

[Sycho]

Try get a 5850 for £200 or near it if you can at that resolution.

 

[Bleek]

Will a 5830 suffice?

Surely if my 512MB 4870 is just about handling it the extra ~20% from the 5830 should be enough?

For the sake of £30 surely it's better than the 5770, although it's hotter and more power hungry?

 

[arc@css]

Do you have a set budget in mind?

 

[Bleek]

Do you have a set budget in mind?

Well I'd rather see the best gain for the least amount of money, otherwise I'd just grab a 5870.

So thing 'bang for buck' at a higher rez.

I can probably get what £50-60 (I think) for my 4870 so that takes the sting out of the upgrade.

 

[Orcvader]

If you really don't want to spend that much, get a 5830 or a 5770, then add another card later on when you have enough. What make is the PSU? Crossfire 5770s would be fine with the 500w.

 

[arc@css]

Yeah, you could just outlay for one 5770 or 5830 and then add another later. The cheapest 5850 here is around £225, but like you say, after the sale of your 4870 whatever you buy will be helped by the extra cash in your pocket. I still think although great cards by most accounts, the 5850's are a tad pricey.

 

[Sycho]

If you really don't want to spend that much, get a 5830 or a 5770, then add another card later on when you have enough. What make is the PSU? Crossfire 5770s would be fine with the 500w.

Agree with this and the 5770's scale even better now with the recent ATI drivers.(except for 10.6s where the reviews have been more bad than good for crossfire though the 10.4s and 10.5s seem to be very good for it.)

If you going the single card route you may aswell just a get a 5870 since it will last a good while anyway as mine has struggled with only Metro 2033 and that's due to ATI not having great performance on their cards in it when Tessellation and Depth of Field is on(should be fixed soon) but without it handles it fine in DX11 maxed at 1920x1200.

I got the vapor-x model, best card i've owned by far, even in this horrid humid heat in London it doesn't go over 55c with autofan on in the most gfx intensive games.That said even a 5850 would last a good while too and you can get them for around £200 i think though the 5830 is decent but i would crossfire it if i was going for a 5830 due to the scaling for the price.

 

[Bleek]

You know what, the 5770 might just cut the mustard for now, should be ~10% quicker especially when overclocked and run much cooler using less juice.

So when the comes XFire with two of them will mean a very cost-effective upgrade.

 

[mame]

the 1gb on the 5770 will help a lot at that resolution even if the GPU core isn't that much more powerful.

 

[Bleek]

the 1gb on the 5770 will help a lot at that resolution even if the GPU core isn't that much more powerful.

That's what I hope.

My current 4870 doesn't like to be clocked so it's virtually stock but from what I can see the 5770 doesn't mind some extra clock thanks to the lower juice and lower temp gpu.

 

[arc@css]

I had a 4870 512meg and it certainly didn't like being overclocked much. Some of the 4000 series aren't good in that respect. Even my X2 isn't much better in that regard. 5770 by most accounts is an excellent card.