no, I have a 5770 and am getting a 470 over a 5850 despite costing me an extra £80 because I'm going to WC it, and 4xx have far larger increase in performance per extra MHz than 58xx.
a 770MHz 470 or 480 will wipe the floor with any 5870, and they're far better when it comes to minimum fps anyway
This is besides the point, however, a gtx 470 is £300 roughly and how much more for the water cooling stuff?
Come one, it seems far better price performance to go down the amd route.
Why not just get a 5870 (which at stock is better than the 470) and water cool that? Even better scrap all this water cooling crap, spend the money on a 480 or a 5970.
Why buy something, over priced, and then spend more money on yet more gear, when you could probably get the same performance out the box, with a better gpu?
Also, uys, one thing to consider is that gpu's expire very very quickly, in six months, your top of the line gpu is old tech, and in two years perfornamce and dx version has made shifts, so in my eyes its all about getting the best for your money, with an one on the future as well.
I can afford to buy 2 or more 480's or 5970 and cross/sli em with the best core i7 cpu, but is it worth it, or needed?
In two years your rig, especially the gpu is obsolete. This is by design, all parties are to blame, microsoft, nvidia and amd.
So in my eyes, get the best bang for your buck.
dont bother with water cooling etc etc etc, save the money and just upgrade it when the time comes.
Get a 5850 now, and then get a 7850 in two years (or the nvidia equivalent)
I think you understand what im trying to say.
Actually this is why some many have turned away from pc gaming.
The hard ware progresses too quickly, where as with consoles, you just upgrade your console ever 3-4 years when the latest xbox or playstation gets released.
Job done. (By the way im a pc gamer)!