GPU Upgrade

[weringo]

Looking at buying a new GPU for around £200-300 to upgrade my old 8800GT. I currently have a C2D E6400 @ 2.6Ghz and 6GB of RAM, I'm thinking about getting a 5850 or a 5870.

Considering my current hardware is over 3 years old will it still be worthwhile to do a GPU upgrade? Or will my new GPU be severely throttled by my ageing processor.

 

[Falconik]

5870 Vapor-X! I was like you didn't know what to get, after looking at benchmarks and ofcourse a lot of help on here I decided to get the 5870 . But, it's your choice

However, i'll let the people who know more about me give you better advice, not sure what type of card will be good for you since your rig is over 3 years old. Should be able to get something decent tho

 

[Marine-RX179]

You CPU is certainly a bit slow...have you tried overclocking it?

At the CPU current speed, if you are getting a 5850/5870 the chances are it will not be any faster than a 5770, because your CPU is simply not sending data faster enough over to your GPU for it to really show its strength.

With that said, you could get a 5850 now at £230-£250 now, and then try to save another £350~£360 and then upgrade your platform to i5 750 (CPU+CPU cooler+motherboard+4GB DDR3 RAM).

 

[Fallen god]

Or you could get a 5850 and try getting a aftermark cooler like the Titan and overclock your card to a good 3.4ghz.

 

[UKDTweak]

With your current CPU, a 5770 would be more than enough, however, if you can clock the cpu to 3ghz or more, then a 5850 will do wonders for your frame rates

 

[jorzeh]

OC that CPU and spanka doodle a 5850 Rock on

 

[weringo]

I can get the CPU up to 3.2 Ghz it just runs a little hot (up to about 65 deg C ), so that's no problem.

My Lian-Li PC-7 case is a little on the small side, how big are the latest ATI cards?

Edit: Also is a Corsair 520W PSU ok for a 5850?

 

[rolypolyman]

See this review which gives power requirements for many systems + graphics. that psu should be plenty.