Should I sell my 4890 and get a 5xxx series?

[Marvin]

I'll explain my situation. I am going off to university soon, and would like to upgrade my system before I go, as when I'm there, I'll have no money for upgrades. So, theoretically the new hardware needs to last around 4 years.

I've currently got a 4890, and am planning on doing a complete system overhaul (so a new processor, RAM and motherboard are on the cards). Should I sell my 4890 now, and get say 2 5770s, or a 5850, so I can support DX11, where games will shift to in the coming years. I understand that a 5770 is not as good as a 4890, and two are perhaps on par if not better than a 5850.

Or, should I just get the second 4890, and not worry about DX11, as DX10 will probably be supported for a good number of years to come (DX9 certainly was).

Overall budget is whatever I get for my 4890 + £150ish.

Or should I just wait for Fermi? I've had good success with ATI, and I think that they tend to be better value than nVidia, but that's just opinion. Of course, the decision to go ATI or nVidia will affect my new motherboard choice, so it's important I get it right.

 

[Marvin]

Resolution-wise, I'd be looking at around 1980x1080. At the moment, I can run any game I want (apart from Crysis+related) at full settings, though I'm only running 1600x900, and 1920x1080 is a lot more pixels to render.

I had also considered getting another identical monitor, and going with an eyefinity set-up. Which of course is ATI only.

I will be waiting until the new year anyway, to see if/when ATI's prices fall, due to the reported increase in availability expected. Hopefully there'll be some nice January sale bargains, though if not, I'll wait until nVidia's response is released, and for the competition (read price war) to begin.

I'd like to see some more viewpoints though - it certainly gets me thinking.

A 5850 certainly would be nice, and theoretically, within budget (when factoring in the sale of my 4890 - they still seem to go for good amounts on that auction site, at least £100).

 

[Marvin]

Current system spec is:
CPU: E8400 @ 4.05GHz
Motherboard: ASRock P45XE
Memory: Crucial DDR2 @ 890MHz

I'm going to be upgrading to either the higher end of the AMD AM3 range (955 or 965 Black Editions) or an i5/i7 set-up. So I will be going high end with the CPU/Motherboard combo, meaning that I guess that the GPU will be the main limiting factor.

Only thing that concerns me about keeping the 4890 is that this system needs to last (probably) about 4 years, I never know what I might need to get at short notice at Uni, so don't really want to suddenly be broke after a PC upgrade. If DX11 has many graphical advantages, I'd like to buy into it now (ish) rather than later. Two 4890s would be very nice though.

I think I may be able to borrow a 9800GT, so could sell my 4890 before Jan sale prices kick in.

Oh, so much to think about.

 

[Marvin]

Why are you bothering upgrading that rig?

Upgrading is good fun?

Seriously though, I reckon for my course I might need quad core power. Not only that, but with more games making more use of quad core technology, it may be an aid in future.

I think I may just get another 4890 and be done with it - I really like my current one. Two 4890s should still be a good set-up for a couple more years.

 

[Marvin]

No, I've got money at the moment, but when I'm there I'm sure that I'll have better/needier things to spend it on.

 

[Marvin]

I think that you're right.

I'll see if there are any 'got-to-get' deals in the January sales, but will otherwise hold off for a while to see what happens. If 4890s drop loads in price, I could go tri-fire - that should hold off games for a good time...

Holding off will also mean that I can devote my time into looking into my new CPU/Mobo.