Upgrade advice...

Higadeb · 27 Mar 2010 at 16:56

Hey all!
Firstly, my current build:
i7 920 @4.2GHz (wc)
Gigabyte ex-58 UD5
6GB DDR3 @ 1600MHz
500GB WD Black (almost full :mad:

)
1GB 4870

Secondly, my question:
As you can see, I have a 4870 installed and I'll be honest, it's coped with all my needs so far (which is basically TF2 + UT3). I should also have a 5770 in the post from the review competition (thank you OcUK + Sapphire).
I'm currently at three choices for an upgrade (for a general speed increase)
1) Swap in the 5770 and buy a second for crossfire
2) Sell the 5770 and buy some 2000MHz RAM for a higher OC
3) Sell the 5770, keep the 4870 and use the extra money to get a SSD

What do you guys think? Without selling the 5770 I have a budget of ~£150.
Any recommendations?

stulid · 27 Mar 2010 at 17:06

Sell the 5770+4870 buy a 5850.

Or sell the 5770, get another used 4870 for crossfire and a 1Tb drive(keeping the 500gb for windows).

DireEmblem · 27 Mar 2010 at 18:10

As above, 4870+5770 = 5850.

Then use your £150 to get say a 1TB HDD(~60), and perhaps a 40GB SSD for a boot drive(~£90).

I think you would notice a big improvement with all three components.

Good luck on your decision.

r3loaded · 27 Mar 2010 at 18:22

You could almost grab a 5870 with that money, but yeah, 5850 is overall better bang-for-buck.

Higadeb · 27 Mar 2010 at 19:12

So you guys recon a 5850 will outperform two 5770's in crossfire?
Also, if I get a SSD for Windows will I be able to move across my current W7 installation or will I need to re-purchase? I think I have the OEM version but I'm not sure how to check!

stulid · 27 Mar 2010 at 19:16

Two 5770 are a little faster but you can always get a second 5850 in the future.

Mr Krugga · 27 Mar 2010 at 19:17

Sell both cards and buy:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-245-WD&groupid=701&catid=14&subcat=940 - for RAID 0 setup and more storage space

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-013-OC&groupid=701&catid=14&subcat=910 - for your OS and primary software (if you can, stretch your budget to any 60/64 SSD)

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-215-AS&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=411 - for overclocking to 5870 level and enjoying one of the fastest single GPUs out there

You will have to reinstall your system but having OEM version does not mean you are forbidden to do so

Higadeb · 27 Mar 2010 at 20:10

Hmm, Ok. Thanks for the info guys!
I might watercool the 5850 in the future. Will that make any difference to which one I should buy? I don't suppose it would but I haven't watercooled a GPU before and want to make sure

stulid · 27 Mar 2010 at 20:14

Get one where the warranty is not cancelled when you change the cooler.

Not sure which make allows this, but sure one of them does.

nWovance · 27 Mar 2010 at 20:57

yeah 5850 all the way, and maybe crossfire later on as your spec is pretty monsterish.