Upgrade from 3870 Xfire?

Cyanide · 24 Jul 2010 at 21:11

Hi guys,

In the middle of planning a minor upgrade at the moment (new fans, new hdd's etc) and I'm contemplating upgrading my gpu's while I'm at it.

Currently running a pair of mildly clocked 3870's. Not got any massive performance issues with them as such, they could be a bit faster on newer games but it's the heat and noise that's getting to me.

I could stick on an aftermarket cooler (Vortexx?) or I could upgrade and flog them. If it's an upgrade the budget won't be a lot at all, probably <£100 assuming I can still get something back for the old cards.

Is it worth an upgrade to a single more powerful card at that price or just stick a new cooler on there and clock them till they cook?

Orcvader · 24 Jul 2010 at 21:31

I would say try save a little extra for a 5770, it performs a little better than 3870 crossfire.
If I was you I would wait for the refresh later in the year.

chaotic_uk · 24 Jul 2010 at 21:47

i upgraded to a single 5770 from crossfired 3870's , they perform about the same and i added a second 5770 so i had crossfire and it performs well on my system . so a single 5770 performs the same as crossfired 3870's but with more features

bells · 24 Jul 2010 at 21:48

Just buy the best you can afford as there are lots of options

arc@css · 24 Jul 2010 at 21:49

I don't think placing coolers on them will be a good move in the long run, you'll do better to sell them and pick up something much more powerful.

Cyanide · 24 Jul 2010 at 21:56

I'm running at 1920 x 1200 if that makes any difference?

chaotic_uk · 24 Jul 2010 at 22:27

are you after a single card upgrade ? , if so you would be better upgrading to something a little faster than a 5770 at that res tbh

Rroff · 24 Jul 2010 at 22:34

tbh if your gonna upgrade you really need to make it worth it...

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-139-OK&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1830 (1gig version better but a bit more money)

or

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-168-XF&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1711

would be a good starting place

chaotic_uk · 24 Jul 2010 at 22:36

or this below

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-005-HS&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1711

Rroff · 24 Jul 2010 at 22:37

Or that - not sure which one of the 5830s has the better cooler.

opethdisciple · 24 Jul 2010 at 23:18

Iv got a 3870x2, which Im looking to upgrade.

Yea the 5770's would probably be about the same if not a tad better, but I dont think its worth it.

Save up and make the jump to a 5850 or there abouts.

PhoenixUK · 24 Jul 2010 at 23:59

Heat and noise ? Which brand are they? I remember my HIS 3870XT IceQ3 and it was probably the coolest and quietest card I've ever had in my life (well, not counting the old stuff that didn't have big coolers yet back in the days when GPUs didn't need active cooling ! ).

Maybe it's your case ? What case have you got ? Did you try setting the fan speed manually on the coolers as well?

opethdisciple · 25 Jul 2010 at 00:37

What ever you do do not get a 5830!

Those cards are obsolete now.

If you can push your budget up get a 5850 or a gtx 460.

At 1920x1200 res, your need some thing decent.

Cyanide · 25 Jul 2010 at 08:38

PhoenixUK said:
Heat and noise ? Which brand are they?

They're Club3D. They started out pretty quiet but the fans have slowly got louder over the years and they've always ran toasty.

Cyanide · 25 Jul 2010 at 09:45

bells said:
Just buy the best you can afford as there are lots of options

I don't know what's the best option though, there's loads of things faster than my current setup

chaotic_uk · 25 Jul 2010 at 12:44

it depends on how much you have to spend tbh , what you looking to spend ?

opethdisciple · 25 Jul 2010 at 12:48

Yea true, give us the price range you have and we tell you what to get.

Spending money to put coolers on your existing cards are a waste of money.

If you'v only got around £100 to spend on new cards, stretch and get the 5770, and then in around a years time or what ever get another, when they are cheap.

Thats a cheap way, to get close to a 5870 in performance....

Ideally, I wouldnt do it this way. Id try to get more cash and get a 460, 5850 or even a 470 but your looking at around £200.

One thing tho, the cards Iv listed above will need a beefer powersupply, so maybe a less power hungry card is what you want, like a 5770 after all.

Randomface74 · 25 Jul 2010 at 12:49

put in a single 5850 or 5870

vapor-x of course

Cyanide · 25 Jul 2010 at 13:00

I could probably push it to ~£150 if I need to. Currently got a Corsair 620w PSU so power's not really an issue

Not fussed about a massive jump in performance (though if I get one it'd be great), I'm just looking to be running a bit cooler and quieter when pushing it. As you can imagine a pair of overclocked 3870's an inch apart along with an overclocked Q6600 doesn't make for the coolest case

New summary -
A bit more powerful than 3870xfire @ 1900x1200
Quieter and cooler than the above
The cheaper then better, ideally £100-150

I'm thinking GTX460 but it's not DX11 and the ATI cards are?

opethdisciple · 25 Jul 2010 at 13:04

Cyanide said:
I could probably push it to ~£150 if I need to. Currently got a Corsair 620w PSU so power's not really an issue

Not fussed about a massive jump in performance (though if I get one it'd be great), I'm just looking to be running a bit cooler and quieter when pushing it. As you can imagine a pair of overclocked 3870's an inch apart along with an overclocked Q6600 doesn't make for the coolest case

New summary -
A bit more powerful than 3870xfire @ 1900x1200
Quieter and cooler than the above
The cheaper then better, ideally £100-150

I'm thinking GTX460 but it's not DX11 and the ATI cards are?

The GTX 460 is DX11