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Upgrade from X1900XT

Grad

Grad

Grad

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Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
1,422
Location
Swansea
Hi, am hovering over the purchase button at the moment and just wanted to check that the 4870 will offer a decent performance increase over my current X1900XT as I'm a bit overwhelmed with the options.

I'm looking at the Powercolor ATI Radeon HD 4870 1024MB

Cheers
 
Whats your budget and what resolution do you game at? I'd go for the 4870 512MB over the 1GB as theres only a very small difference and the price cant be justified in my opinion
 
Budget isnt really a problem however if I go to far I may as well build a new system which I'm not in the mood for at the moment. I want it to run at 1680 * 1050.

Processor is an Opteron 150
 
gazfocus said:
As Xez said, I wouldn't think there'd be much difference between the 512MB and 1GB card.

There are some excellent benchemarks here
Click to expand...

Wow, looking at that puts my current card into perspective. It was pretty decent when I bought it!
 
Grad said:
Budget isnt really a problem however if I go to far I may as well build a new system which I'm not in the mood for at the moment. I want it to run at 1680 * 1050.

Processor is an Opteron 150
Click to expand...

I`m running a 4850 1Gb version at that res, sweet as a nut and even with 8xAA on Crysis. Every other game absolutely full on settings wise so a 4870 can`t be a bad choice at all :)
 
1Gb i think is overkill for 1680x1050 in my opinion but if you have the money i dont see why not? If you can though i'd go for a GTX 280 is its around the same price of the 1GB 4870
 
How does this 280 compare in size? My x1900xt just fits inside my current Silverstone case.
 
I do think that your CPU will bottleneck with a 4870 and so you won't see the real potential of it. I upgraded from an Opty 170 with an X1900XT then to a 3870 then replaced the system with E8400 and 4870. The difference is amazing. Definitely go for the 512MB not 1024MB. I'd also stick with the 4870 rather than a 280 - but that's just my extremely humble opinion of course :)
 
I just went from a 1900XT to a 4850 and am very happy. I also have a 939 motherboard and assume that my CPU 4800 is bottlenecking.

I plan to upgrade the rest of the sytem early next year but the 4850 has removed any slowness/need to reduce resolution that I had started to get with some games.
 
Grad said:
Gah! It's always the same when upgrading :(

What are my choices 939 wise?
Click to expand...
LOL! I know *that* feeling!

To be honest I don't think you'll be able to buy anything better than your 150 new. You could find something like a 180/185 or 4800 X2 on an auction site somewhere but it would still bottleneck the 4870 and be comparatively expensive. Despite the hassle it may be cheaper to upgrade the MB/CPU/RAM now with a comparatively low end Core 2 Duo CPU set to give you some kind of upgrade path.

Then again with Nehalem just round the corner these next few months are really the last throw of the dice for LGA775. I only did it myself because when I eventually move from the Rampage Formula I'll pass it onto my daughter who has inherited the Opty 170.
 
Just wanted to say thanks for all the advice. Ended up opting for the 4850 and the difference is far more than I was expecting so I'm very happy!

Cheers all.
 
good choice grad was bout to sa get the 4850 instead of the 70 due to rest of your system but you beat me to it lol glad you are happy :) allways good to hear a happy purchase outcome
 
1680 it isnt worth it, 1920x1200 its more future proof with new games and it is definitely worth it above that res
 
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