upgrade - Some advice please

[Hampster88]

Hi

Currently running an older gaming rig:

Specs:
Board: Abit IP35 PC
2 x ATI 4850 512Mb Crossfire (PCIE 1.0 Specification)
8Gb Memory DDR2
CPU Intel Quad Q6600 2.4Ghz
Samsung 21" 1680x1050
650W Corsair PSU

We mainly use this for MMorpg Gaming Lotro and soon to be gw2.

Lotro runs very well at 1680x1050 on high settings.

I am interested in upgrading the Graphics Cards as the Gw2 beta did not like our current one. Quality was very poor and changing any settings did not make any difference.

My question is getting rid of the 4850's and going to a single card only 6870 will it be more powerful, or will I need to stretch to an 6950 2GB to see an improvemement from the Crossfire.

Many thanks for any advice you can give.

 

[Rusty0611]

If you overclock the CPU and get a 6870 you should be able to get decent framerates. A 6870 is a very good mid-range card. If you don't or can't overclock the CPU you're probably looking at a bottleneck and the 6870 won't be fully utilised.

Although GW2 did not work properly in crossfire in the last Beta weekend so that was probably why your performance was so horrific.

 

[Gregster]

I am not sure if that CPU is Overclockable on that MOBO but if it is, do it! Also, I could not find a 4850 to compare the 6870 to so used a 4870 instead. As you can see from the bench tests, the 6870 is almost twice as fast and the 4870 is faster than your current GPU.

I would say the 6870 would deffo be a worthy upgrade.

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/290?vs=304 comparisons.

 

[Hampster88]

Thanks guys.
But am i right Gregster that last comparision (thanks for link) was comparing a single 4870 to a 6870 whereas I am running 2x450.

From what I could see myself, it looks like 2x4850 compare to a single 6870 albeit the new model can scale to bigger displays and provides native DX11.
I know the newer 6870 and up will be an improvement graphics quality wise but its whether the 6870 as a single slot card will be more powerful than the crossfire combo.

 

[Gregster]

Thanks guys.
But am i right Gregster that last comparision (thanks for link) was comapring a single 4870 to a 6870 whereas I am running 2x450.

From what I could see myself, it looks like 2x4850 compare to a single 6870 albeit the new model can scale to bigger displays and provides native DX11.
I know the newer 6870 and up will be an improvement graphics quality wise but its whether the 6870 as a single slot card will be more powerful than the crossfire combo.

I hear what you are saying and it is down to you to decide Hampster. It will be slightly faster (6870 that is) and come with benefits of less power/heat/noise. Also I feel DX11 is a great improvement over DX10.

If it was me in your shoes, I have no idea what I would do lol....Sorry best answer I can give.

 

[Hampster88]

Thanks Gregster appreciate all your help and easing my decision making.
I think I will be going to get a 6870 now.

 

[Rusty0611]

I can actually relate to your situation as I moved that exact same way: 4850 crossfire to a 6870. The difference was huge.

 

[Hampster88]

Thanks Rusty . Nice to get some reassurance before a purchase