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What to upgrade to?

[WU-TANG]GZA

[WU-TANG]GZA

[WU-TANG]GZA

Associate
Joined
14 Dec 2009
Posts
1,656
Hi ppl,

Currently got an XFX 4890 1GB card which is fine and runs everything fine but I'm getting the awful upgrade twitch that my bank balance detests so much.

Current system:
Corsair TX950 PSU
Seagate Barra 500GB HDD
Intel x25-m 80GB SSD
i7 920 @ 3.4GHZ
Akasa Nero CPU cooler
6GB PC12800 RAM
Gigabyte v1.6 (from memory) EX58 motherboard
Antec 902 case
and ofc the 4890.

I play at 1920 x 1080 and play L4D mostly but will play other on occasion such as BC2, Crysis, AVP and COD games.

Like I said - I'm getting the twitch and think the only thing that really, if anything, needs improving is the GFX.

So I'm wondering -

1.) Buy another 4890 for £100 or less and xfire them (if I can - can someone confirm that I can do that with my mobo?)

2.) Nvidia 470 1280mb (maybe the MSI one for £220)

3.) Wait for 6000 series ATi - I believe the 6870 will be same as 5770(performance-wise) so no point in that and the 6950 will most likely be MUCH more price-wise

4.) Maybe a 5870 - I doubt many of you would choose this but I might be wrong.

I don't really want to spend more than £250 on a GFX card - I've never understood ppl spending £400/£500 on a single gfx card but each to their own.

I also realise that I don't really need to upgrade my GFX card but like I said I'm getting the twitch so I'm leaning towards xfire 4890 and then buying a Nvidia 470 type or ATi 6950 in another year from now when DX11 has improved and prices have come down even more.

What would you suggest guys?

Thanks in advance.

Wu
 
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your motherboard can do SLI or Xfire, I would wait for 6970 but they will be silly money if your after a bargin 5870 2nd hand £200....cooler and less power with more grunt, i was thinking of 470's but i really cant being doing with 80% fan just to keep temps in check when going from a 5870 which stays at 40% fan
 
BigBruiserAl said:
your motherboard can do SLI or Xfire, I would wait for 6970 but they will be silly money if your after a bargin 5870 2nd hand £200....cooler and less power with more grunt, i was thinking of 470's but i really cant being doing with 80% fan just to keep temps in check when going from a 5870 which stays at 40% fan
Click to expand...

Thanks for the quick reply mate!

Yeah I agree the 69-- series will well into the £300s which I'm not willing to go to as I don't think it's worth it.

So, if I HAD (gun to my head : D) to upgrade in next month or so and it was:

Xfire 4890
Nvidia 470
5800 series for £250
Or whatever 6000 series I could get for £250 max - what would you suggest?

Wu
 
Hmmm hard choice but this might help, if your motherboard is a x58 UD5 which i assumed (u didt say:p) It is a horrible horrbile board to xfire with as the gfx cards are almost touching in xfire and with some thing as hot as 4890's you will melt your case:p
I also wouldt buy a 5000 series NEW just wont be worth it IMO.:p

Soo ill go for whatever 6000 series I could get for £250 max or 5870 £200 2nd hand.
 
The 6870 is not going to be in the 5770 performance bracket. Its said to be more 5850/5870/gtx470 like in performance. We should know what it performs like this time next week. I would wait a week and see how things go.
 
Yes sorry I meant the 6950 not 6970 - dont even know if they both exist or not nor what the performance will be like as you say.

Motherboard: it's the UD3 actually but yes the slots are right next to each other.

I get idle temps on my 4890 at about 35c with fan at 50% and full load at about 68c with fan at 75%

But I was thinking about the proximity on the board and therefore heating issues....

So it's Nvidia 470 Vs whatever 6000 series card I can get for £250 MAX so yeah I guess I'll wait for some benchmarks and prices.

thanks
 
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May as well hold off untill the 6000 series is released.

When it is depending on price, get what ever in the £250 range.

Either a 470, 5870 (if it reduces in price) or a 6000 series card in the £250 range.

Although crossfire 4890, would probably be pretty good, its lack of dx11 etc... is not an efficient use of money.
 
crossfire 4890 is very good, in some cases equal to or better than a gtx480 or 460sli, but it does get pretty toastie, and if your slots are close together you can forget overclocking...(i have it in a asus p7p55d pro)

However i too am eyeing the new ati cards...trouble is to get better performance in dx10 anyway i'll need to pretty much plump for the 6970...and i won't cover 1/2 that by selling my hot little babies...

6870 is the one that's gonna sell like hot cakes i reckon though

Opethdisciple don't you mean 'efficient use of energy???' (lol)

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/chart...h-quality/Battlefield-Bad-Company-2,2466.html pretty much the same story in L4D2 as well.
 
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