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Worth upgrading from a HD3850?

Duvan

Duvan

Duvan

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Joined
17 Nov 2010
Posts
113
My computer is now a:
i5 3550 (not overclocked)
8 gb ram
HD 7850 2 gb

And I'm wondering whether it's a good idea or not to upgrade GPU now. The main thing that makes me consider it, is that GTA 5 isn't pleased with my 2gb memory heh, but maybe as much memory isn't needed for too many other games that come out at 1080p with is my max res (?).
I'm not planning on upgrading my CPU for a couple of years.

I'm reading that the Radeon R7 370 is based on the same GPU I have now which made me worry that technology hasn't developed much enough since 2012...

But what about a bit better model, say the GTX 950/Radeon R9 285? Would you think it's a good investment with my current rig?
Or are we going to see some new models worth waiting for in not too much time (I'm not in a huge hurry, other than getting rid of the HD7850 while it still has some second hand market value)?
 
As you said the 7850 is still current in some form so you need to consider money. How much do you want to spend and is it more than the equivalent costs today? Is secondhand okay? And whether you can survive another 6 months on what you have so the die shrink is available. Waiting is a good idea if you only buy a gpu every few years or as rarely as possible.
 
For it to be a worthwhile upgrade I would go a minimum of GTX960 or R9 380, really. The 7850 2GB model is still actually OK-ish, about the same or tiny bit faster than GTX750Ti. Which really isn't bad.

You are right, the 370 isn't really much of an upgrade - it is an upgrade, but the gain wouldn't really be reflected in the cost to you.

Of course you can go second hand, 7970's are still super cards and they're really cheap pre-owned - I don't know what they sell for on the MM here as I don't have access but where I am they sell for about €130, which is about £100.
 
If you want to sell your 7850 I would be willing to buy it off for you for the right price if its in good working order and all.
 
Mm thanks all for your answers!

Well, the GTX960 or R9 380 are about my max mudget.
So maybe it's better to wait half a year or more then as I'm not really in a hurry?
Question is.. will my i5 3550 be a bit dated then too so I have to upgrade my whole rig.
 
I have a 7850 (2GB) too. Don't really feel the need to upgrade just yet, but I understand where you are coming from. It's in a weird place where it isn't completely obsolete yet, but just not powerful enough for some games/settings. It can definitely push some recent games to my surprise. I highly suggest overclocking it if you want that extra "oomph" to make it last that lil' bit longer (till Pascal hopefully early next year). It benefits greatly from overclocking, one of the original reasons I bought this card in the first place :)
 
The 370 = your 7850. The only difference is it's available with 4gb ram as well as 2gb, and you'd need 2 to be able to utilise 4gb.

I have a 7870 overclocked to 1200/1400 @ 1.3 v.

I bought a 285 from the mm and compared the two. Since the 285 was only a bit better at stock compared to the 7870, I decided to just stick with the 7870.

The 285 annoyed me because you can't turn off powertune and overclock it. You have to balance your small budget of extra power and voltage and as a result, it doesn't OC nearly as well as the 7850/7870s it replaced.
 
My 7850 is valiantly tackling anything I throw at it these days.

370 is only a marginal upgrade - either CrossFire what you have, or go for a 380/390...

Or wait/save a bit longer :).
 
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