thinking about an upgrade

[konfyoused]

Hi everyone! I was just sitting here thinking about the next bit of upgrading for my system (I'll list the specs below) and was trying to figure out what the best upgrade path would be for me on a video card, considering where I am right now. Here's the system specs:

Core i5 760@ 4.0Ghz

Gigabyte P55A UD3 motherboard

4 gig OCZ DDR3 1600 running at 2000Mhz

Sapphire HD4870 Vapor X 1 gig DDR5 clocked @ 790 core and 1100 ram

Antec 650 watt continuous power supply

My current monitor supports 1920x1080 res, currently just running a single display, but I eventually want to go at least dual.

what I'm considering currently, are adding another HD4870, going with a 5850, or going with a 6870.

So what do you all think?

 

[Zraupp]

what I'm considering currently, are adding another HD4870, going with a 5850, or going with a 6870.

So what do you all think?

depends on what you do, if you play games google the game you play like "Best video card for Battlefield: Bad company 2" look @ the reviews some cards are better @ game then others, the GTX 570 and Radeon HD 5870 is perfect for that i do (Battlefield: Bad company 2).

 

[konfyoused]

I hear ya man. I'm wanting a good all around gaming setup, something thats an upgrade from the single 4870 across the board. I'm actually thinking that it's going to come down to a choice between the 5850 and the 6870 for the simple reason that my motherboard doesnt do crossfire (even tho it has 2 slots, it runs one at 16x and one at 1 x or some such)

 

[Tortuga]

Yeah thats the downside of the p55 instead of the x58 but ya get those usb and sata 3.0 so its a trade off I guess. I think your board will run 1 at 16x then 4x. Either of those cards you choose will be fine. Maybe a 6950 flashed to 6970?

 

[konfyoused]

That's a thought, although a bit more than I was wanting to spend. I guess it will depend on what funds I have at the time. as it is this system manages to run the crysis benchmark with 16q AA at 1920x1080 and everything except shadows set to either high, or very high, and still manages just shy of 30 fps which doesn't strike me as being bad for a single 4870

 

[Tortuga]

Well whatever you decide to do it will be an upgrade. Maybe a gtx 460? Here in the states they go for 120-150 usd for the 768mb model. Great lil budget cards. Get yah probably in the 40's on gamer mode in crysis. Also a 6850 looks like a great budget card also, a little more than a gtx 460. You said you're wanting to go dual monitor. Im assuming you mean just to expand your desktop workspace.

 

[konfyoused]

Yeah, I'm here in the US too, MIcrocenter FTW! I'm thinking i'll probably stay with ATI because when i do get at least a dual monitor setup, i want to do the eyefinity thing. I'm probably gonna try for a 6850, and if funds are lacking for that, then go with a 6870 unless i catch a good sale on a 58xx card.

 

[GiftedReflex]

if you are going with a 6800 series ATI, get the 6870. Stay away from the GTX460, as it has heat problems, but any higher and i would say go all the way and get the 6970. It's the second best enthusiast card on the marked, behind the GTX580 right now. (My stats are coming from benchmarks run on a stock [no overclock] 6970 vs. a atock [no overclock] GTX580.)

 

[hmmblah]

if you are going with a 6800 series ATI, get the 6870. Stay away from the GTX460, as it has heat problems, but any higher and i would say go all the way and get the 6970. It's the second best enthusiast card on the marked, behind the GTX580 right now. (My stats are coming from benchmarks run on a stock [no overclock] 6970 vs. a atock [no overclock] GTX580.)

Please don't spread false rumors, this couldn't be further from the truth. The GTX460 fixed the heat problems GF100 suffered from and is an excellent card.

 

[Rastalovich]

Please don't spread false rumors, this couldn't be further from the truth. The GTX460 fixed the heat problems GF100 suffered from and is an excellent card.

You could even call that false tbh.

 

[alicarve]

if you are going with a 6800 series ATI, get the 6870. Stay away from the GTX460, as it has heat problems, but any higher and i would say go all the way and get the 6970. It's the second best enthusiast card on the marked, behind the GTX580 right now. (My stats are coming from benchmarks run on a stock [no overclock] 6970 vs. a atock [no overclock] GTX580.)

my asus directcu's are very cool especially compared to my old gtx260 which never went below 50degrees

on idle they are around 25 degrees and at full load the top card hits 60-70 and the bottom hits 60 max so very cool cards really?

 

[hmmblah]

You could even call that false tbh.

True. It's not really a problem that they are hot. One just needs to keep the heat under control. My cards are warm, but they perform. I really hope to get them under water one day and tame them

.

 

[noexe]

So you want to stick with ATI well the 6870 will be fine for you but depending where you live it would be worth spending the little extra cash and just get the 6950 like £40-50 difference and the 6950 can be flashed to a 6970 so have a think can you wait and save the little extra cash?

 

[konfyoused]

Thanx for the input everyone. I hope to buy the upgrade within the next 1-2 months, so we'll see what prices are like at the time. I'm thinking I'll probably go with something like a pair of 27" LG monitors @ 1920x1080 and then grab the best card i can with whats left, since I don't see the good ole HD4870 keeping pace with that much screen real estate. That being said, I dont see it as being anything less than the 58xx or 6870. I just wish this motherboard would actually do 8x 8x crossfire instead of 16x 4x :-(