4870 to 7770, worthwhile?

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PNut12345

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I'm looking to ditch my HD4870 and was wondering if anyone has gone from a comparable card to an HD7770. My desktop is mainly used for gaming with the components in my sig, and my native resolution is 1440x900. I'm locked into Best Buy since I got a $100 gift card for Xmas, and 7770's are running about $130 at Best Buy. I'm trying to spend $50 or less out of pocket, since we're closing on a house next month.

Games currently being played include Crysis 1 & 2, Portal 2, and I hope to run BF3 soon, as well.

Thanks!
 
Try selling the gift card and buying something from Amazon IMO. The 7770 isn't really a upgrade at all. I would go 7850 or GTX 650 Ti minimum.
 
the HD 7770 is not worth it. a HD 7850 is the minimum card worth upgrading to. a full 256 bit memory with 32 ROPs. scales like a beast. at 1.15 ghz matches a HD 7870 / GTX 580.
 
im also in the same boat with a 4870, and i was looking at a 660ti but when is the Radeon 8series expected?
 
MyThLoSt said:
im also in the same boat with a 4870, and i was looking at a 660ti but when is the Radeon 8series expected?
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the HD 7870 Tahiti LE is a good option at USD 260. comes with the never settle game bundle. awesome value. 1536 shaders at 975 mhz. 256 bit memory at 1.5 Ghz (192 gb/s) .32 ROPs.

us.ncix.com/products/?sku=78372&vpn=AX7870 2GBD5-2DHPPV3E

performs on par with GTX 660 Ti and gets close to HD 7950 at 800 mhz.

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Club_3D/HD_7870_jokerCard_Tahiti_LE/28.html

HD 7870 Tahiti LE - 100
GTX 660 Ti - 101
HD 7950 (800) - 103

http://www.hardwareheaven.com/revie...iti-le-graphics-card-review-introduction.html

overclocks to 1150 mhz and can provide GTX 670 / HD 7950 boost performance.

but if you can spend a bit more you get the best price perf high end card

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202006

gtx 670 performance at stock. excellent overclocker . easily overclocks to 1100 - 1150 mhz and matches HD 7970 Ghz performance.
 
7770 is only about 30% faster and with your older dual core cpu you will not even see that difference in most games especially at just 1440x900.

MyThLoSt said:
im also in the same boat with a 4870, and i was looking at a 660ti but when is the Radeon 8series expected?
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if you need a card then get one as there is no point in always waiting. if your cpu is as old as your gpu then that will need upgrading too though.
 
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/513?vs=536

You would save so much more electricity and still 30% faster. Have Dx11 but I agree you should get a 7850 at least. For 1440x900 resolution though 7770 is plenty fast enough to run any game out there.

If it was me. I would get the 7770 just to play with it. You can always sell it later.
 
again he has an E8400 and plays at just 1440x900 so just a video card upgrade is not going to make a big enough difference. some games are nearly fully cpu limited for him at this point.
 
Need to start saving for a completely new system my friend. Yours can still hang around for another year or two, but after that you're going to be at some pretty low settings for most of the newer games - if this is something you care about.
 
Yeah I definitely need a new system, problem is my 775 mobo won't accept anything that's much of an upgrade, meaning new mobo/CPU/RAM, which just isn't feasible right now.

Forgot to mention, my 4870 is the 512MB version.
 
Framerate with a 7770 should be maybe 30-50% faster than your 4870 but to be honest you can do much better. Spend ~$150 for a 7850 (or the equivalent from nVidia) and it will be over twice as fast as your 4870. That will be a real upgrade, and you will know the difference between a 7770 and a 7850 easy.
 
PNut12345 said:
Yeah I definitely need a new system, problem is my 775 mobo won't accept anything that's much of an upgrade, meaning new mobo/CPU/RAM, which just isn't feasible right now.

Forgot to mention, my 4870 is the 512MB version.
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Fair enough, at least get the 7850 tho and you can still use it when you are able to upgrade the rest of your system. That way you don't have purchase everything at once. This way you will have future proofed your GPU for your next system.
 
XacTactX said:
Framerate with a 7770 should be maybe 30-50% faster than your 4870 but to be honest you can do much better. Spend ~$150 for a 7850 (or the equivalent from nVidia) and it will be over twice as fast as your 4870. That will be a real upgrade, and you will know the difference between a 7770 and a 7850 easy.
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I'd love to, if not for best buys insane pricing scheme. FFS they've got a gtx465 for $400, its crazy lol. I think the cheapest 7850 I've seen on their site is north of $200.
 
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My HIS 4870 1g GPU is still a killer card for me. There's more to this card than just the numbers - it's a well made card. There's just something great about it but, I have the 1g version.

I'll upgrade my AMD system but, I'll probably make the switch over to Intel. We use an Intel system for work:

CPU: Ivy Bridge i7 3770
MB: Gigabyte z77 UD5
RAM: Mushkin 8g DDR3 1600
SSD: Mushkin Enhanced Chronos Deluxe DX 240g
HD: 1T WD Black
PSU: Seasonic X-750w

The HD4000 integrated graphics works fine for what we need for now but, we may get the NVidia Maxwell for both systems when it comes out.

Nvidia Maxwell roadmap
http://semiaccurate.com/2011/12/30/nvidia-gpu-roadmap-slips-a-year-too/

http://semiaccurate.com/2012/12/06/nvidias-maxwell-process-choice/#.UOBT_WfgseM
 
PNut12345 said:
I'm locked into best buy due to a $100 gift card.
Click to expand...

Oh that's right, I thought you were considering selling it ...

Best Buy video cards

PNut12345 said:
Naw, I'd lose money on the sale, so no real point there.
Click to expand...

Ahh, use the Best Buy gift card to get a 7770 then, don't even open the box and return it and get your money back. Then you'd be able to get something from Newegg at a much better price. However, it appears that the 7850's are just barely over your $150 max budget:

Here's a 7850 with 1g for $169

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150656

http://promotions.newegg.com/VGA/12-4829/index.html

Here's a 7850 with 1g for $165

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161426

Or here's all the 7770's:
 
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PNut12345 said:
Naw, I'd lose money on the sale, so no real point there.
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Sell at $85 or $90 then put it towards a card from a better retailer.

Best Buy marks their video cards up extremely high compared to online stores so if anything you are gaining value.

Getting this 7850 from BB will cost you $120 after including the gift card. If you sell the gift card for $90 then go to Neweggg and get this 7870 for $105 after factoring in the rebate. If you don't want to spend that much get the GTX 650 Ti. Not as strong as a 7850, but its still a decent bump over a 4870 if you are on a budget IMO.
 
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$100 FREE (gift card) + $30 out of pocket = 30% improvement = WIN!

I went from 4850 512mb @ $175 ~ early 2008 (Q6600)
- then to a 4870 1gb @ $140 ~ late 2009 (double RAM helped a lot)
- then to a 6870 1gb @ $190 ~ late 2011+ FREE DIRT 3 ($50 I was going to spend anyway)
- - also went from Q6600 to Q9550 on that one which helped me out too!

Each step on my path was totally worth it...
 
PS - sell your 4870 for $30 = 30% increase ~ FREE!

No brainer... it's FREE

It is also a retail store - buy, try, return, decide...
 
XacTactX said:
Framerate with a 7770 should be maybe 30-50% faster than your 4870 but to be honest you can do much better. Spend ~$150 for a 7850 (or the equivalent from nVidia) and it will be over twice as fast as your 4870. That will be a real upgrade, and you will know the difference between a 7770 and a 7850 easy.
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a 7770 is 30% faster than a 4870 but AGAIN he has an older dual core cpu and is playing at just 1440x900 so he is not going to see most of that difference. and a 7850 would be a laughable waste under those conditions so why on earth would you tell him to get one?
 
JoseJones said:
Ahh, use the Best Buy gift card to get a 7770 then, don't even open the box and return it and get your money back. Then you'd be able to get something from Newegg at a much better price. However, it appears that the 7850's are just barely over your $150 max budget:
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it's going to go back to store credit or gift card if he just buys it with a gift card and returns it
 
the 7770 will age relatively quickly. i would use what u would spend on it toward a better card, at least a 7850.
 
cannondale06 said:
a 7770 is 30% faster than a 4870 but AGAIN he has an older dual core cpu and is playing at just 1440x900 so he is not going to see most of that difference. and a 7850 would be a laughable waste under those conditions so why on earth would you tell him to get one?
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LOL cannonadale you're always the one who puts CPU speed into perspective. And you're right, I didn't catch that he is playing at 1440 x 900. A 7770 should be good for that resolution.
 
XacTactX said:
LOL cannonadale you're always the one who puts CPU speed into perspective. And you're right, I didn't catch that he is playing at 1440 x 900. A 7770 should be good for that resolution.
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and a 7770 would be okay but he is coming from a 4870. like I already mentioned, that would only be a 30% upgrade with no cpu limitations. with his res and cpu, he will not even see that 30% gain though.
 
Darksword said:
I think you're better off putting that gift card to a new motherboard to start building a while new system:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/GIGABYT...155)/5429742.p?id=1218650492371&skuId=5429742

Get a processor and RAM off Newegg, then just move over your current 4870 and hard drive(s). A 7770 is not worth wasting a gift card on IMO.
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The above is probably the best advice, honestly. It just depends on PNut12345's budget and needs. A 7770 seriously is not much of an upgrade, however, the 4870 is just the 512 memory - I have the 1g version, which makes quite a difference.

PNut12345 just doesn't have the mobo, CPU etc., to take full advantage of a new GPU such as a 7770 let alone the 7850. PNut12345 most likely won't even see the full 30% benefit from the 7770 very often as others have pointed out. Spending that $100 Best Buy gift-card may be best spent on a new mobo as Darksword points out.

On the other hand, PNut12345 could consider it 'future proofing' his GPU with a new build planned down the road fairly soon. Make sure to get at least 1g of memory and preferably 1.5g or 2g would be best. But, if PNut12345 settles for a 7770 now just to get by he'll probably regret it down the road because he'll be in basically the same situation all over again wanting a better GPU than the 7770, which would in the end be sort of a waste of money in the long run. I absolutely REFUSE to 'upgrade' unless I'm getting at least a 100% performance increase in order to make sure I'm not wasting my money.
 
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I ended up with a vanilla GTX 560 from Best Buy for $175. Forgot to mention I'm also going to run HDMI to my 46" 1080p TV for some big screen gaming. It looks like it should do the job.
 
cannondale06 said:
and a 7770 would be okay but he is coming from a 4870. like I already mentioned, that would only be a 30% upgrade with no cpu limitations. with his res and cpu, he will not even see that 30% gain though.
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ROFL. You are always going off at your point of view and nobody else. I'm right and your are. :rolleyes:

7770 is a good card upto 1680x1050. From a 4870 it's a significant upgrade because first you have dx11 and the mass amount of power and heat he will be saving.

Who cares about his CPU. When he has the money he can upgrade later.
 
Great fine, rhansen5_99.

7770 vs 560
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/543?vs=536

7770 vs 560
http://www.hwcompare.com/11885/geforce-gtx-560-vs-radeon-hd-7770/

"In theory, the GeForce GTX 560 is 78% quicker than the Radeon HD 7770 overall..."

However: "Theoretically speaking, the GeForce GTX 560 is 11% faster than the Radeon HD 4870 1GB in general, due to its greater bandwidth."

4870 vs 560
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/543?vs=513

4870 vs 560
http://www.hwcompare.com/11050/geforce-gtx-560-vs-radeon-hd-4870-1gb/

* I couldn't find a 4870 with 512mb of memory so they're all the 1g.

Whoops, my bad:

4870 (512mb) vs 560
http://www.hwcompare.com/11048/geforce-gtx-560-vs-radeon-hd-4870-512mb/
 
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Just an update:

Crysis 2 is definitely bottlenecked, I'm guessing (hoping) it's the resolution I play at, and I should find out when I run HDMI to my home theater to play at 1080p.

Bad Company 2 is maxed out under DX11 and plays beautifully. Same with Metro 2033. AvP is maxed in DX11 and pegged at 60fps but has an awful stuttering issue for some reason.
 
yeah Crysis 2 will eat a Core 2 Duo up. I remember being pegged at or near 99% in many spots with an E8500 at 3.8 even with just an oced gtx260. and although perfectly playable, I know Bad Company 2 is nearly 100% cpu limited in most spots with your cpu as it was with my E8500. I got almost the same framerate at 1280 as I did at 1920x1080 unless I cranked the AA on that gtx260 to make it gpu limited. Metro 2033 and AvP wont need nearly as much cpu power at all but they might perform better in certain spots with a modern quad.

EDIT: I just checked and AvP does not need much cpu power at all. just running 2 cores of my 2500k had zero impact on framerate. of course your E8400 is much slower but I doubt there would be too much difference except at low resolution.

and in AvP you certainly are not pegged at 60fps on max DX11 settings at 1080 with a gtx560 so I assume you are still at 1440x900.
 
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cannondale06 said:
yeah Crysis 2 will eat a Core 2 Duo up. I remember being pegged at or near 99% in many spots with an E8500 at 3.8 even with just an oced gtx260. and although perfectly playable, I know Bad Company 2 is nearly 100% cpu limited in most spots with your cpu as it was with my E8500. I got almost the same framerate at 1280 as I did at 1920x1080 unless I cranked the AA on that gtx260 to make it gpu limited. Metro 2033 and AvP wont need nearly as much cpu power at all but they might perform better in certain spots with a modern quad.

EDIT: I just checked and AvP does not need much cpu power at all. just running 2 cores of my 2500k had zero impact on framerate. of course your E8400 is much slower but I doubt there would be too much difference except at low resolution.

and in AvP you certainly are not pegged at 60fps on max DX11 settings at 1080 with a gtx560 so I assume you are still at 1440x900.
Click to expand...

Yeah still at 1440 for the next few days.
 
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