$150 to spend..help

G

Ghettobox

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jan 5, 2006
Messages
470
My new build is coming together finally (phenom II, 8GB or ram, Asus m4785 -m mobo) and now it's time to decide what to use for a GPU. I currently have an Evga 8800GTS 320mb that play everything I currently play at decent resolutions. My game list is LOTRO (which will have a DX11 patch asap and I play the most far and away), HL2, Oblivion, Assassins creed. I am going to be picking up Ghostbusters, and a couple of new RPG's, and L4D. I will be gaming at 16x10 on a new 22" Asus monitor. So I am looking to step up, and have a couple of years of breathing room before I need a new card. My budget is dead set at $150 or less after any rebates etc. Low power consumption would be good as this machine will be on quite a bit. Low temps etc, not big on the space heater that is my 8800GTS. I should also note I have no personal favorite either ATI/Nvidia, just need the best bang for the buck. I am not above grabbing something used of the FS forum, but am really unclear what kind of performance level I should be looking for, and what kind of jump I can expect from my trusty old 8800.
 
AM I crazy to think the 5750 might be just enough for me? I'd really like the XFX version of whatever I buy as that warranty is worth it to me. I am thinking power wise, it fitting my PSU comfortably, and me not being a super heavy gamer. Am I way off base here? Is it going to be a huge upgrade from the 8800GTS?
 
Rauelius said:
Um...dood...unless you NEED DX11 the 4870 I linked to is perfect.
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Totally understand boss. Not arguing with you a bit. Just worrying (maybe excessively) about my PSU holding up that's all. That is a great price by the way, and I may have to jump on it, and figure out the PSU situation later. ;)
 
You don't want a 4870 as it is a space heater at almost 100W of idle power. 5770 is how you should roll.
 
Yeah....after a bit of thinking I thought of all the other things the 5770 is better at than the 4870. Like Eyefinity, Runs cooler, is better looking (im a sucker for that cowl), uses less electricity....Hmmm....I could see your predicament.....I mean think about it....like at most 10% less performance, but I get a lot of more modern features....It's a tough call....If you have at least a Quality 550watt psu then Rock a 4870....if not, the 5770 would be perfect.

Well good luck! Honestly, no matter what you pick you win...so enjoy!
 
Rauelius said:
Yeah....after a bit of thinking I thought of all the other things the 5770 is better at than the 4870. Like Eyefinity, Runs cooler, is better looking (im a sucker for that cowl), uses less electricity....Hmmm....I could see your predicament.....I mean think about it....like at most 10% less performance, but I get a lot of more modern features....It's a tough call....If you have at least a Quality 550watt psu then Rock a 4870....if not, the 5770 would be perfect.

Well good luck! Honestly, no matter what you pick you win...so enjoy!
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Any chance that performance difference goes away with some mature drivers? I am all but set to pull the trigger on the xfx 5750 tonight. If I can get consistent gts250 performance, for a 3rd of the power, and have dx11 support (at the least for Lotro)..all while being able to use my existing PSU. Well that's a tough deal to pass up.
 
Ghettobox said:
Any chance that performance difference goes away with some mature drivers? I am all but set to pull the trigger on the xfx 5750 tonight. If I can get consistent gts250 performance, for a 3rd of the power, and have dx11 support (at the least for Lotro)..all while being able to use my existing PSU. Well that's a tough deal to pass up.
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ATI's drivers have always matured well IMO. So many examples. The Radeon 9500 wasn't any more than say 7% faster then nVidia's GeForce 4 Ti4600. But eventually the drivers matured to the point that the Radeon 9500 was Crushing nVidia's following Top of the line card, the GeForce FX 5800 Ultra.....Kinda hope that happens again, cept with the Radeon 5850 vs whatever Fermi ends up being (Geforce GTX380?).

A more recent example would be the Radeon 2600XT. Originally it wasn't any faster than the 8600GT, in fact the 2600XT was sometimes slower. Over the life of that card the drivers matured to the point where the 2600XT was standing toe to toe with the Geforce 8600 GTS/Geforce 9500 GT.

So, yes...perhaps in a few drivers the 5770 will overtake the 4890 and the 5750 will overtake the 4870.
 
Well that's my hope as I went and bit the bullet and picked up the xfx 5750. Seemed worth it to me for the warranty. Thanks for the help guys.
 
Sadly I am at the point where I won't touch a Saphire, Sparkle, Diamond, Palit. If I am looking for team green It's only BFG, or XFX for me. ATI side I tend to run nothing but XFX as the warranty is the cat's pajamas. I have had good luck with Evga, but just want the warranty..doubly so on a brand new series of cards that could develop god knows what ailments in the future. Love Asus for mobo's, but until their warranty program gets competitive, XFX will be getting my business.
 
Surprised the OP went with 5750 when the 5770 is only marginally more expensive, but also more powerful. Nearly the same performance as a 4870.
 
The XFX 5770 is at least $30 more, and encroaching into the price range of better cards IMHO. Cheapest XFX I found was $175 or so. Would have bit at $150 maybe, but not at $175 when there are better options for that type of money.
 
notalent420 said:
Surprised the OP went with 5750 when the 5770 is only marginally more expensive, but also more powerful. Nearly the same performance as a 4870.
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HD5750 is the best deal in it's class. It stands alone.
 
Ghettobox said:
The XFX 5770 is at least $30 more, and encroaching into the price range of better cards IMHO. Cheapest XFX I found was $175 or so. Would have bit at $150 maybe, but not at $175 when there are better options for that type of money.
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Right, forgot the markup they were putting on the xfx brand. That's a shame.
When I got my XFX 5870, there was no markup.
In fact it was $20 cheaper than the Sapphire model from ZZF. :)
 
The worst is ZZF had the XFX 5750 for around $150 when I was looking for one. Ended up at the egg for the $139.99 deal, but can't imagine what they are getting for the 5770 at ZZF is they are marking up the 5750 that much. $200? At that price I would have just donated blood if need be to get the 5850.
 
Ghettobox said:
The worst is ZZF had the XFX 5750 for around $150 when I was looking for one. Ended up at the egg for the $139.99 deal, but can't imagine what they are getting for the 5770 at ZZF is they are marking up the 5750 that much. $200? At that price I would have just donated blood if need be to get the 5850.
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How would donating blood, have assisted in advancing the purchase of a 5870? I assume that by definition of donating you mean "to present as a gift, grant, or contribution; make a donation of, as to a fund or cause: to donate used clothes to the Salvation Army. " which basically means giving away your blood for free. I just find it curios how you loosing blood would magically imbue you with that extra spending ability. I'm just kidding with ya man...I couldn't resist......Good find on that deal on the 5770 for $140. I've had nothing but good experiences with Diamond and Sapphire. I usually got them because they were the cheapest newegg had. Luckilly they were all fine and have lived happy lives with narry an issue. My first non-ATI branded card was a Sapphire 9800 XT...Still working fine...as is my Sapphire 2600XT...oh and my Diamond 3850...And the Sapphire 3870....yeah I'm cheap....but they work wonderfully.....For the record...I had an XFX 8800 GTS....that card was fantastic and XFX really left in imprint on my mind with that purposly corny robot dog campaighn and over the top gamer refrences...so corny....
 
I have had good luck with XFX, and the warranty is where it's at. I guess all the resellers have their good and bad. I have had horrible luck with Sapphire and havent touched a diamond since my Viper that was an enormous POS. Then again I bought an Evga for my 8800gts, when all my friends had horrible luck with them. "It runs so damn hot, it flips out all the time" was all I heard. Mine has been rock solid for years now, though it gets hot like you read about. You pay your money and you take your chances. Worse comes to worse, XFX will be feeding me new cards for the next 2 years.
 
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