fell upon the upgrade itch

[jhinck1414]

so my current system is listed in my sig.


I am thinking up selling my 9800gtx's for a 5850/5870. I know i have a nvidia chipset mobo (so no on the crossfire), but i dont think the GTX 4xx series is worth investing in (too hot, too loud, too power hungry)
Or possibly more, maybe even a SSD.




Anything else i should consider instead? Mostly playing new games on a 1680x1050 monitor.

 

[tiraides]

If you don't want to spend a lot of money, the Radeon HD 5770 or HD 5830 is a good choice for gaming at a 1680x1050 resolution. But how much are you willing to spend on a new video card (and/or an SSD)?

Also, how long have you had the PSU listed in your sig for? What's its model number?

 

[jhinck1414]

The power supply was purchased in 2007, model bz900.

http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?item=n82e16817814013

I think total budget cap is $400.00

 

[hossdaddy]

sell the 9800's and grab this before it sells out,

XFX HD-587X-ZNFV Radeon HD 5870 (Cypress XT) 1GB $389.99 + fs

Or if you do not plan on upgrading your monitor then this would do the job nicely, and save you some $

XFX HD-585X-ZNFC Radeon HD 5850 1GB $294.99+ fs

 

[tiraides]

The 5870 is overkill for most games at a 1680x1050 resolution; the 5850, less so. If I had to choose between the two, I'd grab the 5850.

I'm a bit skeptical about the ABS PSU, given its age, but I don't know enough about it to confidentially recommend a new PSU outright. That said, if you plan on keeping your current system for at least another year, a new PSU (that's 80 Plus certified, if not rated higher) wouldn't hurt.

With a $400 limit, a new video card would offer more noticeable improvement in gaming than an SSD. While an SSD does load games faster, it doesn't improve frame rates.