Going from Nvidia 260 to 5850/5870?

nodle

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Would you upgrade from a Nvidia 260 to either a 5850 or a 5870? Is it worth it? I have been playing Battlefield Bad Company 2 lately and I can turn everything up on it. But I know my card doesn't support direct x 11 and the new 5850/5870 does. Am I missing anything? Would you upgrade?
 
Eh, I wouldn't upgrade. Went from a HD4890 to HD5850 and don't really see much of a difference. I can't really tell between DX 10 and 11. I did upgrade so I could use an eyefinity set up so that could be a reason to upgrade. Plus my HD5850 runs pretty cool around 55C - 60C load.
 
After much consideration myself thinking I'd want a 5870, I realized I'd only do it for the eyefinity portion. That being said, I'd have to purchase 1 more monitor leaving me to hold out for a while longer. I don't think it would be much of an "upgrade" having Dx11 support, at least not at the moment if your only playing BFBC2.

Rock the 260 if it is still running strong, otherwise chalk it up and upgrade if you really feel the need for the new features.
 
Upgrade if your games are unplayable at the resolution and detail you enjoy, don't upgrade if they are. I tried a buddy's GTX 275 in place of my 8800GT and didn't notice much improvement at 1680x1050. I'd suggest finding someone with the card you want to try it out first -or- if you can't, convince a friend he needs a 5850/70. :)
 
Ya maybe it just the idea of having something new and getting new visuals out of direct x 11. I wonder what I would be missing if anything? Maybe some smoke or something? I have some new parts showing up tomorrow and considered overnighting a new card. But maybe I should just hold off.
 
I went gtx260 to 5870 and honestly it's a jump....but chances are your 260 can play most things just fine atm so there's no point. I actually am in the process of downgrading my 5870 to a 4890 to recoup some cash and upgrade later.
 
I went gtx260 to 5870 and honestly it's a jump....but chances are your 260 can play most things just fine atm so there's no point. I actually am in the process of downgrading my 5870 to a 4890 to recoup some cash and upgrade later.

What type of games are you playing that you could tell a difference? Are the ATI's better picture quality?
 
What type of games are you playing that you could tell a difference? Are the ATI's better picture quality?

I had never played through crysis so the performance bump there was definitely noticeable. CoD:WaW I was really able to push AA and AF to the max where on the 260 I was hindered up to the most ridiculous settings. But like I said the 260 just performs so well it's hard to justify an upgrade. Actually I wrote a min-review on the 5870 when I first got it here:

http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1457430

Hope that helps.
 
Thanks mrrogers747 for the input!

No problem. The biggest factor I think would be what resolution you play at, and what games. Don't forget, you can always pick up another 260 to do SLI if your mobo supports it, and finding those on the for sale/trade forums here isn't too difficult. They're typically in the ~150 range too and you'd probably get similar/better performance than a 5870; though you'd have to take into consideration heat/power/space.
 
Ya i thought about the SLI thing but like you said you might well get one card that can out perform it then you don't have to deal with the heat and power.
 
If you were going to get a 5850 would you pay the extra money ( roughly another $100 ) to step up to the 5870?
 
If you were going to get a 5850 would you pay the extra money ( roughly another $100 ) to step up to the 5870?

It's a tough call. I personally don't think a 5850 would be a large enough jump from a 260 to warrant an upgrade, I'd say go with at least a 5870 if you're going to do it.
 
Geez the Nvidia gtx 470 is a little cheaper than the 5870. I wonder if that is the way to go?
 
Geez the Nvidia gtx 470 is a little cheaper than the 5870. I wonder if that is the way to go?

Lol the great debate continues! Honestly with the power/heat fermi produces you are probably looking at a similar situation as a 260gtx sli, though I don't have the numbers in front of me.

In my honest opinion I think it's in your best interest to wait.

If you can play all the games you like at a performance level you're comfortable with, resist the urge to click Buy!
 
Geez the Nvidia gtx 470 is a little cheaper than the 5870. I wonder if that is the way to go?

The GTX470 is more expensive than the 5850... Also uses 100 watts more power at load, runs extremely hot, and performs about the same as the 5850.
 
I went from a gtx 260 to 5850 about a month ago, also play bad company 2 a lot. The main difference for me was being able to run max AA, hate those jaggies ._.
 
I went from a gtx 260 to 5850 about a month ago, also play bad company 2 a lot. The main difference for me was being able to run max AA, hate those jaggies ._.

Thats strange I can run full max AA with my 260 now. I have everything on make also. Runs flawless. :confused:
 
I may be a little late to this party, but at this point in time, when talking about such high-end video cards, you almost need to mention your display resolution. If you aren't at 1920x1200 or higher, then don't bother upgrading your video card, get a better display. Your existing card can do what you need. Now, if you are at 19x12 or higher, and are struggling with your IQ settings that you really want to use, then go ahead.
 
Personally I was thinking of using EVGA's step up program on my GTX 260 (216sp) to get a GTX 470 for very cheap. But, after playing all kinds of newer titles, I have to say that I really have no reason to upgrade.

I've been playing MW2, Mass Effect 2, L4D2, GTA 4, BFBC2, and more all at 1920x1080 at max settings with all the eye candy on and have not had a stutter in any of them at any point. Everything runs great.

Like another poster said, if everything you play runs fine at your resolution, I'd be happy with the setup as it was or if I had the itch to upgrade, I'd look at getting a new monitor first.
 
Just wait till Crysis 2 comes out and buy a card then(ATI/Nvidia refreshes?).
 
Thats strange I can run full max AA with my 260 now. I have everything on make also. Runs flawless. :confused:

What res are you running? Because I could not max BC2 with my 280 with full AA and HBAO before I got a second 280. You must be playing as a low res.
 
The res I play it is 1680x1050. Ya I went to the options and pulled everything straight to the bottom everything was maxed as far as the settings go in the menu, unless there are more hidden settings. I set the AA to max plus everything that I could. No slow downs at all it runs smooth as butter. This is also on just a core 2 duo no quad. I get my new motherboard plus cpu in today so that should help. But ya everything ran smooth. I don't understand it either.
 
The res I play it is 1680x1050. Ya I went to the options and pulled everything straight to the bottom everything was maxed as far as the settings go in the menu, unless there are more hidden settings. I set the AA to max plus everything that I could. No slow downs at all it runs smooth as butter. This is also on just a core 2 duo no quad. I get my new motherboard plus cpu in today so that should help. But ya everything ran smooth. I don't understand it either.

I suppose I could see it at that resolution with HBAO off. If you are getting a new cpu/mo/bo etc. you may find a bigger upgrade is a monitor that will do 1920x1200 but then of course you have to get a better card to make that resolution playable. So really unless you are going to play at higher res with your new rig then don't bother with video card yet.
 
Where do you enable HBAO at? Is it in the regular video options?
 
If you're current card players your current games the way you want them to, don't bother. Wait until you have a game that makes you feel you need to. Knee-jerk upgrading to try to keep up with the most current features is a waste of money (and exactly what the companies want you to do).
 
I think it's in the settings.ini file under the docuents bfbc2 folder.

Ok thankyou. I saw some screen with it enable and without. To me it didn't make to big of a difference.
 
On the one hand, I don't want to convince a guy to spend money if he's already satisfied.

On the other hand, there's no way you were playing BC2 maxed out smoothly on a single GTX 260. :) I ran GTX 260 SLI at 1920x1080, and while the game was mostly smooth, it all went to hell when a lot of debris and smoke filled the screen from explosions or tank fire or smoke grenades etc., dipping from 60 FPS to more like 30-40 FPS.

But hey, if it's all the same to you, and you've no particular interest in playing Crysis and Warhead and Metro 2033 maxed, or replaying older titles at 32xCSAA or supersampling, etc., then yeah don't bother.
 
If you're current card players your current games the way you want them to, don't bother. Wait until you have a game that makes you feel you need to. Knee-jerk upgrading to try to keep up with the most current features is a waste of money (and exactly what the companies want you to do).

Thread over, really.
 
Ya thanks for all the help guys, I think i will stick with my 260 for the time being until the prices drop some, or something better comes out.
 
Thread over, really.

This is true, and while I know upgrading from two 260's would be completely foolish considering the games I play, its still fun to discuss and read posts about opinions from other people.
 
Ok thankyou. I saw some screen with it enable and without. To me it didn't make to big of a difference.

No problem. I agree the difference HBAO makes isn't worth the performance hit in my opinion either.
 
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