I've got an ATI HD4890 and was wondering how much longer should I keep this card before changing to an HD5870? Should I even bother? I play all the recent games, specially FPS. I'm eagerly waiting for the ID title Rage, and Bioshock 2. I bought the card last summer for 300$ CAD... I'm not planning to do any EyeFinity, and I'm gaming in 1600x1200 for now, maybe will get a new display and game soon in 1920x1200.
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HD4890... How long before change?
- Thread starter jmorel33
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cannondale06
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you should keep it for 45 more days. lol.
why do people ask questions like this? its your computer and if its playing all the games you want then why worry about now? a 5870 is very overpriced at the moment and certainly not needed at 1600x1200. I would focus on getting a widescreen monitor first and then seeing if you are still happy with your card at 1920x1200.
why do people ask questions like this? its your computer and if its playing all the games you want then why worry about now? a 5870 is very overpriced at the moment and certainly not needed at 1600x1200. I would focus on getting a widescreen monitor first and then seeing if you are still happy with your card at 1920x1200.
AltTabbins
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Your card is set to expire in exactly 90 days. You will no longer be able to game on it and must upgrade to have any enjoyment at all with your current system.
cannondale06
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you asked a question that only YOU can answer. I was at least nice enough to elaborate on the 5870 upgrade concern but perhaps you missed that part.
No I have read your comments, it just got a little frustrating to read two back to back mocking comments of the sort. felt it wasn't something I wanted to experience on [H]ardOcp. Hopefully you'll understand. But I did read your comment, and found it to be valid. Now as to wether I'm the only one who can answer to my question, I think you're missing the point entirely of a discussion forum IMHO.
snaggletooth
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I'm still loving my 4890, checking craigslist daily for a second one...$120CDN is my sweet spot for that deal.
master noran
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I got mine around the same time and see NO reason to upgrade, I beat both crysis's (1920x1200, all gamer settings with no aa) and had no major slowdowns (35-60 fps, I had over 80fps in the caves) This card is a sweet card for someone who does not have a eyefinity setup.
cannondale06
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well to be truthful, I think you are really missing the point of a hardware forum. if you understand hardware and are well aware of what your current card can(or cant) do then the question you are asking can ONLY be answered by YOU. its your 4890 and you are the one playing games on it so asking others how much longer you should keep it is silly.
vanilla_guerilla
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i have a 4890 on my secondary machine. i replaced it with 5850 cf on my primary. the 4890 played every game that i actually play fine, even terrific. (i havent played crysis in years it seems like) so no, you dont need to upgrade. unfortunately, the prices on the 4890 are not going down (maybe even up - i paid $159 ar for mine last summer) and the supply seems to be drying up. i also, am waiting for a good price on a used one to go xfire with it.
cannondale06
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exactly. get the monitor first and then decide if the 4890 is up to the task for the games you play.
stateofjermaine
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Your point is well-taken, and this is a forum for the exchange of ideas. However, if a discussion is what you were seeking, you might have framed your OP a little differently. As it stands, you asked "how much longer [you] should keep [your] card". And that is certainly dependent on some critical information that you withheld. A few questions for you:
Are you getting acceptable frame rates?
Are you able to play the games you want at settings which are to your liking?
If the answer to both of these questions is "Yes," then what could anyone here tell you to convince you to upgrade? If the answer is "No," then what could anyone here tell you to convince you not to? I hope this is helpful, and not snarky, as that's not my intention. But the truth is that there is no universal truth regarding graphics performance. No card is inherently "bad" or "wrong". Good luck with your decision!
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Yea I'm looking at a 28" like the Hanns-G model that has a lot of talk in the Displays forum here on [H]. I'll probably get the monitor first, but the 5870 is a really attractive card. First it has DX11, then it's almost twice as fast as a 4890 (maybe I'm wrong here but it's much faster!). It's true that in 1600x1200 I have barely any slowdowns in any game except Crysis, where at times it can be "slightly" choppy. I still play some Doom 3 so that's no issue there. And Direct X 11 for gaming is probably not relevant right now, a part for Dirt 2 I suppose. It seems logical to wait until Nvidia gets their DX11 card out on the market in order to get the price war going on and make cards like the HD5870 more affordable, hopefully in the 300$. For sure we have a few months to wait before that will happen. But gaming in widescreen 1920x1200 with the 4890 sounds good to me
EDIT: Oh there is another point I wanted to bring, the 5870 consumes much less power at idle than the 4890. I'd have to read some more about this, but it was something that I found interesting. And here's another point: 16x ANISO on the 5870 is much much sharper, almost perfect, compared to the 4890.
About the ANISO: http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3643&p=13
Power consumption at idle: http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3643&p=26
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To give a little perspective, I play all my games on my HD4850 512MB card at 1920x1200, and to me, everything works out nicely. The occasional game or two may require me to lower some graphical settings but it's not an entirely game-breaking experience for me. For the games that I do play often enough, the performance is either good or excellent already. So I think in your situation, when you do upgrade to a larger monitor, you might just find that the HD4890 is no slouch at 1920x1200.
I also think that being on this forum tends to have a very big negative impact on a person's perception of how capable their hardware really is and, more importantly, their wallet (aka. being bitten by the upgrade bug). Being around these parts you see a lot of how the latest and greatest stacks up to the previous generations of hardware through the benchmark graphs and charts and also user feedback, which may make you feel a bit like you're falling behind the curve. I say don't worry so much about all that and focus your attention back towards finding and playing all sorts of games. You'll be so much more content in the end.
Just my $0.02.
I also think that being on this forum tends to have a very big negative impact on a person's perception of how capable their hardware really is and, more importantly, their wallet (aka. being bitten by the upgrade bug).
Being around these parts you see a lot of how the latest and greatest stacks up to the previous generations of hardware through the benchmark graphs and charts and also user feedback, which may make you feel a bit like you're falling behind the curve. I say don't worry so much about all that and focus your attention back towards finding and playing all sorts of games. You'll be so much more content in the end. Just my $0.02.
To give a little perspective, I play all my games on my HD4850 512MB card at 1920x1200, and to me, everything works out nicely. The occasional game or two may require me to lower some graphical settings but it's not an entirely game-breaking experience for me. For the games that I do play often enough, the performance is either good or excellent already. So I think in your situation, when you do upgrade to a larger monitor, you might just find that the HD4890 is no slouch at 1920x1200.
I also think that being on this forum tends to have a very big negative impact on a person's perception of how capable their hardware really is and, more importantly, their wallet (aka. being bitten by the upgrade bug).
Just my $0.02.
+1 on the .02 cents comment. However having said that, you want to keep in perspective your equipment, meaning take in consideration building a respectable new rig is no chump change so the fact that you're possibly still handicap by fps, resolution settings or game setting is quite depressing in my mind. So if your vcard can handle the requirements of your monitor for respectable game play then go with just that, otherwise step up and get the upgraded needed to not fall short.
Thanks for the 0.02 cents and the +1 guys Like said above, sometimes we get carried away with the latest and the greatest. I currently play Borderlands and Wolfenstein, and obviously things are running smooth in 1600x1200. When I get the new monitor, I do expect things to still run smooth for most of my games. But having feedback on people that are running in 1920x1200 with the HD4800 series does help out.
On another note, does anyone know if the HD5770 have the "perfect" ANISO just like the 5870? Just curious?
Thanks to all that posted so far!
Like said above, sometimes we get carried away with the latest and the greatest. I currently play Borderlands and Wolfenstein, and obviously things are running smooth in 1600x1200. When I get the new monitor, I do expect things to still run smooth for most of my games. But having feedback on people that are running in 1920x1200 with the HD4800 series does help out.On another note, does anyone know if the HD5770 have the "perfect" ANISO just like the 5870? Just curious?
Thanks to all that posted so far!
If I were you I think I would probably skip a generation and wait for the 6870 et al. Or at the very least wait for a 5870 refresh (i.e. the 5970).
But I'm not you, I'm going to be buying a new PC soon to replace an extremely old one so I am very likely to be getting the 5870
But I'm not you, I'm going to be buying a new PC soon to replace an extremely old one so I am very likely to be getting the 5870
Keep it until it can't keep up with your games. That's what I'd advise. It's one of the better cards you can have at its price/performance ratio.
Spend your money on a better/bigger monitor first. The video card seems to be sufficient for your needs for now. But there might be a game in the future that requires more horsepower. No, I don't count Crysis as a real game anymore. It's more like a benchmark stresser imo.
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Why not just get another 4890 and run them in Crossfire?
A single 5870 is about as fast as two 4870's in Crossfire, so two 4890's in Crossfire should be fairly consistently faster, not to mention it would probably cost you half as much to get that 2nd 4890 compared to a 5870.
You already said you aren't interested in eyefinity, the only other thing you would miss out on is DX11, but by the time games actually require that all of our cards will likely be obsolete.
Would 2x 4890 suck a lot more juice than a 5870?
I'm personally waiting to see how Fermi pans out before upgrading from my current 4890 (bought for $150 on sale back in Sept/Oct).
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Reasons for the 5870 might include reduced power consumption, reduced heat, and not having to worry about CrossFire support...but yeah, another 4890 would be more economical (and likely faster when CF was working).