Thinking about purchasing a 4870

[teatime0315]

Here is the catch though. My computer is not up to date.

Here are the specs.
Amd 3800 X2 - Stock
2GB of DDR400
500 GB HDD
Audigy 2 ZS
Nvidia 6800gs

So I'm planning on adding that card in.
How much of a bottleneck would my computer be if I max in-game settings with AA/AF at 1280x1024?

I figured since gaming is my priority, I should upgrade my GPU first... Then carry it over to my next system.
Which will probably be an Intel E8400/Q9xxx. With an X48 motherboard with 4/8gb of ram.
Also, I'm going to reformat my computer soon when I get the card. Should I use XP or Vista with my current system.

Thanks!

 

[xbob04]

I wouldnn't spend the money for a 4870 at 1280x1024, you'd be more than fine with a 4850. Even with a fast CPU if you aren't going to push the resolution you won't see the 4870 stretch it's legs.

 

[Cowboy420]

I wouldnn't spend the money for a 4870 at 1280x1024, you'd be more than fine with a 4850. Even with a fast CPU if you aren't going to push the resolution you won't see the 4870 stretch it's legs.

FTW.!!!

 

[xdivenx]

OP, I once tried Vista64, and I found lots of incompatibilites with my sound card, because the way vista handles sound is radically different from Xp. Make sure your hardware and accessories will all work, then get Vista and enjoy DX10 games.

 

[YeuEmMaiMai]

you need to upgrade to something newer than 3 years old............

 

[JimmiG]

You'd see a nice improvement in many games if you get something like the 4850.
Unless you're planning on buying a high-end CPU and get a bigger monitor in the near future, I agree that a 4870 is overkill. Even with a fast Intel CPU, I don't think the 4870 would be *that* much faster at 1280x1024. You need to game at 1600x1050 or higher with 4xAA/16XAF to really see the benefits of its faster GDDR5 memory.

You might also want to try overclocking that X2.. if you can reach ~2.5 GHz, the performance would improve, especially with a faster videocard.