Time for a new card?

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dadi38

Limp Gawd
Joined
Feb 4, 2008
Messages
229
Been hearing alot of discussion about the new ATI cards and was wondering if I should upgrade. Been looking at the 5870 but wondering if my rig would handle it. I currently use the 8800 GT and have had no issues playing games. I like Crysis but I play at 1440 x 900 and get a decent framerate....40-50 FPS. I have a Gateway HD2200 at 1680x1050. My rig has been basically stock since I bought it. The 8800 was overclocked at the factory. I tried Farcry 2 the other day and got between 45-50 FPS. Didn't check the graphics options, just installed and played. It looked really good to me. Just wanted the opinions of the good people on here to get some ideas going. Feeling the need to upgrade. :D
 
May need a better power supply, I dont see yours listed, so I assume it isnt a very good unit. I love the corsair power supplies. A nice 5850 may do all you need. I have had a few 5870s, and sold them. The 5850s I have seem to work just as well when overclocked. I am running them on a 22 and 24 lcd with no problems. You can spend the extra $100 on a psu.
 
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Yea you likely will need a better PSU but you may be able to get away with it , however going from a 8800 GT to a 5870 will be a MASSIVE upgrade. Totally worth it if you can afford it.
 
well since you are only gaming @ 1440x900 its not veru demanding of the gpu. Eye candy (aa & af) will impact that performance. You do have some options if you wanted increase overall performance.
1) overcock that q6600, many of them are capable of over 3gigs, you would need a decent aftermarket cooler for this. I would suggest either fo the following, ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro Rev.2 $31.99 + fs or Cooler Master Intel Core i5 compatible Hyper TX3 $19.99 or COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus $29.99 + fs

2) depending on the make, model & age of the psu you may need a new one to safely handle the oc and a newer gpu. Let us know and we can recommend.

Ultimately one of the best yardsticks to measure this is, if it plays the hames you want @ at least 30fps and what looks like decent eye candy then you do not need tp upgrade. The socket 775 you have now is end of life, so your next upgrade would require a new cpu, mobo and ram. On the amd side you are looking @ $265 on the low end. But that quad core is still decent.
 
Thanks for the replies. Right along the lines I was thinking. A bit more detail: Q6600 Kentsfield G0. My psu is an Ultra X-finity 600 watt. I have the thermaltake V1 cooler for the CPU which I think is alright, but didn't play with OC'ing all that much. I think I got it to 3 ghz if I remember. Tax time...so I'm itching for upgrades. If I don't upgrade the guts in my rig, it may be a new HDTV and surround sound...I game mostly at 1680x1050...max the monitor will do. I turn it down just for Crysis, for smooth gameplay.
 
You could go with the setup I am currently aiming for.. I bought one 5770 awhile ago that performs admirably by its lonesome at 1000mhz core and 1420mhz Ram. I will eventually pick up a second 5770 and crossfire.. A lot of reviews have shown that xfired 5770's can hold their own next to a 5850.
 
Don't forget that Nvidia will be coming out with some new stuff soon. I'd wait and see what happens there with prices etc. Otherwise, the 5850 is probably your best option. I think the 5870 is most likely overkill for your setup.
 
dadi38 said:
Thanks for the replies. Right along the lines I was thinking. A bit more detail: Q6600 Kentsfield G0. My psu is an Ultra X-finity 600 watt. I have the thermaltake V1 cooler for the CPU which I think is alright, but didn't play with OC'ing all that much. I think I got it to 3 ghz if I remember. Tax time...so I'm itching for upgrades. If I don't upgrade the guts in my rig, it may be a new HDTV and surround sound...I game mostly at 1680x1050...max the monitor will do. I turn it down just for Crysis, for smooth gameplay.
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you dont "play" with overclocking. it is strictly serious business. serious like a heart attack.
 
The new replacement for the 8800 series as a baseline card is the GTX260, HD 4890, or the HD? 5770. Anything will either not last you or is overpriced overkill. I have trouble recommending the 5 series because the card pricing is all wonky. Hopefully Fermi will live up to expectations and we can see some decent deals out of the ensuing pricewar. If you can play borderlands at reasonable settings I'd hold off.
 
piscian18 said:
The new replacement for the 8800 series as a baseline card is the GTX260, HD 4890, or the HD? 5770. Anything will either not last you or is overpriced overkill. I have trouble recommending the 5 series because the card pricing is all wonky. Hopefully Fermi will live up to expectations and we can see some decent deals out of the ensuing pricewar. If you can play borderlands at reasonable settings I'd hold off.
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How is $155 for a 5770 wonky pricing?
 
hossdaddy said:
How is $155 for a 5770 wonky pricing?
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well I did mention 5770 as a reasonable upgrade but even it still needs to be 130$ as it's just a new revision of the HD 4870. That said with finagling you can get the Diamond 5770 for 134.99$

http://slickdeals.net/forums/showthread.php?t=1850107

While Id rather eat my shoes than buy a Diamond some people will swear by them so I'm sure it's a good deal.

The catch is OP isnt doing Eyefinity and Direct 11 aint happening this week.

DualOwn said:
to be honest, all you need is the 5850.
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Are you by chance the same guy who keeps sending me the Viagra emails? How do I get a sweet job like that?
 
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Wait until the fermi cores are out, then the price wars with start pushing down both ati and older 200 series nvidia cards.
 
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