NEW GFX card, our system?

[159th_Falcon]

Specs;

Win 7 64bits

2 24" monitors, each running 1920*1200

(one for the game, other one i have TS and Briefing open)

CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition

Main Board: ASUS M3A32-MVP Deluxe/WiFi-AP

RAM: 2x Kingston HyperX 4GB DDR2-800 CL5 kit

GPU: Sapphire Radeon HD 4870 512MB

HDD: OCZ Vertex 2 Extended 60GB (windows)

HDD: OCZ Vertex 2 Extended 120GB (games)

HDD: Samsung Spinpoint F1 1TB (Data storage)

PSU: Cooler Master Real Power M850

 

This being my system, i can get solid 20 fps whit medium to high settings.

Now my question is, is my GFX card the limiting factor? Or the CPU?

If i need to get a new GFX card, will it be worth getting a 2GB version over a 1 GB version?

 

Looking forward to everyones opinion.

http://nl.hardware.info/usersystemen/6530/thomas1609-thomas-1609

See link for full system specs

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[celticcoho]

a new GPU, 1gb will help , 2gb even better.. I think you would enjoy it. Cheers, Jim

 

The New cards are much larger, and take more power, Check for Room and Power????

Edited June 5, 2011 by celticcoho

[Viper101]

Now my question is, is my GFX card the limiting factor? Or the CPU?

 

I would say both but the CPU would probably be the stronger. Are you planning to overclock right after you build it?

 

If i need to get a new GFX card, will it be worth getting a 2GB version over a 1 GB version?

 

Of course. To run most present games I recommend making sure you get a card with DirectX11, is 1GB or higher memory, and is 128-bit or higher.

[159th_Falcon]

Sounds like ill be in for a new GFx card then, any recommendations?

 

Hearth the 5850 is a good one, but i prefer 6x series of ATI cause that is 2nd generation whit Dx11 support. Which (hopefully) has all bugs ironed out.

Edited June 5, 2011 by 159th_Falcon

[Viper101]

Sounds like ill be in for a new GFx card then, any recommendations?

 

Hearth the 5850 is a good one, but i prefer 6x series of ATI cause that is 2nd generation whit Dx11 support. Which (hopefully) has all bugs ironed out.

 

5850's are DirectX11 too, and 256-bit! The 5850's are great cards but if you want a better power punch, get a 5870. The 5870's have lower clocks than my factory overclocked 5770 but they have twice as many stream processors than my card and is 256-bit, mine is 128. If you choose to go with a 5870, make sure your case can fit it first though. If you want a 6xxx series than you're talking more money, larger size, and higher PSU requirement.:smilewink:

 

Also there is no point in going with a 6xxx series if that is your reason because all 5xxx series are able to run the same exact drivers as the 6xxx series. Catalyst 11.5 is working just fine for me.

Edited June 5, 2011 by Viper101

[Rahvin]

Actually, a 6950 should require less power and deliver similar performance to a 5870, at roughly the same price. Size shouldn't be that much larger either, but that also depends on all the custom implementations.

In general, now is a bad time to buy GPUs, as both ATI and nVidia struggled moving to 40 nm, and failed to move to 28nm, so the last generation is only a mild improvement on the previous, which was a disaster (especially for nVidia, but the power consumption on the high end HD 5 series was already quite excessive).

I wonder if any of those two will get a 28 nm die on the market, before Intel brings us 22nm graphics with Ivy Bridge next year.

[159th_Falcon]

Thanx for the heads up Rahvin, but how long before it will be a good time?

 

Anyway, i think ill buy this one;

http://www.sapphiretech.com/presentation/product/?leg=&psn=000101&pid=1099

6950 2GB whit better then default cooler (under max load 20C cooler then reference)

And you can connect 3 DVI monitors to it in eyefinity which is unique to AMD cards. (at least without using expensive adapter cables to convert display port to DVI)

 

Can get it locally for about 250 euro, sounds like a good deal to me at this point in time.

Edited June 6, 2011 by 159th_Falcon
typed 9650 under the link, ment 9650

[Black Sheep]

I have more or less the same system:

AMD 955 BE + 4870 512mb

 

and I posted the same question.

 

CPU should be OK.

In my opinion GPU with only 512mb RAM is the weakest point.

 

I'm going for a 6950.

1Gb should be enough for me (1 monitor @ 1920x1080).

May be I'll get the 2Gb only because can be overclocked and more valuable when I'll need to sell it.

 

If you use 2 monitors and higher res go for the 2 Gb.

[159th_Falcon]

Thanx for the input black sheep.

Just thought of the fact we got an TV downstairs that hardly ever gets used, think i need to hook it up to my PC when my dad aint looking.:music_whistling:

(once i actually got the new card ofcourse)

 

Only thing i need to do now is make a track as a "benchmark" so i can compare FPS before and after whit same settings, then see how much i can up the settings before FPS go down.

 

Curious how much of a limiting factor this 4870 512mb is in this system.