Does my HD3870 suck yet?

[NWgeek]

Im an occasional gamer, but I like to keep my system somewhat up-to-date for when I do decide to throw down and I have the upgrade bug...

Here is what I have:

Asus P5Q-E
Intel 8400 running at (9x400) 3.6 cooled by Xigmatic
(2x2GB) 4 GB PC6400 GEIL 4-4-4-12
300GB Velociraptor (system)
640Gb WD (storage)
ATI HD3870 512MB Video
Samsung 22" 1680x1050 monitor
Samsung 20x DVD+/-
Pioneer 18x DVD +/-
X-FI Gamer Sound
Vista 32bit OS
Antec Solo case with upgraded quiet fans
Antec NEO 550 PSU

As you can see, I try to buy halfway decent mid-range components, go the mild overclock route to gain performance while keeping noise down.

Is now a good time to upgrade the video card, or should I hold out a bit? Just want to be able to pick-up a new release and play it with 'most' settings at 1680x 1050.

TIA

 

[Bradtechonline]

I got a 3870... Age of Conan eats it alive and laughs..

 

[AstroManLuca]

I have a Radeon 3850 and I'm upgrading real soon. Partly because I just got my tax return and I've got a little money to play around with. It's a good vid card but it does in fact struggle with most recent releases at 1680x1050 and high settings. Like it is almost capable of it but anything out of the ordinary crops up and it starts to choke.

Now, I happen to be in good shape because I already have a buyer lined up for my old parts (recently did an upgrade, moved from an X2 to a Phenom II), including my vid card, so I can justify buying a new one. I'd say if you can upgrade without too much of a hit, it might be worth it. But a 3870 is still at least decent, especially if you're not gaming all the time.

Hmm... guess that didn't help much. Just read that post again and it's basically saying "buy it or maybe don't buy it." But it's true. You really can't go wrong either way. A new vid card now would not be a bad choice, but the 3870 isn't so outdated that you have to buy something immediately.

 

[GundamSonicZeroX]

Shit, I'm still holding onto a 7900GT here.

 

[NWgeek]

To give an idea of my upgrade history (in decending order and as best as I can remember):

ATI HD3870
Nvidia 7900GS
ATI 9800 PRO
ATI 9500
Geforce 4200TI
Geforce 3 something
Geforce 2 GTS
Original Geforce
Nvidia 770V
Matrox G400
Matrox Mystique
Diamond Viper 330!!!!!

So what would be the next logical step forward?

 

[OCGuy]

There are great deals right now on both 4870 1GB and a Factory OC'd 260 216 + Farcry 2.

4870 is ~$150 AMIR and the 216 is ~160 AMIR. The performance difference is negligible.

 

[imported_Ivan244]

Depending on how much of a cheapskate (Raises hand) you are you could hold off till April 6th. Rumor mill has it that ATI will release the 4890 then which may drop prices on everything else. What is your price range at the moment?

 

[AstroManLuca]

Originally posted by: Ocguy31
There are great deals right now on both 4870 1GB and a Factory OC'd 260 216 + Farcry 2.

4870 is ~$150 AMIR and the 216 is ~160 AMIR. The performance difference is negligible.

Links? I was just checking those out on NewEgg and the cheapest 4870 1 GB is $175 AR, while the cheapest GTX 260 216 is around $180 AR. There was a 4870 512MB for just $135 AR though.

 

[Tempered81]

Yah, you need to throw in a 48701gb, gtx260 216, or 4850x2

 

[imported_Ivan244]

Originally posted by: jaredpace
Yah, you need to throw in a 48701gb, gtx260 216, or 4850x2

As soon as 4850 x2 2gb goes down 15-20 dollars I'm jumping on it. Put that in my online rig and then crossfire the two 3870 on the second rig.

 

[NWgeek]

Originally posted by: Ivan244
Depending on how much of a cheapskate (Raises hand) you are you could hold off till April 6th. Rumor mill has it that ATI will release the 4890 then which may drop prices on everything else. What is your price range at the moment?

I usually stay below $200 when I upgrade because thats where the best 'bang-for-the-buck' seems to be. I am not rich to the point that I light my Opus X cigars with twenty dollar bills, but I can afford to buy a box of CAO's without even denting the budget so to speak...

 

[OCGuy]

Originally posted by: AstroManLuca

Originally posted by: Ocguy31
There are great deals right now on both 4870 1GB and a Factory OC'd 260 216 + Farcry 2.

4870 is ~$150 AMIR and the 216 is ~160 AMIR. The performance difference is negligible.

Links? I was just checking those out on NewEgg and the cheapest 4870 1 GB is $175 AR, while the cheapest GTX 260 216 is around $180 AR. There was a 4870 512MB for just $135 AR though.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814127409

http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/...p?ProductCode=10010111

Looks like the 4870 1GB went up $10 to $160, sorry for the bad info. It does have free shipping though.

 

[OCGuy]

Originally posted by: Ivan244
Depending on how much of a cheapskate (Raises hand) you are you could hold off till April 6th. Rumor mill has it that ATI will release the 4890 then which may drop prices on everything else. What is your price range at the moment?

Things are getting so cheap, im not sure how much cheaper they can possibly get.

 

[imported_Ivan244]

Originally posted by: Ocguy31

Originally posted by: Ivan244
Depending on how much of a cheapskate (Raises hand) you are you could hold off till April 6th. Rumor mill has it that ATI will release the 4890 then which may drop prices on everything else. What is your price range at the moment?

Things are getting so cheap, im not sure how much cheaper they can possibly get.

I just checked the Egg and they dropped the price on the 4850 x2 2gb. Not a lot but went from 290-280 with free shipping. The 1 gb model is at 245.

OP-Couple of options. I have not checked your mobo rig to see if Xfire is avail. If it is you could look at getting a 1gb 4850 for $140 now and pick up a second one down the road and Xfire them. Looks like best deal for 4870 1gb is $175 free shipping. For $35 may be worth it to go ahead and grab 4870.

 

[OCGuy]

Originally posted by: Ivan244

OP-Couple of options. I have not checked your mobo rig to see if Xfire is avail. If it is you could look at getting a 1gb 4850 for $140 now and pick up a second one down the road and Xfire them. Looks like best deal for 4870 1gb is $175 free shipping. For $35 may be worth it to go ahead and grab 4870.

Read the whole thread.

 

[Dadofamunky]

Originally posted by: NWgeek

Originally posted by: Ivan244
Depending on how much of a cheapskate (Raises hand) you are you could hold off till April 6th. Rumor mill has it that ATI will release the 4890 then which may drop prices on everything else. What is your price range at the moment?

I usually stay below $200 when I upgrade because thats where the best 'bang-for-the-buck' seems to be. I am not rich to the point that I light my Opus X cigars with twenty dollar bills, but I can afford to buy a box of CAO's without even denting the budget so to speak...

I dont there's ever been a better time to upgrade a video card. The prices for performance are just amazing. Any of the $160-$180 candidates mentioned here will be a huge leap.

 

[imported_Ivan244]

Originally posted by: Ocguy31

Originally posted by: Ivan244

OP-Couple of options. I have not checked your mobo rig to see if Xfire is avail. If it is you could look at getting a 1gb 4850 for $140 now and pick up a second one down the road and Xfire them. Looks like best deal for 4870 1gb is $175 free shipping. For $35 may be worth it to go ahead and grab 4870.

Read the whole thread.

Sorry, was looking at the Egg, not ZZF, my fault.

Edit: Although at NewEgg no shipping cost and comes with Rainbow6 game. On ZZF there is 7.54 charge for shipping (For my zip code) which makes total cost 191.53 minus 25=166.53 with no game versus 175 w/game. Is Rainbow 6 vegas worth 10 extra?

 

[rarebear]

I think you should go for a 4830 $80 or 4850 $100

I see no reason for you to get the lattest and greatest if you just going to keep if several years..

I believe in upgrading every few years with older hardware every year..
This way it hurts my pocket less than buying the best new item every year..

 

[OCGuy]

Originally posted by: rarebear
I think you should go for a 4830 $80 or 4850 $100

I see no reason for you to get the lattest and greatest if you just going to keep if several years..

I believe in upgrading every few years with older hardware every year..
This way it hurts my pocket less than buying the best new item every year..

This is a great time to buy high-end. The amount of video card you get for $160 right now is insane. The economy and competition are tanking prices.

 

[imported_Ivan244]

Originally posted by: Ocguy31

Originally posted by: rarebear
I think you should go for a 4830 $80 or 4850 $100

I see no reason for you to get the lattest and greatest if you just going to keep if several years..

I believe in upgrading every few years with older hardware every year..
This way it hurts my pocket less than buying the best new item every year..

This is a great time to buy high-end. The amount of video card you get for $160 right now is insane. The economy and competition are tanking prices.

Can't argue with that. In fact I was planning on waiting until the 4850 x2 2gb went down a bit but could not resist that MSI 4870 1gb with $25 rebate on ZZF. Performance will be lower than the 4850 x2 but $111 cheaper AR. Went ahead and took the plunge. Thanks for the link.

 

[crazylegs]

If ur happy with games the way they are atm no point to upgrade, if u want more eye candy + fps, then the rest of your system would definetely benefit by moving upto a HD4870 1gb or GTX260 216sp, both represent outstanding value atm.

That being said i am personally waiting 2-3wks for the HD 4890 + GTX275, hopefully their arrival will knock prices down even further

 

[Grinja]

4870 or GTX 260 would be great for u're setup.

 

[Soulkeeper]

april 6th the 40nm budget card from amd is supposedly coming out, the specs indicate it is twice as powerfull as the 3870
that's the upgrade path i'm eyeing

 

[bryanW1995]

that's a big "it depends". If your card is working fine for you right now then it would be a waste of money to upgrade. Video card prices are constantly dropping, so if you need, say, "4850" type performance but you don't need it for 3 months then you'll be best served to wait until 3 months from now to buy it. Keep in mind, however, that you will be able to sell your 3870 for a certain amount of money, too, so that difference might not be quite as large as some people might think. If, for example, you buy a gtx 260 for ~ $160 and sell your 3870 for $50, then you're only really paying $110. If 3 months from now you get a gtx 260 (or 275, 4870, or whatever) for $140 and get $40 for your card then you've only really saved $10.

The big risk that you run when upgrading just because you "have the bug" is that you'll upgrade right before the next big thing comes out. The gtx 275 and 4890 are both due out on april 6. If they are both, as rumored, simply minor oc's on current 260's and 4870's, then you won't lose anything by upgrading now. However, if one or both camps are being sneaky and plan additional sp's, shaders, tmus, etc PLUS clock increases then you might be better served to wait. Also, both camps are planning complete refreshes this year, probably around the start of the xmas shopping season. If either one or both pulls that date forward to, say, the summer as they both did last year then you could buy current technology today that is "last gen" in two or three months.

Overall, I'd stand pat if you're not having any problems with current games that you play. Only upgrade if/when you need to.

 

[bryanW1995]

Originally posted by: AstroManLuca

Originally posted by: Ocguy31
There are great deals right now on both 4870 1GB and a Factory OC'd 260 216 + Farcry 2.

4870 is ~$150 AMIR and the 216 is ~160 AMIR. The performance difference is negligible.

Links? I was just checking those out on NewEgg and the cheapest 4870 1 GB is $175 AR, while the cheapest GTX 260 216 is around $180 AR. There was a 4870 512MB for just $135 AR though.

that 4870 is $143 AR shipped. that's at least as good of a deal as the $159 shipped I paid for the core 216 the other day. It's probably better in fact, even taking into account that it's only 512 mb b/c that is the asus top with 815 core on it and what looks suspiciously like an accelero cooler. As long as you don't plan to step up to 19x12 or 25x16 during the life of this card it's the best bet right now imho.

I still think you should wait, however.