Recommend a good ATI 5xxx card for my AMD Phenom II x4 MicroATX setup.

[Dankk]

I want to easily run games like Oblivion, Fallout 3, GTAIV, and Dead Space at my native resolution (1680x1050) on high settings. As far as I'm concerned, nothing on my computer should bottleneck a good GPU - if anything, it would be the motherboard itself (it's a BIOSTAR MicroATX AM3 motherboard that's supposedly really good, but I don't know if it has any sort of threshold to the Radeon HD 5000 series cards). DX11 support is nice, unless anyone would like to convince me otherwise.

Main specs are as follows:

AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition 3.4GHz Socket AM3 125W Processor
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 2 x 2GB 240-Pin DDR3 1333 SDRAM
BIOSTAR A785G3 AM3 785G Motherboard
SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
COOLER MASTER Silent Pro 600 RS-600-AMBA-D3 600W ATX12V V2.3 Power Supply

Right now I have my eyes on the Radeon 5750 and 5770. They are in the $120-$150 price range and would likely suffice. What do you think about this BIOSTAR Radeon HD 5770 1GB card? Plenty of juice, small form factor, and I like that it matches my BIOSTAR motherboard.

I don't know if I'm getting the most bang for my buck though. I want people's opinions. There are different brands/manufacturers, different speeds, and different prices. What card would give me the most value?

Am I going to be missing out on anything if I spring for a 5750 instead of a 5770?

Is there a card that's slower or cheaper, but easily overclockable and therefore better value?

Please advise. Thanks.

 

[happy medium]

A 5750 should be ok for 1650x1050.
Mine works fine at that res.
If it were me, I'd go for the 5770 for a little more power for the future, if I could afford it.

 

[Dankk]

Thanks for the response. There's a VisionTek 5750 on Newegg for $147 that looks good, but the 5770 I listed above is only $8 more. :hmm:

...then again, there is a Powercolor 5750 that is a bit cheaper.

 

[happy medium]

Get the xfx version with the double lifetime warrnenty. Thats what I have.

5750 or 5770. My 5750 overclocks past 5770 speeds, but yours may not.

 

[DaveSimmons]

Get a 5770, it's roughly a 4870 with DX11 and lower power draw. The 4870 was good enough for 19x12 a couple of years ago but now I'd only say it (and the 5770) is the perfect card for 16x10.

 

[Leyawiin]

If I hadn't popped for a GTX 260 last winter this would be in my case (with an X4 955 @ 3.4 Ghz).

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814125327

 

[Dankk]

Thanks for the suggestions. Leyawiin, that card looks killer. Some of these are pushing my budget though. I didn't really want to spend any more than ~$150.

Happy Medium, I've been looking at some of XFX's entries in the Radeon 5000 series, and based on some of the reviews they appear to be older (manufactured in September-October 2009). I don't know if this has anything to say about the reliability, quality or efficiency, but then again the warranty doesn't give you much to lose. I'll think about it.

 

[betasub]

So the reviewed cards were manufactured in September-October 2009 - how does that affect your decision to buy a new card today (possibly manufactured March-April 2010)?

 

[Dankk]

So the reviewed cards were manufactured in September-October 2009 - how does that affect your decision to buy a new card today (possibly manufactured March-April 2010)?

Good point. What can I say, my thinking can get pretty messed up.

 

[phait]

Been trying demos and I'm real happy with my 5770 in:

Batman Arkham Asylum
Far Cry 2
Crysis (pre-release demo... benchmarks for FULL version show playable but not great results - but they all seem to use AA so I think that's why - I don't use AA)
Call of Juarez Bound In Blood
Wolfenstein
Ghostbusters
Just Cause 2 (amazing game)
Need For Speed Shift

all these games scream

 

[Dankk]

Been trying demos and I'm real happy with my 5770 in:

Batman Arkham Asylum
Far Cry 2
Crysis (pre-release demo... benchmarks for FULL version show playable but not great results - but they all seem to use AA so I think that's why - I don't use AA)
Call of Juarez Bound In Blood
Wolfenstein
Ghostbusters
Just Cause 2 (amazing game)
Need For Speed Shift

all these games scream

I downloaded the Just Cause 2 demo the other day, and it's quite possibly one of the funnest games I have ever played in my life. Amazing game indeed.

Well, since my last paycheck came in a few days ago, I decided to splurge a little and get the Gigabyte Radeon 5770 that Leyawiin suggested. I'll be getting my new computer tomorrow. Thanks for the advice guys.

 

[repoman0]

Good call on the 5770. Mine runs great on a similar system, but Oblivion with lots of graphics mods still struggles a bit on 1680x1050 with 4xAA and 8xAF. If you plan on using mods like QTP3, RAEVWD, etc. you'll be glad you got the 5770 and might even want a 5850

 

[Dankk]

Good call on the 5770. Mine runs great on a similar system, but Oblivion with lots of graphics mods still struggles a bit on 1680x1050 with 4xAA and 8xAF. If you plan on using mods like QTP3, RAEVWD, etc. you'll be glad you got the 5770 and might even want a 5850

I -really- don't see myself needing a better card for a while after getting this. I even have some unfinished games that are a few years old now, i.e. Bioshock, FEAR, and others.

It's amazing how Oblivion is still a beast for a game that game out 4 years ago. Even Fallout 3 runs better than Oblivion, and they use the same engine.