Upgrade my HD5850? To what? Or should I be looking at upgrading other components?

[Paktu]

It's been 18 months since I built current my PC and I'm starting to think about possible upgrades. Here's what I have now:

i7-920@3.66GHZ
EVGA X58 SLI LE
6GB OCZ Gold DDR3
Antec 550 Watt PSU
Intel X-25M 80GB SSD (and 1TB external drive for media)
Audigy 2 ZS with 2.1 Logitech speakers
Radeon HD 5850 1GB@stock speed
Dell 2001FP monitor

Upgrading the CPU, mobo, or RAM is not something I think would accomplish much as I have a pretty solid OC already. Don't know as much about the SSD but it still seems to hold up pretty well in current benchmarks. So that basically leaves the video card and/or monitor.

So what would be a good upgrade from a 5850? And should I consider getting a new monitor? My 2001FP has been great but it seems to be lacking in games with its slow response rate.

My budget is flexible (though I don't see a need to get bleeding edge hardware) and this machine is used primarily for gaming.

 

[a_ak57]

Well, do you find yourself playing any games that would actually benefit from an upgrade (any low framerates, input lag)? Or are you just looking to upgrade for the sake of upgrade?

Looking up the specs, your monitor seems to be 1600x1200, so I'd imagine your 5850 should be fine at that resolution for a while more. If you were to bother upgrading to a more powerful card, I'm not sure how much of an improvement you'd actually notice since your 5850 probably handles games fine at that res (though I could be wrong). Although the standard suggestion would be a 6950 2GB reference model that can unlock the shaders to a 6970.

My recommendation would be to get a different monitor with a faster refresh rate (I don't know much about monitors so unfortunately can't help). If you get one that's 1680x1050 you probably don't need a GPU upgrade. But if you get one that is 1920, you might do well to buy a 6950 depending on the games you play.

 

[Paktu]

Well, do you find yourself playing any games that would actually benefit from an upgrade (any low framerates, input lag)? Or are you just looking to upgrade for the sake of upgrade?

Looking up the specs, your monitor seems to be 1600x1200, so I'd imagine your 5850 should be fine at that resolution for a while more. If you were to bother upgrading to a more powerful card, I'm not sure how much of an improvement you'd actually notice since your 5850 probably handles games fine at that res (though I could be wrong). Although the standard suggestion would be a 6950 2GB reference model that can unlock the shaders to a 6970.

My recommendation would be to get a different monitor with a faster refresh rate (I don't know much about monitors so unfortunately can't help). If you get one that's 1680x1050 you probably don't need a GPU upgrade. But if you get one that is 1920, you might do well to buy a 6950 depending on the games you play.

I do see slowdowns in some games, especially the Oblivion mod Nehrim. Not unbearable but it would be nice if I could fix it.

 

[happy medium]

overclock your 5850.

 

[nemesismk2]

I agree with the previous message, the 5850 is a good video card and most be overclock well.

 

[gramboh]

I would upgrade your display. Sorry, I don't have any recommendations/current knowledge, but back in 2007 I upgraded my 19inch CRT (played games at 1280x1024 or 1600x1200) to a 24inch Dell at 1920x1200 and it was the best upgrade "experience" wise I have made for PC gaming.

One thing to look for is that for the really fast/low-lag LCDs (1ms or 2ms claimed response), you have to go with 6-bit TN panels which cannot accurately reproduce colour, compared to 8/10-bit PVA/MVA or IPS type panels. I've compared my 2407 against friends HP TN panels side by side and it's a big difference to me.

The Dell 2410 uses an IPS type, so much more accurate/vibrant colours, not sure on input lag issues though. HP, Gateway and others have good reviews. Check the H forums as they have a displays sub-forum that is very active with knowledgeable people.

May as well upgrade your video card while you are at it . I cannot see an i7 @ 3.6GHz w/ 6GB DDR3 and an SSD being a bottleneck for anything other than SLI 580's. I'd look at the NV 570, ATI 6950 and 6970 cards depending on budget. Wait for Ivy Bridge if you want to do CPU/ram/mobo.