Upgrading from 9600GT to ...?

[SantiClaws]

Gaming at 1680 x 1050. My leading candidate is the 5770 (I'll probably go for a slightly used one). I like the 4870 as well since it seems to be a bit faster in most games, but I feel like I should go for a Dx 11 card since I'm upgrading anyway. A higher end card would seem to not give me much bang for buck at this resolution. Would you recommend something different than a 5770?

P.S. Is it worthwhile for me to get a 1GB card, or would it just be a waste of money at that resolution?

 

[darkewaffle]

I went with a 5770 for 1680x1050 and it's been great so far. I don't play any really intense games, but I'm pleased I can turn Borderlands and Dragon Age all the way up with no problems, and it only ran me about $125 new after rebate. For this resolution I think it's an excellent choice.

 

[happy medium]

I think a 5770 or gtx 460 768mb are both right for you. It all depends on how much you wanna spend and how much performance you want.

 

[evolucion8]

The HD 5770 is almost an identical twin to the HD 4870 in terms of performance. At your resolution, 1GB will help, specially if you crank your anti aliasing and detail levels. The HD 5770 is your card, but I think that at least an HD 5830 or HD 5850 will last more in terms of performance longetivity.

 

[happy medium]

What the rest of you system look like?
Last recommendation I gave, a guy asked the same question, and the guy had a pent 4.

 

[SantiClaws]

What the rest of you system look like?
Last recommendation I gave, a guy asked the same question, and the guy had a pent 4.

I have a Pentium II. Why? I have an Athlon X2 7850 BE, stock speed (2.8 Ghz), 4GB OCZ 8500.

 

[happy medium]

I have a Pentium II. Why? I have an Athlon X2 7850 BE, stock speed (2.8 Ghz), 4GB OCZ 8500.

Cool. , then a 5770 or gtx 460 768 would be perfect.

 

[CurseTheSky]

I would personally go for a GTX 460 1GB, but I generally like to have a bit of leeway for future games. However, I usually upgrade every two or three generations, play at 1920x1080, and really like eye candy.

 

[SantiClaws]

Well, took a sideways step and just bought a 4890 from the FS forum because the price was good. No DX11, but fast. Will hold me over for a year or more.

 

[RussianSensation]

DX11 is overrated at the moment. 5770 is not going to play any DX11 games in the near future. It's just not fast enough. I would wager, no current generation card is fast enough when the time comes to play DX11 games.

At $90, 4870 1GB is a great budget card: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-376-_-Product

Otherwise, get a used 5770.

 

[CurseTheSky]

9600 GT -> HD 4980 is not a sideways step; it's a significant improvement. If you got a good price on it, I'd say you made a wise choice.

Enjoy.

 

[SantiClaws]

9600 GT -> HD 4980 is not a sideways step; it's a significant improvement. If you got a good price on it, I'd say you made a wise choice.

Enjoy.

Thanks. I meant a bit sideways from the 5770, I certainly hope it smokes the 9600 . Paid $125 shipped for the 4890, which is not spectacular but on the lower end of the scale, I think. It has a Zalman VF100 cooler, and the 4890 has a pretty good OC rep, so with a good HS I hope to be able to squeeze some decent performance gains.

 

[jvroig]

I have an Athlon X2 7850 BE, stock speed (2.8 Ghz)

4890 is good for that CPU, and being a BE, you can always overclock a bit if you need a little more CPU headroom (My older PC had an Athlon X2 7750 non-BE, managed to OC it to 3.24 GHz, still plays everything well, but the video card is a craptastic 8600GTS )

Actually, being a high-end part of the last gen, that 4890 outclasses the 5770 in terms of performance. That's a fantastic deal you got, and at 1680x1050, it should last you well until Northern Islands and Fermi II is available, which might be a better time for DX11-capable hardware, and hopefully better prices as well.

 

[evolucion8]

And if you overclock your HD 4890, it can even match and surpasses the HD 5830. Don't worry about DX11, its an important step but for the time that it is widely used, it will be as obsolete as the HD 3870 and 8800GT are and yet, both can play games at good settings (My GF has the HD 3870 and can even max Borderlands, Need for Speed Shift and Lost Planet in DX10 mode)

Also DX11 code is backward compatible and will run nicely with DX10.1, just that some DX11 specific effects like Tesselation and may be some DirectCompute effects will not work. I played BFBC2 and Metro 2033 and with ATT stated that it was running on DX11 mode, even thought I didn't saw any DX11 effects since the game will scale down to the DX10.1 hardware transparently.

 

[CurseTheSky]

An HD 4890 for $125 is much better than a $150 HD 5770; it's more powerful AND cheaper. The 5770 has it beat on heat and noise, though.

 

[SantiClaws]

Just came across a Tom's Hardware article, 275GTX vs. 5770 vs. 4890, and the 4890 wipes the floor with the 5770, particularly the Sapphire Vapor-X version, which is what I bought. When DX11 games start going mainstream, I'll upgrade again, but I imagine that will be a year or more. I generally tend to buy the high-end of last generation vs. mid-end current, I find the cards are usually still great performers but the prices have fallen like a rock.

 

[RussianSensation]

Well, took a sideways step and just bought a 4890 from the FS forum because the price was good. No DX11, but fast. Will hold me over for a year or more.

$125 for a 4890? That's an amazing deal. You are looking at GTX460 768 MB / 5830 performance roughly. I just upgraded to a GTX470 from a 4890 and the GTX470 is only about 50 percent faster on average.

 

[bryanW1995]

Well, took a sideways step and just bought a 4890 from the FS forum because the price was good. No DX11, but fast. Will hold me over for a year or more.

that card is faster than 5770 anyway, and you wouldn't have seen much/any use from the dx 11 features of 5770 anyway. what did you pay for it?

 

[bryanW1995]

And if you overclock your HD 5830, it can even match and surpasses the HD 4890.

fixed

 

[SantiClaws]

what did you pay for it?

$125 shipped (used, obviously) which is about $5-$10 below going rate, it seems.

 

[evolucion8]

fixed

hahaha, paying more than $200 to a card that barely outperforms the HD 4890 that costed $125.00 is a joke and a waste of money. The HD 5830 needs to cost less than $200.00 to make sense.

 

[Washoe]

just a heads up, the 4890 is really loud.

 

[edplayer]

I had a similar choice (using a 9600GT SSC currently). Decided to pass on the 5770 because it might not be big enough of a jump to be impressive (though I really like its power efficiency). Got a GTX 460 768MB instead. If I can get $15 for the Just Cause 2 coupon, my net will be about $135.

 

[TemjinGold]

just a heads up, the 4890 is really loud.

He says he got a Vapor-X, so not really. Dang... $125 for a Vapor-X 4890 is insane...

 

[evolucion8]

Yeah, Vapor-X cooler is impressive and works incredibly well with very little noise. My Sapphire card has the black cooler that ressembles it and I can't hear it no matter whant, and it never goes above 80C no matter what. Its idle temperature isn't very impressive thought, it idles at 58C.