Looking to upgrade my HD6850 2GB

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tr0gledyte

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Nov 27, 2015
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Hey guys,

Here are my current specs:

AMD Phenom X2 555 Black Edition unlocked to a quad and clocked at 3.6ghz.
Radeon HD6850 2GB
8GB of DDR3-1600
MSI 990FXA-GD65
Corsair TX850 PSU
2048x1152 monitor

I've had this setup for roughly 4 years and it still stands surprisingly strong, allowing me to play most games at medium-ish settings and my native resolution (probably because I have the 2GB version of my GPU). I've been completely out of the PC hardware world for a few years, so I'm kind of clueless.

Lately I've been getting the upgrade itch again, seeing the graphics of the latest games. My budget is very limited (preferably around $150) and I feel like the GPU is where I can gain the most. The CPU I have now, strangely enough, seems to be comparable with the budget AMD quads for socket AM3+ that are being offered today.

My first idea was to buy another cheap HD6850 or HD6870 and crossfire it, but I can't find any used 2GB versions of these cards in my country.

What can you guys recommend me for ~$100-150? Should I stick with 2GB or get a 4GB card? I have a preference for AMD cards but am open to any suggestions as long as it's a noticeable upgrade from my HD6850. I'm playing Dying Light right now, for which my GPU is apparently below the minimum requirements, and while the game runs just fine, I wish I could crank up the eye candy a bit more. :)

EDIT: I actually forgot which PSU I own but I believ
 
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hang-the-9

hang-the-9

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EDIT... actually your video card is fine for your CPU, if you go up any higher you will start to be CPU limited. If you want to upgrade the video card, that is fine, but keep in mind you may not see improvement in many things.

You can actually get a decent upgrade in your budget. Radeon R7 370 is right in your price range, even on the lower side if you can get one with rebates.

The PassMark video score of the 370 vs the card you have is almost double.
 
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tr0gledyte

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Nov 27, 2015
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Surely I'm not that CPU limited by a Phenom II quad clocked at 3.6Ghz (should be identical to a Phenom II X4 975)? I know it's a rather old CPU but I can't imagine *not* seeing much improvement over my current HD6850 with an upgrade. Some games are exceptionally CPU intensive but for most I feel bottlenecked by my GPU.

Unfortunately upgrading my CPU means I would need a new motherboard as any AM3+ upgrades available are not worth the money imo. I will probably upgrade the CPU further down the road, for now I'm trying to squeeze a bit more life out of it. I can actually OC it a bit more to 3.8Ghz if necessary.

I might be able to get a deal on a HD7870XT for $100, I think that would be a decent buy because it's similar to the HD7950. How does that compare to the R7 370 at $160 (in my region)?
 
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NightAntilli

NightAntilli

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Jun 12, 2014
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Uhm... Yeah, you probably are very CPU limited... You overclocked it from 3.2 GHz to 3.6 GHz, which helps a bit, but not a lot.

I upgraded from a Phenom II X3 710 unlocked to 4 cores, and I went with the FX-8320, the difference was HUGE, and I have the 1GB 6850 still. My 6850 is 1GB and is memory limited rather than performance limited. Yours has 2GB, which means it should still performe respectably.

You're better off upgrading your CPU right now. You have a VERY good motherboard, so, I suggest you go for the FX-8320/50/70 depending on how much you want to spend. Trust me, you'll feel the difference. If all of those are out of your budget, or if you think they are too expensive, you can pick the FX-6300 instead. You can easily overclock it to 4.2 GHz on stock cooler even, and it will literally be twice as fast as your current CPU per core. It's less than $100 as well.

If you really want to monitor your limit, download GPU-Z, on the monitoring tab, you'll see your GPU load. If you're not constantly above 90+ percent, your CPU is bottlenecking your GPU. I can guarantee you that it is. I know, because my X3 710 was only allowing me to use around 50% of my HD 6850.
 
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tr0gledyte

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Benchmarks show that Deneb CPUs actually outperform Vishera CPUs in many cases, especially in per-core performance, so I don't understand where all this is coming from? But you have piqued my interest, I will monitor my CPU and GPU usage in games to see what's going on!

http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum/hardware-canucks-reviews/57615-amd-vishera-fx-6300-fx-4300-review-15.html

At the moment I feel like upgrading my CPU would be a waste of money, sometimes even a downgrade, looking at these benchmarks.. If I am wrong could you explain why? I'm not trying to be stubborn but I don't get it. I can't imagine this CPU bottlenecking my measly HD6850 much if at all.
 
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NightAntilli

NightAntilli

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Jun 12, 2014
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Well, I understand the benchmark. Maybe I am underestimating your CPU. I think it'll perform significantly worse than the X4 980, but I might be wrong. I think my old CPU was roughly in the same class as yours, so, I'm coming from the perspective of my experience. Even at stock, my FX-8320 was really performing much better in games compared to my X3 710. After overclocking it to 4.5 GHz (1 GHz overclock), it was no contest...

Based on Passmark, these are the single core ratings of each CPU;
X2 555: 1073
X3 710: 909
X4 980: 1314
FX-6300: 1409
FX-8320: 1397
FX-8350: 1505
FX-8370: 1530
Athlon 860k: 1596
i5 4690: 2230
i7 4790k (fastest on the site): 2530

These are all stock clocks, although the boost is likely included, since the FX-8350 and FX-8370 have the exact same stock clocks but different boost speeds. Remember, the difference between the FX-8320 and the X3 710 was HUGE for me. That is 488 points of difference. If you upgrade to the FX-6300, it'll be 336, which is less, but likely still significant.

Monitor the CPU/GPU load, and then we'll make a better informed decision.
 
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tr0gledyte

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Nov 27, 2015
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Okay guys, you may want to sit down for this one:

As I monitored GPU usage, I noticed something was off, namely the clock speeds. I then downloaded GPU-Z and it identified my GPU as a Pitcairn GPU. I always thought it was a driver error, that the newer drivers recognized my HD6850 as a Radeon R9 200 series GPU.

So I open my case, and discover that I am in fact the owner of a Club3d R9 270x.

I bought one in July 2014 and completely forgot about it. No joke. I was so out of PC gaming I just forgot, and because I thought I still had a HD6850 I guess some kind of placebo effect made me think I had to upgrade it. Omg.

So uhh.. this thread was entirely unnecessary, because I have no intention of upgrading this card. The next sensible upgrade would actually be a CPU, not sure which though, would have to research that. I like CPUs that are cheap but have a lot of potential in OCing or unlocking cores.

This is not a joke, rofl. I basically quit gaming for a year and this is what happens. I feel stupid. Thinking back, I remember that my HD6850 died and I bought this as a replacement.
 
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tr0gledyte

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Nov 27, 2015
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Only played one game so far: 7 days to die. GPU load was 60-90% while the game seemed to be maxing out 2 of my 4 cores. It's a CPU heavy game, but still.

I've been playing lots of games lately on low settings, thinking I had a HD6850. Damn. Is the FX-6300 a noticeable upgrade though? How overclockable is it with a good air cooler? I have a Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme (that I know for sure.. lol).

I can get a FX-6300 black edition for $115.
 
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hang-the-9

hang-the-9

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Going from your CPU to a 6300 is an improvement, but for over 100 you should just get an 83xx chip. I don't like buying something to improve just one tier, which is about where the 6300 is compared to your CPU. Just make sure you check what CPU is compatible with your motherboard then get the best one you can afford.

A general rule is that to notice something is faster than another thing just by how it "feels", you need about a 25-30% speed bump. Don't know if a 6300 will give you that much over your CPU, but an 83xx would.
 
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