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Upgrade from 8800GT to HD4870?

Forum Graphic & Displays : Graphics Cards - Upgrade from 8800GT to HD4870?

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johnyeah   08-26-2008 at 07:22:42 PM

Hey guys,

I'm recently considering the option of swapping my EVGA Geforce 8800GT 512mb (@ 650 mhz core and 1900 mhz memory*) to a HD4870. My budget is anything under $300 and my motherboard is a P35 (so no crossfire). The resolution that I'm going to be playing at is 1680*1050 on a 22" monitor.

I'm in a dilemma as to whether or not I should upgrade, I won $400 from Vegas and figured I might as well spend some money to enhance my rig, but then there hasn't been any comprehensive benchmark tests that I could see how big the gap is between a 8800GT and a HD4870 at 1680*1050 resolutions.

Maybe I should upgrade my CPU as well, but then it won't be the bottleneck factor for my games.

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Zenthar   08-26-2008 at 07:42:40 PM
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I think you can expect a 25-50% performance increase (see here). Most games don't max-out CPUs so I guess it can wait.

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jtt283   08-26-2008 at 07:42:56 PM
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The HD4870 is two tiers above the 8800GT on Cleeve's hierarchy chart. He suggests that any less than a three-tier upgrade isn't that big a difference. You might improve your experience in front of your PC in other ways. Consider a nice new highback chair, and/or a new computer desk. Do you have a UPS? How about a nice-sized external drive for backups? Other peripherals?

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johnyeah   08-26-2008 at 07:47:00 PM
- 0 +

haha thanks for the input guys.

peripheral and accessory wise, I pretty much have a really laid back and comfy setup.

either way, I guess I can wait for the next generation to come out (hopefully pcie x16 will still be enough then)

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evongugg   08-26-2008 at 08:31:04 PM
- 0 +

Your power supply is adequate:

ATI Radeon HD 4870 System Requirements

500 Watt or greater power supply with two 75W 6-pin PCI Express® power connectors recommended (600 Watt and four 6-pin connectors for ATI CrossFireX™ technology in dual mode)
Certified power supplies are recommended. Refer to http://ati.amd.com/certifiedPSU for a list of Certified products.

http://ati.amd.com/products/radeon [...] ments.html

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evongugg   08-26-2008 at 08:33:39 PM
- 0 +

You could overclock your CPU instead of getting a new one.

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wimcle   08-26-2008 at 08:48:36 PM
- 0 +

I think the question is not how much faster a 4870 might be...

But rather what game can the 8800gt *NOT* play?

I have a 8800gts/512 it handles everything currently out and I haven't heard of anything coming soon that needs more power than Crysis does now.

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Shadow703793   08-26-2008 at 08:54:03 PM
- 0 +

^ Exactly. You will be able to play any game at 1200*700 res with med to high detail (Including Crysis) with a 8800GT.

Imo, if I were you I would save that money for a Nehalem (aka Core i7) upgrade.

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nottheking   08-26-2008 at 09:03:27 PM
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For your current setup, I don't think that replacing your video card is a good idea. Depending upon the games and settings you use, at 1680x1050 you'd only see perhaps a 40-75% increase in performance; the higher end of that range is if you use AA in Crysis. Really, for that much money, I'd recommend just keeping your 8800GT for now; it certainly isn't showing much in the way of signs of age in games, now is it? I'm pretty certain the $300US would have a better-felt effect spent elsewhere, be it toward your computer or something else.

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roadrunner197069   08-26-2008 at 09:14:09 PM
- 0 +

You wont see much difference and, will most likely be disappointed. Especially if you like to look at 3dmark 06 scores.

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