Overclock or not?

[Mr47]

Alright, I am at quite a crossroads. I am expecting a pretty decent Tax Return in the next month or so and I am just itching to spend it on the computer of all things. I was originally going to get the X-25M Intel Solid State Drive. (SSD) But then I realized that the same amount of money could buy me one helluva GPU or a new motherboard/ram so I could finally overclock my E8400 C2D which I understand to be a beast when overclocked.
My load times in games aren't terrible so I can deal with them but in games like Crysis and Crysis: Warhead, I get less than satisfactory frame rates (around 18-25 for Warhead & 28-38 for Crysis). A friend told me that if I overclock my processor I could see up to a 20FPs gain in many games, I however am unsure of that claim.

So my question is, would my money be better spent on a motherboard that would allow me to overclock my processor, a bitchin GPU like the HD5850 or 5870, or should I just get the SSD.
If I were going to get a new mobo it would be the Asus Pq5 Pro Turbo.

I usually play at 1600x900 or 1360x768 never above or below.
what is in my case:
E8400
DP35 Intel P35 Motherboard
4GB DDR2 Patriot ram @ 800mhz
Radeon HD 4770 (overclocked 880MHz core 1000MHz ram)
600W Silverstone PSU
WD 500 GB drive (think it is a Caviar black but never checked)
WD 1TB Caviar Black

 

[andy5174]

HD5850 or HD5870.

E8400 is fine with either card even when not OCed.

 

[Mr47]

Thanks for the reply, I almost forgot to say that because of the size of my case I would have to modify a HDD Cage in order to fit a large card like a 5850/5870.

I was also thinking about buying the new motherboard and another 4770 to crossfire, that way I can overclock as well as have more graphics power, or do you think I'd still be better off modifying the case to fit a 5850/5870?

 

[andy5174]

Your current setup plus HD5850 or HD5870 will definitely give you better gaming performance.

 

[Rustyy117]

^agreed.

I think even a 5850 is overkill for 1600x900, You'll be able to max everything!

 

[rfatcheric]

I'm curious about something, why does anyone recommend a 5850 over a 4870? The 4870 is almost the same price on newegg, and outperforms the 5850. Is it just because of DX11?

 

[Omid_m_19]

I'm curious about something, why does anyone recommend a 5850 over a 4870? The 4870 is almost the same price on newegg, and outperforms the 5850. Is it just because of DX11?

It's quite simple!5850 has 1440 SPUs but 4870 has 800 SPUs.Also 5850 supports DX11 and lots of other features,it's the new generation,it consumes much less energy(Both in Idle and full load) and in most of the tests and benchmarks even surpasses a 4870 X2.

You've definitely mistaken about the specs and power of these cards;I can say that 5850 is almost twice as fast as 4870,and as I metioned before it even surpasses a 4870X2 in some benchmarks.

I just wanna say that in today's graphic cards.5850 is the best choice Price/Performance wise...

And also I'd recommend upgrading your case ,so that you can upgrade your GPU,for instance buying a 5770 or even 5850.Overclocking CPU has little effect on FPS in comparison of a new and powerful GPU,specially in high resolutions like 1600x1200 and 1920x1200.In fact in higher resolutions you'll see no difference between a core i7,i5,and a powerful Core 2.

Also you can later change your MB and add a second card in crossfire.

 

[Rustyy117]

I'm curious about something, why does anyone recommend a 5850 over a 4870? The 4870 is almost the same price on newegg, and outperforms the 5850. Is it just because of DX11?

Got any proof that a 4870 outperforms a 5850? :lol:

Maybe do some research and look at some benchmarks.

 

[Mr47]

And the wars begin...

Anyway, thanks for all of the replies, I kind of figured that overclocking would have a minimal impact on games, from what I've found the e8400 barely bottlenecks a 5850 when overclocked to 3.6GHz but there is only a 5-8FPS gain which is minimal in my book when we are already talking about the 50+ range.

I think I am probably going to go with the 5870 simply because of the way the card was designed. It has the two power connectors on the top of the card instead of the back like the 5850 which could be a problem in my case. (not to mention it is almost twice as fast as the 5850) Although that +100 dollar price tag over ~300 deters me a bit. I might also have to cut a couple of fins off of the large heatsinc I put on the southbridge, but that isn't a problem considering it will still be twice what intel originally had on it.

I don't really have to do any MAJOR modifications, I simply have to remove the second hard drive bay in my case and I will have more than enough room to fit even the largest graphics cards, and that isn't a big deal anyway considering my motherboard only supports 4 HDDs if I have two SATA Optical drives. (6 on-board SATA connections)

Edit: Oh yeah, I am still up for suggestions!

 

[Rustyy117]

wow........

So we have 1 guy that thinks a 4870 is better than a 5850 and another who thinks that a 5870 is almost twice as fast as a 5850...... >.<

Mr47 you do realise that the 5870 is roughly 1.5 inches longer than a 5850 so you might have more trouble fitting a 5870 in your case than a 5850....

 

[branflakes71]

Assuming you can make it fit in your case, upgrade your card to the 5850 or 5870. You'll see an improvement over the card you have.

As reference, my ex gf has the computer I built Xmas of '08, which has a E8400 (stock) and a 4870X2 running at 1680x1050. Except for Crysis, she maxes out all her games.

The SSD won't help your FPS much nor will a overclock help until that GPU is a better model.

 

[Mr47]

wow........

So we have 1 guy that thinks a 4870 is better than a 5850 and another who thinks that a 5870 is almost twice as fast as a 5850...... >.<

Mr47 you do realise that the 5870 is roughly 1.5 inches longer than a 5850 so you might have more trouble fitting a 5870 in your case than a 5850....

Yes I realize that it is longer, but since the power connectors are on the top it makes it much easier for me to route the cables inside my case. If you looked into it, you'd find that the 5870 has almost (key word being ALMOST) twice the computational power as the 5850 (5850 is rated at 2.09 Tflops and the 5870 is rated at 2.72 Tflops).
I came hear for help, not to start another one of the Internet's fabled flame wars.

 

[andy5174]

Yes I realize that it is longer, but since the power connectors are on the top it makes it much easier for me to route the cables inside my case. If you looked into it, you'd find that the 5870 has almost (key word being ALMOST) twice the computational power as the 5850 (5850 is rated at 2.09 Tflops and the 5870 is rated at 2.72 Tflops).
I came hear for help, not to start another one of the Internet's fabled flame wars.

Are you sure that you are talking about HD5870 instead of HD5970?

 

[andy5174]

Graphic card performance in 4 different settings in game "Fallout3":

Fraps/TH-Savefile Tenpenny (1920x1200, 8AA, 15AF, Very High Quality)

Fraps/TH-Savefile Tenpenny (1920x1200, 4AA, 8AF, Very High Quality)

Fraps/TH-Savefile Tenpenny (1920x1200, 0AA, 0AF, Very High Quality)

Fraps/TH-Savefile Tenpenny (1680x1050, 4AA, 8AF, Very High Quality)

 

[Mr47]

Are you sure that you are talking about HD5870 instead of HD5970?

http://hothardware.com/Articles/AMD-ATI-Radeon-HD-5850-Performance-Review/?page=2
That's where I am getting my info.

 

[jsc]

If you looked into it, you'd find that the 5870 has almost (key word being ALMOST) twice the computational power as the 5850 (5850 is rated at 2.09 Tflops and the 5870 is rated at 2.72 Tflops).
I came hear for help, not to start another one of the Internet's fabled flame wars.

Then improve your math skills. 30% is way short of "almost double".

 

[Omid_m_19]

Again Mr47,I'd recommend upgrading your case and then upgrading your GPU to 5850,not 5870.For these reasons:

1-First of all,if you change your case,you'll have more space,and you can add whatever graphic card that you desire.Even a 5970(again I'd recommend 5850)!!!

2-If you change your case to a good one you'll definitely have more airflow,and it means a good overclock(both for your CPU and Graphic card,and even your memory and etc...)

3-5870 is almost 100 bucks more expensive than 5850,it means around 30%,but it's barely 15-20% faster.In some benchs their difference is less than 5%.If you overclock 5850 to 850-900 from it's 725(stock frequency) which is easily possible,you'll have 5870 performance with 5850!!!

4-5870 is 1.5" longer than 5850,again you're right that cable connectors are on top of 5870,but cables being on the end of 5850 barely makes 1" difference.This means that in terms of length(even considering with power cables) 5850 is shorter than 5870.

5-You can also consider changing your case,buy a good Mainboard,and a cheaper 5770,and later(Whenever you could) you can add a second 5770 in crossfire.Believe me two 5770 IN CROSSFIRE are faster that 5850 and almost as fast as 5870!!!But you'll spend much less money,and you'll have your case upgraded,you'll have your mainboard upgraded,so on the long run you're the winner...

 

[Rustyy117]

Then improve your math skills. 30% is way short of "almost double".

Thank you.

 

[f16boiler]

is there something preventing you from doing basic overclocking with your current MB?

 

[mrmotion]

If you have a descent tax return coming back, just pony up the cash like Omid_m_19 suggested and go with a new case card and mobo. Or you could do what I did and take your tax return use it as a down payment and finance the rest of it through newegg and get either some bitching hardware or an off the shelf gaming rig. I suggest the hardware, but to each their own.

 

[Mr47]

Best answer selected by Mr47.

 

[Mr47]

Then improve your math skills. 30% is way short of "almost double".

Thank you.

Sorry, I am do have autism, does that make you feel better?

Thanks to everyone else for helping me out.

I apologize for appearing human and not getting facts straight, I try to be omnipotent, but that's difficult sometimes.

 

[Rustyy117]

I don't expect anyone to be right all the time, but theres alot of people that come here and post misleading infomation that someone else could come along and read.

They might think, "ok so a 5850 is less than a 4870 and a 5870 is almost twice as powerful as a 5850, so I should get a 4870"

Nothing to do with you being autistic, I just wish people would look at some research before posting what they think is fact.

 

[Mr47]

I don't expect anyone to be right all the time, but theres alot of people that come here and post misleading infomation that someone else could come along and read.

They might think, "ok so a 5850 is less than a 4870 and a 5870 is almost twice as powerful as a 5850, so I should get a 4870"

Nothing to do with you being autistic, I just wish people would look at some research before posting what they think is fact.

I understand, thanks. You were one of the first ones to help anyway. Well, if anything it looks like things are cleared up, now I just gotta wait for that tax return to come.

 

[Rustyy117]

I'd recommend the HD5850 too, got mine overclocked to 925/1200 (from 725/1000) on stock voltage! which makes it great value for money. Also higher clocks than the 5870's 850/1200.

Anyway im sure you'll be happy with whatever you decide to buy : )