Upgrade hd 3870 to 4850? good choice?

[witeboy07]

will it show? extra frame rates>

 

[billiardicus]

It's a more powerful card, it will definitely give higher frame rates. If I were you, I'd be looking at the 4870 1gb at a minimum though. If you wait for a deal (www.fatwallet.com or slickdeals.net) you can get one for ~$180.

Basically, when you upgrade you want the new card to be decidely stronger than your old card...otherwise, what's the point?

In general, I think it's a good idea to get the best single gpu you can get that's at a good price point. The GTX 280/285 are the most powerful, but you can't justify their cost over the 4870 1gb at $180. It's a steal.

Even then you aren't getting a major ugrade...IE you'll be able to play games on high/very high with the 4870 that you are playing on medium/high now. It's a difference...but is it worth $180? That's your call.

 

[werxen]

you do not need the 1 gigabyte version if you do not play over 1680x1050 resolution. keep that in mind.

 

[witeboy07]

i got the hd 4870 512mb i think my cpu is bottlenecking..amd 5000+ 3ghz

 

[coozie7]

Probably it is.
So increase the AA/AF and game settings then enjoy the eye candy

 

[meodowla]

Probably it is.
So increase the AA/AF and game settings then enjoy the eye candy

What change does it make if CPU bottleneck occurs?

 

[coozie7]

None, but it will look better.

 

[witeboy07]

if i upgrade my cpu to a phenom quad 9950 +be would it be a good upgrade?

 

[Just_An_Engineer]

if i upgrade my cpu to a phenom quad 9950 +be would it be a good upgrade?

Generally yes. The 9950 is absurdly cheap right now and is still a pretty decent processor providing that your motherboard supports. With a decent aftermarket heatsink it has become fairly routine for people to overclock the 9950 to around 3GHz and it should be noted that K10 processors have a better IPC than K8 processors. If I were you I would try to scrape together an extra $40 and get a Phenom II 920 though (again, providing your motherboard supports it). The 920 at stock would be a significant upgrade to your overclocked 5000+ and should be able to overclock a bit more if you so desire.

 

[witeboy07]

i got a k9a2 msi mobo..v2..supports am2+ 125watt cpu's..

 

[witeboy07]

cuz i got the hd 4870 and the hd 3870 and they both are good but my cpu is not letting me get high fps in almost any game..like gta4 ,crysis, i get some good fps in dead space on all high..but i wana play the two games above..my cpu is at 3.120 right now..

 

[meodowla]

None, but it will look better.

Let me know, does HD4850 bottleneck Athlon64 X2 6000+ ?

 

[witeboy07]

well guys i got my cpu at 3.120ghz and is running great at 1440x900 on crysis all high max get 25 to 35 fps