Worth buying a Radeon 4770 with my current system?

[syliam]

Hey,

I'm currently running -

AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+
nVidia 8600GT 1GB
4GB RAM (XP 32bit only reads 3GB though)
Windows XP 32bit

I'm really, really not updated on video cards right now, haven't been for a few years... is it worth buying a 4770 with this system? Or would a processor upgrade be a must?

Considering upgrading to Windows 7 64bit too, need a change from XP.

Sorry for the short post, and if a similar question has been asked, kinda in a rush to buy buy buy!

Thanks!

 

[rewindlabs]

Graphics card are tailored to run well at certain resolutions....LIST YOUR RESOLUTION....did you read the rules i would hope it says it in there....and list your PSU specs...

And no we can't recommend a processor upgrade unless you tell us what kind of games you want to play....your system will run fine with anything right now except GTA IV...and games in the very near future probably won't run to well because of your cpu but or right now a cheap 4770 or 4850 wouldn't be a bad choice for a 1280x1024 monitor or 1440x900 monitor

 

[syliam]

Ah sorry, my resolution is 1440x900.

Power supply is 550W aswell.

The main games I'm hoping to play are the typical ones, like Crysis, Dawn of War II, Call of Duty, Fear 2, Far Cry 2, that sorta thing.

 

[syliam]

the 4770 would be a perfect upgrade for you

Really? Excellent

Think it'll be pretty good at running most of those games on high?

I have a weird thing with playing games at lower quality...

 

[Amg]

yeah the HD4770 is has a bad a** gaming attuide

 

[megamanx00]

Yeah, the 4770 should be fine in that system. It will be a big step up from the 8600GT you currently have. The CPU may hold the card back slightly in some games, but overall it's a good fit. You may want to give some thought to overclocking your CPU. If you have a store bought computer without overclocking options then you will have to look for a software overclocking utility. I would suggest overdrive but you need Vista to use it .

 

[syliam]

Awesome what's a good CPU to look into? Nothing too expensive though!

Think I'm going to buy the 4770 so it's the best card for that price? or is there any better one for say... £20 extra or something?

 

[hunter315]

HD 4850's are slightly better and some are cheaper, oh and they are actually in stock. Its slightly more power hungry but assuming you have a good brand power supply you should be fine. Since 4770s are currently selling out so quick you might be better off with a 4850 since they stay in stock.

 

[syliam]

Well, I'm using a pretty cheap power supply. Bought the PSU out of a shop for like £20, it's 550w, so don't think it'd anything impressive really.

 

[rrr1431]

Check your mobo manual as to what CPU's it can support. If it does (as I suspect)support AM2+ you might be able to upgrade to a Phenom II
Oh and if you have the budget, I STRONGLY suggest that you get a good PSU (Corsair, Silverstone, Enermax, PC Power and cooling...) around 550W to 600W should do.

 

[syliam]

Just checked the box for the PSU, it's made by a company called Win Power.

And yeah, it supports AM2+, my current processor is AM2+

http://www.biostar.com.tw/app/en-us/mb/content.php?S_ID=370

That's my motherboard.

 

[Gin Fushicho]

Why would you want a new CPU? Why not just overclock? Its going to be a little while before games start using more then 2 cores , it took some time for them too use 2 even after the Duals came out.

 

[syliam]

I would, but I'm a little hesitant.

My original motherboard (previous model of my current one) stopped working last week, and I took my computer to the shop so they could replace it for free. (I would have done it myself, but I really couldn't be bothered, so I let them do it) and if this newer motherboard does the same thing, and they see that my CPU's been oc'd, won't that void the warrenty on the mobo too?

Or am I talking mince?

 

[rewindlabs]

As long as you reset the bios before you take it back to them if it was to fail etc....they can't tell

The 6000+ isn't the best overclocker though...

 

[cybot_x1024]

Get yourself a Phenom II X2 and the 4770 card. The P2 X2 will overclock like a charm, just like its big brother the X4. When the 4770 is overclocked it matches the 4850 in gaming, which crushes your 8600 GT ruthlessly (regardless of whether it has 256 or 1 GB vbuffer) actually its day and night difference in performance of the two cards because they are in different performance tiers.

 

[syliam]

Get yourself a Phenom II X2 and the 4770 card. The P2 X2 will overclock like a charm, just like its big brother the X4. When the 4770 is overclocked it matches the 4850 in gaming, which crushes your 8600 GT ruthlessly (regardless of whether it has 256 or 1 GB vbuffer) actually its day and night difference in performance of the two cards because they are in different performance tiers.

Excellent definately will do! Was looking at some Phenom's earlier, wasn't sure if it was worth saving and getting an X4 model.