What card to stick in this rig?

[pignoli]

So, I have just about enough for a 4890, which I was all ready to go for, but then I thought, given the res I normally play at (1440*900) and my current specs: E6400@3.2ghz, 2gigs ram, will I see any appreciable difference over something cheaper? Or should I just save the money? Looking to be at around 60 on most games on high settings with that res. Part of me wants to just get the 4890 to be a bit more future proof. Thoughts anyone?

 

[daedalus685]

What is your current card?

If you want to "future proof", not that there is realyl such a thing, you might be best to wait a month and get a dx11 card.

Also, for your resolution a 4870 would be plenty.. though not quite enough to get 60fps in games like crysis at all times.

 

[belial2k]

At resolutions below 16x10, a 4850 is about the most you can use because your performance will be more cpu based than gpu based. You might get a couple more fps with a 4870 or 4890, but not much. If you already have something similar to the 4850, you need to think about OCing or getting a stronger cpu for the most bang for your buck.

 

[pignoli]

Thanks all. current card is a 7900gs, so definitely needs upgrading. I think I'm still tending towards the 4890 as I'm likely to get a better quad when I go to Win 7, so it should keep up with that. I'm normally in the 'dont' bother waiting, just get it' camp, but I figure the the dx11 announcements might be couple with price cuts on older cards, so I think I'll wait for that to actually buy.

 

[belial2k]

unless you plan on getting a new monitor with higher resolution a 4890 is a waste of money for you...at your resolution games are more cpu dependent. Even a 4870 is more than you need.

 

[pignoli]

Interesting. whilst I would like a bigger monitor, it's not an immediate priority at the moment. Maybe I'll just save me a bit of money then!