Should i get an ati 5800 series??

Hi guys! i need a little help deciding if i should upgrade to an ati 5870/5850. I already have an ati 4870 512MB but i want to run every game on FULL graphics including FULL AA and AF and enjoy the beauty of DX11

my current rig:

CPU: E6600 @ 3.5ghz
Mobo: MSI i975x platinum powerup edition
GPU: Club 3D 4870 512MB @ 820/1100
PSU: Nexus 500W
Monitor: Benq FP93G X+ 19" 1280 x 1024

will my CPU or PCI-E x16(not 2.0) be a BIG bottleneck?

Looking forward to your answers



Alex

The 4870 OC:ed have worked well with that PSU so i think im fine with the 5800 series but id like to know if i should get 5850 or 5870 for 1280 x 1024, its a pretty big prize difference. As i said, i want to run EVERYTHING on FULL graphics with FULL AA and AF and i want to do it in the future too

well i only have money for a 5850/5870 and if i bought a new monitor with better resolution i only loose performance and i wouldnt want to spend money on a mobo because i wouldnt see any increase in fps that way either

well im happy with this monitor, i dont need a bigger one or higher resolution because i can use AA and i want all games including crysis and future games with full AA and AF on 60 FPS so i tought that buying a 5800 series would suit my needs.

i would really appreciate it if you could explain what you mean with "works the other way around" mactronix. i always tought that better GPU is better until CPU bottlenecks and if you have a cpu bottleneck the fps still should be good with a e6600 @ 3.5 and 5870/5850 if you understand what i mean

Basically the lower resolution makes the CPU bottleneck worse. if you teamed a 5870 with your CPU i would expect it to be restricted by the CPU, just because the GPU is so good.
If your GPU can render frames at say 200fps(the numbers are made up) but your CPU can only render at say 150 fps then it should be obvious that the CPU is holding back the potential of what the GPU can do.
Now if you use a powerful GPU at a lower resolution you make things worse because the card can render faster because its in effect doing less (less pixels to draw) This can cause the GPU to have to wait for the info for frames from the CPU, which can cause the GPU all sorts of issues, dropping frames rendering part frames which is where tearing comes from.
When you increase the resolution you give the GPU more to do (more pixels to draw) which in turn means it cant render as fast as it was doing. this gives the CPU a better chance to keep up which gives you less dropped frames which gives you more frames put out to the Monitor which is a net gain in FPS.
You can do a quick test your self.
Drop your own resolution to 600x800 if you can and see if it increases the FPS or not. Don't use any AA etc when you do this have every thing set for performance, and compare it with the same settings at 1280 x 1024. If you get faster FPS at 800x600 then your CPU will keep up with a faster GPU. If they stay more or less the same or drop then your CPU is near its limit.
I have tried to keep it simple so those that understand it properly might see things i have missed out but I'm just trying to communicate the basic idea.

Mactronix {edit for spelling}

thx for explaining, i will certainly try this out

What i would do know if i were you is to test at 1280 x1024 with some AA etc turned on say do 3 sets 1 at 2 x AA and AF then at 4x and then at 8x
This simulates what would happen if you had a larger Monitor which would make your GPU work harder.
If you can do that then get back to me we will have a better profile of whats going on.

Mactronix

Far cry 2 Everything on highest ONLY avg 13.04 fps . thats why i want better graphics card so i can run everything maxxed!

These guys are testing using a 5870 to simulate the 5850 and they are using an i7 rig for testing purposes but it should give you an idea of the performance to expect in comparison to your 4870 http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews [...] 70/14.html

Mactronix

i think im gonna go with a asus 5850 and clock the hell out of it with the voltage tweak and be happy then later when i got some $$$ i can buy a new monitor. how about that?

rgr, thx for all your help guys!

well farcry 2 is not my goal it was only a benchmark. my goal is good fps in future games on max settings with dx11 and i can add a second 5850 later too with a new monitor+cpu,mobo and psu when i get some cash