Keep my crossfire 4830 or get a 5770?

[phyx726]

I can get a XFX 5770 for 158 and I can probably ebay both of my Sapphire 4830's for about 60-70 which seems to be the going rate on ebay. Is it worth the upgrade? I overclocked both my 4830's to about the same speed as a 4850. I will be switching over to my 24" 1920x1200 currently on a 20" monitor going at 1680x1050. I'm not even really sure if this will be faster but I want to be able to sell off my 4830's while they still have some value. The net cost of getting a 5770 should be around 30 dollars when it's all said and done. Another option would be for me to get a third 4830 but I don't feel like tinkering with crossfire x3.

-Andrew

 

[rolli59]

You would loose performance and gain DX11

 

[Bluescreendeath]

yep. A 5770 is just a dx11 4870, and two 4830s are equal to a GTX285.

4830 < 4850 < 4870 ~ 5770 < 4890 < GTX285 ~ 2x4830 Xfire

 

[wa1]

bluescreendeath just answered it perfectly...
But doesn't a directX 11 and an eyefinity good for future?

 

[jyjjy]

Sure they are good for the future. Waiting until DX11 is actually necessary and an HD5850 is a more reasonable price rather than buying an HD5770 now when his current setup is more powerful sounds like the best idea though.

 

[gebbz]

I would get the 5770 for the DX 11 and eyefinity. And at only ~$170 its a reasonable price.

The 5850 is one of the best cards out there atm so if you don't mind dropping $270 you can get a serious card. Although once you get past a certain FPS the actual game play experience doesn't change much. Using a 5770 should get you 30+fps on basically any game so getting a 5850 might just give bragging rights without a noticeable performance increase.

Also the 5000 series uses less power and generates less heat than the 4000 series.

Some links to look at:

Performance
Power and Heat

 

[gebbz]

Also in Xfire mode the 5770 rocks some socks off.

 

[jyjjy]

Why would he get an HD5770 when his current setup is considerably more powerful?

 

[rolli59]

+ HD5770 is going to come down in price sooner than later mainstream prices should be between $100 and 130$

 

[yannifb]

Also in Xfire mode the 5770 rocks some socks off.

But what if he needed those socks?

 

[wa1]

Why would he get an HD5770 when his current setup is considerably more powerful?

nice...

 

[gebbz]

Why would he get an HD5770 when his current setup is considerably more powerful?

multiple reasons.

1. DX11 (not important now but should be soon)

2. Less power/heat generation

3. If in the future he would like to invest in a 2nd 5770 he can get very good performance.

4. After a certain point more FPS is only a stat and provides no real value. It is nice to run games at 193830 fps but after about 30fps there are steep diminishing returns.

5. It seems as though he was already looking at the 5770 anyway. It is always fun to buy new things.

However, in a straight performance/price decision the 4870 or some other card might be the way to go.

 

[jyjjy]

In a straight performance/price decision the way to go is stay put as for a cost of zero dollars this person has performance that will only reasonably be beaten by an HD58XX card for over $300...
Selling the HD4830s and putting the money towards upgrading to an HD5850/70 I can see but it would be better put off until DX11 actually matters and those cards will very likely be cheaper as well. Downgrading to an HD5770 right now while upgrading to a higher resolution monitor? Makes no sense imo.

 

[gebbz]

^^
OK. I agree.
Those are his best options.
I was trying to answer his question of a choice between 5770 or 3rd 4830.

Generally:
$170 5770 < $0 Current < $270 5850 < $340 Xfire 5770 < $390 5870

 

[jyjjy]

A $270 HD5850 would be lovely but unfortunately they cost $310 these days(when in stock.)

 

[phyx726]

Thanks for the replies. I know I'll take a performance hit but I'm thinking the value of my 4830's will drop faster than 5770's because of DX11. Which means the net cost will increase. Is DX11 worth taking the hit in performance? Because I can get a 5770 for 158 but I'm not sure if the price will stay stagnant like this for a while. If so, I'd rather just buy it now because I can still get decent value on my 4830's on ebay. Then I can always xfire another 5770 when I so choose.

 

[jyjjy]

You would be paying extra to suffer a large hit in performance for a feature that is totally useless right now precisely when you could use the extra performance because you are shifting to a higher resolution. You can do what you want but that would be a rather large mistake imo. I know the HD5770 is shiny and new but when you upgrade your system it should actually be, you know, an upgrade.
As for the relative depreciation of the cards new tech is always sold at a premium and will come down while older stuff tends to have a more stable price.

 

[gebbz]

I have no idea what is going to happen in Q1 of 2010 when Nvidia is suppose to release its DX11 cards and DX11 games start to appear. No doubt your 4830s will be worth considerably less. If you get the 5770 now at a net price of only $30 I say go for it. Then down the road you can get a 2nd 5770 and have a serious machine for about $200 bucks.