Radeon 5970 on a Q8200 2.33 ghz 8gb RAM

[jeffreyyliu]

I am bout to upgrade my video card from my current setup : 2x 4850's in crossfire.
Looking to upgrade to the radeon 5970.
With my Processor at Core2Quad Q8200 2.33Ghz with 8Ghz ram, should i get it? Will there be a significant bottleneck? Will the price of the card drop and if yes, when?
Need professional feedback b4 i shell out $625
im a hardcore gamer.
And also i am willing to upgrade my processor to a Core2Extreme.

 

[Bluescreendeath]

No, you will experience significant bottlenecks with a Q8x00 quad at stock, and still even if it is overclocked.

You essentially need an i5, i7, or a top level PhenomII or C2Q 9x00 series to use the 5970 effectively.

A 5970 is equivalent to 2 underclocked 5870s/GTX295s, which in turn is equal to 4 under clocked 4870s.

You should:
1. Overclock your CPU to around 2.5 or 2.6GHz
2. Get a 5870 (a 5870 is equal to 2x4870s)

 

[Bluescreendeath]

Also, you don't need a 5970 unless you have 3 monitors. A 5870 already maxes out any game at 1080p, and can play Crysis maxed out with lowered AA at 1080p.

The very expensive GPUs depreciate in value very quickly as well...

 

[bystander]

I agree about the 5970, but a 5870 doesn't max out Crysis with 1080p.

 

[Bluescreendeath]

The 5870 doesn't max Crysis out, but it will get you over 30fps with Very High and lowered anti aliasing at 1080p.

 

[bystander]

30 fps isn't exactly what most would call playable. You generally have a much better experience at High settings with 4x AA.

 

[jsc]

You guys are missing the point quibbling over Crisis frame rates. The OP is contemplating combining a top end video card with a low-end quad core CPU.

Should he? My thought s are , "No." The Q8200 family tend to be poor overclockers. I think the best that he'd get out oof it is around 3.0 GHz. 2.8 GHz would be more typical. Upgrading to a Q9550 should get you around 3.6 - 3.8 GHz. But YMMV. That'd be worth it.

My recommendation is to keep what you have and start saving for a new system.

 

[Milos-stancene]

What about Radeon 5970 + Q9550 2,8 @ 3,8 Ghz ?

 

[Milos-stancene]

what about Radeon 5970 + Q9550 2.8 oc @ 3,8 ?

 

[Milos-stancene]

sorry for double post !!!!

 

[AMW1011]

Also, you don't need a 5970 unless you have 3 monitors. A 5870 already maxes out any game at 1080p...

I agree about the 5970, but a 5870 doesn't max out Crysis with 1080p.

See he said game, not overly hyped benchmark.

 

[Rustyy117]

You dnt need a HD5970 unless your using more than 1 monitor or a monitor with a res. of 2560 x 1600.

If I were you I'd buy a 5850/5870 and use the rest of the money towards a i5/i7 system.

 

[jeffreyyliu]

i cant overclock my q8200, when i increase the FSB even by 1 the whole system locks up and i need to reset my bios.

 

[unknown_13]

i cant overclock my q8200, when i increase the FSB even by 1 the whole system locks up and i need to reset my bios.

What's ur chipset and mobo?

As for the question you should get a HD 5850, don't waste your money on a 5970 except if you have a monster of a monitor or wanna run eyefinity
That cpu won't be much of a bottleneck for 5850 even @ stock unless you're gaming on a extra low res (800x600, 1024x768)

Oh, you said you wanna upgrade to core 2 extreme. DON'T waste your money on it! LGA775 is a dead socket for upgrade. You'll be way off better buying Core i5/P55 platform