Should I bother upgrading 2 4770 in CF to 5770

[mattprice82]

I am potentially looking to upgrade my graphics card from two 4770 running in CF. Normally I would wait until a much more substantial upgrade is available, but the situation described below is potentially forcing me to upgrade now. I'm considering going with an ATI 5770, but am open to suggestions. It will be used for moderate gaming and basic PC functions.

I'm considering this upgrade because I was recently able to purchase two new monitors for myself through work, which will enable me to set up a multi display for myself (two 1920 x 1080) and pass my current monitor to my wife so she can have a mutli display too (two 1650 x 1050). The problem is that my wife's PC has a ridiculously old video card that will need to be replaced to accommodate her new set up. So I am debating buying her a low powered video card for around $70-$100 (thinking about the 4670) OR buy myself something a bit more powerful (in the $170 range) and passing my 4770's to her. She uses her PC for standard functions (e.g. word processing, spreadsheets, internet browsing, etc) and the multi display is mostly for novelty.

So which sounds best?
1) 5770 (or better card) for me, 4770 to wife. What card would you recommend?
2) 4670 to wife, nothing to me
3) Leave wife with a single monitor until a better upgrade becomes available at which point I'll pass her the 4770's

Thanks in advance!

 

[shadow187]

Buy your wife an HD5450 for $50. It's the perfect card for her.

As for your setup, the HD4770 crossfire is indeed a powerful configuration. The HD5770 won't beat it at all.

 

[paperfox]

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/charts/gaming-graphics-cards-charts-2009-high-quality-update-3/compare,1697.html?prod%5B3253%5D=on&prod%5B3276%5D=on

5770 has 33% more FPS compared to a 4770, so Id be an improvement.

If your wife dose not game then buy her the 5450 like shadow reccomends. If not then get her one of your 4770s and save up for a 5850.

 

[Mobutu]

If you are into multi display setups then I should probably mention a couple of things :
1. When going for a 3 diplay setup make sure to get a Ati 5xxx series GPU for they are the only GPU's that support that technology,
2. Don't even bother (at least for the moment) to go crossfire becouse the technology doesn't support running 2 GPU's in crossfire on a 3 monitor display ...
So the wise option for the moment would be to get a powerfull GPU such as 5850 (have one, love them all!!!) , 5870 or the mamuth ... the 5970. My advice is to get an 5850 wich will provide a good basis and in the future I'm sure that the guys from AMD will attend to the issue of running two cards in crossfire on multi display setups so that when you'll feel the need for more graphics power you could just pop in another 5850 (as I'm going to )

Bottom line : GET THAT 5850 !

 

[rodney_ws]

"5770 has 33% more FPS compared to a 4770, so Id be an improvement."

The OP has a 4770 CF setup... so no, a single 5770 would be a downgrade.

 

[paperfox]

The OP has a 4770 CF setup... so no, a single 5770 would be a downgrade.

For that part I was assuming he would be giving up one of his 4770s, so thats why I just compared only one of them to the 5770.

 

[mattprice82]

Thanks for all of the input!

Although I would love a 5850, that is a bit outside of my price range right now (maybe in the future).

I think I'll get a 5450 for now and save for a bigger card in the future. Thanks!

 

[mattprice82]

Best answer selected by mattprice82.

 

[nrnx]

All though you have 4770s in X-Fire which are faster then 1 5770, you should consider purchasing one 5770 and then a second one later for X-Fire. You could then hand down your 4770 to your wife (Which is the card my wife's computer has in it) give her a bit more performance, and sell the other 4770 towards a 5770 to X-Fire. If you would like to be in DX11 and future proof that is your best bet for mid range, and what I am doing personally (since I can't seem to find a buyer for my old 4850HD I am going to trade my wife's 4770 for it)