Is an ATI 5770 good for Q6600 2.7 ghz?

[djc604]

Hello all

I have a 4870 with a Q6600, playing at 1680x1050 using Vista 64-bit with 4 GB of ram and a 650w PSU. I must say that this computer is still very fast for applications, and gaming. I've done my research and found a balance with my current rig. I also found that getting more than a 4870 (GTX275, 4890 etc.) would be a bit much for the Q6600 @ 2.7 ghz)

Now DX11 is out, I'm thinking of upgrading to that platform and would like to balance my PC in the same way as my current rig.

Would a 5770, which is almost identical to a 4870, be an optimized decision for my current rig? or should I maybe jump ahead and get the 5850 considering that the Q6600 is locked at 2.7 ghz? or maybe wait for the 5830 to upgrade the GPU just a bit for this new platform?

I know some of you are thinking that I should OC the CPU more, but my motherboard is old, and for some reason it would freeze when attempting to OC it more than 2.7 ghz. It is my family computer, so changing the motherboard, case, PSU etc would be a headache.

All I want is balance, and getting a GPU that is not being fully utilized by the CPU is IMO a waste of money, which is why I have what I have and believe me, I would've bought the best of everything if it wasn't foe the rest of the hardware. I know that no matter what, there's always a bottleneck, but I'm just trying to eliminate it as much as possible.

What do you think?

 

[paperfox]

5830 would be a soso upgrade, you’re not getting much of an FPS boost as you would if you upgraded from a lower card. A 5770 would not be worth it in my opinion, you will lose some performance actually and since there are not many DX11 games out yet it’s not really worth upgrading to. As for the 5850, I don’t think your CPU will bottleneck it much, but since you are only using a 1680x1050 monitor I would not recommend it. But if you did get the 5850 it would give you that noticable "umph" in your FPS and you would not need to upgrade for a long time.

 

[jyjjy]

Your processor is still quite good.
As far as the video card I would at least wait for the HD5830 to be released so you will actually be getting an upgrade in performance for the money and not just DX11/greater power efficiency. In general I wouldn't even avoid an HD5850 with that CPU however. "Bottlenecking" is often an overstated phenomenon and whether it will even occur depends highly on the specific game, settings and even what is going on in the game at a particular moment.

 

[djc604]

Thanks for the replies. I know for the sake of upgrading, I should get a faster GPU.
Just out of curiousity, I remember back when choosing the right GPU for the Q6600, i was under the impression that at 1680x1050, the 4870 was already a bit much. If I were to get the 5830, wouldnt it further create that gap of utilization/bottleneck? Dont get me wrong, I definitely see myself buying the 5830, I just want to know what this 5770 really has to offer. Is is a step down because of the lowered memory bandwidth?

 

[jyjjy]

It's not much of step down if any. The initial reviews were based on beta drivers and usually over the life of card driver improvements tend to increase overall performance up to 20%
It's still a lateral move. As you said your HD4870 is still performing well and quite good for your resolution so may just want to put off upgrading for now. Wait until there are more DX11 games to make the switch more worthwhile. The prices will surely be lower as well at that point.

 

[djc604]

Wait until there are more DX11 games to make the switch more worthwhile. The prices will surely be lower as well at that point.

That is a good point.

It's just that there is a game that caught my eye, and that is Battlefield Bad Company 2, which apparently is going to use DX11. I'm a fan of Battlefield since BF 1942. I've heard it is going to be released in March, so if anything, I'm most likely going to get it then.

Right now its just COD:WAW Nazi Zombies on maximum settings. Framerate stays at 60, dipping down to 50 fps when it gets intense. Its almost flawless.

 

[galta]

Q6600 stock is a great processor, still.
If you game @1680X1050, 5770 should be great, 58xx even better, serving you well even for your next CPU.

 

[leon2006]

You should look at to further OC your Q6600 to 3.0GHZ and above. The common limiter on Q6600 OC is the CPU cooler.

The next logical step for video card is 5850 or better.