4850 ->2x 5770 = = Totally worth it. Benchmarks inside.

nrnx

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So I recently decided to upgrade to the DX11 cards; I had previously a Palit Radeon 4850 512 MB GDDR3 upgraded to an XFX Radeon 5770 1 GB GDDR5. And it was worth it. Futuremark newest release my score went from 7k to high 9ks nearly a 2500 point jump. My real world performance in gaming has increased about 20% and I'm not having any problems. Anyone on the fence thinking its a side grade, you are wrong. Very happy about the performance and the less power hungry 5770; If you are thinking of upgrading your 4850 DO IT! After a few more burn in tests will post some benchmarks of 4850 vs 5770 running off 4GB of DDR2 memory(heck I thought that would bottleneck me guess I was wrong)!
 

chedderslam1976

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I went with a 5770 for my build. Seriously considered the 5850 but didn't get it. I am more than happy as I can play all my games @1920x1200 with more than adequate fps. I'll probably get a 5890 when they are released, just because I can. :)
 

JofaMang

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I understand what the OP is gettings at. I have seen more than once a 4850 upgrader being told a 5770 wouldn't be enough of an upgrade to justify the cost. For some people this may be true, just not for the OP. Glad to hear it when anyone enjoys new hardware. Warm Fuzzies All Around.
 

nrnx

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Exactly the reason I was so hesitant in getting a card. Many of the people here asking if a 5770 was worth upgrading from the 4850 were met with a resounding "No". However I have quickly found that is not the case. My 4850 could hardly run the opening sequence of Crysis Warhead on enthusiast 1080p, meanwhile my 5770 Just ate through the whole first level; Doing some burn in testing and maximizing my driver capability before I get down to the nitty gritty testing, but for those of us doing minor real world upgrades to our computers, the 5770 is a steal. If you have anything below a Radeon 4890 I would see no reason NOT to upgrade to a 5770. Luckily while I was doing my cpu upgrades I got a CFX Mobo this time, and in about another week or two I am buying another one of these babies and doing my first ever crossfire setup. (I have heard that 2x5770 are as powerful as a $600 5870, over $300 in savings that's nice).

If you are on the fence about getting rid of your old 9800 GTX or 4XXX series that isn't a 4890 (even then if you want some power savings and just a little less performance), don't be. The 5770 is a wonderful card. And right now they are even shipping with free DX11 games (Dirt, Battleforge) so you can get a taste of things to come.
 

JofaMang

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Correction:

Basically, you've upgraded from a 4850, to a 4870 + DX11 + Eyefinity + power savings + potential for even more performance as drivers mature. The main reason you're noticing the extra performance is because of the 1gb of RAM on a video card that employs newer technology. This is huge at most any resolution, but specifically at 1920x1080 or higher.
 

jonpaul37

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+100^
 
The 5770 performs about 10% under the 260 and 4870. It will show increased performance over lower cards but two things must be kept in mind:

1. In general, comparing the new and old benchmarks will be more impressive than the difference in playing experience....however this is true of any upgrade.

2. The 5770 will perform well in DX9/10 in almost any game but what it can not do is 30 fps in DX11 at 1920 resolution.

 

JofaMang

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I wasn't aware that all DX11 titles will have the EXACT same performance as each other, and that Dirt 2 is an accepted benchmark for every single DX11 titles that will ever be released. Thanks for enlightening me!

/sarcasm off
 

nrnx

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I believe that 5770x2 in Xfire should be plenty to handle any Direct X 10 game, I'm already planning on getting my second card. My question is my second PCIE slot is near the bottom of my case by my cpu, and right above the IDE controller for my DVD burner. Is it possible these days to get a SATA DVD burner?
 

JofaMang

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Yup, $20 can net you a reliable SATA DVD burner. $25 if you want lightscribe.
 

nrnx

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Could you please link me to one on NewEgg? Also my 650W new Antec PSU should be plenty for 2x5770s correct? In the end I want my final specs to be this:

Biostar T Series TA790GXE 128M
AMD Phenom II X4 940 BE 3.0ghz
8GB DDR2 800 MHZ DUAL CHANNEL
2 x XFX RADEON 5770 1GB GDDR5
60 GB SSD
250GB 7200 RPM SATA RAID HDD
650W Antec 80Plus Certified PSU

This should be plenty to maximize my gaming on a 32" 1080p LCD for DirectX 10 and 11 no?
 

No the main reason is the card is faster. From the articles on 512mb vs 1gb HD4870s the memory difference yields a performance increase that's rather small on average even at 1920x1080, 3% or so if I recall properly, although it can be higher for memory intensive games.
 

nrnx

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Just ordered my second card and a sata burner off new egg, I also need to upgrade my HDD as it's my lowest rank in WE at a 5.3 (everything else rates 7.4s and 7.3s), can anyone recommend a higher scoring raid 2.0 HDD for me; from newegg preferably. Mine is currently generic no name brand that is slightly hindering my gaming performance.
 

nrnx

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Ouch, so I should just stick to my intial plan of having Win7 installed on the SDD and just keep my 5.3 scoring 7200 RPM HDD as a secondary drive? I am complete new to the SDD so am wondering if its best to use it only for windows and game installations, then the secondary raid drive for movies etc?