Upgrading from 8800GT 512mb/E6850

[Nashmyers]

Currently on a 8800gt 512mb for a few years now and E6850 processor...looking for a nice upgrade to last me for the next few years. Any suggestions? Trying to keep budget within 400-500 bucks combined. I'd like to be good on running games like FF14 coming out and some other graphic hungry games. Thanks! Although im looking for an upgrade, I must say alot of games still run real nicely at 1920x1080 resolution with my 8800gt...

 

[andy5174]

IMO, there is no need for you to upgrade. I would keep it at least one more year and save up towards a better upgrade.

E6850 is slightly worse than E8400 which is good enough for any current video card.

However, you would like to get a HD5850 if you want to play at high settings under 1920x1200 or higher.

 

[welshmousepk]

the processor will probably be fine, if you aren't expecting maxed settings and massive frame rates.

but if your PSU can handle it, a GPU upgrade would allow you to play the latest games at fairly high settings.

something like a 5770 or 5850 would keep you set for a long while.

 

[shubham1401]

HD 5850 since you can afford it .
And an aftermarket cooler to OC the heck out of the processor

What PSU you have? Since your PSU can handle 8800GT it should be able to handle a 5850.

 

[jyjjy]

Yeah, your processor is still pretty nice, even at stock. If you can OC it then that's even better.
If you think your 8800GT is still performing pretty well even at 1920x1080 then you should probably just grab an HD5770 for about $150. Hold on to your current system, it should be good for another year+ and you'll have time to save up more for a better new system when you do need it.
The HD5770 will be over 50% more powerful than the 8800GT at your resolution. When you do upgrade your system you can get a crossfire motherboard and grab another one. Two in crossfire will give you performance similar to an HD5870.
Another option is to wait a bit until the HD5830 comes out as it may be a very nice choice for its price. Or just get the HD5850. It all depends on what you want to pay for what level of performance. All three should be decent option for their price at your resolution.

 

[kikireeki]

No need to upgrade the VGA at all, it is a fairly great card and can hold up easily another 2 years, but you can use a better CPU a quad core from the same socket would be a bargain.

 

[jyjjy]

No need to upgrade the VGA at all, it is a fairly great card and can hold up easily another 2 years, but you can use a better CPU a quad core from the same socket would be a bargain.

Um....no. The CPU is fine, it's a rather high end dual core and a quad core that will give better gaming performance would actually be fairly expensive and only a marginal improvement. The video card on the other hand is quite weak for his resolution. It would be cheaper and easier to upgrade and will definitely improve gaming performance by a large amount.

 

[shubham1401]

No need to upgrade the VGA at all, it is a fairly great card and can hold up easily another 2 years, but you can use a better CPU a quad core from the same socket would be a bargain.

8800GT won't handle games at 19X10 for 2 years...

CPU is fine.8800GT should be replaced first.

 

[dualblade]

8800GT won't handle games at 19X10 for 2 years...

CPU is fine.8800GT should be replaced first.

8800gt will stay at the same performance level for 95% of the games untill next generation xbox and playstation ( and their games ) are out.

 

[shubham1401]

^the remaining 5% games are the latest ones?

 

[dualblade]

^the remaining 5% games are the latest ones?

95% of the coming games not all time games, and 5% ( maybe less ) are the coming pc exclusive untill next generation xbox and playstation.

 

[kikireeki]

8800GT won't handle games at 19X10 for 2 years...

CPU is fine.8800GT should be replaced first.

^ dualblade has said it all.
PC exclusives are seized to exist even the next Crytek engine will be console optimized and Epic games has no plans to give away UT3 engine anytime soon and Capcom's upcoming PC games are console imports, and the same can be said about EA games. SEGA and Konami games are console exclusives and those are the biggest players in gaming business. so could you tell me why would I need the latest high end card to run games that work on a 6 or even more years old VGA?

 

[Nashmyers]

Thanks for the replies guys, yeah all the recent games I've been playing like Mass effect 2 or bioshock 2 has been running fairly smoothly at 1920x1080 with no lag. The small number of games like Arma 2 will lag for me however at high settings, I looked that 5800 series but I hear there is a new line up of nvidia cards coming up and I've never really bought an ATI. How are the nvidia looking compared to the 5800's? I did do a comparison of my processor to the i7 using the comparable chart and it seems my professor is just slightly slower and not enough to warrant an upgrade really in terms of gaming.

 

[jyjjy]

I wouldn't say "just slightly slower" than an i7 but it's still definitely good.
I wouldn't wait of the Nvidia cards. You won't know how long you will be waiting, what you will pay and for what.

 

[shubham1401]

^ dualblade has said it all.
PC exclusives are seized to exist even the next Crytek engine will be console optimized and Epic games has no plans to give away UT3 engine anytime soon and Capcom's upcoming PC games are console imports, and the same can be said about EA games. SEGA and Konami games are console exclusives and those are the biggest players in gaming business. so could you tell me why would I need the latest high end card to run games that work on a 6 or even more years old VGA?

But still, you can't play all games at 1920X1080 resolution with an 8800GT(I have the same card BTW).Just see the benchmarks for various games at 1920X1080 .

We are not simply talking about running a game. We are talking about running it at a certain resolution with eye-candy.

Hope you're getting my point buddy

 

[dualblade]

But still, you can't play all games at 1920X1080 resolution with an 8800GT(I have the same card BTW).Just see the benchmarks for various games at 1920X1080 .

We are not simply talking about running a game. We are talking about running it at a certain resolution with eye-candy.

Hope you're getting my point buddy

if you are talking about high, one of my friends has hd 4670 and can run all games at high ( including crysis , stalker clear sky and arma 2 - dx9 ) at 1920 x 1080 with frames around 30 most the time, but if you talk about ultra or very high ( not much difference - maybe no difference at all in some games ) then a 1.3-1.5 the strenght of 4670 ( 8800gt ) will be good enough, but if you have the money and only want to spend it ( playing the games for only graphics not the gameplay ) then wait untill the next nvidia cards are out as this will reuce the ati dx11 cards prices a lot.

 

[jyjjy]

Your friends HD4670 must be magic then because even much more powerful cards struggle with those games at that resolution.

 

[shubham1401]

I'm playing Crysis these days and with all settings at high and no AA I get 30Fps at 1600X900.

Sometimes it even lags a bit like in intense fight.

And My 9800GT should be more powerful than a HD4670.

8800GT can't run those games at that resolution buddy.I have the same card and i'm telling by my experience.

 

[shubham1401]

if you are talking about high, one of my friends has hd 4670 and can run all games at high ( including crysis , stalker clear sky and arma 2 - dx9 ) at 1920 x 1080 with frames around 30 most the time, but if you talk about ultra or very high ( not much difference - maybe no difference at all in some games ) then a 1.3-1.5 the strenght of 4670 ( 8800gt ) will be good enough, but if you have the money and only want to spend it ( playing the games for only graphics not the gameplay ) then wait untill the next nvidia cards are out as this will reuce the ati dx11 cards prices a lot.

See how 9800/8800GT is crawling at that resolution in the benchies:

http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum/hardware-canucks-reviews/9791-geforce-9800-gt-roundup-evga-asus-gigabyte-palit-15.html

 

[dualblade]

See how 9800/8800GT is crawling at that resolution in the benchies:

http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum/hardware-canucks-reviews/9791-geforce-9800-gt-roundup-evga-asus-gigabyte-palit-15.html

i didnt say maximum ( for stalker and arma only default high - which is only normal in advanced screens - not very high or ultra and for crysis at dx 9 high at 20 frames - which is as good as 25-30 in most other games ) and sure a lot of games with no AA which is not important at this resolution.

 

[madass]

What;s your budget?
Do you have an SLI board? Then you can simply dump a second 8800. Two 8800, even now, pack quite a punch.
Else, get a 5850.
Or if you already have a board which supports CFire, either dual 5770's/4870's. Ignore DX11, you'll need a lot of GPU muscle to run DX11 for an almost negligible difference in visuals.

 

[jyjjy]

Ignore DX11, you'll need a lot of GPU muscle to run DX11 for an almost negligible difference in visuals.

You say this based on what exactly?
Actually don't answer because I know where you get it from. Dirt 2. Yeah, let's all judge exactly how much graphics will be improved by DX11 and how much of a performance hit it will cause based on the first game to poorly implement it! Let's also ignore the other DX11 games which show a performance increase or no hit. That makes a ton of sense

 

[dualblade]

You say this based on what exactly?
Actually don't answer because I know where you get it from. Dirt 2. Yeah, let's all judge exactly how much graphics will be improved by DX11 and how much of a performance hit it will cause based on the first game to poorly implement it! Let's also ignore the other DX11 games which show a performance increase or no hit. That makes a ton of sense

dx11 will be like dx10 ( untill new generations of xbox and playstion ) for now all games are dx9 with few touches of graphics of the new dx version, and will will not lose any thing in the gameplay/look of the game even if you only have dx9 card.

 

[welshmousepk]

dx11 will be like dx10 ( untill new generations of xbox and playstion ) for now all games are dx9 with few touches of graphics of the new dx version, and will will not lose any thing in the gameplay/look of the game even if you only have dx9 card.

such a bold claim from someone who obviously knows nothing about the API.

DX11 is vastly more of an upgrade than DX10 was. its already being supported by the majority of major game devs, and is very exciting to work with not only for the wealth of visual improvements it can make, but the huge performance gains it can provide.

hardware tessellation alone is enough to warrant the implementation of dx11.

not everything in the pc world is dictated by the progression of consoles. and as much as console ports are becoming more common, ever single major advance in graphics processing comes from the PC hardware side, and dx11 is one of these.

 

[shubham1401]

i didnt say maximum ( for stalker and arma only default high - which is only normal in advanced screens - not very high or ultra and for crysis at dx 9 high at 20 frames - which is as good as 25-30 in most other games ) and sure a lot of games with no AA which is not important at this resolution.

No they are not the maximum/ultra settings.
They are 'HIGH' settings with no AA and 9800GT gets 25fps average.