5830: worth it?

[enzo matrix]

I am consider a 5830, I am not willing to spend the additional money for a better graphics card. I would like a discussion and opinions on purchasing a 5830 this month.

I will be upgrading from a radeon 3870 on 1920x1080 with a quad 3.2GHz athlon II and 4GB memory.

 

[rolli59]

With the prices of them dropping to below $200 after MIR they have become a viable purchase. The additional power over HD5770 is going to help with DX11 features.

 

[enzo matrix]

Well, currently the only games I cannot play comfortably (60FPS+ and with settings that don't reduce the quality too much) are crysis and cryostasis. I can play BFBC2 at 720p and have to lower prototype to the same.

I'm going to see if I can hold out until the 5870 comes down to $200. I mostly just play COD4 at lan get-togethers anyway. Gotta keep always above 60FPS so I end up lowering some settings and definitely taking AA off but it works well.

I am considering upgrading to Zambezi next year and selling my old system, minus the graphics card and disk drives. I'll probably be able to get a second 3870 by that time for cheap or free for crossfire.

 

[combatpro]

Well, currently the only games I cannot play comfortably (60FPS+ and with settings that don't reduce the quality too much) are crysis and cryostasis. I can play BFBC2 at 720p and have to lower prototype to the same.

I'm going to see if I can hold out until the 5870 comes down to $200. I mostly just play COD4 at lan get-togethers anyway. Gotta keep always above 60FPS so I end up lowering some settings and definitely taking AA off but it works well.

I am considering upgrading to Zambezi next year and selling my old system, minus the graphics card and disk drives. I'll probably be able to get a second 3870 by that time for cheap or free for crossfire.

the 5830 will give you a noticeable increase, but you won't be able to play crysis on very high with a good 60+ fps on 1980x1080 though, but bfbc2 and prototype will run very well, but if you find any gtx 460 in your price range id recommend you to get that instead since its a little bit better than the 5830 and especially in dx11 games that uses tesselation, also cryostatis uses physx which ati doesn't have, nvidia does however, so id recommend a gtx 460 if you find one in your price range. otherwise a 5830 will do you good.

 

[enzo matrix]

lol. Did I not make it clear in my last post that I had decided not to purchase a new video card anytime soon?

 

[nforce4max]

A got a 3870 my self and would only consider a 5830 if it were only $100-125 at retail. Over all try something else that is more power efficient and is worth the money spent on it like a 5770 or a 5850. As for crossfire if you do go that rout be sure to not over spend for a new/used one lets say $50 tops.

 

[enzo matrix]

A got a 3870 my self and would only consider a 5830 if it were only $100-125 at retail. Over all try something else that is more power efficient and is worth the money spent on it like a 5770 or a 5850. As for crossfire if you do go that rout be sure to not over spend for a new/used one lets say $50 tops.

Yeah. This is the reason I am thinking about crossfire. I got my current card for $40 from a friend. My other friend got the other one and is considering upgrading. So I'll either get that one for a very low price or for free. I figure, combined with the cost of a crossfire board over a single board (if Zambezi supports AM3 I found a nice mATX board with 8x crossfire for $130 by MSI), it would be worth it. 4850 performance in crossfire-friendly situations

 

[nforce4max]

I see that you like my self have thought ahead so I would go for it. They are good enough for older games and reduced in newer but they are good for the money. By the way mine is the viper edition.

 

[notty22]

lol. Did I not make it clear in my last post that I had decided not to purchase a new video card anytime soon?

Not really. You were kind of all over the place, lol.
When they are giving away video cards, make sure you post where. I want to get one.

 

[enzo matrix]

Woot! Got a used Sapphire 4850 for $20. It runs much cooler and fairly quiet after I altered the fan curve and overwrote the card's bios.

 

[enzo matrix]

Best answer selected by Enzo Matrix.