Should I upgrade x1950xt?

Hello All,

I have a asus P5B deluxe, E6600, corsair 520watt, 2Gig gSkill pc2-6400 ddr2 5-5-5-15
I'm about to start playing games again... I was wondering if you thought it was worth it get a newer card without getting a new machine.

I have a x1950xt 512mb gddr3 for pciE x16 slot
I looked at the Tomz updated card best values and like the HD 4870 for @ $100-130

the HD 5750 has infinity eye & direct x11 for @ the same price. Can infinity eye (3 monitors) be used with any game, or does the game have to be designed for it?

Also, I meant to Overclock my pc, but never tried. I was afraid of the little share programs used to check the different temperatures, etc..
I guess it's running at 2.4mhz. Would OC'ing it to 3.0ish make a difference in playing game / video performance?

Thanks, Russ

The E660 will overclock quite madly- I had mine at 3.4 GHz using just a Coolermaster Hyper 212+ cooler and a small voltage change in the BIOS. BUT, you MUST research the topic first or you could do some serious damage! But yes, it makes a difference

Before recommending a card we really need to know your monitor resolution but I'd go for the HD5750 over the HD4870- Similar performance but it's cooler, quieter
and draws less power.
If you are playing at 1680x1050 the HD5770 might be a better bet-it's faster and still uses less juice than a HD4870.
Do not expect either to run DX11 titles at max settings at 1680x1050, though.
No idea about Eyefinity- I've just got enough room for one 24" display!

The 1950s ran hot, my guess as to where most the heat is coming from

Yeah, it's got it. thanks

The 57xx series will be a good upgrade.

Yeah, one 1950xt won't cut it for many of todays games unless you're o.k with low details. Less demanding games will probably run on medium with your current card though. Eyefinity is a tricky subject. You have to take into account that your video card will have to process 3x the number of pixles, so of course performance will suffer a bit. You also need to have one monitor hooked up with either display port or an active display port adapter. A passive one simply will not do. The only exception to this is the 5770 Flex from Sapphire.

I say go with a single 4870 1GB. It will be a pretty big upgrade. Overclocking your CPU will definitely help as well. Looks like your board supports newer 45nm LGA 775 CPUs as well, with a BIOS upgrade of course.

http://usa.asus.com/product.aspx?P_ID=bswT66IBSb2rEWNa

Anyway, get a 4870 or 5770 first, and overclock your CPU. You can upgrade latter to a second card in CF and a better quad core CPU when you feel the need.

is that a 2GB set 2x1GB or a single 2GB stick.?
regardless, I would get 2x2GB sticks of RAM PC2-6400.
anyways, what OS are you running.?
you definitely should at least video get a card, you planning on running three monitors.?
I don't know if you can overclock that much and have it stable.
and if you plan on overclocking you'll need to spend a money and upgrade your cpu cooler.If you are playing at 1680x1050 the HD5770 might be a better bet-it's faster and still uses less juice than a HD4870.
Do not expect either to run DX11 titles at max settings at 1680x1050, though.