HD 3870 to HD 5xxx - is it worth it?

[rainwilds]

Hi all,

First my current specs:

CPU: Q6600
RAM: 4GB DDR3
Video: HD 3870
Board: ASUS P5E3 Deluxe

My HD 3870 card recently decided it had had enough. I have been tossing the idea around in my head of just putting together a new system, and this may be just the catalyst. I had read that it is best to wait for the Sandy Bridge processors to come out next year; so was going to skip an Nehalem upgrade and get a Sandy Bridge setup.

Now with my video card going, I'm not sure if I should just get a mediocre card (till next year) or go for something like a 5870 or GTX 265 and use that in a future rig.

What do you think?

Thanks

 

[karma831]

I would get a GTX 460 1GB for now and then SLI in your future rig.

 

[eyefinity]

Or just wait until next friday and see what the 6000 series cards are gonna be like.

 

[karma831]

Or just wait until next friday and see what the 6000 series cards are gonna be like.

^This is probably a better idea.

 

[4745454b]

At first I was going to say duh, but I see your problem. The answer is something only you would know however. Can you live for a year with no PC gaming, or gaming at low settings? I don't think I could manage without playing TF2. (the one game I play) If you think you can make it, a cheap $40-$60 card is the way to go. I don't think I'd go midrange, but I wouldn't go ultra expensive either.

The one nice thing is that the 3870 has the performance of the 8800GT. This means even the 5750 is faster then your current card. At just over $100 online you can actually get a nice speed bump without spending many hundreds of dollars.

 

[infernox_01]

the 3870 is similar in performance to a gt240 ddr5 and a 5570 ddr5, both cards are cheap and use less power then the 3870 (gt240-70w max, 5570-42w max, 3870-105w max). so for upgrading get at least a 5670.

 

[dafunklull]

my hd3870 also hit its old age limit producing way too much heat and causing psu over heats and vpu recovers/vga driver fails.

so I obtained a thermaltae Duorb vga cooler and put some youth juice back in to it.
now its back to liking the overdrive slider 90% of the way up and only simmering at low 50/60c's under various gaming load. big difference from its stock cooler which was around 80-90c+ under gaming.

this was a sapphire 3870 single slot cooled card.

if i was to upgrade this card in its light gaming prone system i would opt for a

hd5670.
given the stellar power to performance ratio of the elder hd4670
the hd5670's gotta be something special

and would not want another card that required an additional 6pin connector for the less than extreme gaming that goes on.

 

[nforce4max]

The single slot 3870 has always a bad rep for thermal and power failure. 5670 or better would be a wonderful upgrade whiling using less power. the 3870 only drew about 80w or so at stock while maxing out at 105w with max overclocking. It performed between the 8800gs and the 8800gt but close to the gt depending on the game.

 

[4745454b]

LOL, and closer to the GS if you enabled AA and were lucky. I was always amazed at the poor AA performance of the 3850/3870.

 

[rainwilds]

Or just wait until next friday and see what the 6000 series cards are gonna be like.

True, a couple of cards come out this week in the 6000 series according to Wiki. Do you think that will drop the price quickly for the 5000s?

 

[rainwilds]

The single slot 3870 has always a bad rep for thermal and power failure. 5670 or better would be a wonderful upgrade whiling using less power. the 3870 only drew about 80w or so at stock while maxing out at 105w with max overclocking. It performed between the 8800gs and the 8800gt but close to the gt depending on the game.

Yeah mine would always idle at around 65 degrees and 80 in games.

 

[aznshinobi]

True, a couple of cards come out this week in the 6000 series according to Wiki. Do you think that will drop the price quickly for the 5000s?

Don't expect a price drop on the 5850 or the 5870 is what I'm thinking. The 6850/6870 are supposed to fill in the gaps that the 57xx/58xx didn't fill. The 6850/6870 are supposed to compete with the GTX 460, so that being said, expect the 68xx to be priced at $200ish US. Now unless I've been ill informed thats the idea. Of course I'd recommend waiting, although no benchmarks have been released, I'd expect AT least if not better performance, then better tessellation.

 

[Mousemonkey]

@soldier37, the OP did not ask you to wave your epeen about, they just wanted advice on what card to get.

 

[nforce4max]

Yeah mine would always idle at around 65 degrees and 80 in games.

Ouch, that is why I bought the dual slot version instead. Diamond Viper 512mb GDDR4, bought it for $54 off eBay last February.

 

[aznshinobi]

@soldier37, the OP did not ask you to wave your epeen about, they just wanted advice on what card to get.

Quick question MM Whats Epeen XD

But if it means "showing off" I completely agree.

 

[nforce4max]

Quick question MM Whats Epeen XD

But if it means "showing off" I completely agree.

:lol: I think that you already know.

 

[Mousemonkey]

Quick question MM Whats Epeen XD

But if it means "showing off" I completely agree.

That's exactly what it means, "mines bigger than yours" etc.

 

[aznshinobi]

OH just making sure.

 

[benski]

I had a 3870 and got a GTX 465 and my FPS in the Crysis benchmark on high went from 20 fps to 44 fps, 460s run about the same or better so I think if you get a single 460 you will be very happy with the performance increase, and it gives you a good upgrade path. Prices aren't going to drop enough to make you regret your decision terribly. If you buy a mediocre card you will be out the cost of it (unless you resell it which is still a pain in the butt) and then when you do finally get a good card you will just be kicking yourself saying you wish you had done it sooner. I think it's worth 10 bucks a month to play games without lag, and that is a very generous estimate of the max a 460 would depriciate over the next few months.

edit: never mind on that upgrade path, I see your board doesn't support SLI.

 

[4745454b]

I'm going to stay with my vote of the 5750. (or similar card) You spoke of selling it Benski, but he could hang onto it as a backup card. A 5750, GTS250, or GTS450 should allow most games to be played at a "normal" resolution. Keep it in the box on your closet shelf for if/when you need a backup card.

Assuming you have the $$ ofcourse.

 

[rainwilds]

Thanks everyone for their replies.

As some advised, I'm going to wait this week out to see what happens with the release of the 6000 series. I may go for a 6850 if results are justified or step down to a 5770 or 5870. Though it may be highly unlikely to get my hands on a 6000 any time soon.

 

[rainwilds]

Best answer selected by rainwilds.

 

[aznshinobi]

GL! Hope you find the perfect card luls.

 

[Mousemonkey]

This topic has been closed by Mousemonkey