Should iupgrade to a 6870?

[Pat22]

these are my system specs and im wondering if getting a better GPU would fix all my problems. someone told me that my CPU would bottleneck it so im not sure what to do .pls help

Summary

Product Name
Aspire M5201
Operating System
Microsoft® Windows Vista™ Home Premium , Service Pack 2
Chipset
ATI RS780+SB700
Processor
AMD Phenom(tm) 9650 Quad-Core Processor
System Memory
4096 MB
Hard Drive
WDC WD6400AAKS-22A7B0 ATA Device, 596.17 GB
CD/DVD Drive
PIONEER BD-ROM BDC-202 ATA Device
KPGB OHMNO1Y3ST SCSI CdRom Device
KPGB OHMNO1Y3ST SCSI CdRom Device
Video
ATI Radeon HD 3200 Graphics
ATI Radeon HD 3400 Series
Total Available Graphics Memory
1919 MB
Audio
ATI HDMI Audio
ATI HDMI Audio
Realtek High Definition Audio
Network
Marvell Yukon 88E8071 PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet Controller
RAS Async Adapter
D-Link WUA-2340 USB Adapter
UUID
00226803EF0720081018074903000000
Serial Number
PTSAZ0X02584106A922702
BIOS Version
R01-B2
BIOS Release Date
08/15/2008

 

[plznote]

Powerr supply?
And that processor will be bottlenecking it.
You would be off with somethings like the 5670-5770

 

[cheesesubs]

these are my system specs and im wondering if getting a better GPU would fix all my problems. someone told me that my CPU would bottleneck it so im not sure what to do .pls help

Summary

Product Name
Aspire M5201
Operating System
Microsoft® Windows Vista™ Home Premium , Service Pack 2
Chipset
ATI RS780+SB700
Processor
AMD Phenom(tm) 9650 Quad-Core Processor
System Memory
4096 MB
Hard Drive
WDC WD6400AAKS-22A7B0 ATA Device, 596.17 GB
CD/DVD Drive
PIONEER BD-ROM BDC-202 ATA Device
KPGB OHMNO1Y3ST SCSI CdRom Device
KPGB OHMNO1Y3ST SCSI CdRom Device
Video
ATI Radeon HD 3200 Graphics
ATI Radeon HD 3400 Series
Total Available Graphics Memory
1919 MB
Audio
ATI HDMI Audio
ATI HDMI Audio
Realtek High Definition Audio
Network
Marvell Yukon 88E8071 PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet Controller
RAS Async Adapter
D-Link WUA-2340 USB Adapter
UUID
00226803EF0720081018074903000000
Serial Number
PTSAZ0X02584106A922702
BIOS Version
R01-B2
BIOS Release Date
08/15/2008

i assume it's pcie 1.1 slot so pretty much 6870 is gtg. but you haven't giving us more detail about power supply so we can't really say it suitable.

Powerr supply?
And that processor will be bottlenecking it.
You would be off with somethings like the 5670-5770

dude the processor won't be bottleneck too much. i even ran agtx 460 once on e5300 and it's effortless smooth without any performance loss so he will be fine. plus only card like 5870/gtx470 or above can cause bottleneck. otherwise phenom 9650 is good enough

 

[Pat22]

i still have teh stock PSU, i think its a 300 watt, here is the serial number AM5201 - E5621A so u can try to look it up just in case. the system requirments for the 6870 is a 500 watt PSu so i would probably go for a 550 just in case and to futureproof a little bit.

 

[cheesesubs]

i still have teh stock PSU, i think its a 300 watt, here is the serial number AM5201 - E5621A so u can try to look it up just in case. the system requirments for the 6870 is a 500 watt PSu so i would probably go for a 550 just in case and to futureproof a little bit.

this will be suitable for you even though it's only 530w

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817707224&Tpk=600w%20power%20supply

but be sure this psu ONLY allow you to run single 6870! if future upgrade that has involve crossfire setting with multi pcie slot mobo this will not be enough. consider this is caution!

 

[wa1]

Wow, going from HD3400 to HD6870 is a massive upgrade.
What is your current cpu speed?
Total Budget for PSU+GPU?

 

[Pat22]

i currently have a AMD Phenom 9650 quad core 2.3ghz. my budget for the upgrade is unlimited but i don't want to spend over
$300 - $350 or somewhere around that mark.of course i'll spend whatever the GPu (6870) costs + the cost of a PSU. besides, i dont need the best and fastest, and of course most expensive to play some good or new games on highest settings.

also does this PSU from earlier post by cheesesubs even meet the system requirments of the 6870???

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817707224&Tpk=600w%20power%20supply&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-RSSDailyDeals-_-na-_-na&AID=10521304&PID=3463938&SID=

 

[Pat22]

also i wanted to ask which one of these cards is the best because there is only a slight price difference between the two 6870s but a big price difference between the 6870s and the 6850.

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007708%20600083901&IsNodeId=1&page=1&bop=And&CompareItemList=48%7C14-102-909%5E14-102-909-TS%2C14-102-913%5E14-102-913-TS%2C14-102-908%5E14-102-908-TS

 

[wa1]

PSU ($70):
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341016

and GPU ($210):
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102912
HD6850 2.0

That PSU+GPU are more than enough for you, no need more than that, like I said before, you will see a HUGE performance increase going from HD3400 to HD6850.

 

[HostileDonut]

A OC on the CPU would help a lot. And yes, the 6850 is good for the price you pay.

 

[wa1]

Agree, an OC is necessary, especially if you play at high resolution...

 

[Pat22]

i have a 1680x1050 resolution monitor which isn't that big i think. with my 3400 i can play games on Lowest to Medium settings with a little lags at some times. with the new 6870 i think it will be able to handle 1680x1050 with no problems at all, even without an over-clocked CPU

 

[HostileDonut]

OC your CPU it will help a TON.