Which Raedon is better?

[RavenSeven]

I am currently looking to update my graphics card and I'm not sure which card is the best value for my money. The budget I'm holding to is $100. I currently use an ATI chipset (a pathetic HD 2400) and would like to stay there. My current system specs are:
Dell Optiplex 755
Windows Vista (will be upgraded to Win7 soon)
System RAM 4GB
600W Power Supply (recent upgrade)
PCIe x16 1.0 Slot for graphics card

I'm looking at two cards. First a Radeon 5570 with 2GB DDR3 RAM at $82. Second a 5670 with 1GB DDR5 at $94. My question is, which is likely to serve my interests best for the price. My primary concern is gaming. I play Star Trek Online, Total War series games, and Civ V. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[renz496]

for you budget just go straight for HD5670 if you want better in gaming performance. but you can save budget if you can get 5670 with 512MB ram. having said all that what is your preferred gaming resolution? also can you give more detail about your PSU such the brand. if you buy from newegg maybe you can look into this one instead:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161338&cm_re=5770-_-14-161-338-_-Product

it will fit into your budget after MIR

 

[jaguarskx]

....if you buy from newegg maybe you can look into this one instead:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161338&cm_re=5770-_-14-161-338-_-Product

it will fit into your budget after MIR

Do not purchase the above mentioned HD 5770 video card for your system.

You have a PCI-e v1.0 slot. The above is a PCI-e v2.1 video card. There are known compatiblity issues with mixing those two PCI-e versions.

At best you can install a video card that is PCI-e 2.0. The lowest priced HD 5770 that is PCI-e 2.0 is the following MSI HD 5770 selling for $125. The $20 MIR brings it down to $105. Tack on shipping of $5 and that brings the price to $110.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127476

 

[jaguarskx]

I'm looking at two cards. First a Radeon 5570 with 2GB DDR3 RAM at $82. Second a 5670 with 1GB DDR5 at $94. My question is, which is likely to serve my interests best for the price. My primary concern is gaming.

Those two cards are too slow to take advantage of more than 512MB, therefore you are wasting your money for extra VRAM that the cards cannot take advantage of. At best the difference between a HD 5670 512MB and HD 5670 1GB is 2 frames at any resolution.

The HD 5670's performance is around 25% - 30% better than the HD 5570 on average.

The HD 5770's performance is around 70% - 80% better than the HD 5670 on average. Way more than the HD 5570.


If you don't mind going $10 above you maximum budget for a huge performance boost, then go with the HD 5770 I mentioned.

Click the following link to a review with all three cards mentioned:
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Axle/Radeon_HD_5670/1.html

 

[renz496]

Do not purchase the above mentioned HD 5770 video card for your system.

You have a PCI-e v1.0 slot. The above is a PCI-e v2.1 video card. There are known compatiblity issues with mixing those two PCI-e versions.

At best you can install a video card that is PCI-e 2.0. The lowest priced HD 5770 that is PCI-e 2.0 is the following MSI HD 5770 selling for $125. The $20 MIR brings it down to $105. Tack on shipping of $5 and that brings the price to $110.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127476

ah yes i forgot that some HD5k series are using PCI-E 2.1 spec. i have heard some problem regarding PCI-E 2.1 but i never really know the details on it. so what are you saying above is the PCI-E 2.1 will conflict with PCI-E version 1.x. so how about PCI-E version 2?

 

[jaguarskx]

so what are you saying above is the PCI-E 2.1 will conflict with PCI-E version 1.x. so how about PCI-E version 2?

Based on many posts there are numerous complaints about a PCI-e 2.1 card in a PCI-e 1.0 slot. I'm not sure about the specifics since it has been a while.

There are no issues with a PCI-e 2.0 card in a PCI-e 1.0 slot. My HD 5850 is a PCI-e 2.0 card and my Abit IP35 Pro has a PCI-e 1.0 slot.

 

[RavenSeven]

I meant to reply last night and mention that I am constricted by Dell's brilliance in design as the Optiplex 755 has a backwards mobo preventing the use of dual slot size cards. So I am stuck with a single slot card.

 

[renz496]

what exactly preventing you from using dual slot card? is there any obstruction like another expansion card just below of your PCI-E slots?

 

[RavenSeven]

The motheboard itself prevents it (I actually bought a dual slot card previously and had to return it). The best way I can relate the Optiplex engineering marvel (sarcasm) is to paint the picture. Whereas most PCs will access the mobo from the left side when viewing from the front, the Optiplex opens and access from the right. In a standard PC I could install a dual height card which would block the next slot down (in my case an unused PCI slot), because of the reverse engineering of the Optiplex mobo, the card would actually be overhanging the motherboard, with no open slot space for the extra height. Also, because the PCIe x16 slot is at the top, the dual height runs into the serial ports if I tried anyway. Hopefully that makes sense, if not I can try to link a diagram of the Optiplex mobo.

 

[renz496]

yes i know. dell place their mobo on the opposite side unlike any other pc. how many serial ports got covered if you use dual slot card? my gigabyte mobo also have weird SATA port placement. when using dual slot card (depending on the cooler size) i can't access/use my top most SATA port because it has been block by the graphic card cooler

 

[stillerfan15]

Those two cards are too slow to take advantage of more than 512MB, therefore you are wasting your money for extra VRAM that the cards cannot take advantage of. At best the difference between a HD 5670 512MB and HD 5670 1GB is 2 frames at any resolution.

The HD 5670's performance is around 25% - 30% better than the HD 5570 on average.

The HD 5770's performance is around 70% - 80% better than the HD 5670 on average. Way more than the HD 5570.


If you don't mind going $10 above you maximum budget for a huge performance boost, then go with the HD 5770 I mentioned.

Click the following link to a review with all three cards mentioned:
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Axle/Radeon_HD_5670/1.html

Thanks for the link...