Looking to upgrade 4870 1GB (with E8600)

[Sycle]

Hi all. I did a lot of searching around before posting and couldn't really find the answer.

Basically I'm looking to play Crysis 2 at max settings, 1920x1080 resolution and get around 60 FPS. Right now I'm getting around 20-25 FPS.

My setup:

E8600 (not overclocked)
4870 1GB
4GB RAM
Windows 7 64 bit
1000W PSU

Would upgrading the video card give me a good boost? What would be my best bet with my E8600?

Thanks for any input.

 

[Embra]

OC the E8600 first. The problem your going to have is if you buy a card with high enough performance increase from the 4870 you have, it will just be restricted by your cpu.

 

[Sycle]

OC the E8600 first. The problem your going to have is if you buy a card with high enough performance increase from the 4870 you have, it will just be restricted by your cpu.

Thanks, I will try that. So if I go with say a 6950 my CPU would be a bottleneck? Would I see any improvement?

 

[mactronix]

OC the E8600 first. The problem your going to have is if you buy a card with high enough performance increase from the 4870 you have, it will just be restricted by your cpu.

That is not true. That CPU can handle all a 5850 and more can throw at it.

Mactronix

 

[mactronix]

Thanks, I will try that. So if I go with say a 6950 my CPU would be a bottleneck? Would I see any improvement?

No it wont and yes you will see a decent improvement. Percentages don't really tell a true story but for this they will have to do,
the 6950 is about 40-45% better/faster than a 4870, if you get a 2GB card then you have the option of trying to flash the bios to a 6970 as well.

A better CPU will give you better performance, that would be a little dependant on the game as well but your CPU certainly wont restrict the performance that much.

Take a look here http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/core-i3-gaming,2588.html


Mactronix

 

[Sycle]

No it wont and yes you will see a decent improvement. Percentages don't really tell a true story but for this they will have to do,
the 6950 is about 40-45% better/faster than a 4870, if you get a 2GB card then you have the option of trying to flash the bios to a 6970 as well.

A better CPU will give you better performance, that would be a little dependant on the game as well but your CPU certainly wont restrict the performance that much.

Take a look here http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/core-i3-gaming,2588.html


Mactronix

Thanks, Mactronix.

Update - I've OC'd the E8600 to 4 GHz and did not see any improvement (using FRAPS). So I assume at this point the video card is the bottleneck. I think I might just go with the 6950 2GB and see how it goes.

 

[Embra]

Well there you go, that is what I suggested to try first. Make sure it is stable and not running too hot under load.

 

[Sycle]

Well there you go, that is what I suggested to try first. Make sure it is stable and not running too hot under load.

No worries, Embra. I appreciate your help and now I'm running at 4 GHz which is a plus.

 

[Embra]

That is fantastic, just watch your temps.

 

[Sycle]

Update 2 - I went out and got a 6970 and my FPS at 1920 x 1080 with extreme settings went up to around 60-75.

So upgrading from a 4870 to a 6970 with an older Core 2 Duo E8600 CPU netted me about a 40-50 FPS gain in Crysis 2. I'm happy.

 

[mactronix]

Glad I could help

Mactronix

 

[balthalzar]

hey scyle can i ask a question

 

[Sycle]

hey scyle can i ask a question

Sure, what is the question?