ATI Radeon HD 5570 vs GTX 550 Ti help

[drainadin]

Hey guys,

First time poster here,

Anyways, I was just asking for some insight on my situation. I currently own an ATI Radeon HD 5570 graphics card and find that, even though it can technically run most games, it doesn't run newer games with optimal settings. In fact, really new releases (for example, Skyrim), this graphic card can only handle on really low settings. Anyways, I was looking around for an affordable graphics card (100-200$ canadian) and that can be supported with my 400W Power Supply. By looking on newegg.ca, I found this GTX 550 Ti (link: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121435). It seems to be supported with 400W, and seems to be a lot better then my current graphic card.

However, I am NO expert in video cards. AT ALL. That's why I need help. I Bought my ATI Radeon HD 5570 without doing enough research and figured out that it wasn't what I hoped it would be. I don't want to make the same mistake.

So, can anybody that actually knows what they are talking about, unlike me, offer some insight on exactly how much better this graphic card found on the link I posted is compared to my current graphic card, and if it will be able to run new released games on relatively high settings without fps problems.

 

[andywork78]

http://educations.newegg.com/tool/psucalc/index.html
this will help you to know how much power you need it.
And for the price and psu W - 5770 is good.
If you don't care~ psu(which mean is you already have 650~more) - 550 Ti is so nice card.

 

[theitaliansico]

you could say graphics cards are my specialty. I have done alot of research recently into cards of these levels to upgrade my dell PC. I ended up going with a GTX 560 because it fit my 460w PSU's range. Look a 400w power supply isnt going to support any supreme card. For a game liek syrim a GTX 550ti will be able to run it on medium/high with no AA depending on your resolution.You can upgrade your power supply but look into it first as i screwed up my computer once when i tried to replace mine so be careful. you may be pushing it with a GTX 550ti though. here is a tip
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130629
the card mentioned above is overclocked maybe you should go with a standard clocked version.

 

[drainadin]

Thanks for the help, according to the link the graphic card requires 400w power supply so I should be fine... but do you think the change would be a substantial difference?

 

[drainadin]

By the way, my resolution is 1600x900

 

[theitaliansico]

no probably not. the power requirments stay the same for the superclocked version of the 550ti. call EVGA and they will reassure you about that. nevermind my comment about the overclocking was thinking of CPU overclocking which draws alot more poer if overclcoked.make sure your PSU has a 6 pin connector otherwise you may need molex adapters.also keep in mind you said you dont want to make the same mistake of buying an underpowered card. this card is in no way a futureproof item.It is a middleend card and is the bare minimum gaming card. In about a year or two you may be disappointed with its performance. If you really want a quality card an upgrade to the power supply is neccasary. You can upgrade to a 650w corsair for about 100 bucks and then upgrade to the new GTX 560 ti's in a few wekks and be great with that for a while. At least the next time you go to upgrade you will have a power supply that can handle SINGLE setup high end cards such as GTX 560 ti,570. Be careful in replacing a power unit and seek advice if it is your first time. these upgrades are also triple the cost of what you are looking for so its all up to you and how much you are willing to spend.Lastly some higher end setups can be bottlenecked by the rest of your system so if you do end up going witha power supply upgrade/videocard make sure you have a quality CPU.

 

[drainadin]

so do you think its worth the buy for the price or should I reconsider? I'm trying to keep it at a 150-200 dollar budget and not buy a new power supply

 

[theitaliansico]

two options: deal with your current setup for a while and save up some money for a new PSU and GPU. Or buy the GTX 550 ti be happy with skyrims performance on medium/high settings but be dissapointed when you try and play a graphic intensive game around a year from now. im just letting you know since you siad you dont want to make the same mistake of buying an underpowered card. The GTX 550 ti will give you good performance on Skyrim now but what about when Elder scrolls 6 comes out? or battlefield 4 (hypothetically speaking of course)?then you will end up spending antoher 150 on a antoher middle end card that just gives you good performance and not great.IM not trying to convince you to buy a new power supply as i ahve little expierence with that area but to me its just common sense. Lets see what soembody else thinks before you make a decision

 

[drainadin]

Well thanks for your opinion man I really appreciate it. I've been doing a bit of research and basically found that the gtx 550 ti is around 150% more powerful than my card so it seems like a drastic upgrade. But thanks a lot, I know it's not the best card, but it's definitely an upgrade for my budget. But yeah I'll see what others think

 

[theitaliansico]

Well thanks for your opinion man I really appreciate it. I've been doing a bit of research and basically found that the gtx 550 ti is around 150% more powerful than my card so it seems like a drastic upgrade. But thanks a lot, I know it's not the best card, but it's definitely an upgrade for my budget. But yeah I'll see what others think

your welcome but i mean it when i say no offense but the 5570 is a preety low end card for todays standards. So of course a GTX 550ti will seem alot better. But even look at some of the reccomenended requirments now. For BF3 the reccomended card is a 6950 1gb or a GTX 560. Imagine in a year or two from now. Still lets wait and see what others think.

 

[theitaliansico]

also here is a website that is really good at comparing video cards.
comparing GTX 550ti to 5570
http://www.hwcompare.com/9726/geforce-gtx-550-ti-vs-radeon-hd-5570/
comparing the GTX 550ti to GTX 560ti(keep in mind this GTX 560 ti is an older model in a few weeks the newer ones will be out and will rival the GTX 570)
http://www.hwcompare.com/9686/geforce-gtx-550-ti-vs-geforce-gtx-560-ti/
560 ti also requires a 500w power supply

 

[drainadin]

haha yeah the 550 ti is insanely better then 5570 according to that. But the strange thing is I can currently run Skyrim on medium-low settings, so with that seeing of how much better it is then my current graphics card is should be high-ultra at least.

 

[theitaliansico]

haha yeah the 550 ti is insanely better then 5570 according to that. But the strange thing is I can currently run Skyrim on medium-low settings, so with that seeing of how much better it is then my current graphics card is should be high-ultra at least.

probabyl ultra with some AA and MSAA.but still skyrim isnt that intesive game as far as graphics. Its in a whole other leagu than bf3.

 

[drainadin]

Sorry for being noob but what do you mean by AA and MSAA??

 

[theitaliansico]

Sorry for being noob but what do you mean by AA and MSAA??

Here are some basic definitions.
AA: Antialiasing = the technique of smoothing the jagged edges of diagonal lines in computer graphics by varying the color at the edges
MSAA:Multisample anti-aliasing (MSAA) = is a type of anti-aliasing, a technique used in computer graphics to improve image quality
Anisotropic filtering is another setting in skyrim:is a method of enhancing the image quality of textures on surfaces
in skyrim AA can be turned to 2 samples 4 samples 6 or 8 samples
and AF (anisotropic filtering) can go 2 samples 4 samples 6 samples all the way to 16 samples. Bassically the higher it goes the harder on the graphics card for both settings. the GTX 550ti on your res shuld be able to handle 8x on AA and 4x on AF without studdering. Depends on many things though i make no gurantees. If you end up buying the GTX 550ti and get skyrim it will automatically set the settings to what your video card can handle. i reccomended you turn the settings down anyway. As you can expierence lag and the game could crash and that sort of thing.

 

[theitaliansico]

Sorry for being noob but what do you mean by AA and MSAA??

here is an example of what Anisotropic filtering does for the picture

 

[theitaliansico]

Here is an eample of what AA (antialiasing) does for the picture

 

[drainadin]

Oh ok I get it, thanks a lot.

By the way, I was just curious of your opinion of how this graphic card would handle BF3

 

[theitaliansico]

You have to give me more specifics. Like CPU and amount RAM cuz if you dont ahve enough of thos things the graphics card may be the least of your worries. Here is the bottom line GT 550 ti meets the minimum requirments but just falls short of the reccomended. Which means your looking at medium/high settings on your resolution otherwise it will be choppy. I have heard of peoople who maxed out the BF3 on a resolution similiar to yours with a card of the same caliber. It sure wont be great but it will be playeable defitnetly.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/battlefield-3-graphics-performance,3063-2.html
here is a link to a review of about 30 Graphics cards
GTX 550 ti isnt listed but your current card is (ati 5570). check out the GTS 450 and that is similiar to the frame rates you will be seeing depending on the rest of your system specs. keep in mind im running BF3 on high settings with a little AA and HSAA settings tuned up with a GT 560 which isnt that much more powerful than the GTX 550ti. Im running it at 1680x1050 and when i want to impress my friends 1920x1080. both gameplay is smooth.

 

[drainadin]

well here are a bit of my other specs:

Processor: AMD Athlon II x4 630 Processor (quad-core) 2.80 GHz

Installed memory (RAM): 4.00 GB Ram

 

[theitaliansico]

those specs are perfectly fine. It really doesnt matter to much the clock speeds for a game like BF3 as long as its a quad core CPu which is what you have. Ram is perfect. looks like your missing everything but a good GPU. at this point if you get the GTX 550 ti you will be fine with both games except you will have to turn battlefield 3 down to medium settings. dont worry it still looks great anyway at those settings! All im saying is the GTX 550 ti is not a future proof card. so if you wish to future proof and get a great card like GTX 560 ti you need to upgrade the power supply as i told you earlier. Give this thread a day or so and maybe will see someone else reply that can give another opinion but people will most likely tell you what i ahve told you.

 

[drainadin]

Yeah, well I think I'll think about it. In around 2 years by the time I need an upgrade I'll probably be able to get a new one anyways. But yeah, thanks a lot for the input it really helped think about my decision and generally learn more.

 

[theitaliansico]

a little advice about your next computer. make sure to get above a 400w Powre unit LOL hahaha JKJK. if you have no more questions please select a best answer

 

[drainadin]

Best answer selected by drainadin.