Upgrade for a HD4850

[anowis213]

I am currently building a new system, replacing my old dinosaur: LGA 775 E5300 core duo, Gigabyte G41M-ES2L, 4GB ddr2, Sapphire Radeon HD 4850, 1GB DDR3.

So far I'm going with an AMD x6, 8gb of ram, tossing around a few different mobos, but its the gpu that has me stumped.

I like to think I'm a gamer, but truth be told, I use my consoles for the latest/greatest games and my pc for mostly MMOs and the sort. When given the choice, I buy MW3 for my xbox before I even consider it on pc. I am however, considering the jump to a blueray player for my pc, and do use my pc for quite a bit of 3d rendering and graphic work with predominately Blender and various open source renderers. I play, when the mood strikes me, WoW, and Eve, and have been testing SWTOR since June-ish and probly will buy it too once its released. I have never felt as though my current gpu is lacking, I can run most of the games I play at high to ultra setting just fine. But..... since I am building a new system, I'm wondering about what would be a good upgrade for me.

I have kind of narrowed it down to these three (only because I had such a positive experience with sapphire previously, and I tend to reward good products with loyalty). Sapphire HD 6670 1GB DDR3 (79.99) Sapphire HD 5670 1GB DDR5 (89.99) Sapphire HD 6670 1GB DDR5 (96.99).

I'm curious if the 1GB DDR3 HD 6670 would even be much of an upgrade over my HD 4850, or will the DDR5 models be more of a noticeable upgrade? Or should I just keep my old 4850 and save my money until something better comes along? I'm really trying to keep my gpu budget under 99.99. Also, I don't really consider mail-in rebates as a factor in my pricing, as sometimes those end up being more hassle than what they are worth. I'm all about instant gratification, give me free shipping or something I can see when I place my order, not 6-8 weeks from now. I am open to Nvidia as well and hold no particular bias one way or another. I just haven't had an Nvidia card in some years (since a GeForce 6200), and since I'm going with an AMD cpu and an AMD based mobo, I' just figured and AMD gpu would be the best way to go??

Open to any suggestions, appreciate any and all opinions.

Thanks

 

[4745454b]

No, those cards are weaker then your 4850. The 5750 is similar to your 4850, so you really want a 5770 or better if you are spending $$$. If you only have $100, then just keep your $$$. Those cards will get you DX11 and better power/thermal numbers, but won't give you as many FPS.

 

[lunyone]

Here's the minimum that I'd buy for around your price range for an upgrade from the 4850. The other cards aren't really any upgrades from the 4850.
SAPPHIRE 100328L Radeon HD 6770 1GB GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card

If we have your total parts list and/or your budget, we can possibly save you some $ on other parts and allow you more $ for your GPU upgrade.

 

[4745454b]

I'd like to point out that while the 4870, 5770/6770 are technically faster then a 4850, I'm not sure they are $100 faster. If you are going to be spending $$$ then you want to "feel it", and I'm not sure those three will do that.

I do agree however to post your stuff. More eyes looking means you might catch a mistake or save some $$$.

 

[ilysaml]

And before going further, tell us your gaming resolution.

 

[anowis213]

Thanks a lot guys, that was kind of the feeling I had. I guess I'll just pull the 4850 out of my old system since it has an on board gpu and I'm turning it into a home server anyways.

Right now I have:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157280
Asrock 970 Extreme3 (84.99+7.65 s&h)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103851
AMD Phenom II x6 1055t (149.99)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231428
G.Skill 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 Ripjaw X Series 1600 RAM (29.99)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135247
Asus Blu-Ray player/dvd-rw/cd-rw (57.99)

for a total of $330.29 with shipping included. I plan on using a spare Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 1TB hard drive that I already have, as well as a Corsair 430CX V2 psu that I already own.

I am really, really, really trying to keep my budget around $400, but if there was a really valid reason for going up to around $450, I could possible consider it.

 

[anowis213]

I'm running 1920 x 1080 on a Samsung Syncmaster P2570HD

 

[4745454b]

Pretty solid build there. Good choices for the most part as well. You could buy that 6770, but I'm not totally sure it would be that much better. I vote you use the 4850 and if its really bad then buy something else.

 

[anowis213]

I appreciate the comment, I have been reading up quite a bit on options for my price range. But nothing beats the opinions of people that have more experience. I can't tell you the amount of times I have jumped back and forth between that x6 set up and an i5-2500k system. By the time I manage to get the i5 down to a similar budget, I just end up sacrificing too much in the way of options, (usb 3.0, sata III, ect).

My thoughts are since I really don't need the latest and greatest uber-gaming rig, I can make due with an x6 system with the option of upgrading to an fx, once all the bugs are worked out.

 

[lunyone]

Well you could even go with the PhII x4 955 BE and save some $ there and possibly get into a AMD 6790/6850 GPU, depending on what kind of budget you can afford. The parts you picked looked pretty good, but $100 budget for a GPU isn't going to get you much better performance than the 4850 you currently have.

You could also get a plain old DVD burner and get the BluRay player later, unless you really need it now. That would save you about $30-35 now.

Take the PhII x4 955 for $105 & the DVD Burner ~$20 and you have saved about $80 from your original build. This $80 extra would allow you to spend close to $150-200 on a GPU! ($400-450 budget). This would allow you to easily get a 6850 (~$150) to a 6870 (~$175). The 6870 you would definitely feel a bit more changes over the 4850 that you currently have. I think that would be the best and smartest upgrades for your $, IMHO.

Recap:
* AMD PhII x4 955 BE (~$105)
* AsRock 970 Mobo (~$93)
* GSkill RAM (~$30)
* DVD Burner (~$20)
* AMD 6870 GPU (~$175)

Total: ~$333!!! Now I know there is a $20 MIRc on the GPU (if you get the $175 XFX one w/the FREE Dirt3 Game). This would bring down the cost down to $313, if you get the rebate.

 

[4745454b]

Not sure I'd drop down to the x4. I know WoW needs the 6 cores (if you use AMD, Intel will do fine with 2+) and I think MW3 does as well? Not sure about that one, it was a recent game review on toms. Going down to a normal DVD drive is a good idea.

 

[lunyone]

I can honestly bet that a PhII x4 955 BE (OC'd to 3.8-4.0 ghz) w/ an AMD 6870 GPU will game better than a PhII x6 w/4850 or 6770. It's not always about the CPU when it comes to gaming. Yes there are instances where the PhII x6 will help, but a PhII x4 955 BE isn't a slouch either. Yes Intel's w/2 cores are about the same as the PhII x4 955, but most of their mobo's don't always have the same options as the AMD based mobo's for similar costs.

I still think the PhII x4 955 BE w/AMD 6870 GPU w/the regular DVD Burner would best fit his budget for now and will give him the performance bump that he's looking for, IMHO.

 

[4745454b]

I know, but what I was trying to say was to find a way to keep the x6, get the 6870, and the DVD burner. x6 if at all possible, though yes not at the expense of the GPU.

 

[lunyone]

I agree that the PhII x6 would be better, but if he needs to save ~$40-50 than the PhII x4 955 BE would be the one to get and still be able to do what he wants to do.