Upgrade 5770 to 6870, need better CPU?

[hausman]

Hello,

Current specs:
Dell AMD 780G AM2+ system
Althlon II X3 435 (2.9 GHz triple-core) AM3 CPU
6 GB DDR2-800
Antec 650-watt PSU
Radeon HD 5770
(3) 1440x900 LCDs in Eyefinity

For the most part I'm very happy with this setup. My goal is to increase FPS in games such as BF3... to get to 30fps or better at medium settings. Now, it hovers in the 20s. Alan Wake chokes on anything but Low settings (but Low is surprisingly smooth, and not much worse looking).

I think my budget can support a $150 video card upgrade, which puts me at a 6870.

Is it worth it? Tom's always talks about balancing your GPU & CPU. Will I hit a CPU bottleneck, or is it still a decent matchup?

Thanks,
Dan

 

[sosofm]

It will be fine. If you overclock a little that cpu will be better,

 

[hausman]

Thanks for the reply. Can't overlock unfortunately... Dells Bios has no options.

 

[sonexpc]

you're running 3x 1440x900... even 6870 still may not get 30 FPS in BF3...
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/334246-33-6870-eyefinity

 

[hausman]

I'd say something's wrong with that guy's setup. I get in the 20s on medium with a 5770. I would expect a 6870 to easily be in the 30s all other things being equal (unless it's a CPU bottleneck).

EDIT... He didn't say what his resolution was... if it's 3 x 1920x1080, that would make sense.

 

[tiger6k]

If you can, post here after you pick up your 6870. I'm considering buying that card, as I am currently running an HD 5770 myself.

I only have 2 monitors (I set up my other monitor for MFD's and Guages in flight sims.)

But it's quite slow with my 5770.

 

[hausman]

Best answer selected by hausman.