New graphic card radeon 6870

[michaelbae930]

Hello everyone, I'm new here.

CPU: intel core 2 duo CPU e6550 @ 2.33ghz
MBoard: ASUS P5E-VM DO
GPU: Zotac Geforce 9500GT 512mb
HDD: Barracuda 7200.10 SATA 3.0Gb/s 320-GB
PSU: coolermaster 460W
RAM: 4g (2 x 2gb ddr 800)
OS: windows 7 32-bit

I had this pc in 2007 i think.. so it's pretty old now.
I barely use this desktop, and I'm not a hardcore gamer
and I mostly use my macbook pro 13.

Since finals end in few weeks, I purchased Skyrim.
I was actually gonna buy ps3, or xbox to play sky rim
(which actually costs less (300$ including the game)though the graphic might not good)
But I decided to go with pc upgrade. I think this is better investment in long term.

I don't have much money. so I will upgrade one by one.
And I need help from you guys what I need to upgrade first.
I thought I should buy GPU first, and found this
XFX Radeon HD 6870 900MHZ 1GB 4.2GHZ GDDR5 for 145dollar (excluding tax)
I can't afford 2g,3g 400~500dollar ones. Do you think this is good for now?
and I'm thinking to add another one so I can do crossfire thingy, (don't know much detail).

Will this first upgrade will go okay with my current CPU and PSU? and sky rim?

I'm thinking to purchase one for each month.
1. GPU-> (XFX Radeon HD 6870 900MHZ 1GB 4.2GHZ GDDR5) 150 dollar
2. PSU-> (Corsair TX750) 750W(for crossfire in future) 130 dollar
3. motherboard + intel i5 2500 - 380 dollar
4. 8gb ram (Should I just use my old one plus extra 4g? but do they work each other?) 50 dollar
5. HDD 1TB 100 dollar
6. computer case hopefully. 100 dollar.

I'm kinda sad only things I can still use from my old pc is the HDD and DVD drive....

 

[FtsArTek]

Skyrim will easily run on a 6870 . Problem is, there is no way it'll run on a 460w PSU though. You'll need to buy a new PSU first unfortunately. As for your RAM, you won't be able to use that in a newer generation motherboard, it's DDR2, whereas your new computer would need DDR3.

 

[michaelbae930]

Skyrim will easily run on a 6870 . Problem is, there is no way it'll run on a 460w PSU though. You'll need to buy a new PSU first unfortunately. As for your RAM, you won't be able to use that in a newer generation motherboard, it's DDR2, whereas your new computer would need DDR3.

thank you FtsArTek.
I really needed your help.
Any other advice would be appreciated!

 

[aicom]

If you grab a 7000 series GPU, like the 7850 or 7870 (might be pushing it) you might be able to avoid upgrading your PSU because the new cards are much more efficient.

 

[michaelbae930]

If you grab a 7000 series GPU, like the 7850 or 7870 (might be pushing it) you might be able to avoid upgrading your PSU because the new cards are much more efficient.

thanks for the advice,
at this time, 1gb 6xxx series would be enough for me.
if I need more in future(1 year later or so), I'm planning to get the same PCU(1g) and do the crossfire X.
because I can't afford that 7850 at this point, and also don't need such great performance.
Do you know the performance of two Radeon HD 6870 900MHZ 1GB crossfire, compared to 7850?

 

[aicom]

You might want to look at getting a model with 2 GB of VRAM. Especially if you're crossfiring because you're likely to be VRAM limited at high resolutions. Two 6870s are certainly going to beat one 7850, but for the price of 2 6870s you're in the ballpark of the 7870 and I'd always prefer a single more powerful card than 2 less powerful ones due to stuff like microstuttering and poor crossfire scaling in some games.

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/540?vs=549

 

[Hydroc10]

You can run a 6870 on as little as a 380w psu if it has enough amps on the +12V1 and +12V2 rails . So look at the sticker on the side of your PSU. I have an Antec 400w psu that has 29amps on the 12v rails and a Coolmax 500w with 30amps. The psu I use now is an Antec 500w with 44amps on the 12v rails. So you see there's more to it than watts.

 

[esrever]

if you can hold on for another month it would be good to get the psu and the gpu at the same time. you do not need a 750w psu for the 6870, a good 400w would be enough and a good 550w be enough for crossfire. Overall you should be able to get both the psu and gpu for around $200.

 

[michaelbae930]

if you can hold on for another month it would be good to get the psu and the gpu at the same time. you do not need a 750w psu for the 6870, a good 400w would be enough and a good 550w be enough for crossfire. Overall you should be able to get both the psu and gpu for around $200.

damn I postponed purchasing 6870 to next month,
because I just ordered a XFX 750W PSU for 70 dollar (including tax)..

oh well...

so I purchased 750W.

the next should be..

May: one 1g radeon 6870
June: New motherboard + 8g ddr3 ram.
July: i5 quad core cpu
Augest: new case
in future: another 1g radeon 6870

So if I upgrade the motherboard, I have to reinstall the OS. right?
what if I upgrade the CPU? I don't have to right??

and why wait till next month??

 

[hardeho]

That PSU is overkill for a 6870, but will be nice to have for the future. The Coolermaster 460 would have ran the 6870 no problem, and you'd be playing Skyrim on it right now.