Upgrading 6870, what card wont be bottle-necked by my cpu?

[Mists]

Hello,

I am currently in the process of upgrading my two year old rig. I don't want to completely replace it yet so I thought I'd upgrade the HD, add an SSD, upgrade the gfx card, and upgrade the RAM.

For the gfx card, last year I got my hands on a Powercooler AX6870 but I want to upgrade. I have an AMD 965 Black Edition 3.4ghz. I know its not so great anymore but what card can I get that won't be bottle-necked by this CPU?


APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: Around the end of August.
BUDGET RANGE: <= $400 (little over is fine)

USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT:

Gaming (BF3, Skyrim, Guild Wars 2, League of Legends), Streaming/Screen Capturing, Dual Monitor Support.

CURRENT GPU AND POWER SUPPLY:

Powercooler AX6870
CORSAIR Enthusiast Series CMPSU-850TX 850W (don't laugh, I know it was overkill at the time )

OTHER RELEVANT SYSTEM SPECS:

AMD 965 B.E 3.4ghz
OCZ AMD Black Edition 4GB DDR3 1600 (upgrading)
MSI 790FX-GD70 AM3 AMD 790FX ATX AMD
COOLER MASTER HAF 922 Mid-Tower


PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: Anywhere.
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: US

PARTS PREFERENCES: ATI Cards please.

OVERCLOCKING: Maybe
SLI OR CROSSFIRE: Maybe (worth it?)

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1920x1080 (I don't have a 2nd monitor yet, but it should be able to support that too)

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: None


Thanks in advance guys!

EDIT: Added case.

 

[Smeg45]

Sapphire OC 7950, which is what I'll be getting in a few weeks. I've overclocked that same CPU to 3.8Ghz, northbridge to 2.4GHz, you should do the same to squeeze the last ounce of performance out of your hardware.

 

[Mists]

I'm a little confused - isn't the 6870M a laptop graphics card?

Anyways, if you're not buying anything till the end of August, best to wait a few weeks before making a decision. The GTX 660(ti?) is set to launch on August 16th around the $300 mark, and that will surely shake up the sub-$400 GPU market pretty considerably.

Any advice I (or others) can give you now probably won't apply in a month.

Damn!

And I've been browsing at laptops all day, my mistake! Thanks for the heads up about the nvidia card.

Sapphire OC 7950, which is what I'll be getting in a few weeks. I've overclocked that same CPU to 3.8Ghz, northbridge to 2.4GHz, you should do the same to squeeze the last ounce of performance out of your hardware.

Will do. I have no idea where to begin though, I'll google around I guess. I threw a Coolermaster V8 on top of it in hopes of learning how to OC but I have barley touched this rig since I've been at school for the past two years. Except now, I'm taking it back with me.

Thanks!

 

[goodguy713]

just get a second 6870 for crossfire you dont need any particular brand or make you can mix and match just as long as its a 6870 .. you will get pretty good fps in most games you play if i was going to upgrade today id go with a 680.. personally or 670 ..

 

[Mists]

just get a second 6870 for crossfire you dont need any particular brand or make you can mix and match just as long as its a 6870 .. you will get pretty good fps in most games you play if i was going to upgrade today id go with a 680.. personally or 670 ..

Wasn't there something about screen tearing if the core clocks on CF cards weren't the same?

 

[esrever]

The cards will run at the same fps once you install them in crossfire.

Also the 7870 or the 670 are good cards for their price right now.