Upgrade from ATI Radeon HD 4850

[arbster]

I'd like to buy a new graphics card for my PC, ideally with the potential to CrossFire it with another in the future.

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: This week.

BUDGET RANGE: £100-£200 (I'm in the UK). I don't want to spend too much on a GC that is disproportionate to the rest of my PC, but would welcome options in the range.

USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Gaming, mostly for World of Warcraft.

CURRENT GPU AND POWER SUPPLY: ATI Radeon HD 4850 and LC Silent Giant 550W Power Supply.

OTHER RELEVANT SYSTEM SPECS: Coolermaster Dominator CM-690 with maximum fans and CoolerMaster Liquid CPU Cooling System, MSI K9A2 CF-F AMD 790X CrossFire Chipset with AMD Phenom™ X4 9550 Quad-Core CPU.

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: No real preference, but would like to source locally if possible.

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: UK

PARTS PREFERENCES: No strong prefence.

OVERCLOCKING: Maybe (but probably not)

CROSSFIRE: Maybe in the future.

MONITOR RESOLUTION: Twin 1600x1200.

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: Current 4850 seems to have some overheating issues, and seems to hit ~90 degrees pretty quickly, especially when playing WoW. Might be the card, or might be wider issues with airflow in the case, so would like the new card to have a good cooling system.

Many thanks in advance!

 

[vitornob]

I strong recommend that you change your CPU in no time too. This CPU have a very very low performance by today standards.
I would even say that your VGA is "stronger" than your cpu.

Wait the AMD specialists answer your topic and know if your motherboard can hold an AM3+ cpu like the Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition. This sir, you be a hella of upgrade for you.

 

[arbster]

I strong recommend that you change your CPU in no time too. This CPU have a very very low performance by today standards.
I would even say that your VGA is "stronger" than your cpu.

Wait the AMD specialists answer your topic and know if your motherboard can hold an AM3+ cpu like the Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition. This sir, you be a hella of upgrade for you.

Sadly, I believe the best I can go to is AM2+. According to the MB manual:

- AMD® Phenom/Athlon/Sempron series processors in AM2/ AM2+ package

 

[Spryguy87]

Check your motherboard's compatibility on the cpuupgrade website. Many later AM2+ motherboards can use AM3 processors. As for the graphics upgrade, I am not familiar with UK resellers, but might I suggest looking for either a radeon 6850 or 6870? That may allow you to keep enough room in your budget (more with the 6850) to look at cpu/cpu+motherboard upgrades while providing a worthwhile upgrade to your graphics performance. If you prefer nVidia, then the GTX 460 can be found for very reasonable prices on occasion (I actually picked up one for U.S. $80 new just a few weeks ago), but do make sure that you are at least getting one with 336 cores and 256-bit bus.

 

[gamerkila57]

just recently i upgraded from a HD 4870 1GB to a Sapphire HD 6950 2GB it was a great upgrade

 

[Kamen_BG]

If you're going to buy a new graphics card i really think you should overclock your CPU.It's just not as good as you think it is.Overclocking it to 3GHZ should give you a lot of additional performance and since you've got yourself a water cooler that shouldnt be a problem.

In my opinion thats the best card you can get for 200 pounds
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B007MSI5AK/?tag=pcp0f-21

This is as you should go.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B007EME3XW/?tag=pcp0f-21

This card is probably the best you should get for your CPU.
http://www.dabs.com/products/xfx-ati-radeon-6870-900mhz-1gb-pci-express-hdmi-7QFX.html?utm_source=td&utm_medium=affiliates&utm_content=TB00?ReferrerID=tb&utm_source=td&utm_medium=affiliates&utm_content=TB00

 

[arbster]

If you're going to buy a new graphics card i really think you should overclock your CPU.It's just not as good as you think it is.Overclocking it to 3GHZ should give you a lot of additional performance and since you've got yourself a water cooler that shouldnt be a problem.

In my opinion thats the best card you can get for 200 pounds
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B007MSI5AK/?tag=pcp0f-21

This is as you should go.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B007EME3XW/?tag=pcp0f-21

This card is probably the best you should get for your CPU.
http://www.dabs.com/products/xfx-ati-radeon-6870-900mhz-1gb-pci-express-hdmi-7QFX.html?utm_source=td&utm_medium=affiliates&utm_content=TB00?ReferrerID=tb&utm_source=td&utm_medium=affiliates&utm_content=TB00

Many thanks for your comprehensive reply. I definitely will look at overclocking my CPU as I noticed it runs at around 30-40 degress while the GPU is much higher. Believe me, I'm under no illusions that it's a good CPU - the machine is nearly 4 years old! I don't think I have many options without replacing the motherboard though.

Regarding the Graphics Card option, if I understand correctly you're saying that the best I could buy for under £200 would be the Sapphire HD 7870, but that it would be overkill for my current mobo/CPU and the XFX HD 6870 would be more proportionate. Is that correct?

 

[spentshells]

7850 is likely the right upgrade for you.