UPGRADE MY H6850 TO SOMETHING MUCH BETTER HELP!!

[n7ad-sli]

Hi Guys,

This is my second post to be precise. I was wondering if you guys could advise me on what graphics card to get. Im not really that technical when it comes to computers and still learning but I would like to upgrade my HD 6850 from something much higher in terms of performance and detail wise. I was leaning towards a HD 7970 but im not sure if my current cpu will bottleneck the performance. Anyway to be honest my budget is not a problem so please, if you have any idea or something which would be a "BIG" upgrade please let me no. This can be from upgrading my full specs that I have which is;

AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Socket AM3 3.8GHz 8MB L3 Cache CPU

- Coolermaster silent 80plus Certified Efficiency PSU

- 8GB Dual Channel G-Skill RIPJAW DDR3 1600MHz

- AMD ATi Radeon HD 6850 1GB GDDR5 PCI-E Graphics Card

- Asus M4A88T-V EVO/USB3 880G CrossfireX Motheboard

- Samsung F3 1000GB 7200rpm SATA II Hard Drive

- Samsung DVD±RW with LightScribe

My psu watts is 450w and my cpu has been overclocked to 3.8ghz as mentioned. I want to be able to play games like Guild Wars 2 and further pc releases on ultra without no problems to last for lets say 3-4 years. I will only be using a 1680x1050 full HD. This pc build has lasted me for 3 years. Sorry if I missed anything I am a noob but any advise will be appreciated. Also I rather not crossfire because of certain problems I would rather not deal with but let me no of this experience as well if anyone has the same specs as me.

Thanks.

 

[ProSnipor]

Okay, well unfortunately in your case a psu upgrade is a MUST. If budget isn't an issue with you here is what i would recommend;
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817171057

That is an 800 watt psu which should tie you over for quite some time in terms of power, its a good psu i have the 1000w version.
Next thing i would recommend would be this
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150605
A 7870 should push a ridiculous amount of frames at 1680x1050. Or if you want to save a few bucks this would be just fine;
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102999

Lastly your cpu should not bottleneck either of these cards but if you were to opt for a 7950 or a 7970 as your gpu i would recommend this (if you wish to stay with amd, if you have to swap motherboards go the intel route and pick up a 3570k);
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819113285
The 8320 shouldn't bottleneck any 7900 series cards severely. I hope i helped!

Cheers

 

[Tom Burnqest]

I would good with a GTX 660ti FTW+ http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130817 as it will work on that decent 450watt PSU that you already have.

 

[ProSnipor]

Keep in mind that the 660ti requires a minimum of a 450 watt psu. This means your current one while almost always be completely running as hard as it can. This leads to wasted energy (the efficiency decreases as you max out the psu), and the power supply itself will die sooner. Just my two cents though, its your build so its all up to you.

 

[n7ad-sli]

To be honest I think I need to upgrade the PSU as it wont be enough but with the current CPU that I have and lets say I do get a HD7970 will my cpu bottleneck that and if so how much? or lets say with those cards that you mentioned ProSnipor will i see a much better performance. For Now I want to play Guild wars 2 on ultra with fps of 50+. Thanks for the idea's its helping.

 

[ProSnipor]

Currently i'm using an FX8350 at stock clocks with an HD 7950 i can get around 50+ outside of lions arch. Your processor won't bottleneck you in games like BF3 however from my knowledge Guild Wars 2 is a CPU heavy game. I was able to max it out (without supersampling) on a 5770, and my fps didn't change. The only reason i lagged was because my Phenom II x6 1035T refused to clock faster than 3.3ghz. Really i would need to know what you are currently getting in guildwars 2 to help you out more. A good way to test what is holding you back is to drop all of the graphical settings, if you don't gain that much fps that means you are currently experiencing a CPU related bottleneck.

 

[n7ad-sli]

Ok so basically your saying that my graphics card will be more than enough for guild wars 2 to be on ultra but depends on my cpu and if i were to use a 7970, for games such as bf3 with my current cpu a 7970 will be ok for ultra without that much of a bottleneck? Sorry about this just making sure I understand before I buy anything. I was going to buy a graphics card and PSU and then get the game, so i cant really test but only speculate. On bf3 I can play the game on High- Ultra settings over 30+ on campaign and high on multiplayer with my current specs on 1680x1050 and thats probably one of the most intense gpu game out at the moment.

 

[ProSnipor]

Tbh, i think a 3.8ghz quad core from AMD isn't going to bottleneck any game that bad. Just know that a 6850 in terms of generation leaps is actually a little less powerful than the 5770 (due to the 6900 series being added). So yea i think you would be okay, you will definitely be able to play it with some on medium and some high on a 6850 (well above 60). And yes this differs between games because some games rely on your CPU instead of your GPU's power. BF3 obviously taxes the GPU more so it can display the beautiful graphics it has. MMOs like GW2 tax the cpu more. To sum this all up, buy the game before you make any upgrades, play test it a bit. If you lag and changing the graphical settings don't help, buy a new CPU. If you lag on High settings but not on low, buy a new GPU. If you're going to upgrade either component, make sure you upgrade your power supply as well.

 

[n7ad-sli]

Thanks alot ProSnipor you have helped me alot I will get the game and test it and will let you know how it goes.

Thanks again

N7ad

 

[iam2thecrowe]

gtx660 or 7850 would be good upgrades to what you have without too much of a cpu bottleneck, and should run ok on that psu since they don't use any more power than the 6850. Anything more would require a psu upgrade.

 

[iam2thecrowe]

To sum this all up, buy the game before you make any upgrades, play test it a bit. If you lag and changing the graphical settings don't help, buy a new CPU. If you lag on High settings but not on low, buy a new GPU. If you're going to upgrade either component, make sure you upgrade your power supply as well.

this is not true, as going from high detail settings to low settings would affect both CPU and GPU eg. shadows, particles and physics are often processed on the cpu. What you want to change is screen resolution, and leave all the other settings the same. that way your changing the load on the gpu but not the cpu.