Upgrading from 5770 to...?

[shilk]

Looking for an upgrade, and quite frankly, I'm kind of stumped. Can you guys help me out? I'm starting to feel the age of my system pretty bad.

In the order of upgrades, I'm a bit torn on which route I can do this in. My current rig is in my signature, so I'll be plopping ~$250 each for upgrades when I can.

1. VideoCard
2. CPU
3. Monitor (will upgrade to a better monitor soon.)

I've been eyeing the GTX 560 ti as an upgrade for a bit now. I know it'll out perform my current 5770, but I'm not sure if I should just get a CPU upgrade first. If I get a CPU, I need to get a new mobo since it doesn't support the Bulldozer — or suck it up and get a cheaper X6 CPU for now.

So many damn choices.

[MaysitoJr]

What resolution do you play at? Very few games are limited by the cpu power at 1920x1080 or higher resolutions (Skyrim is one of them, it really benefits from a Sandy Bridge processor), so if i were you i would first upgrade the videocard. The Geforce GTX 560ti is a good option.

If later you want to upgrade your cpu/mobo, i'd suggest you go the intel way (sandy bridge) hands down.

[Redeemed]

It is actually quite simple.

Before this 4870 I owned a 5770. My best friend was gaming with a GeForce 7900GT and I felt bad so I gave him my 5770. Shortly there after another good friend of mine blessed me with my present 4870. I am very familiar with the performance of the 5770 from actual first-hand experience. I know what it is capable of and its limits.

As such I'm also researching upgrade possibilities. I really want to enjoy Crysis 2 in all it's DX11 and High-Def texture goodness, as well as Skyrim and BF3 with all the bells and whistles, not to mention Prey 2 when it comes out next year.

That said, I would argue one of two things:

a.)Keep the card. The 7 series are going to be launched mainstream parts first, higher end parts to follow. Seeing as how you first bought the 5770 and are now looking at the GTX560 I can safely assume you're concerned with only the mainstream parts and not the highend. As such, the mainstream of the 7 series should be available as early as next month, as late as the beginning of next year. It is likely that the "7770" will offer near 6970 levels of performance, at under $250, while consuming less power and producing less heat. Even if the wait is 2 months, far worth it in my opinion. This is likely what I'll be doing instead of buying anything right now.

b.)If you cannot wait- hapooh is selling 3x 5870s for $90 each. At $90 one of his 5870s is a considerably better deal than even the GTX560ti. Not to mention for $180 you could buy two of his 5870s and completely crush anything nVidia or even AMD offers in the $200 price range. Not sure if your mobo supports CrossFire or not so you might be just limited to one 5870. Honestly, if you cannot wait to upgrade your card then I'd recommend picking up one of hapooh's 5870s. Will nearly double your performance at a fraction of the price of a GTX560.

Regarding your processor- forget about Bulldozer. In most scenerios a PhenomII x6 will be faster. I'd buy the PhenomII x6 and shoot for 3.6 - 4.2Ghz. Plenty of CPU power for quite some time to come. Maybe after a couple revisions Bulldozer will be competitive but as it stands, it's not worth the money and wouldn't really be an upgrade.

As to what you should upgrade first... I'd say upgrade your CPU, buy a PhenomII x6 first. Then as soon as the mainstream 7 series is available pickup one of those. If you cannot wait a month or two to upgrade your video card then pickup one of hapooh's 5870s (or two if your mobo supports CrossFire).

[shilk]

Right now, the max resolution for my monitor is 1440x900 — crappy, I know. But I might pick one up if the price is right, soon. I just never got around to getting a better one since this one was free.

I was already contemplating on getting the i5 2500k with a decent mobo. It'll only add up to about $350 with tax and shipping. Dunno if I should hop on that right now or wait until Black Friday which is only a week away.

Right-o, then. Videocard it is. Feels weird coming back to the green side.

[shilk]

Originally Posted by Redeemed

a.)Keep the card. The 7 series are going to be launched mainstream parts first, higher end parts to follow. Seeing as how you first bought the 5770 and are now looking at the GTX560 I can safely assume you're concerned with only the mainstream parts and not the highend. As such, the mainstream of the 7 series should be available as early as next month, as late as the beginning of next year. It is likely that the "7770" will offer near 6970 levels of performance, at under $250, while consuming less power and producing less heat. Even if the wait is 2 months, far worth it in my opinion. This is likely what I'll be doing instead of buying anything right now.

I'm only concerned about gaming for the time being as I have plenty of time off on my hands for now. I did not know about the 7 series. And definitely didn't know they were on the horizon that soon. Will keep an eye out for those! Thanks, Redeemed!

b.)If you cannot wait- hapooh is selling 3x 5870s for $90 each. At $90 one of his 5870s is a considerably better deal than even the GTX560ti. Not to mention for $180 you could buy two of his 5870s and completely crush anything nVidia or even AMD offers in the $200 price range. Not sure if your mobo supports CrossFire or not so you might be just limited to one 5870. Honestly, if you cannot wait to upgrade your card then I'd recommend picking up one of hapooh's 5870s. Will nearly double your performance at a fraction of the price of a GTX560.

Ah, that sounds like an awesome deal. My mobo does support CrossFire, so I might have to consider that. Only it really cranks down the bandwidth to 4x 4x. With a single videocard, it's at a full 16x.

As to what you should upgrade first... I'd say upgrade your CPU, buy a PhenomII x6 first. Then as soon as the mainstream 7 series is available pickup one of those. If you cannot wait a month or two to upgrade your video card then pickup one of hapooh's 5870s (or two if your mobo supports CrossFire).

That sounds good. I can save tons of money by getting an X6 for $150 now and then just getting a videocard later.

Is there a specific X6 I should keep an eye out for or stay away from?

[Redeemed]

Originally Posted by shilk

I'm only concerned about gaming for the time being as I have plenty of time off on my hands for now. I did not know about the 7 series. And definitely didn't know they were on the horizon that soon. Will keep an eye out for those! Thanks, Redeemed!

Ah, that sounds like an awesome deal. My mobo does support CrossFire, so I might have to consider that. Only it really cranks down the bandwidth to 4x 4x. With a single videocard, it's at a full 16x.

Is that PCI-e 1.0 or 2.0? If 4x at 2.0 that should be equivalent to 8x at 1.0 which is more than sufficient for dual 5870s.

Or, even if you just got one 5870 that's still going to out perform the GTX560ti in most games (albeit by a small margin), while costing considerably less, producing less heat and consuming less power in most games (there are some situations where the 560 may perform better, but averages seem to favor the 5870).

Originally Posted by shilk

That sounds good. I can save tons of money by getting an X6 for $150 now and then just getting a videocard later.

Is there a specific X6 I should keep an eye out for or stay away from?

Well, newegg has the 1100T for $189. If that is too expensive then there's plenty of others to choose from. If you can afford it I'd go for the 1100T. If you cannot, then just get which ever one falls within your price range. Any will be a decent upgrade from your current processor, especially if OC'd.

[shilk]

Originally Posted by Redeemed

Is that PCI-e 1.0 or 2.0? If 4x at 2.0 that should be equivalent to 8x at 1.0 which is more than sufficient for dual 5870s.

It's a 2.0. That's cool, I didn't know that.

I see you were interested in getting his cards as well. If anything, I'll wait it out for the 7 series GPU and see what happens. Not sure if I can guarantee I won't snatch those cards up though if you don't, heh.

Well, newegg has the 1100T for $189. If that is too expensive then there's plenty of others to choose from. If you can afford it I'd go for the 1100T. If you cannot, then just get which ever one falls within your price range. Any will be a decent upgrade from your current processor, especially if OC'd.

Does the $20 price difference between the 1100T and 1090T really warrant it, though? I mean, I don't think it's a problem about the price, but if 1ghz is all the difference then I can swing for the 1090T. 1ghz for $20 seems a bit silly to me.

I might pick it up at the local Fry's then since it's the same exact prices as newegg. If I'm going to pay the same amount of tax, I'd rather have it in my hands in 10 minutes as opposed to 4 days.

[Redeemed]

Originally Posted by shilk

It's a 2.0. That's cool, I didn't know that.

I see you were interested in getting his cards as well. If anything, I'll wait it out for the 7 series GPU and see what happens. Not sure if I can guarantee I won't snatch those cards up though if you don't, heh.

Don't sweat it man- if you have the means to pick up his cards then do it! Wont bother me in the least.

EDIT: That might be a nice solution to hold you over till the 7 series. If you picked up two of his cards now, in a couple month you could likely still sell both for about $150 ($75 a piece). That should pay for the majority of the "7770" or whatever AMD will call it. And if the 7 series turns out to be a major let down, just keep the two 5870s till something more suitable comes along. Dual 5870s is a whole lot of graphics power, especially at 1440x900. When you upgrade your monitor you'll likely breathe new life into those 5870s because you'll remove more of the CPU bottleneck.

Originally Posted by shilk

Does the $20 price difference between the 1100T and 1090T really warrant it, though? I mean, I don't think it's a problem about the price, but if 1ghz is all the difference then I can swing for the 1090T. 1ghz for $20 seems a bit silly to me.

I might pick it up at the local Fry's then since it's the same exact prices as newegg. If I'm going to pay the same amount of tax, I'd rather have it in my hands in 10 minutes as opposed to 4 days.

The biggest difference between the 1090T and 1100T is AMD's "TurboCore"- which is essentially their version of Intel's "Turbo Mode" for the Core i7's. If that isn't a huge concern for you, I'd save the money and go for the 1090T if you plan to manually over clock it. If you don't plan to manually over clock it that 1100T may be a better deal cause it'll over clock itself up to 3.7GHz.

[shilk]

Okay, sweet. I'll pick up the CPU at Fry's tomorrow then.

I should have some left over to get the 5870's. Not sure if I want to go with CrossFire right now, but I do know I'll get at least one.

Thanks for the advice, Redeemed!

[Redeemed]

Originally Posted by shilk

Okay, sweet. I'll pick up the CPU at Fry's tomorrow then.

I should have some left over to get the 5870's. Not sure if I want to go with CrossFire right now, but I do know I'll get at least one.

Thanks for the advice, Redeemed!

Hey it's the least I could do. Be sure to post pics and impressions after the upgrades are all done!

One thing to remind you about- 1440x900 is uber low res for a card like a 5870. If performance isn't what you expected at first, start adding Anti-Aliasing to your games- you should be able to play most every game out right now with 100% maxed in-game settings at 1440x900 with varying levels of AA. Going CrossFire now might not yeild any substantial results because of the lower resolution. But once you get that new monitor you'll really see the 5870(s) come to life!

[Rakeesh]

I'm on a 5750 right now. So far it can handle everything I throw at it at max settings at 1920x1080 (no FSAA though, as I don't usually care for it) but I will upgrade as soon as the 28nm GPU's hit.

I like the 5750 because it does a lot for how much heat it produces. I'm looking for an upgrade to the 28nm space because ideally I'll upgrade to something that performs better at the same TDP.

[shilk]

Originally Posted by Redeemed

Hey it's the least I could do. Be sure to post pics and impressions after the upgrades are all done!

One thing to remind you about- 1440x900 is uber low res for a card like a 5870. If performance isn't what you expected at first, start adding Anti-Aliasing to your games- you should be able to play most every game out right now with 100% maxed in-game settings at 1440x900 with varying levels of AA. Going CrossFire now might not yeild any substantial results because of the lower resolution. But once you get that new monitor you'll really see the 5870(s) come to life!

Hehe, will do.

I usally max out everything I can first and see how it runs, then slowly turn down effects that have little visual impact like decals and stuff. At this resolution, the 5770 has been great, but I can see the lag in some games (Assassin's Creed II/Brotherhood, Skyrim, etc.) if I leave some options on. There's some pretty bad stutter at times as well.

With the newest Catalyst drivers, I can max out Skyrim to ultra, and it's very playable. But if I make sudden 180 turns, it's super choppy. If anything, the 5870 will help, tons later on.

Oh, God. I don't even want to get into monitors. There's so many right now that it's hard to choose from.

Originally Posted by Rakeesh

I like the 5750 because it does a lot for how much heat it produces. I'm looking for an upgrade to the 28nm space because ideally I'll upgrade to something that performs better at the same TDP.

Same reason why I got the 5770. It's not this giant furnace of a card, and for what I can accomplish it was perfect. I am, however, looking to get a little more "oomph" for now as I have been laid off yet again and finally have some time to catch up with games. Being able to turn on ALL of the eyecandy will definitely be awesome.