[Phaedrus2129]

I want something that will beat my 4870s at the $200 mark already. Will I have to wait for the freaking HD8000 series for my next upgrade?

2xHD4870s are about on par with an HD6970 or GTX570. I see all this great competition and nice cards in the $100-$200 range, but none of them top what I have. I've got the upgrade itch, but there's nothing affordable that's worth it yet.

My current GPU setup cost me $275 total, by the way.

 

[Lord Xeb]

How the hell did you manage that one?

 

[Phaedrus2129]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lord Xeb How the hell did you manage that one?

Which one?

 

[LOL_Wut_Axel]

Err, wat? The Radeon HD 6870, a card that is readily available for $205, is 40% faster than the Radeon HD 4870. Or maybe you're trolling, IDK.

Radeon HD 6870

EDIT: oh, you mean a CrossFire? Well, there's always a price to pay when you go single-GPU. Dual GPU configs offer better performance but are more heavily dependent on drivers and can introduce more issues. That, and they have higher power consumption, run hotter, and will give you less of an upgrade path if you want to have playable framerates for more time since two higher-end GPUs will obviously perform better.

Also, a 4870 CF is only around 10-15% faster than 6870.

 

[tout]

I bought the 5850 and don't regret it one bit. DX 11 and lower idle power/temps have offset the small loss in benchmarks. Then I saved for a 2nd 5850 and I know I made a good choice.

My first 5850 cost me $170 after rebate and the 2nd $176 after another rebate. $346 and it beats the pants off what I was running with 2 x 4870s.

 

[Bobicon]

I'm sure you could find two 5770s for $100 bucks a pop that would out preform your current setup.

 

[jamborhgini313]

Wait..what? 2 4870's don't get close to 6970 or 570. They match a 5870 at most.

 

[Lucky 13 SpeedShop]

It's a little too late now. But a few weeks ago, a friend of mine picked up a Sapphire 5870 Eyefinity 6, just like mine, for $179 after rebate on a NewEgg Shell Shocker. I was a bit miffed that I paid $100 more for mine 4 months before that. :/ I'll keep my eyes open, and pm you if I see anything comparable come up again.

 

[Doom]

Ummm, yeah 68xx?

I had a CF 4850 set up a month or so ago, one still goes hard and the other is a brick (non reference, go figure).
I went and got a 6870 for less than I paid for either of the 4850s ($225 AUD) loved it so much I got another the next weekend.
Smookes the 4850s in most games and beats them to death on all the rest.

 

[Willhemmens]

Yeah two 4870's are around 5870 levels of perfomance.

 

[LOL_Wut_Axel]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Willhemmens Yeah two 4870's are around 5870 levels of perfomance.

And with the newest drivers, the 6870 is within spitting distance of the 5870, so...

The Radeon HD 6870 is very similar to your current setup and $200, OP. You also get the added benefit of it being only one card.

 

[Phaedrus2129]

I've seen different numbers, and it varies from game to game.

But even if I considered the 6870 or 5870 on par with what I have, that's not an upgrade. Power isn't a concern for me since I'm not paying the bill for that, and my case is very cool.

I'm just getting antsy, since I've been in DX10 world for a while and there's so much new stuff out. But when I upgrade I expect at least a 25% performance boost, minimum, and I don't see myself being able to spend more than $150-$250 on a graphics card any time in the near future. I just don't see that with the current gen and maybe not the next gen, and it's annoying.

 

[candy_van]

Eh, just wait till the next gen man (just like you're thinkin).

Those 4870s can still crank out the jams at 1920x1080.
Only AMD card I'd replace em with now if it "had to happen" is a 6950 (+unlock) but that's not at your desired price point anyway.

 

[Willhemmens]

Well I'd recommend the 5000 series. Just looking at the quality in the coolers makes me understand why they are great cards and sold so well.

Performance wise the 5000 series isn't a big enough upgrade though. I went from dual 4770's which is around 4890 performance and saw a huge benefit going to a 5850.

4870's are great cards and they aren't even old. I'd continue using them till you have issues playing the games you want to play, then think about an upgrade.

Perhaps there's somewhere else PC wise you could spend the money? Seems you already have a good all round though so I'm not sure what I'd upgrade.

 

[Phaedrus2129]

Yeah, I've got the upgrade itch but am having trouble finding something to justify it. Only thing I can clear cut say needs an upgrade is my CPU cooler. Maybe an H50/60/70. The Tt V1 was great for my E2200, but I'm heat limited with my Q9550. Even then, I don't need a higher overclock on my CPU since I'm not CPU limited in anything I do. :/

I'm at the top of LGA775 (Q9650 isn't worth the upgrade, QX9650 and QX9775 don't overclock as well as an E0 Q9550, and everything else is slower). If I wanted a decent upgrade for my main platform I'd need a brand new motherboard, CPU, and DDR3 memory, so I'd be looking at $400+ minimum.

 

[LOL_Wut_Axel]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Phaedrus2129;12981029
I've seen different numbers, and it varies from game to game.

But even if I considered the 6870 or 5870 on par with what I have, that's not an upgrade. Power isn't a concern for me since I'm not paying the bill for that, and my case is very cool.

I'm just getting antsy, since I've been in DX10 world for a while and there's so much new stuff out. But when I upgrade I expect at least a 25% performance boost, minimum, and I don't see myself being able to spend more than $150-$250 on a graphics card any time in the near future. I just don't see that with the current gen and maybe not the next gen, and it's annoying.

Quite honestly, I think you're expecting too much for the money. You picked up your Radeon HD 4870, judging by the price you paid, at the time when they were at their lowest price: when they were being discontinued because of the 5000 series. You can pick up something now that has a lot more features and the same performance for $20 less now. But, if you can pay $250 and want more than a 25% boost, you're gonna have to wait a few days for the 6790 to come out. That will be priced at $130 and is a decent amount faster than the 5770/4870.

 

[candy_van]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Phaedrus2129;12981106
Yeah, I've got the upgrade itch but am having trouble finding something to justify it. Only thing I can clear cut say needs an upgrade is my CPU cooler. Maybe an H50/60/70. The Tt V1 was great for my E2200, but I'm heat limited with my Q9550. Even then, I don't need a higher overclock on my CPU since I'm not CPU limited in anything I do. :/

Benchies and peen dude. Benchies and peen

 

[Phaedrus2129]

I got one HD4870 at the end of 2009 for $200, and picked up the other one used a year and a bit later for $75 (nice deal, eh?).

EDIT: Or maybe it was the end of 2008...? I don't remember.

 

[BankaiKiller]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Phaedrus2129 I want something that will beat my 4870s at the $200 mark already. Will I have to wait for the freaking HD8000 series for my next upgrade? 2xHD4870s are about on par with an HD6970 or GTX570. I see all this great competition and nice cards in the $100-$200 range, but none of them top what I have. I've got the upgrade itch, but there's nothing affordable that's worth it yet. My current GPU setup cost me $275 total, by the way.

Yea man all I can see for advantages of upgrading to a current card from amd would be eyefinity and directx11

then theres that supposedly new anti alaising option you can force into driver on the new 6'000 series but not sure how great that is EDIT: not even worth it for current cards in that price range....

amd 8000 wait FTW!

 

[Lucky 13 SpeedShop]

I'd wait for the 7***'s at least too. Personally, if anything, I'll prolly pick up a 5970 4Gb in the future to tri-fire for some more graphics horsepower. That is, if the 990FX comes in a dual PCI-E mATX FF board (I hope). I'm looking at stepping down to a smaller case in the near future. I really don't see myself taking this board off my tech station before I upgrade mobos.