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4870 1gig to 5750 or 5770.

severus

Senior member
Dec 30, 2007
563
4
81
I already know this is a sideways upgrade. I'm not looking for more performance, if anything my 4870 is too powerful for my monitor (1440x900). I can crank up every setting and add plenty of AA. The problem is the damn thing is a power eater and it also keeps heating up to like 80°C at full load with the fan on 100%. My system then proceeds to freeze, video disappears, and then the computer turns off. I can probably sell my 4870 for around $115 ( I only payed 120$ for it back in the day)

I have an e6750 at 3.4ghz and 4 gigs of ram so I'm not being held back by my cpu either. My real question is will I notice a huge performance hit if I "downgrade" to one of the newer 57 series cards. I'm basically looking to save some energy and I notice those cards have way lower wattage usage. I know the question will arise, well what games do you play? Main focus is cs 1.6 which is a joke even for a ti4200 and 2200xp, I also fiddle with bad company 2 and civilization 4, but I don't mind not having everything turned up (i'm more of a performance than quality freak) I don't use vsync (it kills my 1.6fps).

I'm no ATi fanboy either, I have a gtx 260 on my phenom machine, but right now I don't think nVidia has a viable solution and when and if I do decide to reinstall Win 7 (which I despise) I'll have a DX 11 card, albeit a low end one.
 

v8envy

Platinum Member
Sep 7, 2002
2,720
0
0
For the games you mentioned at 1440x900 you won't notice if you downgrade all the way down to a 5570.
 

Skurge

Diamond Member
Aug 17, 2009
5,195
1
71
You will get similar performance from a 5770. go ahead and get one
 

jtisgeek

Senior member
Jan 26, 2010
295
0
0
I think you are right on it but spending 150 dollars on a new video card that's the same speed to me doesn't make since.

If your 4870 gets to hot then how about fixing the problem new paste for starters look at your case air flow all this stuff is pretty much free.

Hell even a nice new cooler for your 4870 is much cheaper. I think under load your not going to save very much power like what 40 watts.
 

blanketyblank

Golden Member
Jan 23, 2007
1,149
0
0
5770 is a good choice since now with sales they are actually cheaper than most 5750s. You are getting a few thingss over the 4870, but the most important is lower power, sound, and temps. A $25 sidegrade would work fine for that monitor.

On the other hand can't you just downclock the 4870? Not sure how much it will help unless you can tweak voltage as well, but it should decrease the heat by a little.
 

alexruiz

Platinum Member
Sep 21, 2001
2,836
556
126
Using catalyst 9.12 or newer, the 5770 should already be faster than the 4870, specially in newer games. Not a lot, but just as the 4870 was slightly but consistently faster than the 5770 when the 5700 series launched, the 5770 is now ahead just because of newer drivers

In older games, however, you might notice a decrease in performance, but going form 200 fps to 160 will not be bad :p
 

Face2Face

Diamond Member
Jun 6, 2001
4,100
215
106
I think somethings wrong with your card? 80 c and the fan @ 100%-- How long is the card running like this. I would hate to be the guy you sold this card too. How is the Airflow in your case? Does the card need a little cleaning?
 

severus

Senior member
Dec 30, 2007
563
4
81
It's only been running this hot since I installed windows 7, uninstalled, and switched back to xp. I guess 3 or 4 days? It use to run much much cooler. I have no idea what's wrong with it. Theres no dust in the case, airflow is outstanding. I have a full tower - Thermaltake Xaser II 5000. 5 80mm fans in the case. Fenrir Titan on the CPU. The CPU is running at like 20° C at 3.6. Something is peculiar here.
 

severus

Senior member
Dec 30, 2007
563
4
81
I've never registered the card. It's well over a year old already, I don't think I can register it.
 

BD231

Lifer
Feb 26, 2001
10,568
138
106
All you have to do to register in most cases is just enter the serial number into a website so they know someone has the card. You should at least have 3 years on hardware, six if you buy an XFX part. I'd investigate your return options before you have to sell low, the 4870 is a great card at the moment.
 

EnzoLT

Golden Member
Jul 18, 2005
1,843
4
91
yeah just try to register it or get a better cooler. side-grading is really not worth it at all and you'll end up spending more money than necessary.
 

Face2Face

Diamond Member
Jun 6, 2001
4,100
215
106
Every card is different-- I had to exchange my GTX 280 twice untill I got one that wouldn't climb to 105+c when playing games. I don't think changing the OS would have an effect on the new temp. I believe the card is showing signs of failure..
 

blanketyblank

Golden Member
Jan 23, 2007
1,149
0
0
Problem is 3rd party cooling is going to cost like $40 while buying a new 5770 and selling the old assuming you do get $115 is only $25. Plus you are getting a new warranty and all the other extras.
 

evolucion8

Platinum Member
Jun 17, 2005
2,867
3
81
Try to clean your cooling device, clean your GPU from the old thermal paste and apply new thermal paste, that should be enough. The HD 4800 series are notorious to run a bit high, but they're not very prone to die by heat. So doing what I said will help you. But if you want a nice sidegrade, don't go with any card under the HD 5770 like the HD 5750, its a considerable downgrade.
 

bryanW1995

Lifer
May 22, 2007
11,144
32
91
keep in mind that if you reapply thermal paste you will probably void your warranty. I'd look at rma options first, then try to reapply thermal paste, and THEN if nothing else works try to swap it out for a 5xxx card.
 

nyker96

Diamond Member
Apr 19, 2005
5,630
2
81
DON'T DO IT!! almost same speed in benchmarks if you going to upgrade get the hd5850 or you will not notice a thing!
 

blanketyblank

Golden Member
Jan 23, 2007
1,149
0
0
DON'T DO IT!! almost same speed in benchmarks if you going to upgrade get the hd5850 or you will not notice a thing!

He's not trying to upgrade. OP is trying to fix an overheating issue. 5850 won't be an upgrade for him either, because at the resolution he plays at the 4870 is already "too powerful". 5770 will be the same speed without overheating problem. However there may be other problems like GSOD if he's unlucky.
 

DrZoidberg

Member
Jul 10, 2005
171
0
0
I already know this is a sideways upgrade. I'm not looking for more performance, if anything my 4870 is too powerful for my monitor (1440x900). I can crank up every setting and add plenty of AA. The problem is the damn thing is a power eater and it also keeps heating up to like 80°C at full load with the fan on 100%. My system then proceeds to freeze, video disappears, and then the computer turns off. I can probably sell my 4870 for around $115 ( I only payed 120$ for it back in the day)

I have an e6750 at 3.4ghz and 4 gigs of ram so I'm not being held back by my cpu either. My real question is will I notice a huge performance hit if I "downgrade" to one of the newer 57 series cards. I'm basically looking to save some energy and I notice those cards have way lower wattage usage. I know the question will arise, well what games do you play? Main focus is cs 1.6 which is a joke even for a ti4200 and 2200xp, I also fiddle with bad company 2 and civilization 4, but I don't mind not having everything turned up (i'm more of a performance than quality freak) I don't use vsync (it kills my 1.6fps).

I'm no ATi fanboy either, I have a gtx 260 on my phenom machine, but right now I don't think nVidia has a viable solution and when and if I do decide to reinstall Win 7 (which I despise) I'll have a DX 11 card, albeit a low end one.


Is it easy to sell your video card for $115? Do you tell the buyer that your card overheats when it is at full load? I have a 7900gt i want to sell because i replaced it with a 5770 but the 7900gt crashes randomly, and the card has dropped so much in value i think aftermarket cooler is more valuable then the card itself.
 

Face2Face

Diamond Member
Jun 6, 2001
4,100
215
106
Is it easy to sell your video card for $115? Do you tell the buyer that your card overheats when it is at full load? I have a 7900gt i want to sell because i replaced it with a 5770 but the 7900gt crashes randomly, and the card has dropped so much in value i think aftermarket cooler is more valuable then the card itself.



I am in the same boat. I have a 7900 GT as well and it crashes all of the sudden without notice. Most of the time it works--but I can't sell it to screw over someone else. Oh well, I have another 7900 GS as a back up.