4890 or a 5xxx card?

[midnight growler]

I'm just about ready to buy a new video card and Im wondering what will be the better upgrade option: a 4890, 5770 or 5850. The most I'm willing to spend is a bit over $300 which puts the 5870 and 5970 out of my envelop. I don't want to Crossfire two lesser cards either because I just have a 500 watt psu.

I'm just doing 1280x1024 right now, but a bigger monitor is definitely on the upgrade list sometime in the future.

The rest of my system is a amd 955 on a M4A79XTD and 4gigs of ram.

Which three of these cards would be the best upgrade for my money?

 

[Mana]

I would say get a 4870, maybe even a 4850. It should be more than sufficient for anything out now, and in a year, when games come out that will require something more, the 6870 and the successor to Fermi will be out. Plus, with your current monitor, even a 4850 is overkill.

 

[nOOky]

That or get the monitor now, and enjoy that extra real estate sooner rather than later. Then you'll want the 5850

 

[Udgnim]

I'd go for the 5850

 

[toyota]

OP get a modern monitor now. that 5:4 crap doesnt cut it for modern games that are built with widescreen in mind.

 

[Rifter]

If its between the 4890 and 5770 then get the 4890 hands down, its faster especially when AA is brought into it. The 5850 is faster than both, but also twice the cost so if you can afford it go for it. However as a 4890 owner that plays at 1080P with max settings you will be hard pressed to find a game that a 4890 cant handle. Can even play crysis max setting with no AA, or 2X AA with small FPS hit.

 

[LOUISSSSS]

monitor now, 5850/70 the second u can afford it. they're killer cards and nvidia has crap up its sleeve

 

[Painman]

+1 on upping that monitor ASAP. 1280*1024 is obsolete... that should not be the framework within which you buy any decent, modern GPU.

 

[Ranulf]

Hmm, so if on a $150 or so budget, the 4890 wins out and if budget is higher, 5850? Ultimately I'll be running a new quadcore on a 1920x1080 23'' monitor.

 

[RaistlinZ]

I'd say go monitor now. Especially since the 5850 is overpriced at the moment.

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

People say a 4870 is overkill for a 19" lcd - which is relative to their opinion on how they care about playing games. Me, I'm a competitive player. Mostly UT3. Bah, who am i kidding, All I play is UT3 - even when it takes > 4ms to render a frame the input lag gets noticeable. If you are a serious online competitor, go for the 5850.

 

[Necrolezbeast]

Get this! http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2036986
With under $300 you can grab that and a 4870 and have some $$ to spare

 

[midnight growler]

OP here. I know I'm in kind of a tough spot here with the 5xxx series being overpriced, but I really want to upgrade now. If you think its a pity Im on 1280x1024, get ready to cry when I tell you its also with a 7800GT. So the card is going to come before the monitor.

How far ahead is the 5850 over the 5770 and how much extra are these cards going to give me over a 4890 when I get a 23" monitor?

 

[blanketyblank]

What mobo are you planning on using? I'd suggest a 5770 now and then get a second for crossfire when you upgrade the rest of the system. 2 x 5770 is probably really close to 2 x 4890, but has much better power consumption so you don't need a great psu.
They will aslo outperform a single 5850 sometimes a 5870 in almost any game that supports crossfire.

btw this is a pretty good benchmark:
http://www.guru3d.com/article/radeon-hd-5770-review-test/22

Thus the way I see it:
150 now
then 80 later if they do come down in price and after you get your monitor. Gets you 5850+ performance and good gpu now.

 

[Makaveli]

+1 on upping that monitor ASAP. 1280*1024 is obsolete... that should not be the framework within which you buy any decent, modern GPU.

This ^^^

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

nope, get the 5850, trust me, you'll be happier

 

[djnsmith7]

My vote goes for the monitor, as 24" monitors are much less expensive these days than they were a few years ago. Get the 24" monitor then the 5850 & you'll be set for a long time.

 

[mebiuspower]

^+1.

 

[yacoub]

you guys are telling him to get a bigger monitor - but running it on a 7800GT will be a slideshow! he needs a GPU alongside any monitor upgrade.

I vote for a 5770 for $160 and save the extra $150 to put towards something better next Fall.

 

[toyota]

you guys are telling him to get a bigger monitor - but running it on a 7800GT will be a slideshow! he needs a GPU alongside any monitor upgrade.

I vote for a 5770 for $160 and save the extra $150 to put towards something better next Fall.

and stick with 1280x1024 for another year? yikes. thats such a horrible resolution that once he does get a modern widescreen he will wonder how he lived with that square screen.

 

[happy medium]

What mobo are you planning on using? I'd suggest a 5770 now and then get a second for crossfire when you upgrade the rest of the system. 2 x 5770 is probably really close to 2 x 4890, but has much better power consumption so you don't need a great psu.
They will aslo outperform a single 5850 sometimes a 5870 in almost any game that supports crossfire.

btw this is a pretty good benchmark:
http://www.guru3d.com/article/radeon-hd-5770-review-test/22

Thus the way I see it:
150 now
then 80 later if they do come down in price and after you get your monitor. Gets you 5850+ performance and good gpu now.

I like this option.

5770 now and another one when you upgrade the monitor.
5770 will max your games now at your resolution and another one will max your 24 inch future monitor with games.

Spend 155$ shipped now for a 5770.
The next one might only cost you 125$?
In a few months 24 inch monitors will be cheaper also.

It's a win -win for you.

 

[theprodigalrebel]

Bought a i5 750 + Radeon 5850 12 hours ago (dealer gave me a i7 860 ES as a placeholder because i5 750 supplies seem to have evaporated around here, the i5 should be here in a week). Waiting on a good deal for a quality 1920x1200 LCD. Until then have to stick with 1280x960 on my CRT. Haven't really tweaked stuff or overclocked anything yet but played Crysis for an hour on Very High with 4x AA. Like a knife through butter. I know it isn't exactly 'high-res' but I have heard so many Crysis horror stories I was afraid it would choke. Not bad considering I was primarily using a Pentium dual-core laptop with Intel G45 for the past few months.

Wonder what will happen once I get the new monitor and try that at 1920x1200. Until then I guess I will just check out all the insane AA settings.

 

[midnight growler]

Well I think I'll get the 5850 and a monitor as soon as I can after that. Thanks for all the suggestions!