Chosing GPU and maybe CPU?

[topeira]

hi guys.
as predictable as it may seem - im thinking about upgrading since im getting poor FPS on the witcher 2, Fable 3, Brink and crysis 2 (crysis 2 is OK, but not that great).

also my current rig is this
HD4870 512mb
Q6600 at 2.4ghz
4GB ram
win 7

here are some options i found in my country, second hand. for their price i might give a second hand card a go -
6870 1gb
6850 1gb
275gtx 896gb
285gtx
5770 1gb
5750 1gb

im not sure which of these cards is the strongest. disregard prices for the sake of the argument. just help me sort the cards from best to worse (top to bottom) if u will.

also im wondering if i should upgrade my CPU. if i do i found a used CPU of- i5 650 at 3.2 ghz and a new i52300 box at 2.8ghz at the same price. dont know which is better. i assume the 650 is.
are these better than my current cpu? worth the upgrade?

also how can i tell if my mobo can occupy these cards? i have a gygabyte one but not sure which is it. is there a way to find out or just restart and watch the screen as the computer boots up?...

last question - if i change my CPU does that mean i need to format windows and start all over again? cuz i am sure that formatting isnt required if i change my GPU.

thanks, everyone.

 

[Wizlem]

What resolution do you play at?

Another thing to think about is overclocking your current processor.

As for the cards i'm probably inclined to say:

6870 > 6850 > 285 > 275 > 4870 > 5770 > 5750

but this depends on game and resolution. There are better choices out there than any of these depending on what you want to spend and whether you will overclock.

To note is the 285 and 275 are older cards on an older process than the 5000 and 6000 series cards. You might want to look into NVidias 400 series such as the 460 if you will overclock or ATIs 5800 series.

If you are thinking about upgrading your CPU, the i5 2500k is pretty much the best value right now but AMD has bulldozer supposedly coming out in less than 2 months.

 

[Dark Shroud]

Don't buy a non-DX11 card. Meaning AMD 6000 & 5000 series. And Nvidia 500 & 400 series cards. Don't waste your money on anything older.

If you don't upgrade often then get a AMD HD 6950 2GB model. This will last a few years at midlevel resolutions.

 

[crisium]

The Q6600 is an excellent overclocker, and even with the stock fan there is no fear in doing so. Nearly all Q6600 can reach 3.0GHz quite easily.

Wizlem is correct on the performance, and Dark Shroud is correct that you need DX11 at this point.

My suggestion is to overclock your current GPU, and grab a Radeon 6870 or 6950.

 

[topeira]

what? the 285gtx is a DX10 and not DX11? didnt know that.
and crisium, i assume u mean i should OC my CPU, right? not GPU
so u think that i shouldnt upgrade the CPU? it should do fine, in your opinion?

 

[cusideabelincoln]

Your CPU would do fine if you overclock it.

The i5 2300 is faster than the i5 650. But with either processor, you will need to get a new motherboard and new RAM.

 

[topeira]

Your CPU would do fine if you overclock it.

The i5 2300 is faster than the i5 650. But with either processor, you will need to get a new motherboard and new RAM.

oh. good point. i dont want to do that... :\

how do i know if a 6850 or any other new GPU fits in my case\mobo?
is there a reason why it shouldnt?

 

[cusideabelincoln]

The 6850 should be the same size or smaller than your current 4870. If your 4870 fits fine, then the 6850 will too. The GTX 285 is definitely a bigger card than the 4870, so it may not fit. I believe the GTX 275 is also bigger. So those really aren't considerations, as there are better and newer cards available anyway. The 5770/5750 are definitely smaller than the 4870.

 

[topeira]

what is the difference between the 6870 and the 6850? is it a big one?
is it worth the extra money? i think i found a 60$ difference between them....

 

[Gryz]

Check out the benchmarks on this website. They will tell you everything you want to know about CPU and GPU performance. There are seperate benchmarks for CPU and GPU. You can look at DX10 and DX11 performance. Etc.

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/CPU/2
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/GPU11/188

I agree you should get either a nVidia 500-series videocard, or an AMD/ATI 6000 series one. Investing money in any older card is a waste. Personally I am planning to buy a gtx560ti when I upgrade the rest of my system (soon). The alternative would be a 6000 series one. A gtx500ti costs only 200 euros (or less (here in The Netherlands)). I think that's a reasonable price, and the extra money I could have put into a GTX580, I can use to buy a new videocard sooner (when the next generation is released in 8-18 months).

CPU is more difficult. In many games, a faster CPU will not give you spectacular more fps. (In some games it does). Also, when buying a new CPU, you will probably need to buy a new mobo too, maybe even new ram. However, new cpus are cheap, and ram is dirty cheap. I am waiting to see how the new AMD cpus will turn out (just need to wait 4 more weeks). Then I'll get either a new AMD cpu (called Bulldozer), or an i5-2500K (best value for your money today). But again, I think it's best to wait 4 more weeks.

 

[topeira]

i think im not going to upgrade the CPU. i am having a feeling that it isnt bottle necking me so much.

i am seeing a slight 10% shift in FPS in favor of the 6870 over the 6850 but the price of the 6870 is not just 10% more expensive but more like 18% more expensive. is the 6870 worth the extra price for such small performance gain?

 

[crisium]

The 6870 performs about 15% faster than the 6850.

 

[topeira]

thanks for your help people.

appreciated.

 

[RussianSensation]

i think im not going to upgrade the CPU. i am having a feeling that it isnt bottle necking me so much.

i am seeing a slight 10% shift in FPS in favor of the 6870 over the 6850 but the price of the 6870 is not just 10% more expensive but more like 18% more expensive. is the 6870 worth the extra price for such small performance gain?

If you aren't going to overclock the Q6600, then anything beyond a GTX460 1GB is a waste of $. At stock speeds, the Q6600 isn't even fast enough to push a GTX460, nevermind a 6870.

Q9400 is roughly as fast as a stock Q6600. That CPU is almost 2x slower than modern processors for gaming, even at 1080P. I suggest you overclock your processor to at least 3.2+ghz.

Also, with current pricing, assuming you overclock your Q6600 to 3.2-3.4ghz, HD6870 is a very good card (esp. since AMD cards are less sensitive to slower CPU processors).