Considering 5770 as "holdover" card until my next BIG upgrade.

[Silenus]

I am planning on a complete system upgrade this coming year, but probably not until fall at least. I am thinking about doing an interim video card upgrade to hold me over. Now...I am a LONG time nVidia fan and I've haven't had an ATI card in like....well never. However, I am considering one now. I am leaning toward a 5770 to hold me over until my big upgrade when I will likely go for a Fermi card (should they hold up to the hype).

I'd like to get your thoughts, or possibly other suggestions. My particular interest for the moment is Mass Effect 2 which is coming soon. I'm sure it would run at least decently on my current rig but I'd really like to be able to max it out with good framerates. I may try Dragon Age Origins also but I don't have it yet.

Here is my current setup:
- 1680x1050 res
- 8800GTS 512 (G92) moderately overclocked
- Q6600 Quad running 3.5Ghz
- 4GB ram
- DFI Lanparty P35 board
- Windows 7 64bit

 

[v8envy]

I'm sure it would run at least decently on my current rig but I'd really like to be able to max it out with good framerates.

Isn't top of the line performance a bit much to ask from a mainstream card? It's half of a 5870. If it could max out the newest titles at reasonably high resolution why would anyone buy the enthusiast cards?

If I were you I'd just keep plugging along with the GTS and see what the future brings.

 

[happy medium]

At your resolution, I would consider a 8800gts 512 a good hold overcard.

 

[Zargon]

I agree. He is going to spend too much to get a decent upgrade over what that is going to give him

 

[Silenus]

Well, personally I don't consider a $150 card too terribly much...and I was going to sell off the 8800 to make up some of the difference. But perhaps you guys are right. Maybe I should just wait it out with what I have and not get too antsy.

Or perhaps I could wait for fermi and if it those look good get one right away, and then the rest of the machine later in the year.

Or I just not do anything at all until the fall... lol. I could certainly put the money towards some camera gear I want (photography is my other hobby and WAY more expensive than any of this gaming stuff!).

 

[happy medium]

I agree. He is going to spend too much to get a decent upgrade over what that is going to give him

He could go used? I got my gtx 260 for 125$ shipped.
4870's go for 120$ used.

Sell the 8800gts for 80 bucks and it wont break the bank.

 

[exar333]

Keep the 8800GT and wait for Fermi, or get a 5850/5870 for the long term (now).

 

[Magusigne]

I am planning on a complete system upgrade this coming year, but probably not until fall at least. I am thinking about doing an interim video card upgrade to hold me over. Now...I am a LONG time nVidia fan and I've haven't had an ATI card in like....well never. However, I am considering one now. I am leaning toward a 5770 to hold me over until my big upgrade when I will likely go for a Fermi card (should they hold up to the hype).

I'd like to get your thoughts, or possibly other suggestions. My particular interest for the moment is Mass Effect 2 which is coming soon. I'm sure it would run at least decently on my current rig but I'd really like to be able to max it out with good framerates. I may try Dragon Age Origins also but I don't have it yet.

Here is my current setup:
- 1680x1050 res
- 8800GTS 512 (G92) moderately overclocked
- Q6600 Quad running 3.5Ghz
- 4GB ram
- DFI Lanparty P35 board
- Windows 7 64bit

I would just keep the 8800GT or go to a 4870 if you can hock your 8800GT for a decent amount and upgrade for ~60 bucks.

 

[betasub]

It's a 8800GTS-512 (G92). Even better than the 8800GT, so the advice to keep it applies.

 

[spdfreak]

I have 2 9600GSO 384MB cards I can use in SLI or I can sell them and get a single card like the 5770. Will the 5770 be appreciably faster than the 9600GSO's in SLI? My monitor res is 1600x1200 but I don't use AA at that res so I'm wondering just how fast a card I really need.

 

[exar333]

I have 2 9600GSO 384MB cards I can use in SLI or I can sell them and get a single card like the 5770. Will the 5770 be appreciably faster than the 9600GSO's in SLI? My monitor res is 1600x1200 but I don't use AA at that res so I'm wondering just how fast a card I really need.

Are the games you play running slowly? If not, then your cards are fine. I wouldn't upgrade from your setup to less than a 5850 IMHO.

 

[Zargon]

He could go used? I got my gtx 260 for 125$ shipped.
4870's go for 120$ used.

Sell the 8800gts for 80 bucks and it wont break the bank.

true

some people dont like to buy used PC components and I wasnt really thinking about it

 

[Magusigne]

true

some people dont like to buy used PC components and I wasnt really thinking about it

XFX FTW...transferrable lifetime warranty.

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

What are the benifits of a 5770 over a 4870? Less power consumption? DX11?

 

[blanketyblank]

yes 5770 offers both less power consumption (translates to lower temps) and DX11. It's likely that mass effect 2 will have dx11 eventually so if you have the cash 5770 would work well enough for it. As long as you're not expecting 60 fps I think a 5770 should have no problem maxing out a game like mass effect 2 at 1680 x 1050 as long as the coding is better than crysis. Dragon age runs maxed on mine no problem at 1920x1080.

Depending on what mobo you'll eventually go to a second in crossfire could also be a cheap upgrade giving you over 5870 performance if fermi is dissapointing.

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

nm

 

[Magusigne]

yes 5770 offers both less power consumption (translates to lower temps) and DX11. It's likely that mass effect 2 will have dx11 eventually so if you have the cash 5770 would work well enough for it. As long as you're not expecting 60 fps I think a 5770 should have no problem maxing out a game like mass effect 2 at 1680 x 1050 as long as the coding is better than crysis. Dragon age runs maxed on mine no problem at 1920x1080.

Depending on what mobo you'll eventually go to a second in crossfire could also be a cheap upgrade giving you over 5870 performance if fermi is dissapointing.

Also the 5770 is a physically smaller card at 8.4" length.

This is a key reason why I am putting it into my brothers HP case.

 

[Hauk]

5770 would be a nice interim card. Just do it, sounds like you know how to resell your cards..

 

[Silenus]

Out of curiosity do you think crossfire'd 5770's (future possibility) would help much at only 1680x1050? My understanding is in addition to varying with title, it's 1920 and higher that it really makes a bigger difference. Aside from the planned Mass Effect 2 the the most stressful 3d game I have is the original Crysis game which I might play occasionally.

 

[Hauk]

Most look to resolution first, which makes sense; but I value actual game play over synthetic or actual benchmarks. How fluid a game plays from scene to scene. Many other considerations of course.

I say this because an answer on this is subjective. Will you benefit from having a 2nd card, sure. How much you'll benefit, it's somewhat measurable but what's the point? People buy sports cars for their performance and appeal.

The flipside though is multi-gpu scaling. If you're considering spending $300 on two lesser power cards, consider instead a single powerful gpu. A 2nd card's horsepower is typically 50% wasted due to scaling. True some games scale well, but many do not..