Help evaluate my PC Rig for GPU upgrade

[Hav0k99]

See my sig for specs. I want to know if it is worth spending $110-$130 for an ATI HD6850 video card upgrade. I just got BF3 for the PC and can run it at 30-40 fps at Medium settings. I would like to run it at high w/ 40-60 fps and also prolong my gaming rig for at least another 6 months. I'm not sure if a video upgrade alone will do this for me.

Something I have tried to consider is OC'ing the processor but I have been so out of the OC game. I have no idea where to even start.

Any help is much appreciated.

 

[RavenSEAL]

I would wait until the 7xxx series if I were you

 

[happy medium]

See my sig for specs. I want to know if it is worth spending $110-$130 for an ATI HD6850 video card upgrade. I just got BF3 for the PC and can run it at 30-40 fps at Medium settings. I would like to run it at high w/ 40-60 fps and also prolong my gaming rig for at least another 6 months. I'm not sure if a video upgrade alone will do this for me.

Something I have tried to consider is OC'ing the processor but I have been so out of the OC game. I have no idea where to even start.

Any help is much appreciated.

overclock that cpu! WHAt resolution are you running?

Just for kicks ,go into the bios enable manuel settings and up the front side bus to 376 and leave everything else on auto.
It should get you to 3.2 ghz easy.

 

[DominionSeraph]

Tom's benchmarks show that where the 5770 gets 34FPS, the 6850 gets 42. So no, you're not going to be able to both go higher quality and get even a greater bump in frame rates than that.

Tom doesn't benchmark much of a range of processors but it doesn't look like BF3 is CPU dependent at all.

I believe there's a $120 5850 somewhere.
Yeah, it's in Hot Deals.
The difference there is 34fps to 50.

 

[happy medium]

Tom's benchmarks show that where the 5770 gets 34FPS, the 6850 gets 42. So no, you're not going to be able to both go higher quality and get even a greater bump in frame rates than that.

Tom doesn't benchmark much of a range of processors but it doesn't look like BF3 is CPU dependent at all.

I believe there's a $120 5850 somewhere.
Yeah, it's in Hot Deals.

He needs to overclock the cpu and new 6850 and he will achieve it.
Its very easy.
Take a look at my signiture.

 

[DominionSeraph]

He needs to overclock the cpu and new 6850 and he will achieve it.
Its very easy.
Take a look at my signiture.

How is 6870 crossfire in any way related to a 6850 in an apparently GPU limited game? Overclocking his CPU will not turn a 6850 into two 6870's.

In fact, after getting a little overzealous swapping out Lynnfield-, Clarkdale-, and Sandy Bridge-based chips, I tried one AMD CPU and decided to call it a day. Any reasonably-modern processor is going to be held back by graphics long before hamstringing performance itself.

 

[happy medium]

How is 6870 crossfire in any way related to a 6850 in an apparently GPU limited game? Overclocking his CPU will not turn a 6850 into two 6870's.

I was talking about my cpu bro I also had a gtx460 up till last week.
Thats about = to a 6850.

ANd thats single player benches, multiplayer it a total different story.

 

[DominionSeraph]

ANd thats single player benches, multiplayer it a total different story.

Multiplayer does not turn medium graphics into non-medium graphics. If he is GPU limited at medium graphics (which 30-40 FPS indicates) he is GPU limited at medium graphics. Overclocking his CPU will not help.

 

[happy medium]

Multiplayer does not turn medium graphics into non-medium graphics. If he is GPU limited at medium graphics (which 30-40 FPS indicates) he is GPU limited at medium graphics. Overclocking his CPU will not help.

Listen if he's getting 30 to 40 fps with a 5770 with a stock cpu, he will easily get 40 to 50 fps with a 6850 overclocked and cpu overclocked in multiplayer BF3.

A overclocked q9550 will give you better minimums vs stock. I know it, I lived it, I'm sure.:thumbsup:

But if he gave us his resolution................I'd feel better about that statement.

 

[DominionSeraph]

Listen if he's getting 30 to 40 fps with a 5770 with a stock cpu, he will easily get 40 to 50 fps with a 6850 overclocked and cpu overclocked in multiplayer BF3.

He wants both an upgrade in frame rate AND quality. As it is not likely that his CPU has anything whatsoever to do with his current frame rate, how is overclocking it going to help a 6850 overcome the fact that it just isn't that much faster than a 5770?
GPU limited means GPU limited, not CPU.

Tom's was getting those frames with a 5770 with a i7 2600k. It ain't the CPU. And if an i7 2600k cannot push the required frames with a 6850 on High because the 6850 is the limiting factor, he ain't gonna get there by overclocking a Q9550. He needs more GPU.

 

[happy medium]

But if he gave us his resolution................I'd feel better about that statement.

Did you miss this part?

 

[DominionSeraph]

Did you miss this part?

You think he's running 640x480?

He should not be CPU limited at 30FPS with a Q9950.

 

[Termie]

I was talking about my cpu bro I also had a gtx460 up till last week.
Thats about = to a 6850.

ANd thats single player benches, multiplayer it a total different story.

Happy knows what he's talking about, but let me help clarify.

At this point, the OP is getting 30fps at medium because of his graphics card. The CPU is not the limiting factor. He could probably hit 40fps at high with a graphics card upgrade before his CPU became the limiting factor. It wouldn't take that much to get 40fps at high in multiplayer - a single 6870 can do that, and I think that might be the OP's best upgrade unless he's willing to overclock, and spend a lot more money.

That's because to get to 60fps at high, he'd need a heck of a lot more GPU - I'd say an overclocked GTX570 at the minimum. And honestly, I doubt a GTX570 would push much beyond 55fps at high. Plus, to feed a graphics card at that level, I'd estimate he'd need 10-20% more CPU power - so an overclock to 3.2-3.4 would be in order. Shouldn't be too hard.

Just to illustrate, here are some numbers from my own tests in multiplayer:

Single HD5850 with Core i7@3.25 = 43 fps, 1920x1200/high
Dual HD5850 with Core i7@3.4 = 80fps, 1920x1200/high

My crossfire setup (like Happy's) is way more power than any single GPU has, and it's the only way to break 60fps at high in this game.

So, OP, you've got to ask yourself, what do you really want out of this game? Would you be willing to play at 40-45fps? Then get an HD6870, overclock it a bit, and call it a day for $145: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814161389

You're really going to have to pay to play if you want to be at 50-60fps with high settings. We're talking at least $300 on a graphics card, plus a healthy overclock on that CPU.

 

[Hav0k99]

overclock that cpu! WHAt resolution are you running?

Just for kicks ,go into the bios enable manuel settings and up the front side bus to 376 and leave everything else on auto.
It should get you to 3.2 ghz easy.

1680x1050

 

[Termie]

1680x1050

At that resolution, you should be able to get into the low 50s at high with an HD6870. To get substantially more than that, you'd have to spend about twice as much, plus overclock your CPU quite a bit. So I think that's your best bet.

A 6870 is about 50% faster than the 5770. While that's not a huge difference in most cases, for a game like BF3, it will make all the difference in the world. You'll go from playing 30-40fps at medium settings to playing 50-55fps at high settings.

 

[DominionSeraph]

Happy knows what he's talking about,

He's recommending a 6850 with a CPU overclock. You're recommending a 6870 (which is the level I pointed out with the $120 5850.)
You and I both agree that OP is not CPU limited and that a 6850 is not going to cut it. He needs more GPU.

 

[LiuKangBakinPie]

5770 is a dx branded card but its too weak to do anything in DX 11. If you stay on your resolution and add another one gets 50 to 70 percent performance increase.
But if you decide to bump your resolution up a better gpu will be the best bet. The 6870 normally goes for 20usd more and I will rather look for that than the 6850.
But hold on a bit because Nvidia is going to drop their prices more round xmas time.

 

[DominionSeraph]

5770 is a dx branded card but its too weak to do anything in DX 11. If you stay on your resolution and add another one gets 50 to 70 percent performance increase.

He doesn't have crossfire capability.

 

[happy medium]

A 6870 is about 50% faster than the 5770

A 5770 crossfire setup is about 2% faster than a 5870. A 5870 is about 10% faster than a 6870..
Its more than 50% faster ,buddy.

 

[happy medium]

a 6850 is not going to cut it. He needs more GPU.

wrong @ 1600x1050 a overclocked 6850 will give him the 40 to50 fps he wants.

A 6850 overclocked will = a 6870 and a 6870 is 70% faster than his current 5770.

You do the math.

Even if you take Termi's 50% faster figure for a 6870 being faster than a 5770.

Knowing a 6850 overclocked will = a 6870

50% faster than his current 30 to 40 fps is?
Yes you guessed it 45 to 60 fps.

I did the math for ya.

 

[LiuKangBakinPie]

He doesn't have crossfire capability.

oh Thx for that.
What cpu does he have btw?
Nevermind my signatures were turned off.
I would get whatever I can afford. 560ti or a 6950 even if he can afford it otherwise 6870.

 

[happy medium]

Once again,
his q9550 overclocked and a 6850 overclocked will give him what he wants.

 

[Termie]

A 5770 crossfire setup is about 2% faster than a 5870. A 5870 is about 10% faster than a 6870..
Its more than 50% faster ,buddy.

Happy - actually the 50% number is pretty spot on. I just averaged all 10 benches in the Anandtech bench at 1680, and it came to a 51% advantage for the 6870: http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/296?vs=290. And actually, your crossfire example basically proves this. Assuming 5770 crossfire scales at 80%, you get the following equation:

0.8 x (2 x "5770") = 1.12 x "6870"
Therefore, "6870" = 1.42 x "5770"

Once again,
his q9550 overclocked and a 6850 overclocked will give him what he wants.

Nothing wrong with the 6850, but when you can get the 6870 for $10 more, the 6850 becomes a non-starter in my opinion. It's about 13-14% faster, and you're getting that performance basically for free: http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/291?vs=290

Here's the 6870 for $140: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814131378

 

[happy medium]

Nothing wrong with the 6850, but when you can get the 6870 for $10 more

Heck, if thats true, the 6870 it is,

 

[Hav0k99]

How much more power does a 6870 use though?