Need upgrade advice

[perdomot]

I've been using an ATI HD 3870 card for a while now and I've been wanting to get one of the 5xxx series cards to take advantage of the new tech. I'm not a gamer but watch quite a lot of HD video so smooth playback and hopefully a silent solution is what I'm looking for. Can anyone advise me on a good selection. Hoping to keep it in the Ati family.

 

[RussianSensation]

If you don't care about performance, grab the cheapest one. XFX for example has lifetime warranty on their cards. Here are the silent offerings for 5xxx series: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...e=&srchInDesc=

 

[happy medium]

A 5570 will be fine if your not a gamer.

 

[hiddensniper11]

But I thought the 3870 is already more than enough to handle HD videos?

 

[Face2Face]

the 3870 im sure can get quite loud. I know mine did. I would go with a 5670 with a passive heatsink.

 

[cusideabelincoln]

But I thought the 3870 is already more than enough to handle HD videos?

It isn't supported for Flash GPU-acceleration.

 

[perdomot]

the 3870 im sure can get quite loud. I know mine did. I would go with a 5670 with a passive heatsink.

Yeah it gets a bit loud especially in the summer.

 

[perdomot]

It isn't supported for Flash GPU-acceleration.

Which series starts supporting that function?

 

[DaveSimmons]

The cards below 5570 won't be able to do the full set of post-processing of images, though the 5450 is apparently a pretty good card:

http://www.anandtech.com/show/3601/the-final-word-on-the-best-radeon-htpc-card

 

[cusideabelincoln]

Which series starts supporting that function?

HD 4000 and up.

 

[perdomot]

Thanks for all the advice guys. I've been doing the research and seem to be stuck deciding between a 5670 and a 5770 card. The 5670 gives a small boost over my 3870 card for about $95 shipped while the 5770 gives quite a large boost for about $170 shipped. Since I'm not a gamer, I keep asking myself if the $75 price difference is worth it. My cheap side says save the money for something else but my pragmatic side says I'm already spending $95 and the extra $75 would be worth it especially if I want to hold on to the card for 2+ years. What would you guys advise?

 

[happy medium]

Thanks for all the advice guys. I've been doing the research and seem to be stuck deciding between a 5670 and a 5770 card. The 5670 gives a small boost over my 3870 card for about $95 shipped while the 5770 gives quite a large boost for about $170 shipped. Since I'm not a gamer, I keep asking myself if the $75 price difference is worth it. My cheap side says save the money for something else but my pragmatic side says I'm already spending $95 and the extra $75 would be worth it especially if I want to hold on to the card for 2+ years. What would you guys advise?

Then get a 5750 for 130$ and 99$ after rebate. Much faster then a 5670 and a couple dollars more.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-460-_-Product

 

[TemjinGold]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-327-_-Product <--- why $170?

 

[perdomot]

Then get a 5750 for 130$ and 99$ after rebate. Much faster then a 5670 and a couple dollars more.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-460-_-Product

I've looked at the 5750's but they are close enough to the 5770's in price and the 5770's pull away enough in tests that I think it would make more sense to get the 70's. Not sure about MSI as a video card maker. I tend to stick with the big names like XFX which has a lifetime warranty on products.

 

[perdomot]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-327-_-Product <--- why $170?

I'm not a big fan of Powercolor and tend to stick with Sapphire or XFX.