New Build - Will I see a difference?

[Paratus]

I'm finally building a new machine. I'm coming from:

ATI X1950PRO 512 AGP
P4 3.2 Prescott skt 478
2 Gigs (Now 1 Gig after two sticks of crucial ram bought it) of 2-2-2 DDR400

to

Diamond HD5870
i7920
6GiGs G Skill 1333 9-9-9
LG Blu-Ray Rom

Re-using:
Monitor - HP LP2475W 19x12 24" H-IPS
HDs - 300GB Velociraptor Boot Drive WD 500GB and 160GB Data drives
NEC - 3500A DVD burner
ATI Theater 550 PCI Capture Card
Coolermaster TEC-201 Praetorian Case
Enermax Liberty 500W PSU (12V1 22A, 12V2 22A - 32A Combined Max)

Should I see a difference in game play?

Also how should I hookup my monitor? DVI, HDMI, or DisplayPort?


Thanks

 

[ZipSpeed]

Nope, you shouldn't see much of a difference in games.

A DVI connection should be all you need.

 

[v8envy]

I'd say "slideshow presentation mode" in modern games going to playing flawlessly will be a big improvement, yes.

That PSU may be a bit light for a 5870 + i7 with 3 hard drives. Don't start OCing until the basics work flawlessly. At full blast the 5870 can suck out about 200 watts, with another 100+ wanted by the CPU. That's only 7 amps left left for the HDs, opticals, fans...

 

[Paratus]

Hey I played Crysis on that rig! Sure it was at 10x7 low/med details and ran in the low 20's.

@V8 I was concerned about the PSU too. I'm not going to OC the 5870 but I may to a stock vcore OC on the i7 once I determine everything is stable.

I may have to ask for a beefier PSU for fathers day....

 

[zerocool84]

WOW that's a pretty big jump. It should be night and day difference for EVERYTHING. General computing, games, pr0n, everything will run better.

 

[Arkaign]

Hey I played Crysis on that rig! Sure it was at 10x7 low/med details and ran in the low 20's.

@V8 I was concerned about the PSU too. I'm not going to OC the 5870 but I may to a stock vcore OC on the i7 once I determine everything is stable.

I may have to ask for a beefier PSU for fathers day....

I think you'll probably be fine, those Enermax PSUs are beasts. I have seen the same one used for an 8800GTX SLI Rig, and although it was under the recommended output, ran fine and wasn't hot.

 

[Barfo]

I went from a very similar system to the one in my sig and it was a huge difference.

 

[Paratus]

I think you'll probably be fine, those Enermax PSUs are beasts. I have seen the same one used for an 8800GTX SLI Rig, and although it was under the recommended output, ran fine and wasn't hot.

Well that sounds hopefull!


Anyone have tips on installing the drivers? I'm doing a brand new load of Win7 Pro 64. Should Install Windows and then download the latest Cats or install off the driver disc and update later?

 

[Arkaign]

No, don't use the driver CD, ATI's been updating 5xxx series support pretty regularly, so the drivers on the disc probably out of date by now.

Yeah, just install Win7, then the newest from the ATI site.

Might look for a hot deal, and replace those two old 160gb drives with a 1TB WD Green or something. That would lower your power usage a bit, and even though the WD Greens are 5400rpm, the areal density is so much higher that the throughput will be a whole lot better than 7200rpm 160gb drives. I've seen them for $59/$69 pretty frequently. WD Black is even better, but anyways.

 

[Zen Ninja]

Oh boy...scrap that PSU dude...get a decent PSU of at least 650 IMO...

Look at the minimum and recommended requirements on newegg for the 5870...

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product...82E16814102856

Plus...no one should ever cheap out on a PSU of all things...

 

[Zen Ninja]

Oh...and hell yes...there will be a fairly big difference in gaming...

 

[skulkingghost]

It will be quite a nice system, my only mod would be the PSU too, also if your old power supply does not have 2x pcie connectors you won't be able to connect the card anyway unless you purchase adapters.

 

[Paratus]

The PSU was a quality PSU 3 years ago when I got it. It was $100, over 80% efficient and has 2 6 pin PEG connectors. It also meets the recommended wattage for my card. I think stock it should be adequate for now.

 

[zebrax2]

General computing, games, pr0n, everything will run better.

Now that alone running better is money well spent.