Now that the new cards are out...

[lifeblood]

I am trying to decide if I need a new video card. My current rig is in the Sig below. My current card is a 4830 attached to a 1440x900 LCD. It works very well as I'm able to play most games maxed out. Games I play are Mass Effect 2, LOTR Online, Civ IV.

Within the next year I will probably end up buying Civ V, Crysis: Warhead, and Wolfenstien. I also hope to get a 1680x1050 LCD soon. Looking at today and tomorrow, do I need a new card? If so, which one?

If I get a 5770 I'm set for DX11, but I really won't see any big increase in my frame rate. I could get a GTX460 or 6850, but at 1680x1050, will it give me anything the 5770 won't?

 

[Rhezuss]

Looking at prices, the 5770 should be a good choice at 1680x1050.

I see some HD 5770s as low as $125-135 AR and the HD 6850s goes for $180 when they're in stock that is.

I play with a HD 5770 at 1920x1080 and can near max to maxing out most games I play (Civ5 with DX11, AoC, Fallout: NV, DAO, etc). Sure some games FPS goes under 30 sometimes but it's always been playable for me (no 12 FPS stuttering slide shows).

Get the cheaper card starting with the HD 5770 and going up, you won't regret it!

 

[Arkadrel]

You have windows 7... but you dont have directx 11. You want to try GPU accelerated IE? want to be able to play games in Directx11?

The 6850 will give you alot the 5770 doesnt.

Direct X Video Acceleration, pixel (image) sharpening (nvidia doesnt have).
Much better crossfire scaleing than the 5xxx series.
Much faster tesselation unit, sometimes (depends on tess factor) up to twice as fast.
Blueray 3d movie support
Improved video playback quality (compaired to both 460 and 5770)
Improved image qualty on texture filtering. The 5xxx series was abit worse than the 4xx in this area, now the 68xx has better quality than the 4xx's.

Performance.... 5770 is not even close to performance like the 6850 or 460.


Crysis: Warhead (frost bench) 1920x1200 , gamer IQ, Enthusiast Shaders, 4xaa.
------5770: 25.3 fps
460 768 mb: 30.9 fps
460 1gb mb: 34.2 fps
------6850: 36.1 fps

to give you an idea, since you mentioned you wanted to try out Crysis.
These are all at stock speeds, but id say the 6850 can oc equally or with better results than a 460.

 

[flopper]

6850 hands down.
you be happy with that.

 

[cusideabelincoln]

Don't upgrade until you come across a game (or software) that doesn't run as well as you'd like. No reason to buy a card now for a game you don't have.

 

[TemjinGold]

I am trying to decide if I need a new video card. My current rig is in the Sig below. My current card is a 4830 attached to a 1440x900 LCD. It works very well as I'm able to play most games maxed out. Games I play are Mass Effect 2, LOTR Online, Civ IV.

There's your answer. You don't need a new card. When the bolded part is no longer true, get a new card then. Video cards are always dropping in price so buying a new card now when you don't need it is a waste.

 

[jaydee]

A new video card is great when you have an immediate need for it. It is a horrible investment for games/resolutions you might play in the future, when you already have a card capable for what you do now.

Until your firm that you will play those more intensive games within a couple weeks, stay with what you got. Besides that, the 5770 is a great bargain right now overall (~$110 used), but a poor upgrade choice from a 4830.

 

[Rhezuss]

A new video card is great when you have an immediate need for it. It is a horrible investment for games/resolutions you might play in the future, when you already have a card capable for what you do now.

Until your firm that you will play those more intensive games within a couple weeks, stay with what you got. Besides that, the 5770 is a great bargain right now overall (~$110 used), but a poor upgrade choice from a 4830.

Yeah I pretty much agree with you on this but upgrading from a 4830 to a 5770, on paper would not be a great thing to do but in real life apps, it's quite noticeable.

I upgraded from a 4850 to a 5770 in march and never looked back.

But the part about buying a card now for future games make complete sense.

I'd get the 6850 or wait.

 

[nyker96]

I use 4850 myself on 1200x1000 rez similar to you. My take is that 5770 will never be my next upgrade for it's a lousy card, and if I upgrade it's for playing future DX11 games which it lacks enough horsepower.

So my current choice of upgrade is: if I go cheapo I'd get 460 GTX (768mb/1GB prefer 1GB version); if I go a little more HD6850 would be my card.

I don't plan on upgrading until I run across a DX11 game I really like to play and cannot get good fps with my 4850, not now. Another thing is that most DX11 games will be out in force next year, then it will give a better picture to which card is more suited. But 5770 is just too weak to put up with dx11s.

 

[crisium]

6850 or wait. I'd say wait. If you need more performance in these new games, get the card then - when you have the new games. 6850 is $179 now, but maybe "then" it will be $149.

There can be something bad about playing the waiting game indefinitely, but not when you are perfectly fine at the moment. Newegg has fast shipping. Worst case scenario you have to wait up to a week for your card to arrive and play your new games at a lower setting in the mean time. Best case scenario you save some bucks.

 

[DaveSimmons]

The 6850 would be good to have eventually, but you should wait. You might change your mind, get a 19x10 LCD, and then want a 6870. Either way the prices should drop next year.

 

[RussianSensation]

I am trying to decide if I need a new video card. It works very well as I'm able to play most games maxed out. Games I play are Mass Effect 2, LOTR Online, Civ IV.

Within the next year ...

You just answered your own question. Your gaming performance is satisfactory for you right now. You won't need the extra power until you buy more demanding games next year. Therefore, just wait until next year to upgrade. Prices of videocards generally tend to fall. Videogame launches tend to get postponed. There is no point in buying "just to future proof" when GPU technology evolves so fast.

 

[mosox]

Get a full HD monitor, you can game at any resolution you want.

 

[lifeblood]

Thanks for the input. I've got the money for a new card now, but the fact I'm already running with max settings is keeping me from spending it. I guess I'll buy one of the new games and see how my current card works. If it struggles then I'll get the new card. That's assuming I can keep the money hidden. A Wife and 7yr old daughter are huge money sinks around Christmas time.

 

[Leyawiin]

Don't upgrade until you come across a game (or software) that doesn't run as well as you'd like. No reason to buy a card now for a game you don't have.

Oh come one now! No one wants to hear common sense - they want to talk people into spending money on a card they don't need yet!

 

[JimmiG]

Don't upgrade until you come across a game (or software) that doesn't run as well as you'd like. No reason to buy a card now for a game you don't have.

I agree.. It can be fun to read about new cards, look at charts, read spec sheets etc., but in the end, none of that matters if you're already satisfied with the way games and applications you use run on your current system. It only takes a few days for the card to arrive once you've ordered it - just buy the games you want to play and then decide whether or not your current system can handle them.

The big thing this fall will be the price war between Nvidia and AMD. I'd expect this price war to intensify, dropping prices even more before the year ends. So now is a good time to upgrade if you want lots of performance for cheap. But, if you truly don't feel you need to, you could hang on to your 4830 until the next generation of 28nm GPUs are out. No one knows for sure when that will happen, however.

One thing... You will definitely want at least GTX460-class performance for 1680x1050. I upgraded from a 4850 512MB to the GTX460 this summer, and the difference was very noticeable at that resolution. It may be a relatively low resolution by current standards, but new games push all aspects of GPUs, not just raw pixel shuffling performance.

 

[alexruiz]

If I get a 5770 I'm set for DX11, but I really won't see any big increase in my frame rate. I could get a GTX460 or 6850, but at 1680x1050, will it give me anything the 5770 won't?

I disagree. I went from a 4830 to a 5770, and my performance jumped 40% average. I am also running WSXGA (1680 x 1050) and all of my games run smoothly maxed out. Not to mention how quieter and cooler running the system became

If you are going to upgrade the monitor to 1080p, a 6850 would be the better fit. At WSXGA or lower, the 5770 fits fine.

 

[edplayer]

I am trying to decide if I need a new video card. My current rig is in the Sig below. My current card is a 4830 attached to a 1440x900 LCD. It works very well as I'm able to play most games maxed out. Games I play are Mass Effect 2, LOTR Online, Civ IV.

No, you don't.

You say it works very well. Put off a new videocard purchase till you buy your next monitor. In about six months, for example, the 6850 should be able to be bought (on sale, not everyday price) for $130 or so. 5770 should be $80 cards.

 

[Arkadrel]

@Edplayer 6850 at 130$ in a few months? lmao what are you smokeing? I want some.

Do you suppose nvidia will have 470s for 150$ in a few months time as well then? because I dont... nvidia cant go that low (neither can amd though), they are already loseing money on their normal GPUs sold (nvidia) (not the proffessional ones).

the 6850 is a card thats faster than the 460s... if it drops to 130$, youd have to sell the 768mb and 1gb 460s for less than that. I just dont see that happending.

 

[edplayer]

@Edplayer 6850 at 130$ in a few months? lmao what are you smokeing? I want some.

I don't smoke but I do know how to find good deals. For example, I bought a new EVGA 768MB GTX 460 and after discounts and selling off the JC2 for $18, it came out to $140 ish (it actually came with 2 copies so my real total was $121 but that was a fluke) and that was in the launch month of July.

My current card, an EVGA GT240, was bought new for $13.6 after discount.


Don't smoke, its bad for you.

 

[RussianSensation]

Do you suppose nvidia will have 470s for 150$ in a few months time as well then? because I dont... nvidia cant go that low (neither can amd though),

Well Tiger Direct had GTX470s for ~ $195 in mid-July 2010. There are always deals around. I've probably seen 10+ deals on $359 GTX470 @ 210-250 in the months of July-August. You just gotta keep looking as they usually sell out within a day. So getting a $130 HD6850 with an MSRP at $179.99 should be should be hard within a couple months unless AMD keeps their HD58xx pricing strategy.