replacement for ol Radeon HD 4850

[roadkill0000]

hello all. I finally need to upgrade my computer a little bit, mainly looking at the graphics card. This computer is just for gaming, I dont expect to be running at the best performance out there, but id like to get as much performance as I can with what I have. Unfortunately im not great with computers, however, I had my friend build me this computer awhile ago and it did its just, and now it needs a refresher... My computer is as follows:

PowerColor Radeon HD 4850 AX4850 1GBD3-PH 1GB 256-Bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video ...

ASUS M4A785T-M AM3 AMD 785G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard

AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Deneb Quad-Core 3.2 GHz Socket AM3 125W HDZ955FBGIBOX Processor

G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F3-10600CL8D-4GBHK

BFG Tech GS-550 550W ATX12V V2.2 / EPS12V V2.8 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready Power Supply


I would like a fairly high end graphics card. Also, I think I may be able to throw in another stick of RAM. But ill have to check on that.

What do you guys think? Please let me know! Thank You!
~Alex

 

[happy medium]

what is the resolution of your monitor? and welcome to the Anandtech forums.

And yes I suggest at least 8gb of system memory total.

 

[Techhog]

8GB is the minimum you want in a gaming system today. Aside from that, we need a budget. That CPU might be a bit of a bottleneck at this stage though.

 

[happy medium]

OK Mr. Roadkill. You don't want to throw to much money into your older system so......

1.your motherboard will take 2 more sticks of memory. I suggest you spend another 27$ on 2 more sticks of the same memory.

2.Ask your buddy to overclock your cpu to 3.6 if he can. It should do it quite easily.

3. If your gaming @ 1366x768 resolution grab a gtx750ti for about 100$ That should easily double your performance over your 4850.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...&cm_re=gtx750ti_nvidia-_-14-500-349-_-Product

If your gaming at 1920x1080 I suggest a gtx950 for about 140$. With your slower cpu, that's the best you can do and that might triple your gaming performance.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814487156&cm_re=gtx_950-_-14-487-156-_-Product

I do suggest in your case to buy an Nvidia type gpu , they perform better with direct x 11 games and slower cpu's.

 

[roadkill0000]

ah thank you!

I wouldnt mind spending 300- $400

I will go for the higher end of the graphics cards. The gtx950. And ill add the extra 2 sticks of ram.

Is it worth it for me to get the Nvidia type gpu with my older computer?
And if I should, which one?

I dont want to put too much into this computer, because I could see myself getting a whole new comp in maybe a year or two. But I think if I put enough into this one it will do the job for me.

Thank You!

 

[AtenRa]

Go for the R9 390 for 1080p Monitor, if you can afford it. You will need it for the new DX-12 games that coming soon.

 

[roadkill0000]

I also am running windows 7 pro, I heard windows 10 is free, should I make the switch?

 

[AtenRa]

Definitely switch to Win 10

 

[roadkill0000]

Thats a serious graphics card, I like. But im afraid the rest of my computer isn't up to par with it... what do I really need here?

 

[roadkill0000]

Im kinda at the cross roads of getting a whole new comp, or upgrading. I feel my computer still has the potential, so with that insane graphics card, and more Ram, I hope thats more then sufficient.

 

[AtenRa]

Have a look in the link bellow, a Core 2 Quad 9450 at 3.2GHz with the HD7950 1GHz. Similar performance to R9 380.

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2447222

Latest DX-11 games are very GPU limited, going for a faster GPU will let you increase the Image Quality settings and keep high fps. You will enjoy the game at higher IQ no matter if you will not get 100% the performance out of the GPU.
Also, the R9 390 will help you with your slower CPU in the upcoming DX-12 games and you will have the GPU performance for those new heavy GPU limited titles.

 

[roadkill0000]

sounds good. R9 390 it is.. im going off of this opinion alone lol. But, if your saying my older comp can handle newer games with this and a little more ram.. Im good with that.

..getting tired of playing Planet Side 2 on the lowest settings just so I can have smooth frame rate.

 

[AtenRa]

sounds good. R9 390 it is.. im going off of this opinion alone lol. But, if your saying my older comp can handle newer games with this and a little more ram.. Im good with that.

..getting tired of playing Planet Side 2 on the lowest settings just so I can have smooth frame rate.

Planetside 2 used to be very CPU limited(Single Thread). I dont know if they have made any progress on that.

 

[f2bnp]

Planetside 2 is still pretty bad. My FX-8320 @ 4GHz takes a serious beating from a friend's i5 2500K in minimum framerates.

 

[Headfoot]

PS2 and its progeny H1Z1 are both horribly CPU bound still. Most MMO type games are. The parent company for both of them spends a lot of its time releasing more paid DLC content and very little time optimizing.

OP what resolution do you play at?

 

[lehtv]

They did make some progress, but no amount of progress will make FX perform like i5 in single thread limited situations. When the framerate drops to minimum, performance tends to depend on single thread performance because the drop itself is caused by the saturation of one single branch of game logic that is assigned to one CPU thread. The faster that one thread is, the higher your minimum framerate is going to be

 

[myocardia]

Thats a serious graphics card, I like. But im afraid the rest of my computer isn't up to par with it... what do I really need here?

You're correct, it isn't. Since you'll be able to buy a midrange card in 8/10/12 months that will destroy it in performance, you'd be a bit crazy to spend that much on a card today, for that system. Spend ~$100 less on a 290 non-X. It will still be 8-10x* as fast as your 4850 from 7 or 8 years ago. $219, for a brand new one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202043 Even for 1080P, a 290 is enough to run every 2015 game on high settings, and the vast majority of them on ultra settings.

*Possibly only 6 or 7x faster, but I highly doubt that.

edit: Also, you'd be crazy not to just buy 2x4GB sticks of RAM that are not only higher speed, it's also got tighter timings. They're less than $40, and if you'll take out the old ones, and use the new ones in their place, you be much better off. If you'll keep the old ones, you can them add them back in, if 8GB ever ends up not being enough. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...14&cm_re=g.skill_2x4gb-_-20-231-314-_-Product

 

[AtenRa]

You're correct, it isn't. Since you'll be able to buy a midrange card in 8/10/12 months that will destroy it in performance, you'd be a bit crazy to spend that much on a card today, for that system. Spend ~$100 less on a 290 non-X. It will still be 8-10x* as fast as your 4850 from 7 or 8 years ago. $219, for a brand new one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131533 Even for 1080P, a 290 is enough to run every 2015 game on high settings, and the vast majority of them on ultra settings.

If only that was 290 i would agree, but the link is for a 280.

And one more thing, you will not get a cheaper GPU that will destroy the R9 390 in 6-12 months.

 

[myocardia]

If only that was 290 i would agree, but the link is for a 280.

My mistake, I'll edit it.

And one more thing, you will not get a cheaper GPU that will destroy the R9 390 in 6-12 months.

Nobody here said you would, but if you think that a $300 Pascal, or a $300 whatever AMD calls their next GPU line, will not destroy a $300 R9 390, you need to be committed.

edit: I'd agree with the R9 390, if he was rocking a ~4 Ghz overclocked Thuban, but not the slowest and stock-speed Phenom II. The R9 290 is a much, much better match to his CPU, even if he's running @ 1080P, which he doesn't seem to be.

 

[myocardia]

If only that was 290 i would agree, but the link is for a 280.

BTW, if he isn't planning on having his friend OC his CPU, the $209 R9 280X is still more powerful than his CPU, and will still allow him to crank up his in-game settings/AA. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150678&cm_re=R9_280X-_-14-150-678-_-Product

edit: This one also has an analog output, which the above 290 I linked doesn't have. The 290 doesn't have any analog outputs, including the DVIs. The OP very likely doesn't own a monitor with digital inputs, if I had to try to guess.

 

[roadkill0000]

my monitor is a piece of crap tiny Acer. However, I will possibly be getting a new one in the future, the graphics card is a must now thou.

As far as OC the comp, ive had it done once before, I dont remember the process at all, but id like to do it. No friends anymore to help me with that... so. Idk if there is an easy way to do that, but id try it.

it looks like I have more options with the graphics cards, yes the $300 one looks nice but probobly more then needed for this comp. A 280X or 290 sound like good cards.

The ram linked above looks great, thanks for the links as well. Im gonna order this stuff tonight. I do think that ill be getting a new comp in the next 2 years, but this one should hold out fine by then with the upgrades and OC.

I turned my resolution down to 1200 i believe for planetside 2, but honestly id like to play at a higher res and get a better monitor at some point, so Id like to plan for that now.

Thanks for advice, I think ill be happy at the end of this.

 

[happy medium]

But, if your saying my older comp can handle newer games with this and a little more ram..

It cant and you are wasting your money.
You will not be playing direct x 12 games with your cpu and a 290 is way too much for your system.

There is a reason why I didn't recommend a gtx960, its because for starters its only like 10% faster than a gtx950 and I think you should spend as little as possible on you older system. A 290 is like 40% faster than a gtx960.

With your cpu I bet you get mabe 10% more fps as you would with a gtx950 that cost half as much.

Now your gonna throw over 300$ into a system that has a total worth of 150$.

That's a real dum move.

 

[happy medium]

my monitor is a piece of crap tiny Acer

Now I know you wasted your money. Jeeze sucks.

 

[happy medium]

BTW, if he isn't planning on having his friend OC his CPU, the $209 R9 280X is still more powerful than his CPU,

See this guy is right. a 209$ 280x is still too powerfull for your cpu even overclocked.

In other words the gtx950 is perfect and is only 140$.
By the time more than a handful of direct x 12 games come out you system will be a doorstop. and your cpu will not play them. I'm just being real sorry.

I have no idea why these guys are telling you to buy more ram that you can never reuse and a gpu that's way too fast and expensive for your system.
SHAME!

 

[myocardia]

my monitor is a piece of crap tiny Acer.

Then you had better check to make sure that it has at least a DVI input, or you won't even be able to see the output from the 290.

Just look next to where your input attaches to the monitor. If it doesn't have a minimum of two inputs (one besides the one coming from your video card), it doesn't have any digital outputs at all. Acer is, as far as I know, the only major brand of monitor manufacturer that still sells monitors with zero digital inputs (their lowest priced models).