Thinking of getting a 4870

[teatime0315]

Here is the catch though. My computer is not up to date.

Here are the specs.
Amd 3800 X2 - Stock
2GB of DDR400
500 GB HDD
Audigy 2 ZS
Nvidia 6800gs

So I'm planning on adding that card in.
How much of a bottleneck would my computer be if Max in-game settings with AA/AF at 1280x1024?

I figured since gaming is my priority, I should upgrade my GPU first... Then carry it over to my next system.
Which will probably be an Intel E8400/Q9xxx. With an X48 motherboard with 4/8gb of ram.
Also, I'm going to reformat my computer soon when I get the card. Should I use XP or Vista with my current system.

Thanks!

 

[bryanW1995]

if you're not planning to use xfire then you could upgrade your entire rig other than video card for ~ $200.

ip35e $63 shipped open box at newegg
e7200 ~ $130
2x1 gb ddr2 ~ $30 AR

total $223, sell your skt 939 system for ~ $100 to offset much of the cost, too.


btw, the x2 system will be a VERY large bottleneck on your 4870. upgrade it asap.

I would just keep xp but I'm a cheap bastard. the only benefit from using vista is dx 10, which isn't much of a benefit in most cases imho. If you must get a new os then hold out for 18 mos until windows 7 comes out.

 

[Sylvanas]

A 4870 will be bottlenecked by the rest of your system by a substantial margin especially at that res but if you are going to upgrading the rest in time you might aswell get it now anyway. There is no reason not to use Vista at this stage, might aswell get that and make sure it is Vista 64 since you intend on using 4/8gb of ram.

 

[Sunrise089]

Why not get the GPU and try to OC a little bit and see if things seem playable? I think with settings cranked up on the GPU side you may be OK.

 

[DaveSimmons]

You'll probably want to re-re-install Windows again when you change motherboards, so I'd say XP is better for your current system with 2 GB of RAM.

The 4870 will definitely be bottlenecked, but will still run much faster than the 6800GS.

What is your power supply? It may not be good enough unless it's rated for SLI or 500+ watts.

How soon will you do the motherboard upgrade? If it's far enough away you might want to just get a 4850 for $175 for now, though the 4870 will be more future-proof.

 

[desolate]

I highly recommend that 4870. I use to have a 8800GTS 320mb that I had overclocked and while it played all of my games fairly well with close to max settings, once I put this 4870 in I was blown away. I went from getting 12-16fps on Very High playing Crysis to now 30-40fps on Very High at 1280x1024 not to mention can play ALL of my games at very max settings out extremely fast. The card was scorching hot at first, but fixed very easily with the fan fix to about 52C idle.

 

[Kuzi]

The 4870 is not worth it if are only gaming at 1280x1024 resolution, even if you upgrade your system a bit, unless you are planning on upgrading to a larger LCD.

Maybe do like what bryanW1995 said, change the mobo and CPU and maybe OC a bit, but get the 4850 instead. Cause it can handle all games easily @ 1280x1024 with AA/AF.

 

[legcramp]

sell 939 system, get C2D + HD4850

 

[teatime0315]

Originally posted by: DaveSimmons
You'll probably want to re-re-install Windows again when you change motherboards, so I'd say XP is better for your current system with 2 GB of RAM.

The 4870 will definitely be bottlenecked, but will still run much faster than the 6800GS.

What is your power supply? It may not be good enough unless it's rated for SLI or 500+ watts.

How soon will you do the motherboard upgrade? If it's far enough away you might want to just get a 4850 for $175 for now, though the 4870 will be more future-proof.

I just got a new power supply, the corsair H520 or something like that. From what I gather, the 4850 is the better option now. I would also have quite a bit of change left over to upgrade the rest of my system much sooner than later. I was just afraid that the 4850 wouldn't be enough to max AA/AF in games at that resolution. Do you guys think that AMD is going to lower prices even more since Nvidia recently announced price cuts on the 2x0 series?

 

[biostud]

The HD4850 should be plenty fast for that resolution.