Time to upgrade from 8800GT?

[Indus]

This is my rig:

E6550 @ 2.8ghz
4 GB DDR2 PC6400
Gigabyte p35-ds3l rev 2.0 motherboard
Enermax 485 watt PS
Chaintech 8800GT
Samsung 22" LCD (1680 x 1050 resolution)
Windows 7 64-bit

Main games I play are Silkroad Online, Everquest 2, and now Aion.

I've noticed annoying stuttering in aion so was thinking it was time to upgrade. I generally always skip a generation or 2 before upgrading when I have to, so my question is with the price drops, would a HD 4890 be a worthwhile upgrade at my resolution now, or should I wait for 5890 or Nvidia 300 series to make a decision?

P.S. I never spend more than 250 on a video card ever, generally its $150-250 range whatever gives me most for the money.

 

[MyLeftNut]

If you already have an 8800gt I would suggest you just wait till nvidia puts out their competing card for ATI latest generation since it won't be long till it's released. At that point, it'll be more to your advantage in price and choice.

 

[Ika]

Wait a week for the HD5770; it's supposed to be released next week, and performs between the 4870 and 4890, with much less power usage.

 

[Zensal]

Originally posted by: Aflac
Wait a week for the HD5770; it's supposed to be released next week, and performs between the 4870 and 4890, with much less power usage.

QFT

nVidia's chips are supposed to be monstrous, so I doubt they will have any sub $250 offerings anytime soon.

 

[toyota]

well the 5770 for $159 will give you the most for your money and will be released in a few days. a 5890 will not come for a while if they even make one at all. plus considering the 5870 is already $379, a 5890 would not be near your price range and even the 5870 will be way overkill for cpu and res. if you had a little beefier cpu I would go for the 5850 but you dont so it certainly would not be worth the extra hundred bucks over the 5770 for you at 1680x1050. a 4890 would be a silly purchase as the 5770 will nearly match it while having better features and consuming half the power. so if you want to buy a card within the next week the 5770 is the clearly the best choice out there for you.

 

[Schmide]

Is there an issue with 8800 series cards and the latest drivers? I've seen blurbs about 191.07 issues with stuttering and early cards. Have you tried rolling back to the previous driver that suited you? Your card really as a adequate amount of power for what you run.

 

[VirtualLarry]

I know someone that plays Aion on a 26" 1920x1200 LCD, using a 9600GSO. He has an E5200 @ 3.625Ghz. Haven't noticed any stuttering.

 

[Indus]

I never updated drivers. I found one set that worked, I believe 182.08 but yes having stuttering and jagged edge issues. Also it seems nvidia AA seems to kill framerate a lot more than ATI cards that I used previously. Is that still true?

Btw I forgot to mention, I have a 1920 x 1080 monitor, so I can use that for gaming too but its my max resolution. With that in mind, what's the best best for 1680 - 1920 range?

And I don't think its CPU causing any stutters. CPU is fine.

 

[toyota]

Originally posted by: Indus
I never updated drivers. I found one set that worked, I believe 182.08 but yes having stuttering and jagged edge issues. Also it seems nvidia AA seems to kill framerate a lot more than ATI cards that I used previously. Is that still true?

Btw I forgot to mention, I have a 1920 x 1080 monitor, so I can use that for gaming too but its my max resolution. With that in mind, what's the best best for 1680 - 1920 range?

And I don't think its CPU causing any stutters. CPU is fine.

unless you are trying to run very high settings for Crysis, Clear Sky, or Arma 2 then a 5770 will still be a good card for the money at 1920. of course the 5850 would be better for that higher res but its 100 bucks more.

 

[Schmide]

Well step one. If you have an issue, update/fix your drivers before you go shopping for a new card! (chipset/sound/video)

 

[cbn]

Originally posted by: Indus
I never updated drivers. I found one set that worked, I believe 182.08 but yes having stuttering and jagged edge issues. Also it seems nvidia AA seems to kill framerate a lot more than ATI cards that I used previously. Is that still true?

Btw I forgot to mention, I have a 1920 x 1080 monitor, so I can use that for gaming too but its my max resolution. With that in mind, what's the best best for 1680 - 1920 range?

And I don't think its CPU causing any stutters. CPU is fine.

After you update drivers..... try increasing resolution to 1080p and/or detail settings.

If frame rates really drop off badly then something like HD5850 (especially with the ASUS Voltage tweak bios) will probably the best bargain.

Otherwise some of these new cards like HD5770/HD5750 could be a better choice if energy consumption and possibly noise are more of an issue for you. However we are still waiting for reviews and specs for them (these should be up late Monday night)

 

[Capt Caveman]

Originally posted by: Schmide
Is there an issue with 8800 series cards and the latest drivers? I've seen blurbs about 191.07 issues with stuttering and early cards. Have you tried rolling back to the previous driver that suited you? Your card really as a adequate amount of power for what you run.

I haven't had any issues with my 8800GT and the 191.07 drivers.

 

[crisium]

Wait for reviews of the 5770. If it keeps up with the 4890 at the resolution then great. If not you can always still get the 4890 (if it'll run on an Enermax 485 - this should be enough if it were a good brand).

 

[toyota]

Originally posted by: Crisium
Wait for reviews of the 5770. If it keeps up with the 4890 at the resolution then great. If not you can always still get the 4890 (if it'll run on an Enermax 485 - this should be enough if it were a good brand).

even if the 4890 is just slightly faster in some cases it would make no sense to buy it. the 5770 will be about the same price, use half the power and support DX11.