upgrade bug what to get

[Bman123]

Res is 1366x768 on a 50inch HDTV, I use the PC as my htpc in the living room. Stream hulu, Netflix and game on it as I refuse to pay for cable lol. I've got the upgrade bug but I don't know what to get. I have $150 to spare right now and if I replace something ill use the extra money from selling the old part for my budget to increase.

Honestly I play all my games maxxed or real close to it with full AA and AF. I play cod mw3, la noire, fallout 3/new Vegas. I don't know why but I got the bug bad. Looking at my rig in sig what would you suggest to upgrade?

I was thinking speakers since I use a cheap ass set of $10 logitechs that suck hard.

 

[lehtv]

Sell the 4870 and buy a 7850 2GB, then turn up the resolution to 1080p

 

[Bman123]

If I force 1080p all the text on screen is super small and I can't really see it

 

[Slugbait]

Personally, I'd go with a more powerful video card and run 1920x1080 and use headphones for now...

 

[Slugbait]

If I force 1080p all the text on screen is super small and I can't really see it

Start->Control Panel->Appearance->Make text...

 

[Slugbait]

Also, I thought the setup wiz in Media Center detected my 54" and asked if I wanted it to auto-setup my desktop view as well...so I never actually manually changed it

 

[Ken g6]

If you leave the machine on 24/7, a new GPU could save you a bundle on electricity at idle. Based on current US rates, if the machine is running (not sleeping) 24/7, you could recover the entire cost of a 6850 within 3-4 years!

 

[mfenn]

The 4800's are old enough such that they don't idle well. I agree that upgrading the GPU would greatly improve the overall HTPC experience, and not just from a raw GPU performance point of view.

Another good upgrade would be a 128GB SSD like the M4.

 

[Bman123]

Sell the 4870 and buy a 7850 2GB, then turn up the resolution to 1080p

Wouldn't a 7850 be total overkill?

 

[thelastjuju]

Upgrade speakers.. dunno why so many people here think sound quality is of no importance what-so-ever.

What point is playing games with maxed out visuals if you're only on rinky dink speakers?

 

[lehtv]

If I force 1080p all the text on screen is super small and I can't really see it

Just have in-game resolution set to 1080p, while using the desktop in 1366x768?

Wouldn't a 7850 be total overkill?

Not for 1080p gaming

 

[Bman123]

Ill try my games at that Res tonight and see what I get with fraps running

 

[mfenn]

Just have in-game resolution set to 1080p, while using the desktop in 1366x768?

Not for 1080p gaming

:thumbsup: to both ideas.

 

[Bman123]

I haven't played anything at all this weekend ill try to do it tonight and see what happens

 

[VirtualLarry]

Considering that ATI/AMD just announced that they are dropping driver support for the HD48xx series from their monthly driver drops, upgrading the GPU to something newer makes sense if you play games.

 

[T_Yamamoto]

Considering that ATI/AMD just announced that they are dropping driver support for the HD48xx series from their monthly driver drops, upgrading the GPU to something newer makes sense if you play games.

I thought they were dropping support for 5xxx

 

[Bman123]

Well at least I have someone who wants to buy my hd4870. I might go back to team green this time around since they support majority of their cards still.

 

[richaron]

Well at least I have someone who wants to buy my hd4870. I might go back to team green this time around since they support majority of their cards still.

Yes but nV don't have modern low/mid range cards out Find a 7770 for the right price you will have a nice bump in performance & a huge difference with power consumption.

But I also agree speakers would be a nice upgrade. Some m-audio av40's or even creative t40's would be awesome.

 

[Ketchup]

How is 1080 too small for a 50" screen?

 

[Bman123]

Its a 720p tv set, when you force 1080p it shrink sthe hell out of the text

 

[Bman123]

Yes but nV don't have modern low/mid range cards out Find a 7770 for the right price you will have a nice bump in performance & a huge difference with power consumption.

But I also agree speakers would be a nice upgrade. Some m-audio av40's or even creative t40's would be awesome.

Yeah they really dont have anything that will be a noticeable difference without spending like $200 or more. I mean damn, even the hd6850 is still going for like $140 before rebate. The bad things is my video card is doing plenty good for my res. I normally buy used cards that are 2 generations old so I get good bang for my buck.

 

[mfenn]

I thought they were dropping support for 5xxx

Nope, 4000 and older.

Well at least I have someone who wants to buy my hd4870. I might go back to team green this time around since they support majority of their cards still.

Honestly, I wouldn't worry about it. They 4870 drivers are about as optimized as they can get at this point.