Upgrading from 4870 – What to get

[craige4u]

Hello ppl,

I am currently having 4870 1GB (DirectX 10.1) and its running all great.
I never plan to CF, use 1080P resolution and play latest shooter games.

Now, I am able to run most games at max settings without a problem, but the only reason I am thinking of upgrading is coz this card doesn’t support Directx11.... (Wana play upcoming BF3)

So what card shall I get for the lowest price that has same performance as my current 4870, but with DirectX11 Support added.

Please pour your suggestions.

PS: I am getting cheapest card right now, as I will be upgrading my entire computer next year around December… and will be getting highest GPU based on PCIE 3.0. So spending much money on Hardware that I am not going to use for more than a year doesn’t make much sense.

 

[Costas Athan]

I don't thing buying a video card just for DX11 is a good deal. Video card industry moves forward at a high speed. I would wait till my card couldn't play games near max out settings to do an upgrade.

 

[edplayer]

if you want to get something for BF3 and want a great bang for the buck, consider the 6850. I bet there will be at least a few $100 or so deals (prob w rebate, maybe involving reselling software) before it comes out. There haven't been many Nvidia deals recently (there were great GTX 460 deals about 3 months ago or so).

 

[craige4u]

You all think sumthing like 5870 will give me similar performance like my current card and will be cheaper as well...

 

[crisium]

Radeon 6770 / 5770 (same card) was the DX11 equivalent of the 4870. Uses far less power, but similar performance. However, due to the decreased bandwidth it is often a bit slower. A Radeon 6790 would be the minimum to never be slower than the 4870.

But you should really go for some performance increase in an upgrade, especially since BF3 is looking to take advantage of however much GPU power you have. The Radeon 6850 is only a little bit more than the 6790 but offers a 15% increase in frame-per-second. The 6870 offers another similar bump in performance. It just makes sense to get some performance gain, right?

 

[Arzachel]

Wait till December. BF3 doesn't need DX11 and there is a chance you could get a AMD 28nm card in December/January.

 

[GotNoRice]

Now, I am able to run most games at max settings without a problem, but the only reason I am thinking of upgrading is coz this card doesn’t support Directx11.... (Wana play upcoming BF3)

The good news is that your current 4870 is already able to run DirectX11 games. That is because support for DirectX10 and 10.1 hardware was built into DirectX11 from the very beginning.

DirectX11 is a strict super-set of DirectX10.1 and compatibility is as simple as shedding the few features that are not supported. Playing a DirectX11 game on DirectX10.1 hardware works by design, and the only real feature you will miss out on is Tessellation. Here is an example of what you would miss:

Tessellation Enabled:

Tessellation Disabled:

People's opinions of the feature vary considerably, but I don't personally think it's enough to justify upgrading your videocard. Unless you really think that is a big deal, then enjoy playing BF3 in DirectX11 on your current card!

 

[craige4u]

Thx, GotNoRice pointing out the main difference...

So yes, i would still like to upgrade if i can for cheap, so i am eyeing cards from "5 series". so which crad will be equvivalent to my current card in terms of performance frm 5-Series... 5870 etc etc..

 

[vshin]

6850 is your best choice.

 

[T_Yamamoto]

Just dont upgrade.
Tessellation isnt that big of a deal

 

[crisium]

Why would you prefer the 5 series? Did you read my post?

The 5 series has way less options and is harder to find. But the closest 5 series to your cards performance without being slower is the Radeon 5830 - it is about the same speed as the Radeon 6790 I mentioned earlier. But both of those would be an abysmal upgrade from a 4870, hence why the 6850 has been stated several times (although it's only one step up from a 5830).

A Radeon 5870 is nearly as powerful as 4870 in Crossfire. A 5870 or equivalent performance level (6950) actually makes sense as an upgrade. But your question has now been answered, so choose wisely.

 

[uclaLabrat]

I've been agonizing over this recently too...I think i just need to wait for the 7XXX series to drop, I have a 4870X2 running a 2560x1600 screen, so I think anything less than a 6970 won't be worth my time for BF3, and I might as well wait and see what happens to prices when the new gen hits. If it's a monster, I'll spring for the new one, if not, a 6970 should suffice.

 

[toyota]

has anyone even asked what the rest of the OP's specs are? he could have a low end dual core cpu for all we know.

 

[craige4u]

from the above, the cheapest i could find in my home market here is 6790 @ 180US$ and 6850 @ 220US$...

Actually, i was looking for an cheap 100US$ upgrade just to sail through few months... but i guess as the prices are much higher for the above than i had anticipated, i will directly upgrade my GPU with new top end 7xxx series releasing sumwhere in march 2012. (Altough i wont be able to use PCIE 3.0 untill i upgrade my PC sumwhere around end of the next year)

 

[Spjut]

text

While this is true, there are some DX11 games that are limiting DX10 and 10.1 cards to DX9....Dirt 2 for example(don't know about Dirt 3) and Lost Planet 2

Civilization 5 worked fine in DX10.1 by starting the DX11 exe though

 

[Costas Athan]

from the above, the cheapest i could find in my home market here is 6790 @ 180US$ and 6850 @ 220US$...

Actually, i was looking for an cheap 100US$ upgrade just to sail through few months... but i guess as the prices are much higher for the above than i had anticipated, i will directly upgrade my GPU with new top end 7xxx series releasing sumwhere in march 2012. (Altough i wont be able to use PCIE 3.0 untill i upgrade my PC sumwhere around end of the next year)

You got the right decision. Wait till the performance gap is great enough to worth your money.