Video Card Upgrade (yes, another one...sorry)

[jdwright]

I've been looking through the video card upgrade threads here and have realized that my upgrade may well depend on the cpu juice that my current system has. So, instead of just grabbing one of the cards in my price range (around $200), I thought I'd see if anyone had suggestions outside of the 4890 or 5770. Mostly, my questions are: will my current system take full advantage of these cards? Could I take advantage of even more of a card? what card would be a better bang for buck upgrade?

Current system:

BIOSTAR TFORCE TA790GX
AMD Phenom II X3 720 2.8GHz (OC'd to 3.1 or so)
Kingston HyperX 8GB (4 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2
Western Digital Caviar Green WD6400AACS 640GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s
EVGA 256-P2-N386 GeForce 6800GS 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16
Decent 450watt PS (can't remember specs and I'm at work)

Thanks a ton for any suggestions/advice!

OH, and btw, I generally play Dragon Age on a 24" Asus monitor at 1920x1080. Whew!

J

 

[veri745]

Definitely a good upgrade. Your system looks extremely GPU bottlenecked.

If $200 is your budget, I'd say either of those cards are good choices, depending on whether you want slight more performance (4890) or DX11 (5770).

 

[ItsAlive]

Either one of those cards should be great for your setup. If you are worried about heat, power consumption, noise, and/or DX11 compatability then the HD5770 would be the better choice. If these factors dont concern you then the HD4890 should perform a bit better.

However, if you plan to overclock, the HD5770 is known to be a great clocker and could make up some if not all of the difference in performance.

On a side note, have you tried unlocking the 4th core on your CPU? Dragon age should get a boost from the extra core if thats an option.

 

[jdwright]

I have not tried unlocking the 4th core as yet. I'll have to look into that...any suggestions for testing stability if it unlocks?

 

[happy medium]

Buy a 154$ shipped 5770 and don't look back.

 

[ItsAlive]

I have not tried unlocking the 4th core as yet. I'll have to look into that...any suggestions for testing stability if it unlocks?

I like OCCT linepack for testing stabilty. Im sure there are some other good ones, maybe someone else can chime in with more suggestions.

 

[tviceman]

If you want alternatives to a 4890, then a gtx 260 OC would be the viable alternative within your price range. Unless you want a relatively quiet graphics, I do not recommend a 5770. It simply does not have the power to take adequately advantage of the DX11 features games will be utilizing as they come out.

 

[lopri]

I have not tried unlocking the 4th core as yet. I'll have to look into that...any suggestions for testing stability if it unlocks?

Cinebench.

5770 gets my vote over 4890 or 260.

 

[Kassem]

If you want alternatives to a 4890, then a gtx 260 OC would be the viable alternative within your price range. Unless you want a relatively quiet graphics, I do not recommend a 5770. It simply does not have the power to take adequately advantage of the DX11 features games will be utilizing as they come out.

Can anyone comment on this?

 

[jdwright]

Well, I haven't purchased anything yet. I'm not sure that I will. Turns out the PS that I thought was a 550 is actually a 450. That limits my options without an upgrade I think. Clearly, I'll have to go with a less power hungry card or upgrade both my PS and card. I'm leaning toward the 5770, since it would not necessarily require a new PS.

 

[betasub]

I'm leaning toward the 5770, since it would not necessarily require a new PS.

This, if you want to stick with your current PSU.

 

[RussianSensation]

Can anyone comment on this?

That's definately True. It usually takes 2nd generation of DX capable videocards to take advantage of that particular DX set. Since 5770 is only a mid-range DX11 card and is on top of this slower than 4890, by the time true DX11 games arrive, they will come with more complex shaders, textures and better graphics, crippling 5770. However, PC gaming graphics have stalled for now.

 

[jdwright]

BTW, I tried to unlock my 4th core on the 720 and no dice. Wouldn't start windows after boot even at stock speeds =(.

So, if the 5770 is not going to be useful for dx11 games, should I bother upgrading to that level? I'm far from hardcore, but I would like reasonable graphics at 1080. Any other low power suggestions that would get me up to speed? At least for the current generation and potentially at a smaller price tag? I'm kind of a cheap bastard and all that AA stuff is just gravy to me...LOL.

Thanks for all the comments! =)

J

 

[RaistlinZ]

The 5770 seems like the best choice since you need something low on power. Unless the other guys suggesting a 4890 are willing to pay for a new PSU for you, I'd go with the 5770. It'll be vastly better than what you're using now.

 

[happy medium]

The 5770 seems like the best choice since you need something low on power. Unless the other guys suggesting a 4890 are willing to pay for a new PSU for you, I'd go with the 5770. It'll be vastly better than what you're using now.

And your 3 core 720 Amd cpu will be fine for a good year.

 

[RussianSensation]

A 5770 will be a good upgrade from your current videocard. Although Dragon Age in particular also likes quad cores:

http://www.pcgameshardware.com/aid,...rks-75-percent-boost-for-quad-cores/Practice/

1680x1050 4AA
Phenom II X3 720 = Min 33 / Avg 53
Core i7 920 @ 3.5ghz = Min 57 / Avg 90

Since power consumption is an issue, 5770 > 4890.

 

[happy medium]

A 5770 will be a good upgrade from your current videocard. Although Dragon Age in particular also likes quad cores:

http://www.pcgameshardware.com/aid,...rks-75-percent-boost-for-quad-cores/Practice/

1680x1050 4AA
Phenom II X3 720 = Min 33 / Avg 53
Core i7 920 @ 3.5ghz = Min 57 / Avg 90

Since power consumption is an issue, 5770 > 4890.

Whats the difference between a core 2 quad and a Amd 3 core?

A Phenom x3 and a core i7 (overclocked ) is not a good comparison.

 

[happy medium]

Phenom x3 720 @ 3.1 = a q9650 in that game.
Looking at those results.
A x3 720 performs just like a quad core clock for clock in that game.

Funny the q6600 is getting beat by the x3 720.

Now the dual cores getting slaughtered by the x3 720 stock, even overclocked.

http://www.pcgameshardware.com/aid,...rks-75-percent-boost-for-quad-cores/Practice/

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

5770 - you'll be using less wattage at idle

 

[netxzero64]

I got myself a 4890 instead of the 5770 because i want more power... well that's just for me...

if you plan on enthusiast level of gaming... move up to 5850... but if you just want playable settings of games for the future, 5770 will suffice... go overclocking and it will almost be the same as the stock 4890

 

[RussianSensation]

A Phenom x3 and a core i7 (overclocked ) is not a good comparison.

I was just showing the OP that extra cores and a faster processor also help to alleviate the bottlenecks in DA. Thus, even if he gets a faster videocard, the X3 720 is still going to be almost 2x slower compared to what can be achieved with a faster processor. But obviously the videocard is the bigger bottleneck for him right now.

 

[happy medium]

I was just showing the OP that extra cores and a faster processor also help to alleviate the bottlenecks in DA. Thus, even if he gets a faster videocard, the X3 720 is still going to be almost 2x slower compared to what can be achieved with a faster processor. But obviously the videocard is the bigger bottleneck for him right now.

I've have yet to find a game that runs any better (+15&#37 on a quad core vs a tri core.
I think most games are just getting optimized for a 3rd core. Just like an xbox 360.

I for one wish I jumped on a x3 720 instead of my dual core cpu. I wouldn't have had to spend more for the q9550 that came in the mail today.

 

[jdwright]

I think if I upgrade I'll probably go for the 5770, based on the lower power requirements.

When I bought the 720, it was with the intention to try and unlock the 4th processor - I just never had a reason to try it until DA came around. I'm a sucker for that type of stuff though. Anyone remember the BH6/Celeron days? What a rush =)

Thanks for all the input folks!

J

 

[Alienwho]

I'd get a 5770 if I were you.

I have an X3 720, and I notice absolutely no performance differences whether I play Dragons Age on stock settings, or OC the 3 cores to 3.6, or unlock the 4th core and OC to 3.4Ghz. It all plays exactly the same (beautifully) using my 4870. I didn't get fraps up or anything to see if there was an actual fps difference, but I couldn't detect anything.