5850 vaporx 2gb versus 5870

[Martin 71]

Hey, I'm deciding on a new gpu upgrade. I'm deciding between the 5850 2gb version vs the 5870. I play at 1024x768 which I know is low, but I'm not asking whether I should upgrade my monitor... at that res, which of those cards should I get?

Specs:
AMD Phenom II x4 965 @ 3.4ghz
MSI 790XT-G45
4gb ddr2 ram @ 667mhz
500 watt power supply
HD5770
500 gb HDD

 

[elpinguinopy]

Dude with the card you've got you should be able to play almost all games at max settings... even if you get a better card you won't experience any improvements.

 

[spentshells]

you already have to much GPU for your resolution

 

[jaguarskx]

Either one is overkill.

The HD 5850 2GB is great if you are gonna do Eyefinity. The HD 5870 is great if you play games @ 2560 x 1600, but not good for Eyefinity due with only 1GB of RAM.

If I was gaming at 1024 x 768, I would probably max out with a HD 5750, HD 5770 if I felt like splurging and not caring about perhaps less than 2% improvement.

 

[jyjjy]

Indeed. Is there a reason you are looking for an upgrade? You current card is great for even 1680x1050 which is over twice as high as your current resolution. You will see no benefit from a better card with your current monitor.
That said(despite your comment) it certainly would be a good idea to upgrade your monitor. Undoubtedly your current monitor is very small by today's standards and a switch to a 1920x1080 monitor will be an amazing difference for gaming both in screen size and detail. A good one can be had for about $200. For reference you current screen displays 786,432 pixels while a 1920x1080 monitor shows 2,073,600. The difference in detail can't really be overstated.
You current card would even still be ok for that resolution but upgrading to an HD5850 at that point is a worthwhile idea. Just get the 1gb version. 2gb is only really useful for even higher resolution monitors/eyefinity. The card can also overclock a huge amount, up to 1000mhz which will give you performance significantly higher than a stock HD5870. This would be a good choice;
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121375

 

[Martin 71]

ok... thanks... so I should be able to max out crysis with my 5770 at that res? I'm getting the phenom 2 x4 in about a week, and that should get rid of my cpu bottleneck... my current, is an athlon x2 6400+ that reaches 98% and then i get crappy fps.. :/ thanks for the help guys

 

[jyjjy]

I believe at 1024x768 the HD5770 should average over 30 fps with Crysis maxed at 2xAA. It's actually kind of hard to find benchmarks for current cards at that resolution because it isn't really used any more.

 

[wa1]

for 1024x768, a single HD5770 is more than enough...

 

[Martin 71]

alright... thanks, but 30 fps at a minimum? 'cause if that's average, then it could dip down to 20 fps!

 

[Martin 71]

Best answer selected by Martin 71.

 

[Mousemonkey]

This topic has been closed by Mousemonkey