Benefits of ATI 5000 series on windows 7

[robertomad]

Okay. I'm almost decided with my build, unfortunately, my old p4 is showing signs of retirement. I actually have a few questions: Initially I'm thinking of buying HD 4650, but then I thought of getting Windows 7 because of this I'm leaning toward buying ATI either 5770 or 5850. I have 24" monitor and I want to play Full HD content 1080p.

My Questions are:

1) Windows 7 supports directx 11, is there any benefits of getting a card that supports that? Is there an added benefit in terms of Windows 7 new GUI features?
2) I'm thinking of just buying the cheapest 5000 series and buy ps3 for the blu-ray player and playing games. Though I will probably just use the ps3 mainly for movies. Do I just stick with a good GPU?
3) I'm too keen with graphic details. I've seen the Unigine Heaven benchmark and I've seen the difference between using a non DX11 compliant and a DX11 compliant. And It really amaze me. If I buy the 5770 will there be a big difference in terms of image quality vs the higher 5000 series.

Appreciate you help and Thanks in Advance.

 

[stridervm]

1)Nope, no GUI features specifically for the Radeon 5000 series.

2)It's probably cheaper to buy a PS3, the main purpose for the Radeon 5000 series is for enthusiast PC gaming, although the Blu-Ray hardware playback is a nice bonus.

3)Keep in mind that the Unigine heaven used an absurd example. It's practical use is to create perfect "circles" from certain objects. Not create whole objects from a single block, so in games I'd assume the former. But still if you don't have the Radeon 5000 series or use any current nVidia card, no hardware based tesselation.

But for future proofing, and if you want to buy the best today has to offer buy the Radeon 5000 series.

 

[leon2006]

1) Windows 7 & DX11 using DX11 compliant video card (i.e. ATI5000 family) will have the benefit of better graphics/video quality & faster in theory. That would be a reality once more applications such as games come out supporting DX11.

Eventually DX11 is to be available to Windows-Vista through Service-Pack. You have to take note that Windows-7 is a totally better software than Windows-Vista or Windows-XP on top of DX-11.

Here is a reference on Windows-7 performance advantage to Windows-Vista.

2) For playing games with reasonable performance plus watching HD Movies (i.e. Blue-Ray) you can start with 5770. Playing Blue-Ray movies in high performance PC is > 2 year old technology. With your new PC you can save the money buying the PS3 and be able to play HD-movies. This is a personal preference so its your decision on your desire to acquire PS3.

3) If you are in the Market for new Video card the logical direction is get a DX11 compliant video card. That will cover you for future games and application that will take advantage of DX11. The image quality is better with higher ATI 5000 series (i.e. 5850, 5870, 5890). The higher performance cards will enable you to get higher resolutions(Games @ 1080P or higher) with higher quality setting such as 4AA. Thats the reason it require more $. Pay attention to the resolution of games you intend to play. The higher the resolution 1080P or higher the more expensive GPU is certainly better.

note: PS3, XBOX360 games are defaulted to 720P.... Better video cards on PC allows you to play at higher resolution with higher quality details (i.e 4AA or better).

POWER CONSUMPTION: ATI 5000 series on top of each support for DX11 is a lot more efficient than the 4000 series. A 4890 consumes ~ 80W more than a 5770. The 5000 series also consumes less electricity when idle or performing low GPU intensive application.

Go for the new generation ATI5000 series cards if you are to purchase a new one.

 

[leon2006]

Below is the Windows-7 benchmark as compared to Vista. The point aside from DX11 W7 is better than Vista in many ways. If you are to purchase a new OS W7 is the better choice.


http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/windows-7-performance,2476.html

 

[wiinippongamer]

for gaming at that res, 5850 is better.


and don't get any console! with a 5850 you'll be playing everything at max with AA turned on @80+ fps on most games.

use the extra 300 bucks for a good blu-ray burner for your comp and a good SSD for your OS and mostly used games and programs.


BLU RAY DRIVE: http://www.amazon.com/LG-Electronics-CH08LS10K-LightScribe-Blu-ray/dp/tech-data/B002JIMW4S/ref=de_a_smtd

SSD: http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Internal-Solid-State-CMFSSD-64N1/dp/B0028LL33C/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1261143970&sr=8-1

 

[robertomad]

Is 5770 suffice to accomplish all this? I will probably try to play some games i.e. GTA 4 , Resident Evil but not really an avid game player. I will use my PC primarily for work and watching movies.

 

[wiinippongamer]

it'll play those games at 1080p but you won't get to max them out, probably at mid-high settings but not at max, 5770 is good for up to 1680x1050, but when scaling to 1900+ it starts struggling at higher settings.

it'll be good if you're ok with mainstream settings and ofcourse for movies and work, but as i said, for gaming at that res 5850 is better, but as you primarily use your pc for movies and work then 5770 will be ok

 

[JackNaylorPE]

1) Windows 7 supports directx 11, is there any benefits of getting a card that supports that? Is there an added benefit in terms of Windows 7 new GUI features?

No, benefit is in games that were developed with DX11 in mind during development stage. It will be a while before we see these. We do have a couple of games that can say they are DX11 compliant but we haven't seen a lot actually done with the technology as yet.

2) I'm thinking of just buying the cheapest 5000 series and buy ps3 for the blu-ray player and playing games. Though I will probably just use the ps3 mainly for movies. Do I just stick with a good GPU?

How long you keep GFX cards before upgrading....if more than 2 years, gp DX11

3) I'm too keen with graphic details. I've seen the Unigine Heaven benchmark and I've seen the difference between using a non DX11 compliant and a DX11 compliant. And It really amaze me. If I buy the 5770 will there be a big difference in terms of image quality vs the higher 5000 series.[/quotemsg]

Subject to 2 qualifiers, this is what I'd recommend.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/geforce-310-5970,2491.html

Here's the "winners" from THG's latest (December) GFX Roundup
Best Graphics Cards For The Money: December '09


$50 - HD 4650
$65 - HD 4670 / 9600 GSO
$85 - 9600 GT
$95 - 9600 GT / HD 4830
$110 - GTS 250 512 MB
$120 - GTS 250 1 GB
$155 - HD 5770 / GTX 260
$200 - HD 4890
$240 - 2 x GTS 250
$310 - No winner (HD 5850 Honorable Mention)
$330 - 2 x GTX 260 / 2 x HD 5770
$400 - 2 x HD 4890
$410 - No winner (HD 5870 Honorable Mention)
$465 - No winner (GTX 295 Honorable Mention)
$625 - No winner (HD 5970 Honorable Mention)

1st qualifier - again, if keeping GFX card more than 2 years, go ATI 5xxx

2nd qualifier - if PhysX intrigues you, NVidia is only choice (w/o the ATI+nVidia dual card driver hack), so weigh PhysX against qualifier no. 1.

http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/batman_arkham_asylum_physx_performance/page2.asp
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/batman-arkham-asylum,2465-11.html