Opinion sought - keep ATI 5870 or upgrade?

[Horrgakx]

Hi all - I'm planning on upgrading my PC some time soon and I'm wondering whether to keep my XFX branded "ATI Radeon HD 5870 1024" or upgrade that too.

I'm not sure how it compares to modern cards as it's already over a couple of years old. So do I keep it or buy new? Is it worth something second hand?

Thanks.

 

[Horrgakx]

(EDIT) - for some reason I'm not allowed to edit my message (!) so I'd like to add that I use 3x monitors at the moment and any new card would need to support this (picture below).

Thanks.

 

[larrym]

Well, If you are happy with the performance in the games you are playing, don't upgrade. If you are not, upgrade..It really depends on you. What are the rest of your system specs?

 

[crazypotato]

your 1gb card seems inadequete for triple monitors. If you are planning to play dx11 games, i would recommend you get a 7950 or a gtx 660ti

 

[Horrgakx]

Full spec is below.
The whole system is due changing to be honest, it's a bit old now. For example the temperature sensor on the CPU stopped working (however I know it's safe) and there's a couple of other things I'm not happy with (like AMD's Catalyst Control Centre software!). I really do like Win7 though.

PC Spec;
ABIT IX48-GT3 Socket 775
Intel Core2Quad Q9400 (2.66Ghz) (2×3 MB L2, 1333 MHz FSB, 95W TDP)
8Gb Corsair TwinX DDR3 1333
XFX ATI Radeon HD 5870 1024
SATA hard drives
SATA (Lightscribe) burner
Win7 Ultimate 64-bit
Triple Monitor EyeFinity setup

 

[jessterman21]

Overclock that CPU if you can - it's still decent. And an HD 7970 would be your best bet for High settings on 3 monitors. What games do you play?

 

[JamesSneed]

If your happy I wouldn't upgrade. Look back into it at the end of the year when the AMD 8970's come out. Also its getting close to you needing a CPU / Motherboard upgrade. May think about that this summer when Intel's Haswell comes out.

 

[AdioKIP]

If you plan on gaming at all and use EyeFinity its time to upgrade. I had a 5850 and LOVED it, probably my favorite video card out of the 12 or more that I've owned over the years. The 58** series were great cards but they are getting past there prime. My card was good enough that I skipped the 6*** series of cards, but last year I upgraded to a 7950 and got nearly double the performance of my 5850. If you dont game then there is no need to upgrade, but if you want to play current games on a 3 screen setup, 1 gig of ram doesnt cut it anymore and you'll see a SUBSTANTIAL gain in power going with a 7950 or 7970. You'll also be able to add another monitor like i did since each card supports 4 screens now instead of 3 like on the 5 series.

 

[mayankleoboy1]

Overclock your CPU to ~3.3GHZ.
And get a HD7970.

You should be good for 1 year atleast.

 

[Horrgakx]

Overclock that CPU if you can - it's still decent. And an HD 7970 would be your best bet for High settings on 3 monitors. What games do you play?

I have tried 'clocking the CPU but it's highly unstable and has a very small window of settings that works. I'm sure I abandoned overclocking as it was unreliable anyway.
I play the likes of Battlefield 3 across the 3 screens although I do have to turn some options down to get a compromise on frame rate.

May think about that this summer when Intel's Haswell comes out.

Not heard of Haswell, though I do have the time to wait. However it's going to be like everything else - high initial price so I'm not sure I'm that bothered.

If you plan on gaming at all and use EyeFinity its time to upgrade.

I'm talking to a builder at the moment about options. I have about a grand to spend on it so I'll see what they come back with.