Radeon HD 6850 upgrade

[Birkinator]

Good Day Gents,

I am currently in the market for a graphics unit that will not break my bank, but will be better than my current dual Radeon HD 6850's. I have done quite a bit of research on graphics cards, but i am still very, for lack of a better work, unconfident of my ability to spot better components.

I am considering purchasing dual Nvidia 650ti Boost editions(160-200$/card) as a replacement for my current config, but i am still unsure of my decision.

What would you all recommend? I am not set on a single manufacturer, i just do not want to break the bank, 400$ max, but at the same time, i want a relatively significant upgrade.

I have also considered the Radeon 7790's. Any thoughts?

Thank you in advance for those who respond!

 

[ARICH5]

we currently have no benchmarks on the 650ti boost. the 7790 falls just under the 7850. very close call within 5 fps id say. your call. were not talking 20+ fps over and above. and the $ is very close...your desision pal.

 

[Birkinator]

we currently have no benchmarks on the 650ti boost. the 7790 falls just under the 7850. very close call within 5 fps id say. your call. were not talking 20+ fps over and above. and the $ is very close...your desision pal.

I'm assuming that thee would both be better than the 6850's that I am currently running? Enough to prompt the monetary expenditure?

 

[Roland Of Gilead]

You seem to have a preference for CF or SLI is there a particular reason why? The general rule of thumb is always to purchase the best single card you can, to avoid CF/SLI issues like micro stuttering or driver issues.

For 400 you could get a very nice card. a gtx670/680 7950/7970 which would eat those other crossfire/sli setups you were thinking of. If you want real performance, that's the only way to go. Plus, if you want further performance after that you can always CF/sli another one of the cards I mentioned above. I wouldn't recommend using two mid range cards.

edit: additionally, your psu comes into play, and obvisouly you need to look at the power requirements for the new cards. Also if you have a good enough CPU to drive those newer cards to their full potential. What are your system specs?

 

[4745454b]

I would disagree. $400 for marginal improvement at best. Your 6850s are already near the performance of the 7790/650TI. (The 6850 might even be faster then the 7790.) You would be spending $400 only to get similar performance. TBH I'm not sure there is any $400 card that equals or passes your current setup.

 

[dscudella]

If you've got the $400 I would go with a single 7970. If that's a little too much you could grab a 7950 for $300 (Good deal). If you're deadset on dual cards then you could grab two GTX 660's for ~$440.

A single Radeon 6850 is pretty much equivalent to a 7770. If it were my upgrade I would get a 7950.

 

[Roland Of Gilead]

I would disagree. $400 for marginal improvement at best. Your 6850s are already near the performance of the 7790/650TI. (The 6850 might even be faster then the 7790.) You would be spending $400 only to get similar performance. TBH I'm not sure there is any $400 card that equals or passes your current setup.

A gtx680 is most definitely going to equal or surpass his existing setup just on pure performance alone. Specially at higher res, where the additional vram will be important for AA and smooth gameplay. The 6850's are most likely 1gb variants, and are going to have trouble playing games beyond 1080p with high/ultra settings. wouldn't you agree? As well as that, there are a number of variables which we don't know like, monitor resolution, system specs, which will help making a better recommendation.

 

[Birkinator]

I appreciate all of the input, i did not expect this to take off so quickly.

I am currently running:
(I am currently at work, so i will revise the specs when i get home)

CPU: AMD FX-8170(3.9GHz no OC)
Mobo: Asus Sabertooth 990FX
GPU: Dual Radeon HD 6850's xFired(no OC)
Memory: 16Gb
SSD: Corsair G-Force 120Gb
HDD: WD 1Tb 7200RPM
PSU: 1200w



Also, as i am to understand, multi-Graphics cards does nothing for performance, so single GPU will do fine, as long as it trumps my current configuration.

Also, 1680 x 1050 currently, but i do like to connect to my 55" on occasion.

 

[4745454b]

A 6850 should be just faster then a 7770.

A GTX680 is probably just behind a CF6850 in most cases. Would you really want to spend $400 to get similar performance? To me seeing as he already has CF6850 there isn't much he can upgrade to. $400 will only get him better performance in the games that don't scale well and better power number. To me, that isn't worth $400. Better he hang onto that money and wait. For me at least $400 is a lot.

 

[Birkinator]

Well, I am between new graphics unit, new RAM, or a new PSU. Now that I hear yall talking about this, I'm leaning more towards a new PSU. My PSU and RAM are still original to the build. This is an ongoing build, for about 3-4 years now. As well, the PSU and RAM are were a cheaped out a bit originally. I suppose that I should probably mention the issue that I have been having that prompted the need for change.

While playing games such as WOW and PlanetSide2, I have periods were I experience choppy lag, sometimes blue screens, and sometimes, it will just stop responding. All drivers are up to date, and it is a fresh install of Win 8. I was assuming that this was a graphics error, again it may just be my naivety. I have also considered that it may be a fault in my SDD as ntsokrnl.exe is behind quite a few of the BSODs, and has carried over from my previous install of Windows7(reformatted and loaded Win8 to see if it would stop).

I suppose that I should probably open a separate thread for this issue.

 

[spentshells]

A 6850 should be just faster then a 7770.

A GTX680 is probably just behind a CF6850 in most cases. Would you really want to spend $400 to get similar performance? To me seeing as he already has CF6850 there isn't much he can upgrade to. $400 will only get him better performance in the games that don't scale well and better power number. To me, that isn't worth $400. Better he hang onto that money and wait. For me at least $400 is a lot.

Im not convinced the 6850's outpace a 680 as they only just surpassed the 580, but im just going off old benchmarks

 

[Roland Of Gilead]

I appreciate all of the input, i did not expect this to take off so quickly.

I am currently running:
(I am currently at work, so i will revise the specs when i get home)

CPU: AMD FX-8170(3.9GHz no OC)
Mobo: Asus Sabertooth 990FX
GPU: Dual Radeon HD 6850's xFired(no OC)
Memory: 16Gb
SSD: Corsair G-Force 120Gb
HDD: WD 1Tb 7200RPM
PSU: 1200w



Also, as i am to understand, multi-Graphics cards does nothing for performance, so single GPU will do fine, as long as it trumps my current configuration.

Also, 1680 x 1050 currently, but i do like to connect to my 55" on occasion.

Well, I am between new graphics unit, new RAM, or a new PSU. Now that I hear yall talking about this, I'm leaning more towards a new PSU. My PSU and RAM are still original to the build. This is an ongoing build, for about 3-4 years now. As well, the PSU and RAM are were a cheaped out a bit originally. I suppose that I should probably mention the issue that I have been having that prompted the need for change.

While playing games such as WOW and PlanetSide2, I have periods were I experience choppy lag, sometimes blue screens, and sometimes, it will just stop responding. All drivers are up to date, and it is a fresh install of Win 8. I was assuming that this was a graphics error, again it may just be my naivety. I have also considered that it may be a fault in my SDD as ntsokrnl.exe is behind quite a few of the BSODs, and has carried over from my previous install of Windows7(reformatted and loaded Win8 to see if it would stop).

I suppose that I should probably open a separate thread for this issue.

Regarding single/multi GFX setups. It's not quite like you put it. Multi card configs can most definately out do single cards in certain situations. However, there are associated problems with those set ups. With your 6850's your limited by your Vram at higher resolutions ( i would bet on your 55' that playing games is a lot worse than on your 1680x1050 monitor!?)
Some dual card setups are very potent, as highlighted by 4745454b . Even your 6850 CF will be powerfull. But, with new cards coming out each year, next years super duper card is always gonna out perform the last generation of cards, and even dual card setups. When purchasing a card/s getting one very powerfull card and then adding another to CF/SLI later is the best way to go. Your not limiting yourself straight off by purchasing two midrange cards (7790/650ti's), therefore limiting your upgrading. The point 4745454b is making is very valid. Your performance should already be very good, so from a financial point of view upgrading maybe isn't wise. Although you won't see a massive frame boost by upgrading to a single gpu set up ( you will see some performance increase...along with the newer tech capabilities of the new card) you will definately have a better game experience. It will have better min/avg frames per second, less driver issues etc. I suppose in the end, it comes down to what you really need. If you want stutter free gaming, and are prepared to sepnd 400 on a single card, then go for it. Your gaming will 'feel better'. If money is aconsideration wait till the next generation of cards, and drop one of those in. You can be sure that the 8xxx and 7xxx from AMD/Nvidia will be roughly twice as fast as the current gen. Given your 6850's are a few years old, you will see a huge leap in performance.

 

[Birkinator]

This is all very good recommendations, but based on the content discussed, I am going to go ahead and close this thread. My motives for posting this were a but ulterior from my main issue. I will open a new thread and see if I can get an answer for the BSODs that I am experiencing.

Thank you all for your recommendations.

 

[spentshells]

7950 boost/7970 ref edition is what you should buy or a 670 ..... way more consistent frame rates while producing more frames in total bringing the min frame rate up should be the main focus here and that is where your current setup lacks

even an overclocked 7870xt or 660ti would do this for you. while the max frame rates would be around the same (if the xt is OC the ti being better by default) the minimum frame rates would be way way up as would average frame rates which for me makes the experience way better.

Personally I would keep the 6850's and tweak them to death. Those options I listed would deff fit the bill as an upgrade.

As a long time AMD/ATI user I like physx it is neat

 

[Birkinator]

Thank you for all of your input, and i am sorry that i have not checked back on this thread in a while. Shortly after posting, i fell upon tough financial times But, i wanted to let yall know that i have settled for the ASUS ROG R9 280X.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121805

Again, thank you for all of your input!