Should I upgrade to a 7850?

[Drewfam]

Like the title says, would a upgrade to a 7850 be worthwhile for the price point? i can pick one up for about 150 on newegg right now althought its a brand ive never heard of or i think around 179.99. Is there something that would be better for around the same price with my build? I plan on hopefully upgrading my system next year to either a phenom ii x6, or a Intel quad core depending on price.

 

[ubercake]

You'll definitely see a difference in the performance of a 7850 compared to a 5770. Huge.

You should look into upgrading your system to an Intel i5-3570 or better when you can as your current processer is going to be a bit of a bottleneck with resolutions lower than 1080p (you're at 1600x900) or with CPU-bound games.

 

[Drewfam]

You'll definitely see a difference in the performance of a 7850 compared to a 5770. Huge.

You should look into upgrading your system to an Intel i5-3570 or better when you can as your current processer is going to be a bit of a bottleneck with resolutions lower than 1080p (you're at 1600x900) or with CPU-bound games.

im confused, wouldnt lower resolutions be easier on the system?

 

[ubercake]

As a matter of fact, I would save your money for the new CPU and motherboard first because of the bottleneck.

 

[Drewfam]

thanks for the help! So if i got with a 7850 now and then next year upgrade to a Intel and DDR3 would i still see a good performance increase?

 

[Onus]

1. Your "Cheap 500W PS" sounds like a PSU-shaped object that may not be capable of safely powering a graphics card that needs much more power than the one you have. I'd replace that before upgrading. A 380W Earthwatts ($45) can handle any graphics card with a single PCIe power connector.
2. For less money, the GTX650Ti Boost Edition slightly outperforms the HD7850 in many/most games.
3. These upgraded items could be moved into a new PC later, so they aren't money wasted, even if your current CPU can't take full advantage of them.

 

[Drewfam]

650 TI Boost is really better than a 7850? I thought about it but everything ive found says otherwise.

 

[Onus]

The best review I found was at HardOCP. The differences are not dramatic, and will depend on the game, but since the GTX650Ti is also cheaper, it wins on bang/buck. They said both cards could play at all the same settings, but the GTX650Ti was slightly better.

Take the following with a sack of salt, because I just discovered this potential issue, but if you play GW2, you may find AMD's current drivers somewhat unstable. After doing fresh installs on a mobo I was testing last weekend, GW2 was initially unplayable due to constant crashes, using a HD7770. I switched to a GTX650Ti (non-boost) and the crashing stopped. I need to confirm in the Event Logs if the AMD drivers were responsible (if so, you might not need the salt).

 

[Onus]

From the HardOCP review at http://www.hardocp.com/article/2013/03/26/nvidia_geforce_gtx_650_ti_boost_video_card_review/11 :

Performance - On performance, the new NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost offers the same gameplay experience as the Radeon HD 7850. We found that the gameplay experience was the same in every game, but the performance itself was actually slightly faster with the GTX 650 Ti Boost. Compared to the new Radeon HD 7790, the gameplay experience was superior on the GeForce GTX 650 Ti in every single game. Plus, the performance itself just smashed the HD 7790.

Value Summary - The new GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost competes not with the Radeon HD 7790, which was just announced days ago, but in fact it competes with AMD's next model up, the Radeon HD 7850. However, the GTX 650 Ti is priced at the Radeon HD 7790's level. Therefore what you get is Radeon HD 7850-like experience, for less money. The clear value is the new GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost.

 

[Drewfam]

you really think I will run into problems with my psu if i upgrade to a 650TI Boost, or 7850? With my current setup that is. I plan to upgrade the psu with my intel mobo/cpu.

 

[Drewfam]

say i keep my current setup and go with a 650 TI Boost. Will I be ok? Then next year when I upgrade the mobo/cpu and psu, what if i get another 650 TI Boost? or is that overkill?

 

[Drewfam]

thanks for all your help I am just waiting for my tax return to get here it takes forever to get mine so it will be awhile before i can get anything. plus i gotta clear it with the all mighty wife haha. I have been stuck on the 7850 for a long time i just heard that with my setup and resolution on my monitor i dont need a 7850 but it is newer and i want a card that is gonna be good for the next few years.

 

[Drewfam]

I would personally just get another power supply now, a good quality PSU is a must. I always recommend the best single graphics card you can afford, going with an SLi/Xfire setup just isn't worth the issues you will get with in game stuttering and the like. Seems you have decided on the 650 Ti but yes it'll be fine.

EDIT: You might have a 500 watt PSU but it depends on how much amps it provides on it's 12v rail(s)
Some good quality 300 watt PSU's will provide more amps than your 500 watt PSU and as a PSU age it looses it's wattage over time just like a car loosing horsepower over time.

is there anywhere to find out exactly the amps and everything i need to know?

 

[Onus]

Look at the Seasonic-built XFX PSUs; they're relatively inexpensive but excellent quality. The Corsair "Builder" units are made by CWT, and contain some inferior Samxon capacitors known for early failure, especially when stressed. More information on these is available on the badcaps.org forums. I wouldn't say they suck, and they are good choices for a light-duty home/office PC, but I'm not sure I'd put one in a gamer. I believe you should replace your PSU before upgrading other parts, but then I'm somewhat risk-averse.
Something else to throw out there in favor of AMD graphics cards right now, most of them come with multiple free games now, making them potentially a great deal. If any of the free titles interest you, the HD7850 becomes the better deal. Like Werner said though, I think you'll be happy with either one.

 

[Drewfam]

There should be a sticker on your PSU with all the details, look under the +12v1/+12v2 etc.

its 8a and 14a

 

[Onus]

The CX line reviews very well; the problem is it may not hold up. The CX-600 was cited specifically in a forum thread at HardwareSecrets, which then led me to more information at badcaps.org.