Upgrade from 5770 ...

[willmalcom]

Hello everyone,

I am wanting to upgrade from my Power Color 5770, but with the new 6xxx series being somewhat ambiguous, I am not sure what I would want. My main reason for wanting a new card is because the 5770 is louder than I like. I don't if I should go with a 5870 or maybe the 6870. I don't really want to spend more than $350.00 (less is better of course). Also, I don't play many graphic intensive games right now, but I will want Shogun II TW to run well @ max settings. I am running win 7 64 on a AMD phenom II x4 965 with 8gb ram. Oh yeah, PSU is a Antec EA650 (or 650EA idk). I would appreciate any input. I have read the benchmarks and the articles featured on Tom's, but would appreciate any personal experience that anyone could share!

Thanks,

Will Malcom

 

[p1n3apqlexpr3ss]

I'd recommend waiting until the 69xx series comes on 13th december, they should come in around 350.
If you want something a bit more cheaper, look at the 6870 for around 230

 

[wa1]

Agree, you can wait until 69xx series out, or if you are in such hurry then you can get that HD6870. It much faster than HD5770, surely you can play most of games with decent setting (maxed out).

 

[willmalcom]

your issue does not match your solution. the ATI 5770 is noisy so replace it with a card that costs twice as much? if the ATI 5770 is doing a fine job graphic wise but its too noisy, you can using something like MSI afterburner to turn down the fan noise. the card itself runs cool and you can easily keep it under 90c (a safe temp for video cards) with the fan at low RPM.

if you want to upgrade your performance and run Shogun II TW well, see what they recommend for hardware and get a card above that level. your current ATI may do the job.

True, I know that it doesn't exactly match the solution, and I probably didn't word my post as well as I should have. It is not just because the 5770 is noisy that I want to replace it (even though I said that was the main reason in my OP). Even though I don't play many graphic intensive games right now, doesn't mean that I won't in the future. And you are right, the 5770 is doing ok graphic wise, so the MSI afterburner is a good solution. But it is a little choppy at times with E:TW, and I do have the means to upgrade it, and I have never really been happy with it. I was very close to just getting a 5870 when I did the build originally, but at the time I was planning to xfire another 5770. All in all, I think that I will be waiting until Dec 13 for the 69xx series. UNLESS, there are great black Friday deals on some other GPU's. But thanks for your response, I appreciate it!

 

[jerreece]

No official system requirements appear to have been released for Shogun 2: Total War at this point. They just announced a release date of March 2011. So you definitely have no rush to get ready for it. LOL

So far as upgrading to another single graphics card solution goes, I would not do anything less than the ATI 6870/5870 or GTX 470. Otherwise it's probably not worth the upgrade in your case.

You can get the GTX 470 for $224 right now @ NewEgg after $35 MIR. But this MSI card is hot, and the fan is noisy. So that's not the right option based on your noise issue.

You probably want an ATI card since they run cooler and quieter by comparison (unless you get the $300 Zotac Amp! or MSI Twin Frozr II editions of the GTX 470). You can get a basic ATI 6870 from Gigabyte for $250 right now though in the US through NewEgg.com

Gigabyte ATI 6870 $249.99 [Regular Price]
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125347&cm_re=ati_6870-_-14-125-347-_-Product

Since you're not a heavy gamer, and really don't need the upgrade until March... I say wait.

 

[willmalcom]

No official system requirements appear to have been released for Shogun 2: Total War at this point. They just announced a release date of March 2011. So you definitely have no rush to get ready for it. LOL

So far as upgrading to another single graphics card solution goes, I would not do anything less than the ATI 6870/5870 or GTX 470. Otherwise it's probably not worth the upgrade in your case.

You can get the GTX 470 for $224 right now @ NewEgg after $35 MIR. But this MSI card is hot, and the fan is noisy. So that's not the right option based on your noise issue.

You probably want an ATI card since they run cooler and quieter by comparison (unless you get the $300 Zotac Amp! or MSI Twin Frozr II editions of the GTX 470). You can get a basic ATI 6870 from Gigabyte for $250 right now though in the US through NewEgg.com

Gigabyte ATI 6870 $249.99 [Regular Price]
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125347&cm_re=ati_6870-_-14-125-347-_-Product

Since you're not a heavy gamer, and really don't need the upgrade until March... I say wait.

Thanks for the response, this was the type of help I was fishing for! I used to be a more dedicated gamer, but I work from home now pulling about 55 hours a week, so I just don't have time for it anymore. Yeah the SII:TW release date has been slated for March for a little while now. While I work I like to play E:TW in a 1600x900 window, and the big naval battles can be more glitchy than I like for them to be. I think that I will probably get the 6870 to hold me over until March, but it may be exactly what I am looking for and satiate my appetite completely.

Thanks!

 

[willmalcom]

Best answer selected by willmalcom.

 

[Mousemonkey]

This topic has been closed by Mousemonkey