Upgrade from Radeon 5850 to GTX 580

[merloin]

I've been using a Radeon 5850 for the past 2 years. It's been a good card but it starting to slightly show its age. The question is simple. Do you folks think its worth it to upgrade to a GTX 580?

 

[FlintIronStagg]

if you have the cash why not?
list some system specs pls

 

[Djentleman]

Yeah your PSU needs to have enough juice.......

 

[merloin]

I just upgraded the rest of my system. The only thing I didn't touch was the PS or Video card. The reason being, I wasn't sure it would be worth it. But if the overall opinion is that the GTX 580 is a worthy enough upgrade from a 5850, then I would do it. A new PS would be necessary as well of course.

CPU: i5 2500K
Motherboard: ASRock P67 EXTREME4 GEN3
Memory: G.SKILL Sniper Series 8GB DDR3 1866

The PS I will upgrade to: SeaSonic X Series X-850 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151102

 

[FlintIronStagg]

the performance upgrade would be a big step up. why not try and get another 5850 to xfire?

 

[merloin]

Based on my own research, the micro stutter study, and reports from others on sli/crossfire results, I'd rather just stick with one card and save myself the perceived hassle.

 

[FlintIronStagg]

if you want good bang for that buck, the 570 with a proper OC can perform with a stock 580, and i think that is well worth the money, with better tesselation performance especially going from the 5xxx series radeon. it really depends on what you want to play at which resolution

 

[merloin]

I play at 1920 x 1080. As far as games go, I play a very wide range. After the recent Steam sales over the past month or two, I've picked up a few "new" games such as Metro 2033 and that is quite the demanding game. I'll be picking up Skyrim. Granted, being a console port, I'm not sure how demanding that will be.

In the end, I like to be able to put the graphics all the way up or nearly all the way up and leave them there. When I have to start turning stuff off to keep decent fps, that's when I start looking at an upgrade.

 

[FlintIronStagg]

i run a 570, and have no issues on very high with any game, even metro 2033. There are a few settings that i stay away from such as advanced DoF, but everything else maxed. Witcher 2 runs great as well with ubersampling off around 50-60 fps@1920x1080. If you can wait, the new radeon cards should be coming out in a couple months, and be much faster than current gen. if you are wanting to buy now, then i think the 570 is a good choice; it is much cheaper than the 580, and will perform extremely well at your gaming resolution.

 

[merloin]

Thanks FlintIronStagg for your help here. I can give it a couple months and see what the future holds.

 

[merloin]

Best answer selected by merloin.

 

[FlintIronStagg]

good luck on what you decide, nothign like a high end GPU to make you happy