Upgrade gfx or not...

[lawrie34]

just a quick question guys,

I built a new computer 6 months ago:

9450 Quad processor (oc up to 3ghz)
4 gig of ddr2
4870 video
asus p5e deluxe

I am pretty slack when it comes to upgrading my system and want this rig to last me as long as i possibly can. I was wondering if you guys thought adding another 4870 to the mix is a good idea. im thinking about maybe putting another 2 gig ram stick in, but am unsure about the card.

any feedback would be appreciated, Lawrie

 

[ir_efrem]

Adding 1 stick of memory will make it so you do not have Dual Channel memory. Why not just get 2 sticks? 4gb of DDR2 is cheap right now.

You have a nice video card and I'll bet it games pretty dern well now. If a new game comes out that needs more horse power, I'd say upgrade then, who knows what the optimal video requirements will be for it. There might be a new video card out then that does better than your 2 4870s and you may end up spending as much for it, or a little more, as you would spend on another card now. But hey it's yur money, if you have the extra cash, spend it how ya want.

Make sure your power supply is up to the task of running 2 video cards first.

 

[lawrie34]

to clarify, i have a zalman 850w psu so i dont beleive power will be an issue running a system in crossfire, but i could be wrong..

 

[Outlander_04]

do the games you play run at decent frame rates and a high enough quality?

if not then maybe crossfire is the answer .

dont bother with more RAM it isnt worth the money [ assuming you have a 64 bit OS ] and it DEFINITELY isnt worth anything if you have a 32 bit OS

 

[gkay09]

^+1 ...if u don get smooth framrates then consider adding another 4870...if u r getting smooth framerates, wait till any new Graphic card come out from ATI (Reason : This will result in reduction of prices of the old one) So upgrade then...

 

[lawrie34]

yeah probs the best plan, thanks guys, yeah running vista64bit