Upgrading GFX Card from HD4890 - What to?

[xSten]

Hey guys, as the title says I'm looking to upgrade from my current XFX Radeon HD4890, but I'm not sure what to upgrade to.

I will be mostly playing newer games like Battlefield 3, Dead Island, RAGE, Skyrim etc so I'm looking for something that will offer the best performance.

I do use two monitors, though I really only use the second monitor for web browsing or watching videos or Skype while I do something else on the primary monitor.

This is my current setup:

Mobo - Gigabyte GA-870A-UD3
Processor - AMD Phenom II x4 965 3.4Ghz
Memory - 4GB DDR3
GFX - Radeon HD4890 - PCI-E I think
Soundcard - Creative SB X-Fi Titanium
800w PSU

I am on a 1680x1050 resolution

So far I've considered these two, but I'm not very technical so I'm not sure what I should be looking for and whether it would be effective with my setup

Sapphire HD6870
http://www.ebuyer.com/271292-sapphi...-displayport-pci-e-graphics-card-11179-09-20g

Sapphire HD6850
http://www.ebuyer.com/247666-sapphi...-hdmi-displayport-pci-e-graphics-11180-03-40r

I'm willing to spend anywhere inbetween £100-£200, I usually buy off Ebuyer but I'm willing to buy elsewhere if necessary

Appreciate any advice, thanks in advance

 

[rolli59]

HD6870 minimum and it will be good with the rest of your hardware!

 

[HostileDonut]

hd6870 would be a great choice. Also, OC the heck out of that COU for BF3. I play the beta with a AMD AII tri-core @ 3.3Ghz and it beats the heck out of my computer.

 

[purple stain]

The 4890 is comparable to a 6850 so to make your upgrade worthwhile I would suggest going with at least a 6870 while the 6950,GTX560ti or a GTX570 would be the most bang for your buck.

I would agree with HostileDonut BF3 is very very CPU demanding right now.My 965 @ 3.8ghz is 90% usage pretty much maxed.O.C. as much as possible if you can.

What is the make/model of your 800watt PSU?

 

[ilysaml]

and i go with purple

 

[cutebeans]

I would go for the HD 7000 series. Your card is pretty good, the only downside is it can't play dx11 games.

 

[HostileDonut]

I would go for the HD 7000 series. Your card is pretty good, the only downside is it can't play dx11 games.

Yeah. Good point to add.

 

[purple stain]

^+1

 

[ilysaml]

AMD 7K series probably will be pushed to 2012 ? so, will the guy wait till Q1 2012 ?

 

[purple stain]

I thought it was supposed to be Q1?.But then again people were saying back in April they were supposed to come out in Sept.
Given what's going on with Bulldozer atm I would think it would make sense to say even Q2 of 2012.

 

[Azt3ck]

I been playing BF3 Beta and have no problems.
Specs: I7 2600K, ASUS Sabertooth P67 board, AMD 6950 2GB. card, 8GB.ram,X-Fi Platinum card. Playing BF3 my CPU usage is 32%. a game that is a CPU hog would be black ops. BF3 is takes more for graphics then anything, Black Ops is still a DX9 game.

 

[ilysaml]

I thought it was supposed to be Q1?.But then again people were saying back in April they were supposed to come out in Sept.
Given what's going on with Bulldozer atm I would think it would make sense to say even Q2 of 2012.

AMD has a troubleshot in production lines, it's not related to the FX CPUs itself....
No no, Q2 will sound very ridiculous , i guess Xmas will be with the low-end HD 7K series 78xx and the high end ones 79XX will be pushed to Q1 2012 to compete with nVidia's

 

[purple stain]

I been playing BF3 Beta and have no problems.
Specs: I7 2600K, ASUS Sabertooth P67 board, AMD 6950 2GB. card, 8GB.ram,X-Fi Platinum card. Playing BF3 my CPU usage is 32%. a game that is a CPU hog would be black ops. BF3 is takes more for graphics then anything, Black Ops is still a DX9 game.

Yes but the 2600k is 3 generations above the Phenom ii.It has A LOT more horsepower.

 

[xSten]

Thanks for the advice so far guys, haven't come to a decision yet but I'm also going to look into overclocking my CPU

 

[purple stain]

Do you have a CPU cooler already? Need help looking for one?

 

[xSten]

If it's not too much trouble, yes please

Are they particularly necessary? Because I'm using an Antec 900 which has more fans than I care to count so ventilation isn't really an issue as far as I know

 

[purple stain]

It's not exactly about airflow.Airflow is part of the equation but a good heatsink determines how far you can O.C. if your limited by heat.The stock Intel heatsink just can't deal with those temps which is why you need an aftermarket heatsink.

What's your budget for a CPU Heatsink?

If your budget is more conservative then I would suggest going with this one.

CM Hyper 212+ Evo $35 + Free Shipping.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103099

If your budget is more open then I suggest going with this.

Noctua NH-D14 $85 + Free Shipping

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835608018

The Hyper 212+ should easily allow you to get to 4ghz and maybe more.The Noctua will definitly allow you to get over 4ghz.

 

[xSten]

Not sure if the Noctua will fit inside my case, should do but I'll need to check dimensions and get back to you, but thanks for the heads up

 

[purple stain]

It should fit.The Antec 900 is a good sized mid tower.

 

[xSten]

Yeah after checking I remembered how spacious it is, in that case I'll go for the Noctua, thanks for the info

 

[purple stain]

Welcome.
The Noctua NH-D14 is one of the best air coolers ever made.You will be very pleased.

 

[HostileDonut]

I been playing BF3 Beta and have no problems.
Specs: I7 2600K, ASUS Sabertooth P67 board, AMD 6950 2GB. card, 8GB.ram,X-Fi Platinum card. Playing BF3 my CPU usage is 32%. a game that is a CPU hog would be black ops. BF3 is takes more for graphics then anything, Black Ops is still a DX9 game.

Ummmm, yeeeeah.... BF3 takes more CPU than BO...... BF3 takes more RAM, CPU, and a heck of a lot more GPU....