I have a HD4870x2 and I want to change it for something way better. Price/Performance best option? - Hardware & Software

CPU: Q9550. Motherboard: GA-X48-DS5. Lately, I have issues playing in high/ultra quality the last games (Hitman: Absolution, Far Cry 3, etc.). I want a solid change, to be able to play these games and the following way better than now I do. I want the best videocard in price/performance relation (of course, way better than HD4870x2). I mean, I want to expend money and NOTICE the difference.

How much RAM do you have and what is the wattage and brand of your PSU?

A-Data Vitesta Extreme Edition PC2-8500 2x2GB. and Corsair TX 750W.

Well your q9550 will be struggling in FC3 but not to badly. You can look at the charts here and see what FPS you get on FC 3 on ultra in Full hd. (sites in dutch but the graphs should be straight forward) [url]http://tweakers.net/reviews/2849/3/far-cry-3-welke-hardware-heb-je-nodig-amd-vs-nvidia.html[/url] Comparison of more cards: [url]http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/2012-vga-gpgpu/19-Tom-s-Hardware-Index-B-Performance,2976.html[/url] Current popular cards from slowest to fastest are: AMD 7850 (230$) Nvidia 660Ti (300$) AMD 7970 / Nvidia 670 (400$)

[QUOTE=taipan;38769425]Well your q9550 will be struggling in FC3 but not to badly. You can look at the charts here and see what FPS you get on FC 3 on ultra in Full hd. (sites in dutch but the graphs should be straight forward) [url]http://tweakers.net/reviews/2849/3/far-cry-3-welke-hardware-heb-je-nodig-amd-vs-nvidia.html[/url] Comparison of more cards: [url]http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/2012-vga-gpgpu/19-Tom-s-Hardware-Index-B-Performance,2976.html[/url] Current popular cards from slowest to fastest are: AMD 7850 (230$) Nvidia 660Ti (300$) AMD 7970 / Nvidia 670 (400$)[/QUOTE] The problem is most of comparative sites don't compare my HD4870x2 with the new graphics... so I can't really notice the difference...

[QUOTE=theuit;38769528]The problem is most of comparative sites don't compare my HD4870x2 with the new graphics... so I can't really notice the difference...[/QUOTE] You dont need to. If you want to play FC3 you need a new card, period the 4870 probably wont run it past low.

I tested my videocard with Passmark and the result is [B]994[/B]. [URL]http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/high_end_gpus.html[/URL] This is the chart. Is this reliable? I tested my CPU, RAM, etc, and seems like it's not bad at all. I really think just changing videocard to something like 7850 would be good. But I would like to see the difference in frames per second to be honest. I want to be sure I will notice this change. Some people recommended me the 7950 or the 7870. What do you say about that? What's the best option do you think?

[QUOTE=theuit;38770249]I tested my videocard with Passmark and the result is [B]994[/B]. [URL]http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/high_end_gpus.html[/URL] This is the chart. Is this reliable? I tested my CPU, RAM, etc, and seems like it's not bad at all. I really think just changing videocard to something like 7850 would be good. But I would like to see the difference in frames per second to be honest. I want to be sure I will notice this change. Some people recommended me the 7950 or the 7870. What do you say about that? What's the best option do you think?[/QUOTE] The Q9550 will bottleneck the higher end GPU's on CPU intensive games. 7950 is a good card, but I would only get it if you are planning to upgrade your CPU soon too since its really high end compared to your CPU. 7870 is solid to, between the 660ti and 7850. I know everything about CPU bottlenecks. Im running a Core 2 Duo E8500 next to an AMD 6950. I can run Battlefield at max at 15 to 60fps. And when I lower the setting to low they stay at 15-60 Fps, showing the CPU bottleneck. But games like crysis, 1-2, Metro 2033, the witcher2 can be maxed out NP because they are not CPU intensive.

What's your advice? What should I buy to not get bottleneck?

[QUOTE=theuit;38771383]What's your advice? What should I buy to not get bottleneck?[/QUOTE] A new CPU. [editline]10th December 2012[/editline] Any GPU you buy in the 200$+ range will be bottle necked by your CPU in some games. Your CPU isnt that bad though so its not too big of an issue yet. I would advice to just buy a card that corresponds with the performance you want and consider upgrading the CPU in the near future.

I know I should get a CPU to not get bottleneck. I mean what videocard should I get to not get bottleneck with my old CPU. I think my 4-year old CPU is decent at the moment. I have a few choices. HD7950, HD7870, HD7850... but I don't know exactly what should be the best to get a GOOD PERFORMANCE compared with HD4870x2 and to not get bottleneck... I'm not an expert, you know. I would want to know the perfect choice between that. What would you buy? PS. Would I have compatibility problems with my GA-X48-DS5?

I'd get a 7950, think about it this way. Your CPU is going to bottleneck any of the cards, the 7950 will be the biggest. Whenever you finally upgrade your CPU, if you have a 7850 you will want to upgrade if you feel the performance could be better, which means you go and spend another $300+ on a new GPU and have your $200 gpu sitting there gathering dust and that's money wasted.

[QUOTE=theuit;38776190]I know I should get a CPU to not get bottleneck. I mean what videocard should I get to not get bottleneck with my old CPU. I think my 4-year old CPU is decent at the moment. I have a few choices. HD7950, HD7870, HD7850... but I don't know exactly what should be the best to get a GOOD PERFORMANCE compared with HD4870x2 and to not get bottleneck... I'm not an expert, you know. I would want to know the perfect choice between that. What would you buy? PS. Would I have compatibility problems with my GA-X48-DS5?[/QUOTE] You are always getting bottlenecked. But you seem to miss the principle of a bottleneck. It occurs when your CPU cant keep up with your GPU causing your FPS to stay the same no matter the graphical settings. (Exept for Physx and some other CPU stuff) A better GPU will still net you better visuals. Example: I can run BF3 at 30fps on high but also get 30fps on low graphical settings. This is due to my old cpu: E8500 and new GPU:6950.

Thank you for the comments. I really appreciate it.

I'd really wait for the next generation of GPUs. The 4870 X2 can still hold up in most scanarios, and while a 7950 will definitely be an improvement, I'd give it a few months.

A few months? What is coming?

the 8k series, it'll be march or april. Only suggest doing it if you can wait that long.

[QUOTE=Zerokateo;38859084]the 8k series, it'll be march or april. Only suggest doing it if you can wait that long.[/QUOTE] Not just that, Haswell is coming as well. I'd definitely wait, the 4870 X2 can hold up a bit longer, and we've already seen some hints that 8*** series might be closer to release that you'd think.

Thank you. I'll wait then.