Looking for best upgrade path for my existing Core 2 30.GHZ (E8400) + 5770

[SurfSpider]

Hi,

Hope some advice can be offered.

I play most games at 1680 x 1050 with my current setup (below). Some games run maxed out but for others like Batman Arkham city, witcher 2 and Deus Ex human revolution I have to drop the settings a bit (to medium-high) and also drop the resolution. One the resolution drops its looks quite poor with no AA.

I've been trying to see if I can avoid an complete new pc upgrade.

1. Would upgrading the GFX to something like 6850 or 7850 be sufficient. My CPU would cap the card but would I gain enough of boost to not have to drop setitings and the resolution?

2. If I were to keep the 5770 and upgrade to ivy bridge I don't think I would get much more FPS out the card...?

Any advice would be great.

Thanks!


My current setup:

Core 2 3.0GHZ (E8400)
5770
6GB RAM

[Cranky]

Id say get a 6870 for now .. Then try and upgrade to a Q8400 or Q 9 series so you can get multi cores.



That is the best bang for buck you can get now.

[simon]

I am rocking a 5770 with my i5 2400 and 4 gigs ram and it still handles very well on 1080. I would say keep the 5770 and upgrade the cpu to Ivy, your gpu will need to be upgraded probably around the end of the year but for now it should still be fine.

just as reference, witcher 2 on about 75% graphic settings and it runs really well on 1080

[Glordit]

Id say get a 6870 for now .. Then try and upgrade to a Q8400 or Q 9 series so you can get multi cores.



That is the best bang for buck you can get now.

+1 I went from a dual to quad (I am still on a LGA 775) and everything is still going strong 2 years later

[Wootware Computers]

I am rocking a 5770 with my i5 2400 and 4 gigs ram and it still handles very well on 1080. I would say keep the 5770 and upgrade the cpu to Ivy, your gpu will need to be upgraded probably around the end of the year but for now it should still be fine.

just as reference, witcher 2 on about 75% graphic settings and it runs really well on 1080

I agree with simon.

I have a bit of experience with a MSI HD5770 Hawk as I have it at home in my PC. That card is almost the direct equivalent to a standard 6850 in performance from what I recall. I do not think upgrading to a 6850 would provide much of a visible difference. The 7850 should let you double the gaming performance that you experience at the moment from the below comparison (5770 is black, 7850 is blue). I am not fully aware of the configs for the below link though.

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/549?vs=538

The 5770 is able to play quite a fair amount of games at full HD res though with settings turned down. So with your resolution lower you should get higher frame rates. Hope this helps!