HD 5870 or i7 upgrade

[Irish_PXzyan]

Hey guys!

I am going to have 600 euros next month to splash out so I am not sure what to use it on. Or even to use it on my system!!

So what should I do??

Either get a Sapphire HD 5870 1Gb on ebay from USA for 300 euros. Which is around 100 euros cheaper than buying from my usual store " komplett.ie "

Or:

Go and buy a new X58 mainboard + 6gb Ram and I7-920 and get a cooler and overclock it as high as I can. I believe it's 3.8Ghz???


So what would you recommend?

I have a GTX 280 1gb. would I notice a difference anyway with the HD 5870???
Or wait for the 2gb version?



or maybe I don't actually need a system upgrade??

Maybe I should consider spending it on something else??
if so.. What would you suggest!! go ahead and suggest anything!!
Maybe a monitor!!!! just say anything!!

Thanks in advance!

 

[Anath]

Hmm...tough call, I would say go with the new proc, ram, and motherboard. The 5870 would definitely be an upgrade from what you have right now, however prices will drop on both a 5870 and 280 and with this new motherboard you could do some xfire or sli for christmas
I also think your monitor is fine however if you do go sli or xfire downt he road i would pick up a 24"

Hope this helps!

 

[shakaxd]

I've got a Q6600 myself and I don't believe it needs to be upgraded. My 4830 would make way for a 5870 if I had the money.

In your case, GTX280 is about 20-25% slower than 5870 on tests I've seen, so you should go this way... or wait a bit more to see what the GT300 / 5870X2 may offer.

 

[Irish_PXzyan]

Iam not so sure a 20% increase would be worth while for 300 euros??

I think an i7 would be more worth while then???

 

[shakaxd]

I think an i7 would be more worth while then???

I don't think so

I'd wait a bit more if I were you. I didn't go for a 4870 or gtx260 sometime ago because of that: not much difference for the money.

 

[FordGT90Concept]

Core i7 would be the better upgrade of the two; however, if I were in your shoes, I wouldn't upgrade anything right now. Q6600 and GTX 280 are "good enough" in my book.

 

[shakaxd]

Core i7 would be the better upgrade of the two; however, if I were in your shoes, I wouldn't upgrade anything right now. Q6600 and GTX 280 are "good enough" in my book.

sorry for the off-topic, but I saw you've got a 5870... just wanna express how *jealous* i am

 

[JrRacinFan]

Look into some 1920x1200 displays.

 

[Irish_PXzyan]

Well maybe I should consider spending the cash on something else?

Maybe a 24" monitor??

or.... another hard drive maybe??

I really dont want to spend this cash on something that won't be noticed really

 

[Anath]

Well see I think that he is going to buy something...cuz thats what this thread is about. I think the i7 is a better decision because it sets him up for better/more flexible decisions in the future like sli or xfire.

 

[JrRacinFan]

Well see I think that he is going to buy something...cuz thats what this thread is about. I think the i7 is a better decision because it sets him up for better/more flexible decisions in the future like sli or xfire.

With the release of Lucid Hydra being so close IMO, SLI/Xfire reasons aren't justified.

 

[Anath]

yea but im pretty sure his current motherboard does not have 2xpci-e 8 or 16 slots...

 

[Irish_PXzyan]

My mainboard only has 1 PCI-E 16x slot.

AS for the monitor idea:
What about these 2:

http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=485817

or

http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=494827

 

[JrRacinFan]

My mainboard only has 1 PCI-E 16x slot.

AS for the monitor idea:
What about these 2:

http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=485817

or

http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=494827

1080p isn't much of a bump up.

http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=357419

That one's pretty nice.

There is this one also ...
http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=431891

 

[shakaxd]

My mainboard only has 1 PCI-E 16x slot.

AS for the monitor idea:
What about these 2:

http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=485817

or

http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=494827

I'd get the 23" one and a 1.5Tb HDD (like http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=482721 ) for almost the same as the 24" one

 

[Irish_PXzyan]

I like the looks of that Samsung monitor. 23" and higher than 1080p? Would the picture quality look better on a smaller monitor??

As in, if I was to buy a monitor with 1920x1200. would it look better on a 24" or a 23"??

Also, would games support this resolution?? and would it properly support 1080p movies?? with scalling??

If I do get another HDD, I would prefer one with 7200RPM and not 5400RPM. Rather get it as fast enough

 

[JrRacinFan]

I like the looks of that Samsung monitor. 23" and higher than 1080p? Would the picture quality look better on a smaller monitor??

As in, if I was to buy a monitor with 1920x1200. would it look better on a 24" or a 23"??

It would look even more crystal sharp on 23".

Also, would games support this resolution?? and would it properly support 1080p movies?? with scalling??

Yes, it would scale and game fine.

 

[shakaxd]

about looking better on 24" or 23", I'd go with 23", as the smaller the pixels, the better the quality.

as for HDD, you may go with the one that satisfy your needs. my HDDs I get for storage only are all 5400rpm, just because they are cheaper and I get more Gb for my money. for gaming/softwares I use always defragmented faster drives with larger caches on the first partition (20% of total space) for maximum performance

 

[Irish_PXzyan]

Would I be better off buying a 23" 1920x1080 monitor than anything higher???
Or would it be better with a 24" 1920x1200???
no idea what to do!!

the whole 23" sounds a bit better to me tho!!

 

[shakaxd]

You and I have almost the same setup, apart from GPU. And I wouldn't exchange my 22" for something slightly larger with a bit more resolution. IF I were to change it (or anything else), I'd go for something with a greater difference, like a 30" 2560x1600.

 

[Irish_PXzyan]

Seriously?? a 30"???

Would my GPU be up for the task with such a high resolution!!!!

 

[Irish_PXzyan]

There ain't much 30" monitors on this website.

http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=449934

This is an LG 27" 1920x1080. Would that be good enough?? but won't the image quality suffer due to the larger screen?

 

[shakaxd]

Seriously?? a 30"???

Would my GPU be up for the task with such a high resolution!!!!

It depends on the game, but generally yes (unless you are one of those "I can't live without anti-aliasing" guys). But seriously man, I believe an upgrade is only economically viable when you really get what you are paying for. Such large screen would be great for almost everything. I wouldn't go from Core2Quad to i7, nor from 280 to 5870. Not until the prices drop enough to justify the money I'd need to put on for a small increase on overall performance.

Not sure how much those 30" cost, but if it's not that much, that would be my advice

 

[shakaxd]

Alright, forget my 30" suggestion: http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=351875

 

[Irish_PXzyan]

Theres no way id spend 1200 euros on a monitor!! are you nuts!!!! I could buy 4 HD 5870 with that money!!! hmmm..now theres an idea!!!

I would have 500-600 euros to spend at tops!! no more!!!

That's why the 400 euro LG 27" looks much better!!!