5770 a significant upgrade over 4870?

[DublinDude]

Hi all,

I may need to replace my 4870 shortly! I am looking at perhaps an upgrade over a direct replacement! However, I don't want to overspend on a 5870/5890 as yet.

I just had a quick look at the 5770's which are not all the expensive. I was just wondering if I was to purchase one of these would I see much of an improvement on performance over my 4870.

Thanks in advance

 

[Flyordie]

Uhh... Depends if you OC it...

Overall, not really until more DX11 games come out. Most HD5770s will do a decent OC on the core (920-940Mhz) but VRAM is where the bottleneck is... in that area you should get at LEAST 5.0Ghz since the ICs on the HD5xxx series are rated for 5.0Ghz. Mine cap out at 5,800Mhz, however my HD5770 uses the same IC's that are used on the HD5870/50 which are binned a little better at Samsung. (maxed out CCC).

 

[DublinDude]

Uhh... Depends if you OC it...

Overall, not really until more DX11 games come out. Most HD5770s will do a decent OC on the core (920-940Mhz) but VRAM is where the bottleneck is... in that area you should get at LEAST 5.0Ghz since the ICs on the HD5xxx series are rated for 5.0Ghz. Mine cap out at 5,800Mhz (maxed out CCC).

Well to be honest I am not really into overclocking, yet! (because I haven't a clue)

So for the moment I mean straight out of the box!

 

[Flyordie]

Well to be honest I am not really into overclocking, yet! (because I haven't a clue)

So for the moment I mean straight out of the box!

Straight out of the box, No. Your only worthwhile upgrade on that route would be the HD5850 or HD5830 (when its announced/released).

 

[shevanel]

if you were to buy a 5770 you would only be upgrading to DX11 while keep similar 4870 performance.

If you want to notice gains (significant upgrade)then you should buy 5850 or better.

 

[DublinDude]

Straight out of the box, No. Your only worthwhile upgrade on that route would be the HD5850 or HD5830 (when its announced/released).

Ah ok, maybe I could just replace it with a cheap 4870 and wait till a price drop on the 5850! Not really sure though!

if you were to buy a 5770 you would only be upgrading to DX11 while keep similar 4870 performance.

If you want to notice gains (significant upgrade)then you should buy 5850 or better.

Yea I think you right! I recently upgraded my monitor to a 24" using 1900*1080. So I'd like a card that does a good job on that resolution!

 

[Zubasa]

Ah ok, maybe I could just replace it with a cheap 4870 and wait till a price drop on the 5850! Not really sure though!



Yea I think you right! I recently upgraded my monitor to a 24" using 1900*1080. So I'd like a card that does a good job on that resolution!

Although the 5770 1GB is still better than the 4870 512MB @1920*1080, but not by much....
The HD 5850 is going be a good choice.
Also you avoid the egg of el cheapo by going 5850 and up.

 

[shevanel]

ot: but my 5770 should be here within a couple hours via fedex. i only went 5770 route bec of money and I wanted to get off a 9800gt/waste cash. If i were you I'd wait just another month. prices may drop.

 

[DublinDude]

Although the 5770 1GB is still better than the 4870 512MB @1920*1080, but not by much....
The HD 5850 is going be a good choice.
Also you avoid the egg of el cheapo by going 5850 and up.

Not sure what "egg off el cheapo" is but sounds nasty!

 

[DublinDude]

ot: but my 5770 should be here within a couple hours via fedex. i only went 5770 route bec of money and I wanted to get off a 9800gt/waste cash. If i were you I'd wait just another month. prices may drop.

Let me know what you think of it when you have it up and running!

 

[shevanel]

at the moment I'm only playing left 4 dead 2, fortress forever, spec ops mode from time to time on cod6 and the 9800gt max'd all three. Prior to the 9800gt I had a gtx275, so I prolly won't be too impressed. But I'll let you know.

I might pick up DIRT2.. in a couple mins to have ready to bench.

 

[DublinDude]

at the moment I'm only playing left 4 dead 2, fortress forever, spec ops mode from time to time on cod6 and the 9800gt max'd all three. Prior to the 9800gt I had a gtx275, so I prolly won't be too impressed. But I'll let you know.

I am playing Left4Dead 2 aswell! Just on the single player at the moment as online multiplayer scares me!! They are too good! haha

Anyway, it actually looks/runs surprisingly well on my 4870!

 

[shevanel]

I've never owned an ATI card but I would say that if a 9800gt can swing it, I'm sure a 4870 can prolly do so a tad better right? Not sure how ATI does on VALVE software.

 

[Zubasa]

I've never owned an ATI card but I would say that if a 9800gt can swing it, I'm sure a 4870 can prolly do so a tad better right? Not sure how ATI does on VALVE software.

Knife through butter

 

[Tatty_Two]

I assume your HD4870 is 512MB? As most have said, performance is pretty similar across the board apart from the DX11 thing which pretty much is immaterial at present, although in some games (Far Cry 2 springs to mind), the 4870 has a 15 - 20% advantage (20% being the 1GB HD4870)....it will be a while before there is a sufficient selection of DX11 games where there would be a reasonable chance that you would want to buy one, not just to see any additional effects that DX11 brings to the table but more because you actually fancy the gameplay if you get my meaning.

At a guess, perhaps HD5850 prices will come down a little when the new Nvidia offerings are available but to be honest, I dont think by much. if you really cannot wait for a performance increase then why not sell your 4870 and get a HD4890 which come as 1GB cards in any case and offer a reasonable perormance improvement. You could then in 6 months time get an affordable 5850.

 

[Completely Bonkers]

Sometimes people are ready to cross-grade or down-grade for other benefits. The 5770 will:

1./ Use less power... saving you bills if you 24/7
2./ Make less heat... and be a lot quieter
3./ Let you run 3 monitors
4./ Let you "eyefinity" across multiple monitors
5./ Give you, on average, very similar FPS perfomance as your existing.

... so, depending what is important... you decide.

 

[Zubasa]

Sometimes people are ready to cross-grade or down-grade for other benefits. The 5770 will:

1./ Use less power... saving you bills if you 24/7
2./ Make less heat... and be a lot quieter
3./ Let you run 3 monitors
4./ Let you "eyefinity" across multiple monitors
5./ Give you, on average, very similar FPS perfomance as your existing.

... so, depending what is important... you decide.

Also overclock a tad better.

 

[DublinDude]

Sometimes people are ready to cross-grade or down-grade for other benefits. The 5770 will:

1./ Use less power... saving you bills if you 24/7
2./ Make less heat... and be a lot quieter
3./ Let you run 3 monitors
4./ Let you "eyefinity" across multiple monitors
5./ Give you, on average, very similar FPS perfomance as your existing.

... so, depending what is important... you decide.

Hmmm that is interesting! I think my current card can handle two monitors but I can't think of a reason to do that!

 

[DublinDude]

I assume your HD4870 is 512MB? As most have said, performance is pretty similar across the board apart from the DX11 thing which pretty much is immaterial at present, although in some games (Far Cry 2 springs to mind), the 4870 has a 15 - 20% advantage (20% being the 1GB HD4870)....it will be a while before there is a sufficient selection of DX11 games where there would be a reasonable chance that you would want to buy one, not just to see any additional effects that DX11 brings to the table but more because you actually fancy the gameplay if you get my meaning.

At a guess, perhaps HD5850 prices will come down a little when the new Nvidia offerings are available but to be honest, I dont think by much. if you really cannot wait for a performance increase then why not sell your 4870 and get a HD4890 which come as 1GB cards in any case and offer a reasonable perormance improvement. You could then in 6 months time get an affordable 5850.

Maybe I should wait till after Christmas?

 

[Zubasa]

Hmmm that is interesting! I think my current card can handle two monitors but I can't think of a reason to do that!

Its different, Eyefinity lets you game on all 3 monitor @the same time.
It is 3 screens combines into 1 large screen.

 

[DublinDude]

Its different, Eyefinity lets you game on all 3 monitor @the same time.
It is 3 screens combines into 1 large screen.

oooooh! interesting!

Can I combine two monitors to use the one desktop? Therefore, having one program open on one monitor and another program on another?

 

[Zubasa]

oooooh! interesting!

Can I combine two monitors to use the one desktop? Therefore, having one program open on one monitor and another program on another?

Any display card with multiple outout will do that.
Eyefinity is different that you can treat the screens as 1 large one.
For other cards you can only extend the destop, Eyfinity allows you to go Fullscreen 3D gaming with them.

 

[wolf]

Id take the 5770, lower power, hugely on idle, much cooler - which means quieter, and these cards OC like beasts.

DX11 and Eyefinity are just bonus's on that the way I see it.

 

[Tatty_Two]

Maybe I should wait till after Christmas?

Personally I would keep what you have until the 5850 becomes affordable or there is an NVidia DX11 option in the future which is both affordable and an increase in performance. I think the NVidia DX11 card releases will be the key to ATi's pricing policy in Q1 2010.

As to the other reasons to upgrade (replace) such as less power draw, less heat etc etc (I not theat you dont overclock), personally i dont know anyone who is willing to pay out good money to replace a card with a card that draws less volts but is a little slower in many things but each to his own!

Eyfinity only works if you have the extra monitors, if you have the cash to get them, we wouldnt be having this conversation because you would be buying a 5870!

 

[Zubasa]

Tatty, I think you are under estimating the HD5770.
We say the HD5770 is on par with the HD4870 not because it is sometimes slower, because it is also sometimes as fast as the HD4890.
Most of the time they are basically the same.