upgrade options and opinions requested

[keakar]

Question 1 - does anyone ever really need more then 4GB of ram?

i now have 4GB and was thinking of adding 4GB more for $80 while i can still get this DDR2 1066 ram to fill the last 2 slots in my motherboard

all i do is mild gaming, nothing too demanding (silent hunter, Fallout - New Vegas), and web surfing stuff


Question 2 - my old video card im thinking its time i should upgrade, its a 8800GT 512mb onboard with the G92 chips.

i have $200 i can spend to upgrade this card but only if i can really "see" a difference since i dont really care about benchmarks and millisecond differences, i just want the best visable grafics for the money i spend and i'm pretty sure i really need more then a measly 512mb onboard ram for a video card these days

my listed specs ARE up to date

[JATownes]

4GB is enough. I would recommend a new VGA...maybe a 6850 or GTX460 or something along those lines. You will definately notice the difference. And I assume your 22" monitor is 1680x1050...is that correct?

[Ev1LrYu]

for your memory question, check this article out. It discusses possible benefits of going 8g-12g.

For you VC, it's one of the best times to upgrade! Even a 5770 will be a huge jump from a 8800gt, and you can get those for dirt cheap

[keakar]

Originally Posted by JATownes

4GB is enough. I would recommend a new VGA...maybe a 6850 or GTX460 or something along those lines. You will definately notice the difference. And I assume your 22" monitor is 1680x1050...is that correct?

yep it this one here: http://www.memory4less.com/m4l_itemd...5771&rid=fd_10

as for the video card, i used to be a fan of Nvidia but then ATI took over because Nvidia stopped making new cards and only "renamed" the old ones and added a little memmory, so does Nvidia cards still suck right now or do they have anything that competes with ATI now

[Melvis]

What JATownes said

[yogurt_21]

6850 would be about double the speed of your 8800gt though i've seen open box 6870's for the same price so be on the look out

on the nv side 460 1gb or if you can find a deal on a gtx 470 (check for sale thread)

[jmcslob]

Are you able to order soon?
If so Here is an Awesome deal
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...=p5197.c0.m619

[keakar]

Originally Posted by Ev1LrYu

for your memory question, check this article out. It discusses possible benefits of going 8g-12g.

For you VC, it's one of the best times to upgrade! Even a 5770 will be a huge jump from a 8800gt, and you can get those for dirt cheap

well that was interesting reading

if i read correctly my 64bit system is fully using all 4GB so an extra 4GB would be a wise addition in my case but a 32bit system wouldnt make use of it

[JATownes]

Originally Posted by keakar

all i do is mild gaming, nothing too demanding (silent hunter, Fallout - New Vegas), and web surfing stuff

I agree it was an interesting read...but if you are looking for a "noticeable" upgrade...VGA all the way...you will NEVER notice the additional ram in day to day operations. Just my 2 cents.

[keakar]

Originally Posted by jmcslob

Are you able to order soon?
If so Here is an Awesome deal
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...=p5197.c0.m619

damn that does look like one heck of a good deal, if it wasnt sleezbay it would already be ordered but i dont trust them so its a deal buster for me and i'll have to keep looking

it does bring up the subject i was told to always get the xx70 series as the xx50's are just makeshift in between cards that often arent really better then the lower series xx70 cards they are suppost to replace but i take all advice with a grain of salt so was he full of BS

also any thoughts on this card guys: PowerColor Radeon HD 5770 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card

whats the true difference from 128bit to 256bit? is it noticable?

[jmcslob]

Yes and no.....All variants are junked down versions of the master plan

[JrRacinFan]

[FS] MSI Cyclone 460 1GB (900MHZ CORE)(3Months old...
If you don't mind 2nd hand.

I also vote no against more ram.

EDIT:

Or NewEgg open box
Open Box: MSI N460GTX Cyclone 768D5/OC GeForce GTX...

But thats 768MB

[Ev1LrYu]

Originally Posted by keakar

also any thoughts on this card guys: PowerColor Radeon HD 5770 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card

whats the true difference from 128bit to 256bit? is it noticable?

It largely has to do with the overall bandwidth available to the card, but it is really only useful in comparing apples to apples (which almost never happens: 2 cards with just the bus difference?).. case in point: while a GTX260 has a 384bit bus it is still roughly equal to the 5770 in terms of performance despite the 128bit bus of the 5770.

Go for what you can afford, the 6850 linked above is a VERY SWEET DEAL. But that 5770 you linked to is also quite good.

check this out: http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/172?vs=178

EDIT: That 460 Jr linked to is a killer for the price!

[keakar]

Originally Posted by JrRacinFan

[FS] MSI Cyclone 460 1GB (900MHZ CORE)(3Months old...
If you don't mind 2nd hand.

I also vote no against more ram.

EDIT:

Or NewEgg open box
Open Box: MSI N460GTX Cyclone 768D5/OC GeForce GTX...

But thats 768MB

the 460 is only for canada shipping (issues with customs make it real expensive to ship accross the border)

the newegg open box is out of stock, dont know if it just happened but it did

[yogurt_21]

open box 6870
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...2E16814131383R

open box 6850
Open Box: PowerColor PCS+ AX6850 1GBD5-PPDHGJ Rade...

open box 5850
Open Box: ASUS EAH5850 DIRECTCU/2DIS/1GD5 Radeon H...
Open Box: GIGABYTE GV-R585OC-1GD Radeon HD 5850 (C...

new 5850 wtf? cheaper?
DIAMOND 5850PE51G Radeon HD 5850 1GB 256-bit GDDR5...

new 460 1gb
GIGABYTE Ultra Durable VGA Series GV-N460OC2-1GI G...


new 465 1gb

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814125343

new 460 768mb
MSI N460GTX Cyclone 768D5/OC GeForce GTX 460 (Ferm...

recertified 470
Recertified: PNY RVCGGTX470XXB GeForce GTX 470 (Fe...


recertified 460 768mb
Recertified: EVGA 768-P3-1360-RX GeForce GTX 460 (...




pick your poison


performance reference

[keakar]

well how does the 6850 compare to the 460?

(and im not talking about the benchmark stats)

im asking in real world actual use are they about the same or is the 6850 much better?

[yogurt_21]

Originally Posted by keakar

well how does the 6850 compare to the 460?

(and im not talking about the benchmark stats)

im asking in real world actual use are they about the same or is the 6850 much better?

umm ok outside of games most things run on the cpu so no difference lol.

[JrRacinFan]

Originally Posted by keakar

well how does the 6850 compare to the 460?

(and im not talking about the benchmark stats)

im asking in real world actual use are they about the same or is the 6850 much better?

That's more a personal preference, meaning which one do you like more ati or nvidia drivers?

[keakar]

Originally Posted by yogurt_21

umm ok outside of games most things run on the cpu so no difference lol.

well i was more talking about what you "see" when your gaming then some benchmark score

like for instance your chart shows the 5850 as being almost 10% better then the 6850

[JrRacinFan]

Originally Posted by keakar

well i was more talking about what you "see" then some benchmark score

like for instance your chart shows the 5850 as being almost 10% better then the 6850

And that is true. It is about 10-12% better & the 460 is right around there also.

[yogurt_21]

Originally Posted by keakar

well i was more talking about what you "see" when your gaming then some benchmark score

like for instance your chart shows the 5850 as being almost 10% better then the 6850

wiz reviews run games in closed loops to improve accuracy they are perfectly relevant to how each card will perform in relation to another when someone is gaming. this is different than say 3dmark where it's just guaging how soemthing handles new technologies.

so yes in the real word the 5850 is faster than the 6850 and that will show up when you play games. the question is whether that 7-10% is worth the extra 30$ noting that the 6850 i posted up will likely only be 5% slower than a stock 5850.

[keakar]

ok so i can say:

the 460 is the same or equal to the 6850

and

the 470 is the same or equal to the 5850 or the 6870

[JrRacinFan]

Another thing to add that may help your decision

1.) 68xx's replaced the 57xx series in ati's lineup

B.) 6850 is like a gtx460 with the tesselation performance of a 5870.

III.) 68xx surprisingly enough have VERY VERY low power consumption along with gtx460 & 5850. Making crossfire/sli an ideal situation when paired with mid grade power supplies.
http://tpucdn.com/reviews/HIS/Radeon...power_peak.gif
http://tpucdn.com/reviews/HIS/Radeon...er_maximum.gif

[yogurt_21]

Originally Posted by keakar

ok so i can say:

the 460 is the same or equal to the 6850

and

the 470 is the same or equal to the 5850 or the 6870

overall yeah, they'll all trade blows but the difference will be minimal jus go for the best deal and really what's the point of a new gpu if you can't afford a new game to show it off?

[JrRacinFan]

Asus and Sapphire would be my top choices when it comes to ATi.