A big performance jump from an ATI X1950GT to an AMD HD6850?

[Tommygunn]

I'm looking to buy a new graphics card and the Sapphire HD 6850 has caught my eye.
However, and taking into account my system specification, would I see any great benefits from upgrading with it as is?

For reference the games I'm into playing are:
Company Of Heroes Trilogy
Day Of Defeat
Call Of Duty - The whole lot
Medal Of Honor Airborne
Crysis

Tom.

 

[brandonwh64]

Better off getting a 6950 2GB

 

[NdMk2o1o]

Better off getting a 6950 2GB

Overkill and will be severly bottlenecked by his proc and the rest of his system, a 6850 not so much and still probably 4 times as powerful as his 1950

It will be very noticable in framerate and allowing you to up the eye candy, though you really need a better CPU at some point cause even the 6850 will be bottlenecked by that 4 year old dual core, is it overclocked btw?

 

[brandonwh64]

Overkill and will be severly bottlenecked by his proc and the rest of his system, a 6850 not so much and still probably 4 times as powerful as his 1950

It will be very noticable in framerate and allowing you to up the eye candy, though you really need a better CPU at some point cause even the 6850 will be bottlenecked by that 4 year old dual core, is it overclocked btw?

Ahh I just noticed he has a C2D 65NM chip. This would bottleneck badly. On the other hand, It would still be good to get the bigger card and then once he upgrades the CPU/MOBO he will be able to use it to its full potential

 

[Easo]

Probably something like 3-4 times better. But your CPU will slow things down.

 

[Tommygunn]

Brandonwh64,
The 6950 is significantly more expensive than the 6850, €70/$96 thereabouts.

NdMk2o1o,
My system is completely stock.

That was sort of the idea, to get a decent card that I can afford now and then later on when the pocket allows I'll upgrade the rest of the system.

However, NdMk2o1o, you mention OCing, which I've never done before, but I am interested in.
Therefore, does anyone have any basic advice on that? I presume we're talking about OCing the CPU? Any beginner numbers for that, that would help it stand up to the 6850 card?

Tom.

 

[NdMk2o1o]

Brandonwh64,
The 6950 is significantly more expensive than the 6850, €70/$96 thereabouts.

NdMk2o1o,
My system is completely stock.

That was sort of the idea, to get a decent card that I can afford now and then later on when the pocket allows I'll upgrade the rest of the system.

However, NdMk2o1o, you mention OCing, which I've never done before, but I am interested in.
Therefore, does anyone have any basic advice on that? I presume we're talking about OCing the CPU? Any beginner numbers for that, that would help it stand up to the 6850 card?

Tom.

You might be able to do 400 FSB x 8 straight away with just a bump in vcore, makes sure to keep your RAM at 800mhz

 

[Frick]

Overkill regardless of system, you're running 1280x1024 right?

 

[de.das.dude]

lets see... with 1950 you if were
then with the 6850 you should be

 

[thebluebumblebee]

I think this link might help: http://www.guruht.com/2010/08/radeon-x1950-vs-hd3870-vs-hd5870.html

 

[Tommygunn]

I bought the 6850 so we shall see how it goes. Maybe some OCing will be in the pipeline.

Thanks,
Tom.

 

[TheoneandonlyMrK]

oc'ings a good plan as your gfx card will do better with a higher FSB and its quite a noticeable improvement bumping it up to 400x8 but its mostly going to be down to how good your mobo cpu and cooling are that would limit it

 

[Lazzer408]

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dBDNzH37_Js/TbcpSgp8jcI/AAAAAAAAAxQ/NLejgUwRqOE/s1600/mouth-rainbow.jpg

ROFL

 

[Tommygunn]

Theoneandonlymrk,
I've got three 12cm fans at all corners except the lower rear, plus I have a Zalman CNPS9700 LED on the CPU and a 14cm fan in the PSU.
I will also try and mount the spare Intel stock fan in the lower rear, if space allows, to help drag some heat away from the graphics card.
Hopefully, that should work out.

Tom.

 

[Dent1]

A Intel E6400 Dual Core will bottleneck any video card of this erra.

You need to replace both the CPU and GPU.

 

[Tommygunn]

Your refering to its stock speed, I presume?

Tom.

 

[Dent1]

Your refering to its stock speed, I presume?

Tom.

Both.

You'd bottleneck the 6850 regardless, and it'll be apparent on newer games like BF3 where you'd be forced to endure low frame rate at low detail. Crysis aint happening.

 

[pantherx12]

Both.

You'd bottleneck the 6850 regardless, and it'll be apparent on newer games like BF3 where you'd be forced to endure low frame rate at low detail. Crysis aint happening.

I don't think it will bottle neck a 6850 actually, if he runs it at 3ghz.

( why? the clock for clock performance of the 6000 and 5000 series intel dual core cpus isn't that much, I've an e5200 at 3ghz in my parents system, it doesn't bottle neck a 6870, if he can run his 6400 at 3ghz it's performance will be very similar to my e5200)

Yeah sure multicore games may have problems but most games should be completely fine.

 

[Completely Bonkers]

@Tommy. Share your experiences of the new card. You might find that you can UNDERCLOCK it, for lower power and heat output, and still have playable framerates depending on your resolution settings. You might also be able to pick up a "cheap CPU upgrade" from ebay... a Quad s775, or a better s775 that is compatible with your mb.

But don't be put off by all the people saying "CPU bottleneck". I'm sure you will get 95% of the performance capability, for the games you are talking about, and at y1050 ot y1080, and without having to change your whole rig!

To rest of community; congratulate this young guy for being able to make a great upgrade on a limited budget!

 

[Artas1984]

X1950XT was 2X faster than X1950GT already.
HD3870 was 1,5X faster than X1950XT.
HD4850 was 2X faster than HD3870.
HD6850 is 1,5X faster than HD4850.


HD6850 is some 9X times faster than X1950GT and most important -it requires just a single power connector!!!
X1950GT, and i remember good, was never than good, it was slower than X1950PRO, 7800GTX or X1800XT. In those days noone recommended it! All people used to say "keep your 7800GTX or X1800XT, unless upgrade to X1950XT".

 

[de.das.dude]

wondering why someone didnt link this already

http://www.gpureview.com/show_cards.php?card1=500&card2=636

 

[Dent1]

I don't think it will bottle neck a 6850 actually, if he runs it at 3ghz.

( why? the clock for clock performance of the 6000 and 5000 series intel dual core cpus isn't that much, I've an e5200 at 3ghz in my parents system, it doesn't bottle neck a 6870, if he can run his 6400 at 3ghz it's performance will be very similar to my e5200)

Yeah sure multicore games may have problems but most games should be completely fine.

Sort of agree, and sort of don't at the same time.

The OP has no experience OC'ing so I'm not liking his chances of getting a meaty overclock.

If he can get an OC fine, most games with the exception of a few (BF3, Crysis, GTAIV) should run fine. But for a noob it might be easier to drop in a second hand Q9xxx and call it a day.

 

[Tommygunn]

I've had the card fitted for about a week and I'm very happy with it.
The most demanding game I have on the computer at the moment is Modern Warfare 2 and I'm playing it without a hitch on Ultra settings on a 1280x1024 monitor.

As mentined before, there is no OCing everything is stock.

What I have done though is mess with the VGA cooling, and I quote from my other thread:

I did some experimenting.
I removed the cowling simply because I wanted the front lower fan to assist with the exhaust of the hot air out the back of the case and also because I think it badly restricts airflow for the VGA fan.
Next I applied some Arctic Silver 5, instead of the stock gunk, and I put my Zalman heatsinks on only six of the RAM, as there was not enough room directly below the heatpipes of the stock cooler for the remaining two.
It has been like this for about a week running temperatures around the 50°C while doing just your usual stuff like documents, films and internet, no games. Gaming has been in the high 50's

Today, however, I decided to try and fit my Zalman VF-900cu unit, in contradiction to Zalman themselves who said it would not handle the heat and would not physically fit. It certainly fitted and not only that but in non game use it has reduced the temps to about 44°C/43°C. Gaming temps have reduced by a similar amount, now at the 50°C point.

I am very satisfied.

Tom.

 

[Jetster]

I don't think it will bottle neck a 6850 actually, if he runs it at 3ghz.

( why? the clock for clock performance of the 6000 and 5000 series intel dual core cpus isn't that much, I've an e5200 at 3ghz in my parents system, it doesn't bottle neck a 6870, if he can run his 6400 at 3ghz it's performance will be very similar to my e5200)

Yeah sure multicore games may have problems but most games should be completely fine.

My E8400 @3800 bottlenecks my 6870

 

[jagjitnatt]

X1950XT was 2X faster than X1950GT already.
HD3870 was 1,5X faster than X1950XT.
HD4850 was 2X faster than HD3870.
HD6850 is 1,5X faster than HD4850.


HD6850 is some 9X times faster than X1950GT and most important -it requires just a single power connector!!!
X1950GT, and i remember good, was never than good, it was slower than X1950PRO, 7800GTX or X1800XT. In those days noone recommended it! All people used to say "keep your 7800GTX or X1800XT, unless upgrade to X1950XT".

What???

X1950XT was just 30% or so faster than X1950GT
HD3870 was 40% faster than X1950XT
HD 4850 was 30% faster than 3870
6850 is 50% faster than 4850

So its nowhere 9 times faster. Its actually 4-5x faster. And I remember, back in the days, X1900 series allowed anti-aliasing with HDR, something that X1800 couldn't do. Its shader performance was way better than X1800. Also X1900 series overclocked pretty awesome, and it had software vcore controls too. I had mine running at 730/1800 vs 575/1200 stock.

Btw, I too owned a X1900GT and upgraded to 9800GT and then 6850.