5770 crossfire 16x/4x

[erocker]

Yeah for the motherboard i can wait, but you see my cpu it will limit the config

At 3ghz not too much. Personally I would get two more gigs of RAM and the 5850.

 

[crazyeyesreaper]

lets break this down

PCIe 1.1 spec at x16 speed = PCIe 2.0 spec at x8 speed
PCIe 1.1 spec at x8 speed = PCIe 2.0 spec x4 speed

so basically on a modern motherboard that has PCI express 2.0 will offer double the the speed of PCI express 1.1

now as far as your CPU its fine if you can do as erocker says and get a few more gigs of matching ram and grab a 5850

as the 5770s in crossfire will be severly bottlenecked at PCI express 1.1 x4 speeds

the 5850 will run x16 and even on PCIe 1.1 = x8 PCIe 2.0 the 5850 will only have a 1% perfromance drop on average so in summary

4 gigs total ram matching speed with a 5850 will be much cheaper then a new mobo cpu ram and gpus and your cpu is fine for a single gpu setup its a fact that even a core 2 duo is fine for gaming as with 1 gpu you will be limited more by graphics horsepower meaning a new cpu isnt really necessary

 

[erocker]

 

[metafan]

I will do exactly what you say cause it's very logical.
Big thanks to the the community here

 

[paulo7]

hi metafan - I had a similar system to yours (e5200 and 4870) and was considering a 5 series card but I decided to upgrade to i750 first and just from that ive seen a nice increase in my fps in games and system performance.

If your itching to upgrade your setup now i highly recommend it and it should tide you over until feb/march when there will definitely be a wider selection/greater availability/ cheaper gpus available.

 

[InnocentCriminal]

erocker & crazyeyesreaper have said it - get more RAM. If you've got 2 x 1GB sticks then definitely get 2 more of the exact same kind and you'll definitely notice an improvement. If you have filled all 4 banks, then (depending on budget) I recommend you get either 2 x 2GB sticks of 1066MHz (your board can handle 8GB MAX). If possible, move away from 32bit Windows 7 to 64bit so that you get even more benefit from the extra RAM.

Are you able to game at 1680 x 1050 or are you stuck at 1600 x 900? I have a 20" monitor and 1680 x 1050 is a lot better.

 

[PCpraiser100]

The performance of the video cards are affected by the amount of bandwidth they are capable of, which can be limited by a 4x PCI-E slot. You will still get a boost however, as the 2nd card plays the role of a slave while the 1st one is the master. So if you want increased performance from crossfire just make sure the card that your monitor is connected to is in the PCI-E slot running at 16x.

BTW thanks for adding examples erocker.

 

[Kursah]

I'd go for more ram, and a 5770 in all honesty...if it is comparable to a 4870 and gtx260, my GTX260 is still rockin the games at 1920x1080 just fine. Plus if 5770's OC as well as I hear, then you could save some money and be gaming just fine for a while I would imagine...plus it depends on how much you use your rig for gaming. Sure a 5850 would rock, but it's gonna cost ya as you have seen looking around at prices...frankly I'd save some cash go 5770, find either a 2x2GB kit of ram or add another couple gigs to your current set and call it good. Maybe eek out a little more from that C2D, but at 3ghz it shouldn't be a slouch for gaming.

 

[Mussels]

i ran two 4870's on a P35 and only had about a 10-15% loss in performance compared to a higher end board.

it was MUCH faster than a single card, so he'll still benefit.

 

[metafan]

"InnocentCriminal" 1600x900 is my max
"PCpraiser100" i think the performance boost will not be good for the price of two 5770.
"Kursah" sure i will add 2Gb Ram very soon, but i will not purchase a single 5770, am running now with an overclocked 4850 so it don't worth such upgrade.
Note :I have a defective 2Gb RAM stick at home which gave me some BSOD, I tested it quickly last week and gave me some good performance boost in "Crysis"
"Mussels" I will not venture into it

 

[Flyordie]

Not to be mean or a buzzkill but the review W1zz did looks like it was CPU limited?

 

[Mussels]

Not to be mean or a buzzkill but the review W1zz did looks like it was CPU limited?

perhaps it was. but look what CPU he used... hard to buy better, eh?

 

[Flyordie]

perhaps it was. but look what CPU he used... hard to buy better, eh?

I know, just stating it in the position of the HD5870 is a very kickass card.

 

[DrPepper]

Not to be mean or a buzzkill but the review W1zz did looks like it was CPU limited?

5870 won't be bottlenecked by an i7 even at stock. The results just show that 8x PCI-E doesn't make much of a difference.

 

[Jody2k]

Don't forget that Crysis is a only video card based game and also a older game that only support dual core CPU, but in other (newer)games a better cpu (I5,I7,PhenomIIX4) will give you much more performance, look at some reviews you will see the differance...
but yeah if you have a low budget, a new video card will give you the best performance compared to a new CPU

 

[ToTTenTranz]

The 4x slot in the P35s is handled by the southbridge, so there's a lot more latency than with the northbridge-only solutions.


This translates into horrible microstuttering and lots of performance problems.

Don't do Crossfire in a P35, ever.
That PCI 4x should be used for PhysX dedicated cards or a second graphics card for additional monitors, never for Crossfire.

 

[finndrummer]

I planned to change my 4850, add 200euro and buy the 5850, but I had an occasion to purchase a complete and new system from a friend. So, I sold my system, add 200Euro and I bought it.
See specifications.
What do you think ?

 

[Jody2k]

Your system specs are more than enough to carry this card

 

[crazyeyesreaper]

he dosent even need a new card the 4890 will be enough if he was updating just the gpu the 5850 would have been fine but at this point the system he has is well balanced he might as well leave it as is till DX11 is more mainstream at this stage

 

[finndrummer]

Yeah i think the 4890 is enough (that i will overclock using the voltage tweak but not now) but my question, is my system is good enough for a medium term ?
Also 700 euro is a good price for the system i bought ?

 

[InnocentCriminal]

Also 700 euro is a good price for the system i bought ?

Yeah, that's a very respectable machine and if the monitor was included fantastic value for the price.

 

[finndrummer]

No not included ...

 

[InnocentCriminal]

It's still an impressive specification for that amount of money - definitely one to be proud of.

 

[finndrummer]

i read that this i5 and the 4890 are good overclockers ? sure ?

 

[InnocentCriminal]

Well, it's not a guarantee just because other CPUs (from the same family) overclock well, or really (again, depending on the CPU) it's very hit & miss - your i5 could be a fantastic overclocker when someone else, who has the same stepping and revision as your i5, could have a very bad one.

Another thing that contributes to good overclocking results is the other components in your machine and the cooling provided, even down to which thermal paste you use can make a big difference.

... that was with LN2.