Budget upgrade

[xvi]

Let's disect this for a second:

• In terms of raw power, the x2 has the edge over a single 7850 in theory but,it's not that clear cut.
• The x2 won't do DX11
• It won't do well at 1080p> as it only has a 1GB frame buffer
• It uses twice the power of the 7850
• It's not as good in modern games
• It's more liable to die on you due to it being 4 year old tech as opposed to being <2years
• It will be noisy
• It will likely have crossfire issues, some games will only utlilise 1GPU etc etc
• The list goes on.

In short the 7850 is a much better all round choice, will it give you better frames on Crysis3 than a x2? maybe or maybe not, either lower the settings, the res or shell out for a better card if you are debating either card.

I would have to disagree. I went from a 4870/4850 CF setup to a 5870 and I have to say both setups perform about the same in ideal conditions for both.
1GB frame buffer should be okay for 1080p, albeit only just.
Power usage on the 4000 series cards is horrendous, yes, and inherently have a noisy fan because of it.
Crossfire issues aren't guaranteed.

I ran it on a dual core athlon X2, 4850, 4GB DDR2. Everything low/medium/low settings about 25FPS @ 1440x900. Still looked beautiful. It took many upgrades to break ultra settings until I upgraded to the Athlon II X4 and crossfired my 4850 (didnt have my 5850 at the time) by then Crysis 1 was old news.

Similar thing for me. Phenom II X2, single 4850, low settings, ran in the 20-30 FPS range for me. Don't remember what resolution the monitor was, maybe 1680x1050?

Getting one of what? Dont you already have a 6970 and the choice was between another or a single more powerful card?

For the daughter's computer.

Like I said, The best bang for your buck is actually getting an upgrade for yourself and give her your 6970. You are buying 1 card but upgrading 2 systems. A 7950 is much cheaper and can easily perform the same as the 7970. The extra shaders made little to no difference in performance.

Or if your budget is a fixed amount rather than amount per system then you should just get her a 7850 1 GB. It will play any game on high except metro and crysis 3. If you look at the reviews, by the time the card needs more than 1 GB, it is already unplayable. The gpu will bottleneck before the memory in almost all cases. If you plan to go above 1080p or duels/triples then get the 2GB.

I don't think "bang for your buck" is how I'd describe a 7950 when used cards are an option. If she doesn't mind medium settings, I'd try that 6970 (which is roughly the same performance as a 5870) or a 5870. Those cards still cost a bit (~$150-200 USD), but their HD XX50 counterparts would save you a couple shillings with a minimal hit in performance.

The HD 4000 series cards are mostly useless considering their lack of DirectX 10 support. I loved mine, but 200-300 watts per card and lack of DX10/OpenCL pushed me to upgrade.

Why don't you just give her your 6970 and buy yourself a 7970? Nothing is wasted and problem is solved.

I had thought on getting a 7970 for myself but it's a bit to expensive plus my 6970 is enough for me.

No one said it was a wise option, but it is the most awesome option.
I actually would like to +1 this, though. The hand-me-down upgrade model isn't a particularly bad one.


Edit: I just realized I was disagreeing with a moderator about the 6970 vs 7950 debate, but I think I'll hold my ground. Mindweaver, perhaps you're thinking of the 7850? The 7950 is $300 on a good day whereas the 6970 seems to go for $200-ish.
Also, the 5870 and 5970 are within striking distance of each other, but the 6970 is generally priced quite a bit higher.

 

[jagd]

Do you know microsoft has any partnership with schools in UK ? They have/had some programs called '' academic '' or similiar and you could get microsoft software from your school/college free/very cheap for students/teachers iirc

my daughter is running Win 7 ultimate 32bit, I have Win 7 premium 64bit can I buy another serial so I can install it on her new system when I put it together if so where can I get it.

 

[cookiemonster]

Hi as I cannot afford a new card for myself my daughter is going to stick with the 4870 x 2 until she can save up for a better card thanks for all the help and advice, one last thing I noticed on the mobo I am giving her that it has •Integrated ATI Radeon HD 4290 graphics (DirectX10.1)

ATI Hybrid Graphics is a technology umbrella brand encompassing several technologies, such as ATI Hybrid CrossFireX™, ATI SurroundView™, ATI PowerPlay™, etc. that allow both an AMD integrated graphics processor and a discrete graphics processor to work co-operatively on an AMD based system to provide enhanced gaming performance, productivity and platform efficiency to the mainstream PC.

can this be tied into the 4870x2.

 

[Geekoid]

As has already been mentioned, that 32-bit Windows 7 will really hold you back. 32-Bit Windows 7 can only access a maximum of 4 GB (you'll see around 3.25 GB in real terms with minimum hardware). So you'll be very limited indeed memory wise if you get a graphics card that has 1 or 2 GB on it! Also, if your existing Windows licence is an OEM one, then you can't transfer it to a new motherboard. Windows 7 OEM licences live and die on the motherboard they came with. Thankfully they've changed this with Windows 8 Personal System Builder, allowing you to do things like change the motherboard. If you're going to be changing things like this often, I'd suggest Windows 8 64-bit thanks to the "personal use" allowance.

 

[Melvis]

Hi my daughter has just realised she cannot play Crysis 3, with the rest of the system she has what graphics card can she upgrade to so she can play it; budget very minimum and also an AMD card.

NZXT Lexa
Gigabyte GA-MA790X-UD4P (rev 1.0) mobo
AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition, Deneb Core, S AM3, 3.4GHz
4gb ddr2 6400 800mhz ram
XFX HD 4870 X2, PCI-E 2.0, 3600MHz GDDR5, GPU
Seagate Baracuda 500gb, 32mb cache
Corsair 650 PSU
Liteon DVD Writer
Windows 7 32bit

Is it that Crysis 3 is only a DX11 game? because that set up I would think should run it ok ish with some settings turned down?

I ran Crysis 2 maxed out on my old system with a Stock Phenom II 965 and quadfire 4870X2 and would get up to 110FPS in that game, and i only had 4GB of RAM at that time.

Either its realy bad driver support for the card, or your hitting the RAM limit? something doesnt seem right to me.

Ignore that. Those specifications wouldn't even run Crysis 1 let alone 3.

Game developers make money from selling games. They quote under spec'd requirements to get noobs to buy the game. That is the requirements to get the game to "load" and for the opening cinematics to run. At best a choppy experience at low settings and resolution.

I ran Crysis 1 on a FX-57, 2GB of RAM, Windows XP and a 3850 at max medium settings at 20-30FPS. 1280*1024

 

[cookiemonster]

Hi she knows that she can't play directX 11 games until she can upgrade Windows and graphics card,all I want to know is can I tie in the onboard graphics to the 4870x2 just to give it a boost in directtX 10.1 games.

 

[Melvis]

She can still play DX11 games with that card they just wont run in DX11 they will run in dx10 or 9.

And no you cant do that sorry.

 

[itsakjt]

A Phenom II X4 955 with NB overclocked to 2600 MHz(hits easily) or more and equipped with DDR3 will never bottleneck a 7850 or even a 7870 much.
So if you are concerned about budget, get a good DDR3 AM3+ mobo(AM3+ for the future) and atleast 4GB RAM(preferably dual channel) and hook a 7850 with it and you are good enough.