Time to upgrade my HD4670...

[MegaUnlimi7ed]

Hey guys, I've had my HD4670 for about 3 years now it's quite clear that I need to upgrade if I event want to consider playing the latest games on decent settings; especially with upcoming TES V: Skyrim and my current collection on High or Maximum.

Initially I was thinking of the 5770 a couple months back but even that's kinda ageing now. I don't mind spending about £150 on a GPU so I'm now thinking of the 5870 and my mind's set on it. It looks awesome!

Would you say that's a good card to upgrade to? or are the 6800 series a better choice since I think they're close to performance but require less energy. But I saw the insane jump in performance when I compared the two at HWCompare.com.

And one final question. Will a 500W PSU be sufficient enough for a HD5870?

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

The HD6870 is the other AMD alternative to the HD5870:

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/244474

The HD6870 will have better tessalation performance than the HD5870 but the latter has better shader performance. OTH,the HD6870 does consume less power.

[MegaUnlimi7ed]

Oh wow, £138?! That's the cheapest I've ever seen. It's £175 on Overclockers and £150+ on Scan.co.uk, hence I've never really considered it. I'm more indecisive now haha, but there's not a lot of difference between the two that'll make me notice too much difference between the two. In the end they're both tons better than my current card. The 6870's newer and a bit smaller and better with the wattage. I might consider getting that, hmm...

Thanks for that link btw!

[Pob255]

A gtx560 is the other card I'd look at, a little slower than the gtx560ti but cheaper
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/267865
about 10% slower which puts it level pegging with the 6870

[kevpuk]

Another great price for the 6870 here - tempted to bag one myself !

[MegaUnlimi7ed]

Another great price for the [Your link here] - tempted to bag one myself !

I saw that one too! Already have it listed as a very possible card to get. I've seen enough reviews, comparisons and member comments on various sites. Better to get newer than older even if it means you'll be getting slightly less performance. And I'm more than certain my 500W PSU will suffice. =)

[stevie lee]

as for your 'will my PSU run it?' question. yes, yes it will. - i know this because my super power hungry wattage sapping HD4870* is running perfectly happily on a measly 425W PSU. And as the 6000 series uses lots less power, a bigger PSU will easily cope (as long as its a decent branded one )

Just make sure you've got 2 x6 pin PCI-E power connectors and your good to go. although you should get some molex adapter cable included in the box with the card (at least you do with that £150 sapphire one my sisters just bought) so either way you'll be pleased.


and before you ask, we only got the card this afternoon and weve not had a proper thorough test of it to give you any advice on how well it performs on a Phenom II x6.
can only tell you that the sapphire one is barely audible on idle and didnt notice it when we fired up 'Duke' for a quick pee in the toilet.



*uses about 320W ish on load.

[buildyourbox]

yeah a 6870 1gb 500 watt good enough for that. 500 watt not quite enought for a 5870

[MegaUnlimi7ed]

Awesome, thanks for that. =D As for my PSU, it's an OCZ. The 500W only has one 6-pin connector, but I know that the cards come with 2 molex adapters. I think I'll be buying it today, and for an awesome bargain too, just £125 on Aria (with a free game too.)

I even went as far as to compare the different brands of the 6870 series and Sapphire was proven to be decent, but they all were. I was planning on getting the XFX (known for it's lifetime warranty ) but was out of stock.

Anyways, one last question concerning the PSU. Will I be able to overclock my GPU and CPU well? I've never overclocked before and not sure what the requirements are, but I know that you'll need a good branded CPU cooler if you want to OC and a decent motherboard, which I have. I'll be getting the Arctic Cooling Freezer 13 Pro CPU Cooler today as well because the stock is awful.