Do I need a new video card? Does it make sense?

[BoaConstrictor]

Hello,

My computer is a pretty recent build and I've had no trouble running any new games on it until I bought Battlefield 3 the past week. I know BF3 is a very intense game but my computer meets the recommended specs. However, I think my video card might be holding me back. I have an XFX Radeon 4890 1GB, and the rest of my specs you can see in my sig. BF3 is running really choppy even on low graphic settings. All display drivers are updated to latest version.

I usually dont upgrade anything in each computer I build until I build the next one...

Would I get benefit out of a faster video card, or is my CPU/Ram the bottleneck?

Thanks!

[drdoom]

Yeah I would look into a new card. As good as the 48xx cards were they are way passed their prime. I retired my 4850 CF setup last year since it was was really struggling with even games at 1680x1050. 6xxx series card are closing out.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102987

If you have a CF board adding another 4890 would be an option but I wouldn't pay much for one.

[BoaConstrictor]

Yeah I would look into a new card. As good as the 48xx cards were they are way passed their prime. I retired my 4850 CF setup last year since it was was really struggling with even games at 1680x1050. 6xxx series card are closing out.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102987

If you have a CF board adding another 4890 would be an option but I wouldn't pay much for one.

It says its PCI Express 2.1...I dunno if that will be compatible with my motherboard...Also need to find somewhere to buy it, NewEgg shipping rates are killers especially when you also have to add in tax...

[drdoom]

Where are you located? That card has free shipping so I guess you must not be in the 48 states. If you want a significant speed increase you will have to go with a 58xx series card or faster so the PCI Express issue is going to be there with any upgrade. I don't think the 57xx/67xx/77xx cards will be much faster than your 4890. I don't know if PCI 2.1 is backward compatible. You might try posting that question on the video card section. I have an ASUS 790X board and the 5850 works.

[BoaConstrictor]

Where are you located? That card has free shipping so I guess you must not be in the 48 states. If you want a significant speed increase you will have to go with a 58xx series card or faster so the PCI Express issue is going to be there with any upgrade. I don't think the 57xx/67xx/77xx cards will be much faster than your 4890. I don't know if PCI 2.1 is backward compatible. You might try posting that question on the video card section. I have an ASUS 790X board and the 5850 works.

I'm in New York, so I need to pay sales tax on Newegg, plus the free shipping is UPS and I wouldn't trust UPS to ship a rock. I'd have to pay to FedEx it, which is always expensive...

[drdoom]

CF 4890's? That will run about the same speed as a 5870. Maybe a Sharky has one for sale.

[BoaConstrictor]

Thanks...I'd rather buy one new card than deal with crossfire.

If I get this, http://www.amazon.com/Sapphire-DL-DV...ti+radeon+6950
(Sapphire 6950 ) do you think I would see a serious performance increase, or will the rest of my system bottleneck the card?

[drdoom]

I have a pretty similar setup. 740BE@3.2ghz 4th core unlocked with 4gigs PC1600 ram. I went from CF'ed 4850's to CF'ed 5850's. 4850 CF'ed faster than a single 4890. I got a significant boast in speed. 5850's CF'ed will be faster than a single 6950. I am sure you would get better frame rate with a faster CPU but I think it would be a good upgrade. I considered getting a 6950 when I was upgrading but got a 139.99 close out price on the 5850's so went with 2 of those. I think a single 6950 would have been about the same price as 2 5850's at the time. This was over a year ago. Just make sure there is no issue with your MB.

[BoaConstrictor]

Someone in a BF3 game recommended my a Geforce 550ti for the game. Would that be good? Its obviously less powerful but its also a lot cheaper...

[Learux]

I have same CPU and play this game on 1980 at low settings very smooth.

GPU is a 5850 (almost 5870 clocks)

The game likes a lot of RAM as well and I find myself bumping close to 4GB.