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Video Card upgrade?
I have a Sapphire Vapor-x edition 1gb 5850.
Here soon I will be upgrading my computer to an I-5 2500k from a Phenom x4 @ 2.7ghz system.
The resolution I will be using will be 1900 x 1200 on a 24in monitor. Is it worth it to upgrade to a 6950? or maybe one of the new 7000 series cards that were just released.
I do have the power supply & case to support any card. I am not against going Nvidia but I have had great luck with AMD and had planned on sticking with them. Just wondering if an upgrade is worth it from the 5850 at this point, to maybe a 2gb version of a 6950 or 6970?
Any input would be appreciated 
Comments
At 1920x1200, probably not worth upgrading yet. If your happy with your 5850, then it's probably got another couple of years of good life before it really starts to show it's age at that resolution.
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/512?vs=548
Your 5850 is still able to get 30+ FPS in many of these on High and Very High settings, and usually closer to 50-60 min FPS. Sure, the newer card is faster, but it's not going to get you that much since your faster than your refresh rate as it is.
Im still waiting on an upgrade. I got an MSI HD5870, and still don't have a reason to move on to something more powerful yet. Saving for 3 27" monitors, still not gonna have a problem running those monitors with an HD5870 and the games I play.
The Radeon HD 6950 and 6970 are discontinued and gone.
To put things into perspective, your card is slightly slower than a Radeon HD 6870, and in the latest generation, somewhere between a Radeon HD 7770 and 7850. I'd normally recommend that you at least double your performance in order to justify a video card upgrade, and for you, that would mean a Radeon HD 7970, which is somewhat more than double. It's also a budget-unfriendly $550.
If dropping $550 on a video card is no big deal to you, then go ahead and get a 7970. But if you're that rich, I'd question why you got a 5850 rather than a 5870 in the first place. And if you'd rather not spend $550 on something that may or may not make a noticeable difference for you in the next year, then I'd recommend waiting. See how your 5850 performs in whatever games you play, and if it gives all the performance you want, then an upgrade can't really do you much good.
Thanks for the replies
I figured it may not be worth it to upgrade just yet. And while I can afford a $550 video card that does not mean I want to spend that much for a small to moderate performance increase.
I got the 5850 at a good price awhile back and have had great performance with it. At one time I was an Nvidia fanboy, until this 5850 lol. For the price this 5850 has been hard to beat. I will probably be going AMD on my next purchase as well if nothing else for the performance per dollar value.
I have a few questions about a new build, but will post in another thread. Thanks for the input guys .
A Radeon HD 7970 offers better than double the graphical performance of your 5850. The real question is whether that performance will matter. If your 5850 already gets you 100 frames per second in whatever game you play, then doubling that doesn't matter.
I think I am being limited at this time by my processor. Which is a Phenom x4 9750 with a slight OC to 2.7ghz.
With what I have I can play many games at high settings and at a decent framerate. But do suffer with some of the newer releases or DX11 games and have to lower the settings some. While I dont have to play everything maxed out I do enjoy a smooth framerate on high settings.
I will wait and see how the 5850 goes with a new build. From what you guys have posted I imagine it will do just fine for awhile yet.
Thanks again for the help