Advice for computer upgrade!

[slojani]

I'm not a computer expert so please for the smart advice on upgrading your computer with the new graphics card in my computer's current configuration, that is:
Asus P5N 32 E-SLI
Processor Intel Core2 Duo E8400 overclocked to 3690Mhz
8GB DDR2 memory
Graphics Card HD5670 GDDR5 Shapiro 1MB
Windows 7 64bit
display 3 x 23 "ACER A231H Eyefinity setup 2328/1280 display

When playing IL-2 in 1946, this system is sufficient. IL-2 play CoD with this system is not good-bad FPS and minimal graphics.
Please if you can recommend cost-effective upgrade.

Thank you for advice !

[kendo65]

Hi, as a start try checking out some of the links mentioned in this thread:

http://forum.1cpublishing.eu/showthread.php?t=29711

Tom's Hardware does a monthly-updated survey of current graphics cards, and there are a few points about power supplies etc that you should consider too.

[335th_GRAthos]

Hmmm....
The display 3 x 23 "ACER A231H Eyefinity setup 2328/1280 display is a show stopper.

Do you use three screens for IL2?
Do you want to keep on using it when you get your new graphics card?

If yes, then you need to stay with ATI and Eyefinity.
The alternative: to buy a Matrox TrippleHead2Go costs extra money thus excluded due to your initial parameters.

I can not give advice on ATI cards as I am not knowlegeable enough (although I will own one soon).
For NV buyers I always recommend:
Low level upgrade: GTX560ti 2Gb VRAM
Med level upgrade: GTX570 2,5Gb VRAM
High level upgrade: GTX580 3Gb VRAM

So probably you need to look for the ATI equivalent to these cards.
The new Radeon HD 7970 (HighEnd card) is the best card today but very expensive.
The new Radeon HD 7950 (HighEnd card) seems to be very good but you have to read the benchmarks yourself.
If the 7950 fits your budget then you are going to be happy.

If you are happy with the 7950 you do not need to read any further. If you do, complexity and waiting kicks in:

The new Radeon HD 7770 & 7750 (Mainstream cards) are coming but, these are "low performance cards"

The interesting cards are the new Radeon HD 7870 und 7850 which will be Performance cards thus will be between the 7970/7950 and the 7770/7750 in terms of performance.
Since there is very little information on the 7870/7850 you need to sit and wait...

This is how it is supposed to look like: The 7000 series vs the 6000 series. The percentage% is according to ATI's information regarding te performance of their cards.

330% Radeon HD 7970 - AMD R1000/Tahiti, DirectX 11.1, 2048 (1D) Shader, 128 TMUs, 32 ROPs, 384 Bit DDR Interface, 925/2750 MHz

290% Radeon HD 7950 - AMD R1000/Tahiti, DirectX 11.1, 1792 (1D) Shader, 112 TMUs, 32 ROPs, 384 Bit DDR Interface, 800/2500 MHz

240% Radeon HD 6970 - AMD RV970/Cayman, DirectX 11, 1536 VLIW4 Shader, 96 TMUs, 32 ROPs, 256 Bit DDR Interface, 880/2750 MHz

230-240% Radeon HD 7870 - AMD Pitcairn, DirectX 11.1 - Wait and see...

220% Radeon HD 6950 - AMD RV970/Cayman, DirectX 11, 1408 VLIW4 Shader, 88 TMUs, 32 ROPs, 256 Bit DDR Interface, 800/2500 MHz

190-200% Radeon HD 7850 - AMD Pitcairn, DirectX 11.1 - Wait and see...

190% Radeon HD 6870 - AMD RV940/Barts, DirectX 11, 1120 VLIW5 Shader, 56 TMUs, 32 ROPs, 256 Bit DDR Interface, 900/2100 MHz

160% Radeon HD 6850 - AMD RV940/Barts, DirectX 11, 960 VLIW5 Shader, 48 TMUs, 32 ROPs, 256 Bit DDR Interface, 775/2000 MHz

145% Radeon HD 7770 - AMD Cape Verde, DirectX 11.1, 640 (1D) Shader, 40 TMUs, 16 ROPs, 128 Bit DDR Interface, 1000/2250 MHz

130% Radeon HD 6790 - AMD RV940/Barts, DirectX 11, 800 VLIW5 Shader, 40 TMUs, 16 ROPs, 256 Bit DDR Interface, 840/2100 MHz

115% Radeon HD 6770 - AMD RV840/Juniper, DirectX 11, 800 VLIW5 Shader, 40 TMUs, 16 ROPs, 128 Bit DDR Interface, 850/2400 MHz

110% Radeon HD 7750 - AMD Cape Verde, DirectX 11.1, 512 (1D) Shader, 32 TMUs, 16 ROPs, 128 Bit DDR Interface, 800/2250 MHz

100% Radeon HD 6750 - AMD RV840/Juniper, DirectX 11, 720 VLIW5 Shader, 36 TMUs, 16 ROPs, 128 Bit DDR Interface, 700/2300 MHz

Happy reading!

~S~

[slojani]

Thanks for the reply 335th GRAthos, kendo65. I play on three monitors using ATI eyfinity so I stayed right on the ATI graphics card. Most likely this will be HD 6950 because it is cheaper than the 7xxx. What about the other components in my computer?
Would it be wise to replace the motherboard with a new processor. Should I wait and just change the graphics card.

Thank you

[335th_GRAthos]

If you want to buy this card then probably you should check the price of the new 7950 which replaces the 6950 and is already in the market and, check whether you can find in eBay and good 6950 for sale (as people with 6950s will probably be selling them in order to upgrade).

Your Processor Intel Core2 Duo E8400 is on the low side with only two cores, the game does use four cores. However, overclocked to 3690Mhz it sounds pretty good.

IF you can put a quad core for little money in your existing motherboard, it is worthwhile.
Otherwise you enter a big adventure changing motherboard, RAM, etc etc...


~S~

[tools4fools]

GRAthos,

you seem to have some good knowledge about graphic cards. I'm getting a new PC myself and am a bit confused when it comes to graphic requirements. From reading up here I'm down to a few cards:
Cheaper:
Gainward GTX-560 Ti Phantom 2GB GDDR5, PCI-E 2.0 x16, HDMI
more dosh:
Sapphire HD 7950 Dual Fan 3GB, PCI-E x16 3.0, DP, HDMI
even more:
ZOTAC GTX-580 3GB DDR5, PCI-E 2.0 x16

Question is:
Will the game be smooth on high settings on a 560 Ti or is one of the other cards required for this?
Is 580 much better than 7950, if yes in what way?

Rest of setup should be fine, SSD, i7, 16 GB ram, some Samsung 24" screen.

Thanks for any info.