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GPU Upgrade
So, I got this Sapphire Radeon HD 5830 1GB DDR5 256 bit and I wish to purchase something with more muscle.
The thing is it can run games on high @ 1920x1084, whereas I wish to grab something that can run them on ultra.
Any tips and advices would be more than welcome 
Comments
What's your budget? It's hard to make a case for upgrading from that to anything less than a GeForce GTX 570 or Radeon HD 6970, and those are $300+ cards.
AMD's next generation of cards is rumored to launch as soon as January, so you might also want to wait for that. Nvidia's next generation is coming much later.
Thanks for the reply.
I can afford those. Now the question is which? ;P
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if you must get one go for the Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 6970 2048MB version its a great card , altho ive got a 5870 im waiting until ATI bring there new ones out next year before i buy!! i'm Hyped!!!
Noted
Just waiting until next week to get more money on my dirty, stinky gamer hands.
Plenty of time until then to make up my rotten mind ;P
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I have an EVGA GTX460 SC 768Mb in my machine, and aside from EQ2 and AoC (both obviously because of a bad engine), I can play every MMO on maxed out settings. Not sure yet about SW:TOR, but I think it can run that one on highest or near highest settings as well.
Small list with average FPS of games I run at 1920x1080:
) - very high requirements on the site, but I can set it to max with 35-40 FPS
Lineage II - 35 FPS (not in Aden though, then again, engine is badly optimized)
EverQuest II - 25 FPS (on pretty high high settings, close to max)
Vanguard: Saga of Heroes - 30 FPS (sucky engine like EQ2, but is set to max)
Lord of the Rings online - 45+ FPS in DX11
Mass Effect 1 & 2 - 45 FPS
Dragon Age: Origins - 45 FPS
BioShock 2 - 35F PS
Skyrim - 40 FPS (in highest settings, despite of the much lower advised settings)
Rail Simulator 3 (I know, very geeky
Small note, I normally don't go higher than 8x AA
Rest of my system..? All but high-end: AMD X3 420 (2700Mhz x core), 4Gb DDR2 800Hz no SSD drives (all SATA2), Win 7 x64 Ultimate
Hehe, we are pretty close on that one, I have a Quad Core AMD Phenom II X4 925, 2800 MHz. 4 GB DDR2 1066Hz (capped to 800 because of my motherboard) and no SSD drive here as well, Win 7 x64 Ultimate.
Anyway, nice to hear you get such nice performance in Skyrim, I can only play on high there for a smooth XP ;(
Same with Battlefield 3, didn't test out Shogun 2 yet, used to play it on my crappy old monitor, @ 1280x1024
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One more thing, which manufacturer should I go for?
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What power supply do you have, and what case?
I hope that you upgraded the processor after a while, rather than buying a Socket AM2+ system for a Phenom II processor.
EVGA and Gigabyte are my two favorites. Both offer great customer support (EVGA even has a pretty nifty step up program).
http://www.evga.com/support/stepup
I've done well with overclocking cards from both manufacturers, but find that Gigabyte often offers better cooling solutions.
go with a 6970 300$. unless your pcokets are fat then get a 6990 700$ (top of the line) for ultimate graphics or get a GTX580 500$
I love my EVGA card. Lots of options to overclock and boost performance even more. My SC card I can OC an extra 20% without crashing (it does get loud very though).
With that, I'd say nVidia for sure. A lot of games claim to be optimized for nVidia. Even better, of all the games I have (not real much, about 3 dozen total), only 2 tell to have special AMD / ATi optimization (Warhammer 40K and Battle Forge).
In hardware, nVidia is more optimized for DX11, and in DX9/10 you won't see much of an improvement. Seen it with LotRo with my card. DX11 had a massive 50FPS in that main chamber in MoM, while in DX9/10 it was around 40. Has to do with the hardare choices nVidia made. While ATi is said to have put more power in the general DX processing, showing more performance to DX9/10, but lower DX11 performance.
...got to be honest here though that this is all I heard/read on the (tech)pages about the 2 chipsets. Haven't had an ATi card in my systems for over a decade already...
if you go AMD i would do XFX or maybe gig.
but nvidia..... geez idk its been forever back when i liked nvidia i was reall HARD into BFG or EVGA
EDIT: HD7000 AMD and the next gen nvidia are worth waiting for so i've read. might as well jsut wait. i couldnt wait and i wanted the 6990 way too dam bad
Had to open my case for this one ;P
My power supply is a Spire SP-ATX-550WTB-PFC-1
The case is an old no name, I'm afraid.
Regarding the CPU, I do intend to go for an Intel, but it will take a few months for that, since I will need to change the motherboard as well, currently having a Gigabyte GA-M52L-S3P v1
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The power supply is a piece of junk. No way, no how is that a 550 W power supply. If you're lucky, it might be a mediocre 400 W power supply. A Radeon HD 5830 is already pushing it harder than I'd recommend, and upgrading the video card without replacing the power supply is out of the question.
For the case, I'm mainly worried about airflow, and if you've got 2+ case fans that are 120+ mm, it's probably fine. Trying to cool a high-powered gaming system with a single 80 mm case fan is asking for trouble. I guess there is also the question of which video cards will physically fit in the case.
Whether to go Intel or AMD on the processor is mainly a matter of budget. On a budget of $800 or less excluding peripherals, go AMD, with an Athlon II or Phenom II processor. On $1000+, go Intel, usually with a Core i5 2500 or 2500K. It's $800-$1000 where you could plausibly go either way.
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I would actually advise against upgrading the video card right now, as other things are higher priorities if you want a nice, modern gaming system. Actually, most of the other components in the system would be a higher priority to replace right now.
Hm, maybe you have a point there.
Any tips as to where I should begin?
Here's a quick overview of my system:
OS Win7 Ultimate
CPU QuadCore AMD Phenom II X4 925, 2800 MHz
MB Gigabyte GA-M52L-S3P v1
RAM 4096 MB (DDR2-800 DDR2 SDRAM)
Some crappy 500GB HDD ;P
And the rest you know (video, case, power supply).
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It's really a question of what your budget is, what you need, and how soon.
AMD's next generation of video cards is coming early next year, so you might want to wait for that.
Well, something within the 450-500$ range.
Regarding the video card, I guess I could wait some more, as I said, my current GPU can handle the games quite fine on high, full HD.
I don't feel like I actually ''need'' anything in particular, am more like looking to build a solid base for the upcoming 2012 ;P
So leaving the video card aside, where should I look?
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New CPU ~ 200$
New MB ~ 100$
More Ram ~ 35$
And most of all A nice new PSU ~ 110$
Optional - New Case? ~ 75$
Your current GPU is still 'decent' a 6970 will give you about a 45% increase in Gaming Performance.. That being said, I would upgrade around it and maybe early 2012 grab a newer one for 200-300$ and you will be set.
*Corsair Obsidian Series 650D *i5-2500K OC'd ~ 4.5
*Asus P8Z68-V PRO/GEN3 mother board
* Radeon HD 7970
*8GB (4GBx2) 1600MHz Kingston HyperX
*240GB Corsair Force GT Series SATA-III SSD
Well, today I purchased (ordered) 2 items, a case and a 700W power supply.
The case is an Antec six hundred (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129073)
Not sure bout the power supply, but the shop owner recommended the brand as being reliable ;P
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Uh oh. If a shop owner tried to pointed you to a 700 W power supply for that system, then most likely either he's clueless or he's trying to scam you. Or both. Very few gaming systems need that much wattage.
Exactly what power supply is it? The nominal wattage basically doesn't tell you anything.
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In your situation, I think the most sensible thing to do is basically to wait until you have the money to replace the computer, and then do that. What you have should be viable for gaming for quite a while longer. If you want higher end performance, then that takes more money than you're willing to spend.
Well, the power supply and case were meant in the idea of a present/future GTX 570 upgrade.
I may be wrong, not sure about this, but he may have pointed to a Sirtec brand (or something similar to that).
He said other big brands had some issues, but that one was reliable.
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Not only that, I'd consider waiting a couple months after the new AMD release and then buying the Radeon 6970 for what should be a much cheaper price.
On a side note, @the OP, can I have your old 5830 when you're done with it?
I'm rocking a 5770, which honestly, I'm still plenty satisfied with.