Building an AMD PC... a few questions

[Squilliam]

ameratsu said:

Sorry to highjack here, but I have a question about 4xxx vs. 5xxx ATI cards.

For someone with with my system (q6600@3ghz, 4gb ddr2, 8800gs 384mb), what card would provide a significant step up?

4870 1gb's are approaching the $100 mark that I've been waiting for, so that's temping. But 5xxx cards have my attention, but only if the technology is tangible for upcoming games. Would a 5 series card be a waste? Should I wait for nvidia to release their new cards and hope for savings on ati cards?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150436&cm_re=4870-_-14-150-436-_-Product

Thats ~$150

My suggestion is go for the HD 5770 for $25 more because you get far lower idle power consumption ~17w vs 40+ and the 5770 will outpace the 4870 by quite a margin once DX11 games come out.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121355&cm_re=HD_5770-_-14-121-355-_-Product

If you wanna overclock

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150447&cm_re=HD_5770-_-14-150-447-_-Product

gives you the best warranty and dual slot cooling with the exhaust out the back.