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HD 7850 to RX 480 8GB

cKGunslinger

cKGunslinger

Lifer
My main PC is an i5-2500K @ 3.3GHz w/ 8GB and a 3GB Radeon 7850 (won on the AT forums several years ago).

I mainly play Overwatch on a 27" 4K monitor, obviously with reduced rez. I'd like to be able to bump up the rez/rendering and get a bit smoother framerate to boot, and future-proof this PC for another year or two.

I like AMD, so I was thinking of upgrading to the RX 480. The 8GB version is only $30 more than the 4GB, so around $250, including a 6-pin to 8-pin adapter.

Is my CPU still fast enough to get the benefits of this upgrade?
 
That will work great for overwatch but I'd caution you against "future proofing" your machine. Future proofing doesn't really exist. You'll be in a much better position going forward with the 480 though, that's for sure.
 
I went from a R9 290x to an RX 480 and the only difference I see is that the 480 is quieter. 🙂 I know its not any faster but I was bored last year and bought the 480 8gb reference xfx.
 
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4k Overwatch Low Preset runs at 70-90 fps for me with an R9 290. Should be close with a 480.

Low Preset still uses high res textures. I could probably put a couple other things on hgih res textures, but game looks great.
 
Initial run of Overwatch at 4k 'mostly-Ultra' at 50% rendering with FreeSync @ 50-60Hz looks pretty good so far.

The card is big.

Also, I can't believe I got that 7850 in 2012 - 5 years ago exactly.
 
I have never heard of a 3gb HD 7850 only 1gb and 2gb cards. You sure its not a HD 7950? I know those are 3gb cards. If it is a HD 7950 the RX480 will still be an upgrade only not quite as great.
 
I have a 2500k@4.4GHz, went from 280x OC to RX480 8GB XFX GTR Black edition, one of the best upgrades I have done 🙂. To answer your question yes go for 480 8GB version 🙂.

See you have 🙂.
 
cKGunslinger said:
Initial run of Overwatch at 4k 'mostly-Ultra' at 50% rendering with FreeSync @ 50-60Hz looks pretty good so far.

The card is big.

Also, I can't believe I got that 7850 in 2012 - 5 years ago exactly.
Click to expand...

It's an FPS... you don't want 50 FPS in an online shooter. You should target 70-80 minimum.
 
Well, the regret kicks in, maybe.

I enjoyed dual 4k desktops and 4k gaming for 2 days, then turned off the PC for the weekend. Came back and the PC won't power on.

Opened the case and pressed the power button, only to see the CPU and case fans spin for 1/2 a second, then stop. Repeated every 3-4 seconds. Turned off PSU for a bit, then back on and repeat.

I pulled the card and put my old one back in. PC didn't want to power on at first, just like before, then on the 3rd attempt, it sprung to life. I had to reset the BIOS settings, then everything was kosher.

I tried this 3 times, attempting to get the RX 480 to boot, but to no avail, so I'm back on my HD 7850 for now, wondering where the problem lies. It's like a car with a weak battery or starter. It *almost* starts, but not quite.

MB is an ASUS P8B75-M w/ Intel 2500k and 2x 4GB RAM
PSU is a Rosewill 630W Green Series (80 Plus)
1 SSD + 2 Spinning drives + DVD

Any suggestions? I'm going to flash the BIOS and try again. Then try a new PSU.
 
Could be pretty much anything, but I'd start by looking at your PSU. If it's 5+ years old and anything but a premium model, it's probably due for a replacement anyway. What make, model and capacity is it?
 
So either the BIOS update did the trick, or it's coincidental, but it's working just fine again after the flash. If it flakes out again, I'll consider a new PSU.
 
Killrose said:
I have never heard of a 3gb HD 7850 only 1gb and 2gb cards. You sure its not a HD 7950? I know those are 3gb cards. If it is a HD 7950 the RX480 will still be an upgrade only not quite as great.
Click to expand...

There were some oddball models (7870 "Myst" edition) which were actually further cut down 7950's. They were somewhat like the 4830 model back in the HD4xxx days if you remember that. Pretty dumb naming convention if you ask me. They should have just made an actual 7930.
 
After more issues, I got an EVGA 750W 80 Plus Gold PSU and re-seated all components. It flaked out on the first boot, but has been fine for a week. Except it won't come out of hibernate without a few hard reboots, so I disabled it.

I'd like to get a new MB, but trying to find an LGA 1155 Z77 Motherboard in stock anywhere is difficult. And I'd almost have to spend ~$400 on MB, CPU, and RAM to move to Gen 6-7 and even match the performance of the 2500k.

Ah well..
 
cKGunslinger said:
My main PC is an i5-2500K @ 3.3GHz w/ 8GB and a 3GB Radeon 7850 (won on the AT forums several years ago).

I mainly play Overwatch on a 27" 4K monitor, obviously with reduced rez. I'd like to be able to bump up the rez/rendering and get a bit smoother framerate to boot, and future-proof this PC for another year or two.

I like AMD, so I was thinking of upgrading to the RX 480. The 8GB version is only $30 more than the 4GB, so around $250, including a 6-pin to 8-pin adapter.

Is my CPU still fast enough to get the benefits of this upgrade?
Click to expand...

I'm running a 2500K, and I recently went from a 6870 to an RX480 and it was an excellent upgrade. I game at 2560x1440 in all the games I play (Overwatch & Titanfall 2 primarily right now), and it's great. Framerates are all great, and I'm super happy with the upgrade. As for CPU utilization, in both games if I'm set at 2560x1440 with high-ish graphics settings my CPU is up around ~80% utilization most of the time, so the 2500K still seems fully adequate for gaming IMO.. In fact I almost did an upgrade to a 7700K recently, but decided against it because it still doesn't seem necessary for the stuff I do. Advancement in CPU technology seems so sad..


EDIT->
Guess I should start reading the whole thread..

cKGunslinger said:
After more issues, I got an EVGA 750W 80 Plus Gold PSU and re-seated all components. It flaked out on the first boot, but has been fine for a week. Except it won't come out of hibernate without a few hard reboots, so I disabled it.

I'd like to get a new MB, but trying to find an LGA 1155 Z77 Motherboard in stock anywhere is difficult. And I'd almost have to spend ~$400 on MB, CPU, and RAM to move to Gen 6-7 and even match the performance of the 2500k.

Ah well..
Click to expand...

I hear you on the 1155 mobo.. They're impossible to find..
 
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