upgrading video card?

[thunderdome]

Currently I am using this card:
Sapphire 100282XTREME Radeon HD 5850 Xtreme Edition Video Card - 1GB, GDDR5, PCI-Express 2.0 (x16), DVI, HDMI, DisplayPort, DirectX 11, Dual-Slot, CrossFireX Ready, ATI Eyefinity Ready

I think I want to try something a bit better, main use is Secondlife where I would like to see some better FPS.

I dont know what all the specs mean really when it comes to video cards, so advice is greatly appreciated. The two cards I looked at:


1) Sapphire Vapor-X HD 6870 1GB GDDR5 ATI Radeon HD 6870 Chipset (900Mhz) 1GB GDDR5 (4200Mhz) Memory HD Audio Dual Display DVI /HDMI/2x Mini Display Port PCI-Express 2.0 Graphics Card


2) Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 6970 2GB GDDR5 ATI Radeon HD 6970 Chipset 2GB GDDR5 Memory Dual DVI /HDMI/2xMini Display Port PCI-Express 2.0 Graphics Card


Would either of these offer significant improvements in performance over my 5850?

Does the 2 gig ddr5 on the 6970 make a huge difference over having 1 gig?

 

[MyGodAL3X]

Check out the chart, it is for the game Mafia II on maximum settings, find your current card and the two potential cards and compare.

Charts, benchmarks 2011 Gaming Graphics Charts, Mafia 2 - Enthusiast

Cheers

 

[95BlackGA]

The 6970 would show the most improvements over the 6870. The 6870 is essentially a rebranded 5870, which is barely faster than what you have now.

 

[thunderdome]

ok I think I am going to buy a 6970, one question I have, my local store has 2 versions, one is $10 more

1) Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 6970 2GB GDDR5 ATI Radeon HD 6970 Chipset 2GB GDDR5 Memory Dual DVI /HDMI/2xMini Display Port PCI-Express 2.0 Graphics Card

and for $10 more I get this one:

2) Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 6970 2GB GDDR5 ATI Radeon HD 6970 Chipset 2GB GDDR5 Memory Dual DVI /HDMI/2xMini Display Port With Full BFBC2 Vietnam PCI-Express 2.0 Graphics Card

Anything in #2 thats worth the $10 more? Not sure what the Full BFBC2 is

 

[Zantiszar]

i bet that it is a game

 

[Night Fox]

It is; BFBC2 Vietnam is Battlefield Bad Company 2: Vietnam

Don't know if it's worth it or not. I have Bad Company 2 and it's pretty good...so Vietnam should be good as well, but it's up to you.

 

[thunderdome]

It is; BFBC2 Vietnam is Battlefield Bad Company 2: Vietnam

Don't know if it's worth it or not. I have Bad Company 2 and it's pretty good...so Vietnam should be good as well, but it's up to you.

Not interested in that game, and they dont have that model in stock anyways, so $10 stays in my pocket. The only thing I have to measure now is how much space there is in my XPS 8300, this is one long card at 11.3". Not sure if its going to fit.

 

[95BlackGA]

If you can barely fit your 5850 in there, you won't be able to fit the 6970. The 5850 is right around 9.5" long, while the 6970 (reference) is 11" long.

 

[Slaymate]

What mobo do you have? Maybe you can just buy another 5850 and run them in Crossfire.

 

[thunderdome]

The card is waaaaay to long. I measured it based on specs I found for the card which said it was 11.3" long.

There is no option to crossfire, its a Dell XPS 8300 and there are no other ports, or whatever you call them to put a graphics card like the one I put in already. I think I am going to stop putting money into this computer, use it, it does work fine, I just wanted to see how much I could get out of it. I will probably slowly start thinking of building a new computer from scratch now that I am a bit more familiar with things and seeing how people do things here.