Just purchased a 4870 from Fry's Electronics

[Krid P]

I'm really anxious to test this baby out but I need your expertise. I know many of you own this card and know tons about and computers in general so I need your help setting it up. Here are my specs:

-Asus A8N32 SLi Deluxe motherboard
-AMD FX-60 Dual Core processor
-2GB of RAM
-ATI HD-4870 (Diamond)
-500GB Maxtor HDD @7,200rpm
-Windows XP Pro sp2
-19" LCD monitor (1280x1024)


Before I bought the 4870, I had 2x7800GTX OCs running in SLI. I took those out and installed the 4870. The drivers are installed, and I restarted my computer.
Now based on my setup, can someone please walk me through the ATI Catalyst Control Center and walk me through the settings please?

My goal is to have great FPS for CS:S, TF2. And I'm also looking to beat my old 3DMark06 benchmark score of 7915 (hopefully by a lot...)

Please help!

[Asgard_thor]

I got 9900 in 06 with my 8800gts...and its that low because of a CPU bottleneck, if a 4870 doesn't beat that something is wrong with your card lol

[Krid P]

I got 9900 in 06 with my 8800gts...and its that low because of a CPU bottleneck, if a 4870 doesn't beat that something is wrong with your card lol

I hope not... I know my settings are wrong, something's definitely not right. I ran it with nothing running in my background and I scored a 9915...
Is that right? Please help me.

[Nasgul]

Don't panic, it's CPU.

3D'06 requires a good CPU in order to get a high score. In your case, if you go from that to C2D or C2Q? You'd be looking at around 12K or more?

I got a 9800GTX and with my C2D at 3.15ghz and 780mzh for GPU, it scores: 13587, and I've seen people with the same card but Quads and they score 15K or more.

So, basically for 06 you're screwed if you don't have a Core 2 CPU, otherwise be happy or time to ditch the old for something better and new: Core 2.

[Krid P]

Don't panic, it's CPU.

3D'06 requires a good CPU in order to get a high score. In your case, if you go from that to C2D or C2Q? You'd be looking at around 12K or more?

I got a 9800GTX and with my C2D at 3.15ghz and 780mzh for GPU, it scores: 13587, and I've seen people with the same card but Quads and they score 15K or more.

So, basically for 06 you're screwed if you don't have a Core 2 CPU, otherwise be happy or time to ditch the old for something better and new: Core 2.

So you're saying it's because of my AMD FX-60? Wow, I should've gone with Intel. Are you sure about this?

[BuBBle.D]

He is crystal clear about that, trust me. I am.
I score 15K with my OCed g92 8800GTS and a e8400 @ 4200mhz so yours with a good CPU should be about the same or more.

[iTravis]

Even 8800GTX requires a C2D running at 2.6 Ghz in order to avoid bottleneck and I'm sorry but I have to say your CPU is quiet obsolete if you wanna run new video cards like the HD48xx series. I would say the HD4870 needs a CPU running at 3.0 at least to have full advantage as I score 16k with the HD4870 at stock with my Q6600 at 3.4Ghz.

[Krid P]

Even 8800GTX requires a C2D running at 2.6 Ghz in order to avoid bottleneck and I'm sorry but I have to say your CPU is quiet obsolete if you wanna run new video cards like the HD48xx series. I would say the HD4870 needs a CPU running at 3.0 at least to have full advantage as I score 16k with the HD4870 at stock with my Q6600 at 3.4Ghz.

Man this sucks, now I have to get a whole new motherboard just so I can go Quad-Core because I suppose it won't be compatible with my A8N32. Hmm, is there a CPU compatible with my motherboard that's better than what I currently have? Or should I just not waste my time and get a whole new setup (mobo, CPU, ram, etc...)?

[cadaveca]

You's need new board, cpu, ram...

[Krid P]

You's need new board, cpu, ram...

Alright, so now that I have the video card (4870), what do you recommend I buy? Please be nice on price... I'm not really looking to spend thousands at this time.

[iTravis]

Since you mention Fry's, I suggest go there and take a look. I just got back from Fry's as well and they have the E7200 + ECS mobo for like $110 or $120, get a better motherboard on newegg along with some cheapass DDR2 RAM and you're set. I remember they have the Q6600 combo for less than $200 as well so if you wanna go Quad then it's a good deal.
I got my E8400 with an ECS mobo for only $169.99 last week at Fry's so you might wanna check it out if they still have it. But if you're on budget then grab the E7200 and OC it to 3.2 or 3.6Ghz then just sit back and enjoy your HD4870.

[YukonTrooper]

E8400 for gaming, Q6600 for benching.

[iTravis]

E8400 for gaming, Q6600 for benching.

I use the opposite.