• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EDT 09:03
CEST 15:03
KST 22:03
  • Home
  • Forum
  • Calendar
  • Streams
  • Liquipedia
  • Features
  • Store
  • EPT
  • TL+
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Smash
  • Heroes
  • Counter-Strike
  • Overwatch
  • Liquibet
  • Fantasy StarCraft
  • TLPD
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Blogs
Forum Sidebar
Events/Features
News
Featured News
Team Liquid Map Contest #22: Results and Winners7Code S Season 2 (2026): RO4 and Finals Preview12TL.net Map Contest #22 - Voting & Ladder Map Selection7Code S Season 2 (2026) - RO8 Preview7[ASL21] Finals Preview: Two Legacies21
Community News
Weekly Cups (June 8-14): Clem and Solar double, PTR tested0RSL: S6 Finals played at BlizzCon 202611Douyu Cup 2026: $20,000 Legends Event (June 26-28)10[BSL22] Non-Korean Championship from 13 to 28 June4Weekly Cups (May 25-31): Clem doubles, 2v2 circuit heads toward finale0
StarCraft 2
General
Daily SC2 Player Grid - feedback wanted TL Poll: How do you feel about the 5.0.16 PTR balance changes? Code S Season 2 (2026) - RO8 Preview Updates to The Core/Core Lite for v5.0.16? RSL: S6 Finals played at BlizzCon 2026
Tourneys
GSL CK #4 20-21th June Crank Gathers Season 4: BW vs SC2 Team League Douyu Cup 2026: $20,000 Legends Event (June 26-28) Maestros of The Game 2 announcement and schedule ! Sparkling Tuna Cup - Weekly Open Tournament
Strategy
[G] Having the right mentality to improve
Custom Maps
Work In Progress Melee Maps [D]RTS in all its shapes and glory <3
External Content
Mutation # 530 One For All The PondCast: SC2 News & Results Mutation # 529 Opportunities Unleashed Mutation # 528 Infection Detected
Brood War
General
BW General Discussion vespene.gg — BW replays in browser Where is EffOrt? BGH Auto Balance -> http://bghmmr.eu/ Quality of life changes in BW that you will like ?
Tourneys
[Megathread] Daily Proleagues [ASL21] Grand Finals [BSL22] Grand Finals - Sunday 21:00 CEST Escore Tournament StarCraft Season 2
Strategy
Relatively freeroll strategies Creating a full chart of Zerg builds Why doesn't anyone use restoration? Any training maps people recommend?
Other Games
General Games
Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread Nintendo Switch Thread ZeroSpace Megathread Beyond All Reason Total War: Warhammer 40K
Dota 2
Looking for a Dota Mentor Official 'what is Dota anymore' discussion
League of Legends
Heroes of the Storm
Simple Questions, Simple Answers Heroes of the Storm 2.0
Hearthstone
Deck construction bug
TL Mafia
Vanilla Mini Mafia
Community
General
US Politics Mega-thread The Games Industry And ATVI UK Politics Mega-thread Russo-Ukrainian War Thread [H]Internet/Gaming Cafe Tips and Tricks
Fan Clubs
The HerO Fan Club! The herO Fan Club!
Media & Entertainment
Movie Discussion! [Req][Books] Good Fantasy/SciFi books [TV/BOOK] *SPOILERS* Game of Thrones Discussion [Manga] One Piece
Sports
2024 - 2026 Football Thread TeamLiquid Health and Fitness Initiative For 2023 Formula 1 Discussion Cricket [SPORT] NBA General Discussion
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
Computer Build, Upgrade & Buying Resource Thread Facing Challenges in Mobile App Development
TL Community
The Automated Ban List
Blogs
Does Workplace Frustration D…
TrAiDoS
An Exploration of th…
waywardstrategy
I'm an arrogant trash talke…
FlaShFTW
Gauntlet SC2: A Retrospectiv…
Ctone23
Why RTS gamers make better f…
gosubay
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 8417 users

New Graphics Card Help?

Blogs > Raydog
Post a Reply
1 2 Next All
Raydog
Profile Blog Joined April 2009
United States632 Posts
July 08 2010 06:44 GMT
#1
Hey everyone, so basically I want to upgrade my graphics card for sc2. I get like 25 - 40 FPS most of the time right now, and I don't want to sacrifice my graphics ingame. Basically what I'm looking for is a pwn graphics card that will get me highest settings and run very good FPS (not this low 25- 40 crap, more like 70 - 80 if possible). My budget is about $400

Here are my current settings:
[image loading]

Here is my current set up: AMD Phenom II x4 940 Deneb 3.0GHz Socket AM2+ Quad Black edition | 4 GB DDR2 1066 RAM | Gigabyte GA-MA790X-UD4P | Sapphire Radeon 4870 512mb | OCZ 700W StealthXStream | Samsung SH-S223F | Antec 900 Case | Acer 22" Black | Seagate Barracuda 7200 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0GB/s |

and here is some of the key pieces:

Case
Power Supply
Motherboard
Current Video Card

Shew
Djzapz
Profile Blog Joined August 2009
Canada10681 Posts
July 08 2010 06:50 GMT
#2
With your budget, you could get one of these. They're both sort of equivalent although at its current price I would argue that the GTX 470 is probably a better choice. I would pick any of those two models (HD5850 or GTX470) from any manufacturer you like. XFX and Zotac offer lifetime warranties.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150491&cm_re=5850-_-14-150-491-_-Product

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814500157&cm_re=zotac_gtx_470-_-14-500-157-_-Product
"My incompetence with power tools had been increasing exponentially over the course of 20 years spent inhaling experimental oven cleaners"
nineninja9
Profile Joined March 2010
United States194 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-07-08 06:51:00
July 08 2010 06:50 GMT
#3
I was under the impression that a 4870 could run SC2 just fine.

That being said, look into the 5850, 5870, and 470.
FragKrag
Profile Blog Joined September 2007
United States11566 Posts
July 08 2010 06:51 GMT
#4
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150477

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121370

Both 5850s work. The second is better for overclocking

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814261073

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130550

GTX 470 for a bit better performance, but more heat, noise, and power consumption.
*TL CJ Entusman #40* "like scissors does anything to paper except MAKE IT MORE NUMEROUS" -paper
semantics
Profile Blog Joined November 2009
10040 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-07-08 06:53:25
July 08 2010 06:52 GMT
#5
5850 or 470 is more then enough even at 1920x1080.

If it's less then that resolution a 5770 can do the trick pretty well.

On July 08 2010 15:50 nineninja9 wrote:
I was under the impression that a 4870 could run SC2 just fine.

That being said, look into the 5850, 5870, and 470.

he has the 512mb version which suffers if you increase the resolution i'm guessing his 22" is a 1920x1080/1200 so it could be sufferin
Subversion
Profile Blog Joined April 2010
South Africa3627 Posts
July 08 2010 06:53 GMT
#6
best option by far for 400 bucks is this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150490&cm_re=radeon_5870-_-14-150-490-_-Product

Radeon 5870. Won't do better for that price.
mahnini
Profile Blog Joined October 2005
United States6862 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-07-08 06:58:22
July 08 2010 06:55 GMT
#7
5770/4890/5830 should be plenty if you're running at 1680x1050 otherwise 5850/gtx470

oh post processing. i'm not sure but you'd probably be better off with the 5850/470 in that case.
the world's a playground. you know that when you're a kid, but somewhere along the way everyone forgets it.
Raydog
Profile Blog Joined April 2009
United States632 Posts
July 08 2010 06:58 GMT
#8
oh yeah forgot to mention I won't be overclocking, I have nothing overclocked on this rig.

Also my resolution is 1680 x 1050

sorry that I didn't mention those in OP
Shew
Grobyc
Profile Blog Joined June 2008
Canada18410 Posts
July 08 2010 06:59 GMT
#9
My 5770 runs everything beautifully, except I get small lag spikes when I move my screen while my texture quality is on Ultra. Perfect when it's on high though.
If you watch Godzilla backwards it's about a benevolent lizard who helps rebuild a city and then moonwalks into the ocean.
semantics
Profile Blog Joined November 2009
10040 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-07-08 07:06:55
July 08 2010 07:06 GMT
#10
at 1680x1050 you should be able to get away with a 5770 pretty dam well. 5770 tends to get drops in mid 20's at 1920 but from benches i've seen and done myself 5770 is pretty solid at 1650 if you're looking to save money.

else 5830/465(wouldn't get these poor performance/price)

5850/470 sure fire way to get +60fps
mahnini
Profile Blog Joined October 2005
United States6862 Posts
July 08 2010 07:14 GMT
#11
yeah, the more i think about it the more i think a 5770 should be able to handle it fine actually.
the world's a playground. you know that when you're a kid, but somewhere along the way everyone forgets it.
FragKrag
Profile Blog Joined September 2007
United States11566 Posts
July 08 2010 07:16 GMT
#12
You should wait until July 12th to see if the Nvidia GTX 460 is worth getting.
*TL CJ Entusman #40* "like scissors does anything to paper except MAKE IT MORE NUMEROUS" -paper
Raydog
Profile Blog Joined April 2009
United States632 Posts
July 08 2010 07:37 GMT
#13
On July 08 2010 16:06 semantics wrote:
at 1680x1050 you should be able to get away with a 5770 pretty dam well. 5770 tends to get drops in mid 20's at 1920 but from benches i've seen and done myself 5770 is pretty solid at 1650 if you're looking to save money.

else 5830/465(wouldn't get these poor performance/price)

5850/470 sure fire way to get +60fps



by 5850/470 you mean these? (The post by FragKrag)
+ Show Spoiler +

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150477
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121370
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814261073
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130550


that 4th one seems pretty beastly, the EVGA one.


also whats the difference between pci express 2.1 and 2.0 slots? does it change anything or can a 2.1 fit in 2.0 and vice versa?

and maybe a link or two to a recommended 5770?


Also gotta remember if the card will fit in my case or not. My current one barely fits in there
Shew
Spiffeh
Profile Joined May 2010
United States830 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-07-08 07:39:19
July 08 2010 07:38 GMT
#14
I'd definitely go with a 5850 just for the value. You can easily overclock it to run past the performance of a 5870.

There's one on ebay and you can find used ones on newegg sometimes.
FragKrag
Profile Blog Joined September 2007
United States11566 Posts
July 08 2010 07:43 GMT
#15
2.1 vs 2.0 is some small firmware change if I remember correctly. They will fit perfectly fine.

As for 5770, just get a cheap one if you aren't planning to overclock
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121363
3 year warranty should be ok

XFX has longer warranties though.
*TL CJ Entusman #40* "like scissors does anything to paper except MAKE IT MORE NUMEROUS" -paper
freshiie22
Profile Joined May 2010
Canada132 Posts
July 08 2010 08:50 GMT
#16
On July 08 2010 15:44 Raydog wrote:
Hey everyone, so basically I want to upgrade my graphics card for sc2. I get like 25 - 40 FPS most of the time right now, and I don't want to sacrifice my graphics ingame. Basically what I'm looking for is a pwn graphics card that will get me highest settings and run very good FPS (not this low 25- 40 crap, more like 70 - 80 if possible). My budget is about $400

Here are my current settings:
[image loading]

Here is my current set up: AMD Phenom II x4 940 Deneb 3.0GHz Socket AM2+ Quad Black edition | 4 GB DDR2 1066 RAM | Gigabyte GA-MA790X-UD4P | Sapphire Radeon 4870 512mb | OCZ 700W StealthXStream | Samsung SH-S223F | Antec 900 Case | Acer 22" Black | Seagate Barracuda 7200 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0GB/s |

and here is some of the key pieces:

Case
Power Supply
Motherboard
Current Video Card


so when you upgrade what you plane to do with old card, cuz i get lousy framrates off my 7600GT blehh,
Phase 1: Bronze League Rank 78. Phase 2: Silver Rank 45 .August 23: Platinum Rank 7 and climbing
Aberu
Profile Blog Joined April 2010
United States968 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-07-08 09:03:03
July 08 2010 09:02 GMT
#17
On July 08 2010 15:50 nineninja9 wrote:
I was under the impression that a 4870 could run SC2 just fine.

That being said, look into the 5850, 5870, and 470.


I have a 4870, I run it just fine, I'm only held back by my budget priced 60 dollar 2 year old processor, but I still get around 30-50 FPS on ultra all the way at 1280x720 no AA.

Technically his setting is much better than mine, he just may need to optimize certain things, turn off the AA, save your money, and put it towards a whole new computer later.
srsly
ffswowsucks
Profile Blog Joined August 2005
Greece2298 Posts
July 08 2010 09:05 GMT
#18
when the ATi 5870 first released in my country I bought it for 350euro, now the same card costs after 1 year 480euro. I mean I would never recommend to a friend right now seeing this is a rip off to buy such a card. 480e for a gfx is way too much, if you can find some better prices through the internet go for it.
Terran in particular is a notoriously strong race for a no brain skillhand bot style.
Random()
Profile Blog Joined August 2004
Kyrgyz Republic1462 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-07-08 11:14:46
July 08 2010 11:12 GMT
#19
ATi 5850 or if you want to save money 5770 (it will run SC2 perfectly on high)

Don't bother with the new nVidia cards (470-480), they are unjustifiably power hungry, noisy, and heat up to 100C.
Boblion
Profile Blog Joined May 2007
France8043 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-07-08 11:25:43
July 08 2010 11:23 GMT
#20
He has a 4870... Why people tell him to buy a 5770 ?
Even the 1Gb version is barely more performant.

-> 5850 or higher. Buying a 5830/4890/5770 doesn't make sense when you have already a 4870.
fuck all those elitists brb watching streams of elite players.
1 2 Next All
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
Kung Fu Cup
11:00
#12
IntoTheiNu 926
WardiTV558
RotterdaM553
TKL 304
SteadfastSC158
Rex155
Ryung 150
CosmosSc2 38
Liquipedia
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
RotterdaM 553
TKL 304
SteadfastSC 158
Rex 155
Ryung 150
Railgan 56
CosmosSc2 38
MindelVK 15
StarCraft: Brood War
Sea 4214
Shuttle 1626
Horang2 1338
EffOrt 657
Soulkey 640
Mini 573
BeSt 426
Light 278
Snow 224
Mong 185
[ Show more ]
hero 184
Last 155
ggaemo 151
Zeus 109
Leta 105
Hyuk 82
Sharp 64
Movie 51
ToSsGirL 51
JYJ 47
Liquid`Ret 39
[sc1f]eonzerg 33
Aegong 26
sorry 24
NaDa 21
Free 20
Backho 18
GoRush 16
soO 15
Sacsri 14
ajuk12(nOOB) 11
zelot 11
Noble 11
scan(afreeca) 11
IntoTheRainbow 10
Terrorterran 6
Icarus 5
Dota 2
Dendi1492
XcaliburYe262
LuMiX1
Counter-Strike
olofmeister2177
byalli242
kRYSTAL_27
Super Smash Bros
Mew2King114
Other Games
B2W.Neo790
Lowko692
hiko535
crisheroes316
Pyrionflax243
DeMusliM235
XaKoH 220
Sick194
QueenE60
mouzStarbuck44
Organizations
Dota 2
PGL Dota 2 - Secondary Stream6562
StarCraft: Brood War
lovetv 13
StarCraft 2
Blizzard YouTube
StarCraft: Brood War
BSLTrovo
[ Show 12 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• intothetv
• Kozan
• IndyKCrew
• LaughNgamezSOOP
• Migwel
• sooper7s
StarCraft: Brood War
• BSLYoutube
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
League of Legends
• Jankos1789
• TFBlade361
Upcoming Events
The PondCast
20h 57m
WardiTV Spring Champion…
21h 57m
OSC
23h 57m
OSC
1d 10h
CranKy Ducklings
1d 20h
WardiTV Spring Champion…
1d 21h
WardiTV Spring Champion…
2 days
GSL
2 days
Maru vs ShoWTimE
Classic vs Reynor
herO vs Lambo
Solar vs Clem
BSL22 NKC (BSL vs China)
3 days
XuanXuan vs Jaystar
Mihu vs Messiah
eOnzErG vs Dewalt
Bonyth vs Jaystar
TerrOr vs Messiah
XuanXuan vs Mihu
eOnzErG vs Jaystar
Replay Cast
3 days
[ Show More ]
WardiTV Spring Champion…
3 days
GSL
3 days
Patches Events
4 days
BSL22 NKC (BSL vs China)
4 days
Dewalt vs Messiah
Bonyth vs Mihu
TerrOr vs XuanXuan
eOnzErG vs Messiah
Jaystar vs Mihu
Dewalt vs XuanXuan
Bonyth vs TerrOr
Replay Cast
4 days
WardiTV Weekly
4 days
Sparkling Tuna Cup
5 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

Proleague 2026-06-16
uThermal 2v2 2026 Main Event
Heroes Pulsing #1

Ongoing

IPSL Spring 2026
KCM Race Survival 2026 Season 2
Acropolis #4
CSCL: Masked Kings S4
YSL S3
BSL 22 Non-Korean Championship
SCTL 2026 Spring
Maestros of the Game 2
WardiTV Spring 2026
Murky Cup 2026
Heroes Pulsing #2
IEM Cologne Major 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 2
CS Asia Championships 2026
Asian Champions League 2026
IEM Atlanta 2026
PGL Astana 2026
BLAST Rivals Spring 2026
IEM Rio 2026
PGL Bucharest 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 1

Upcoming

CSL 2026 Summer (S21)
CSLAN 4
Blizzard Classic Cup 2026
Kung Fu Cup 2026 Grand Finals
RSL Revival: Season 6
CranK Gathers Season 4: BW vs SC2 Team League
HSC XXIX
Douyu Cup 2026
BCC 2026
Heroes Pulsing #3
BLAST Open Fall 2026
Esports World Cup 2026
BLAST Bounty Summer 2026
BLAST Bounty Summer Qual
Stake Ranked Episode 3
XSE Pro League 2026
TLPD

1. ByuN
2. TY
3. Dark
4. Solar
5. Stats
6. Nerchio
7. sOs
8. soO
9. INnoVation
10. Elazer
1. Rain
2. Flash
3. EffOrt
4. Last
5. Bisu
6. Soulkey
7. Mini
8. Sharp
Sidebar Settings...

Advertising | Privacy Policy | Terms Of Use | Contact Us

Original banner artwork: Jim Warren
The contents of this webpage are copyright © 2026 TLnet. All Rights Reserved.