Most affordable/good upgrade from ati HD 4890

[Kenichi]

well I'm using an i5 intel processor, 8GB RAM and an ati 4890 video card, the game runs alright at max settings but is a little laggy at times, plus there is some graphical issues such as when character shadows are turned on, these strange jaggy areas appear on the face of my characters....

also sometimes when I move , or turn the camera a certain way, a strange "ripple" appears on the screen, it's very small but I notice it.

anyway I'm guessing that my main issue is video card, i mainly just want a higher FPS in all areas of the game, like even in the tavern in Ul'Dah im down to like 35 FPS...
what would be the most worthwhile video card upgrade from the 4890 that wouldn't cost a TON of money but would still boost my performance by a lot?

like eventually I want to be able to do huge group activities and big boss fights with very little lag and im just not seeing that working on this PC atm...

[Nosada]

Your computer is already overkill for this game. If you have shadows on highest settings and ambient occlusion on, no video card can make them look any better. The ripple you describe is screen-tearing and can't be helped unless the game starts supporting V-Sync. The only video card faster than yours are quite expensive, the GTX460 would be the bare minimum to be considered an upgrade, but I doubt you'd notice it all that much. The only real way forward for you is overclocking your CPU or waiting for newer tech. Sandy Bridge and Bulldozer don't strike me as revolutions though, so you might be stuck with your current graphics for the next year or so.

That said, Square might improve the engine or nV/ATI might release improved drivers that get vastly increased performance ... I wouldn't hold my breath though.

Totally forgot to mention, SSD's make this game so much smoother. Not a hint of stutter while loading new scenery makes the game much more enjoyable.

[JRice]

well if you can afford to and really want to, the only real advisable upgrade would be a 5870/GTX 470 or 480. I think no matter how much of a beast a system is I think everyone experiences those slow downs.

My main system specs is
i7 [email protected]
6GB DDR3 Ram
HD 5870 overclocked from 850/1200 to 1000/1250

I play at 1920x1200 and have pretty much 60fps in the open but as soon as theres people around it drops to around 30-low 40s I have played with lowering settings etc and can't get the fps to go up well maybe lowering it well down got me like 3-5fps on average.

I use a X25-M SSD and to be honest even with the fps going down it didn't feel much different from when I was at 60fps, so personally if its bogging you down its mainly down to the hard drive.

[ufo]

Those are issues that most people are having. I don't think its worth it to upgrade a 4890 unless you get a 5850 or better, but you might still experience similar issues. You are already about the same performance as a GTX 460 768MB http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/156?vs=175

[Cooleko]

I now run full settings with AO on and get max FPS with SLI 480. so upgrade!

[AliceMaxwell]

You could always try to crossfire another 4890, though doing that I'd say is amazing overkill. I bought an HD 5770 and run decent enough, although I have no multi-sampling on. And even with that decent frame rate I still get that retarded screen ripple as well. Would I just be better off throwing it in windowed form to get rid of it? Cause its super annoying

Seems to me that the reason the giant killing big shot cards aren't playing it maxed (technically isn't that graphics intensive) is more of a software inefficiency, but who knows?

Edit: Learn something new everyday I guess.

[richardd]

god i hate you guys

im running a i7920, 6 GB Triple channel memory, Asus P6T (1st one) and a BFG 285 OC+ (it came like that stock) and im running it on my old ass dual screened flinstones 1024 resolution monitors, and when running the game on full screen (only takes up 1 monitor like it should) it plays the game like im trying to run it at 2500 resolution with max settings on. i have everything set to low, too. idk what it is lol. but im assuming its the GPU. like i said in other threads, im probably going to roll with a GTX 460, but i was going to get the 1gb version for now, and upgrade and SLI it later. hopefully itll make my game able to actually run ... you know.. normal.