Hey everyone, I have a problem. So I got a new computer about a month ago. Everything is awesome with it, except the graphics card. Its a Radeon HD 4850, its not terrible or anything but it lags on certain games and I feel that after laying out so much money for this computer that I should have a graphics card to match. So my solution to this problem is to either crossfire this 4850 or buy the Radeon 5870. Now I have a couple questions that hopefully you all will have some advice for

1. Would a crossfire 4850 be "stronger" or better then a 5870. I know the 5870 will have directX 11 support but honestly not many games require that.

2. Would installing a crossfire 4850 be difficult? I have basic knowledge of the inside of a computer but it doesn't go far.

3. Would I need to upgrade my cooling system for either of them? Currently I have a stock fan

4. Do you think I should go with the crossfire 4850, 5870 or stop being selfish and stick with what I have?

Now cost is not that big of a factor, but the more money I could save the better it would be. I'll also have to upgrade the PSU(I may be asking for help later ) so that takes about 100$ away from my graphics budget. Anyways, thanks in advance for the help.

Your ATI card is like 2 or 3 time faster when what i have and yet I have no lag in all my games.

So, first thing to ask yourself, did you download latess drivers?

http://www.amd.com/us/Pages/AMDHomePage.aspx

And what game are you talking about?

As for crossfire, don't bother with that it gives a 10 -15% boost in general and with the card you have you should not need it.

yeah my drivers are up to date Ok so lets say my card isn't the issue. The card shouldnt slow down with an I7 processor should it? Or could it be that the card doesnt perform as well when it doesnt have the PSU it needs? Sorry for my computer knowledge fail

And for games, Empire total war, CoD 4,5,6. Thats about it, in terms of graphically demanding games.

empire lag by nature it's junk.

As for Cod, surprising it would lag, do you play with anti-aliasing to max? if so turn that off. ATI don't like it.

I have ATI Radeon HD 4730 and I don't lag at all in MW2, with all on max.

I thought Radeon sucked, you've proven me wrong then

Ok Ive spent about 3 days working on my graphics card and got it to work better, so thanks everyone for the advice (mainly Attila) you all just saved me quite a bit of money

it would have been immoral to let you waste money on something you don't really before 2 or 3 years. Considering that what you have is better then what I have, and i have no lag here.

My friends think Ati Radeon is the better graphics card at the world but I don't think so because it's not real.
I think you should get an Intel Core i7 980 3.53GHz or more like an Intel 6Core or 8Core 2.87GHz and SLI GPU processor with nVidia GeForce 9800 1.5GB or nVidia GeForce 480GTX with 3D Vision monitor. Then you'll never get lag on games anymore but you should spend about 800 or 1000€ $ or £ .
€ If you are an European
$ If you are an American
£ If you are a British - (I love America but Gran Bretain is pretty cool like London, Liverpool, Greenwich and some like that).

He'll break the bank with an Intel i processor.
Just grab a 200 dollar card and a 3.0 dual core CPU.