Hello, I am looking to upgrade my aging ATI 3850 HD 512MB card to an ATI 7850. The question is mainly with the interface version I noticed on GPUreviews here. The 3850 has a v2 interface and the 7850 has a v3, would my ASUS M3A78-EM motherboard support this card properly, this I'd like to know before I make the purchase.
If you have PCI-2.0 2.1 It will run fine possible it could run on a PCI-E 1.1 it is backwards compatible and 3.0 PCI-e isn't something you will really gain from right now so you can use the card and see a big increase but if you are using a old CPU you might have bottlenecks just saying
Looking at your specs I would look into a Phenom II Black ed 965 for 95.00 us now it should support your socket if it is AM2+ so I would look into a cheap CPU upgrade and the Gpu be much better for you in the long run
My Computer
Computer type
PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
CoreI7-6700K MrFingerIII Special Builds
OS
Windows 10 Home Premium 64bit sp1
CPU
Intel I7-6700K @ 4.6 Ghz 1.344 volts everyday OC
Motherboard
Asrock Fatality K6 Z170 Socket 1151
Memory
32GB G-Skill TridentZ 3200mhz 16-18-18-38 DDR4
Graphics Card(s)
Sli Gigabyte Windforce GTX 980 G1
Sound Card
AC97 Creative Rage Tactic 3D Headphones Bluetooth
Monitor(s) Displays
27" Asus ROG Swift PG278Q G-Sync 48" Vizio Smart HD TV
Screen Resolution
2560x1440p 27"- 48" Currently Gaming at 2560x1440p Res 2K
the 7850 says minimum 500W, so you will be at the top of PSU usage. I would go with a quality 650W at least, Corsair, Seasonic, or Antec are good and stable ones.
My Computer
Computer type
PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Home Built Desktop By DataTech
OS
Windows 7 Ultimate X64 SP1
CPU
Intel i5-2550K, Differing ~4.4-4.8GHz No built in GPU
Motherboard
ASUS P8Z68-V PRO/GEN3
Memory
16GB G.Skill Sniper 1866MHz @ 2133MHz 2x8GB
Graphics Card(s)
ASUS GTX650TIB-DC2OC-2GD5, (650TI Boost)
Sound Card
Onboard Realtek 5-1
Monitor(s) Displays
Samsung P2570HD
Screen Resolution
1920x1080
Hard Drives
Samsung 840 Pro 256GB SSD for OS, 500GB Seagate Constellation (Enterprise drive) for Data
PSU
Corsair HX650W
Case
Inwin Dragon Rider
Cooling
Hyper 212 EVO w/two Noctua fans, push-pull, @1300 RPM
Keyboard
E-Z Eyes, bright yellow keys with large characters
Mouse
steelseries SENSEI Laser Pro Gaming
Internet Speed
48-51Mbs Mbs down, 11 Mbs up Xfinity Cable
Antivirus
Norton Internet Security 2013
Browser
IE 10, Opera, Pale Moon if needed
Other Info
4 case fans, LG BluRay-RE, ASUS DVD-RW, Mr. Fusion power supply, 1.21 gigawatts.
the 7850 at max. load consumed 101W. (That doesn't seem consistent with the card's power connections, though. It uses two 6 pin PCI-E power connectors, so the maximum within spec for that would be up to 225W. As a sanity check, I notice that a 7970 draws more like 280W, close to the max for one 6 pin PCI-E plus one 8 pin.)
At a guess, your 500W OCZ PSU should work OK, even if you throw in a Phenom II X4 965.
Also if that OCZ power supply is the Stealth Extreme or higher model, then it is more than enough to run a 7850 on; even if he upgrades the CPU to the x4 965.
Also if that OCZ power supply is the Stealth Extreme or higher model, then it is more than enough to run a 7850 on; even if he upgrades the CPU to the x4 965.
Foolish me. I wish that there was a maker of AMD graphics cards that gave detail like eVGA gives for their nVidia based cards. (Far from perfect though that is.)
I looked at an old 3850 HD review and I see it draws about 120W at idle and just over 210W during load but Guru3D's review on 7850 shows it puts more load especially during game use. (211W for 3850, 256W for 7850).
So I really should be OK, I was looking at 7870 and it draws a bit more but I would not get that because it recommends a 550W or more PSU.
Memory bus is 128 bit and I would prefer a card with 256 bit as I heard that is an important performance aspect. Also I don't run my games at max resolution but run them at a max of 1280x720 and low to medium AA so under load it probably will not draw as much.
Memory bus is 128 bit and I would prefer a card with 256 bit as I heard that is an important performance aspect. Also I don't run my games at max resolution but run them at a max of 1280x720 and low to medium AA so under load it probably will not draw as much.
Memory bus is 128 bit and I would prefer a card with 256 bit as I heard that is an important performance aspect. Also I don't run my games at max resolution but run them at a max of 1280x720 and low to medium AA so under load it probably will not draw as much.
Yeah, looks like the 7850 is significantly better than the 7790, although the 256 bit memory on the 7850 may be less significant if you run at 1280X720.
The review gives a system level power consumption of 255W with the graphics max'd out with Furmark. That only confirms that your 500W OCZ PSU will be more than adequate.
I have a quick update about my Sapphire 7850 that arrived earlier today, it runs cooler while idle (32-35 C opposed to 45 C) and so far zero stability issues after giving it a run with Saints Row 3 in DX11 mode, Just Cause 2 with jacked up settings and almost an hour with Warframe in high settings.
The max load temperature has not exceeded past 45-47 C, which pleases me since my old 3850 has hit 65 C while under heavy load but it might have to do with the model having two fans and some heat pipes on it. It's not been a day and I am really happy with my upgrade so far.
Thanks again for the help, would my power supply be able to handle the new video card and an upgraded CPU?
