I am hesitant to buy a Radeon HD 5850 because....

The_Absolute

Right now I am using a Radeon Hd 4850, I was hoping to upgrade to an HD 5850, but I am afriad that my C2Q Q9400 2.66 GHz @ 2.66 GHz would bottleneck the new GPU so severely, that I may actually get less performance than I am with my current graphics card.

I've been told that with or without a bottleneck, I should still get a huge performance boost by upgrading from my HD 4850 to an HD 5850.

My system specs include the following.

Core 2 Quad Q9400 2.66 GHz @ 2.66 GHz.
6GB of DDR2 800MHz RAM.
Radeon HD 4850 (512 MB)
Foxconn G33 motherboard (I have a GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3P but I haven't installed it yet)
Corsair TX750 750W PSU.
DVD drive.
m-ATX case (I have a coolermaster HAF 932 full tower case, but it hasn't been installed)
Stock air coolers.

dE_logics

When it comes to graphs, the CPU does not contribute that much, thus when making gaming PC, you have the option to opt for either a lower end or mid range processor.

So it wont be a problem with your CPU.

The_Absolute

Will a Phenom II X4 965 3.4 GHz have any problems running an HD 5870?

Rocket254

NOT at all......

VERY nice alternative to those overpriced i7s.

B. Elliott

Though they cost more (would hardly say overpriced), when overclocked, they run circles around the Phenom 965's. Overall, stock for stock, they're almost on par. The i7 is still faster at video processing/encoding. The AMDs only strong point is with gaming. Even then, superior performance over an Intel is still hit and miss. Depends on the game.

dE_logics

No no, absolutely not. Even an higher end double cored will suffice.

Check the value for money though...as other are stating here.