Gaming PC upgrade TBF

[TrueBooleanFals]

[FONT=verdana]Alright, I think it's about time for me to upgrade my PC. I have run tests and see that my GFX card and CPU are nearly maxed out, so no bottleneck other than possible RAM. I am planning on upgrading my GPU prior to the CPU because I believe that my CPU is fine, and if it does bottleneck my GPU, I could update that at a later date while maintaining a decent framerate and upping the graphics on my games. I am looking into two cards ATM. Both are HIS IceQ's. One is a 7850 and the other is a 7870. I was wondering, what is the main difference between the two? I see little, if any, difference between them. The 7870 would come out cheaper via a MIB. Here are the cards I am looking at: [/FONT]

[FONT=verdana]7850 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814161416[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana]7870 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814161404[/FONT]

[FONT=verdana]The 7870 looks cooler and my case has a side window. It's a plus, I would assume, that it is cheaper. Just hope the cooler isn't just looks lol.[/FONT]

[FONT=verdana]Current rig specs:[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana]CPU: AMD Phenom II x4 810 (K10 -2.6Ghz)[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana]CPU Fan: ThermalTake SpinQ (the blue one that sits sideways not the red that sits straight up from MOBO)[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana]RAM: G.Skill 2x2GB (4GB) DDR3 1333 (PC10600 I believe. 8-8-8-21)[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana]GPU: XFX ATI Radeon HD5770 XXX edition (8.5"W x 4.376"H x 1.5"D)[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana]MOBO: Asus M4A78T-E[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana]PSU: ThermalTake 380w[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana]CASE: AzzA Solano Black[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana]OS: Win7 64-bit[/FONT]

[FONT=verdana]Two random hard drives at 7200RPM (500GB and 1TB). I bought a P&C 750w PSU years ago, but I ran with my old PSU of 380w since and it keeps my system up and running. So the 750w is in the closet to this day. I am running at 1920x1080 through HDMI. I understand the Mobo is PCIe 2.0, but would that really hit either card that hard... and would it make a difference between the two?[/FONT]

[FONT=verdana]Current Windows score is:[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana]CPU: 7.2[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana]RAM: 7.5[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana]GPU: 7.2[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana]GPU Gaming: 7.2[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana]P. HDD: 5.9 -> windows base score[/FONT]

[FONT=verdana]Any help is appreciated, thanks in advance.[/FONT]
First posted at: http://www.highdefforum.com/computers-htpcs/138881-gaming-pc-upgrade-tbf.html#post1288294

 

[slh28]

Well the 7870 is cheaper, faster and a better cooler so it's no contest really. Only problem is it's out of stock...

 

[TrueBooleanFals]

Yeah, after I posted this it went out of stock... bummer, I wonder if they will get more before the rebate ends on November 27th... Ty slh28