- Jul 6, 2006
- 254
- 0
- 18,810
Hello !
Never imagined that I'm actually going to ask something here on Tom's, I'm usually only answering to other people
(Due to my many years experience with computers). Unfortunately, that experience is in other areas, not gaming...
Today I have a dilemma: I want to upgrade this month my outdated R4870-512 DX10 card to a new generation one, which should have at least 2x the horsepower of my existing card. It was simple back then... 46x0, 48x0, 48x0 X2 ... and some nVidias which simpler naming schemes, and almost everyone used reference designs.
Today there are just SO many options ! I can't decide
So, here's the computer (which can be seen in the signature as well):
- Intel 3570K running @ 4.3Ghz on a Gigabyte Z77X-UD4H (Awesome mobo!)
- 32GB of Corsair DDR3-1866 ram @ 1800 (slightly lower for perfect stability), the huge amount of ram was causing rare random crashes at default speed.
- Big case Aerocool X-Predator ( no temperature or space problems )
- Corsair TX650 psu (has two 6+2 pci-e connectors), so a 6+8 card should be ok to power.
- Windows 7 x64
---
The idea is, here in Romania we're not that rich, we don't upgrade every year or two... so the config should last at least 3 years. The R4870 served me well, but it's outclassed now by most of the new mid-range cards.
Purpose:
- Gaming at 1920x1080, one monitor, with anti-alias turned ON (everywhere it's possible) - I see the pixels and aliasing is bothering me.
- Low noise at night, so the card should be dead-silent when idle.
- It should play all current games at high settings and perhaps future ones with lower settings, for at least 2 years
- Computation is not important, I don't "mine" or "fold" or whatever
- It should work OK in pro-apps and not fail flat on it's face (3D Modeling)
- Hardware accelerated video processing/encoding if possible !
Budget and preferences:
- maximum 450 euros (ideally below 400)
- nVidia or AMD, don't care... I just want a good card.
- Overclocking: Yes/Maybe (I'd like to keep the option open if possible, but it's not mandatory)
Possible options (which I have analyzed so far), which are within my budget:
- one GTX 660 (standard one, not Ti), and optionally buy another one a bit later this year for a SLI setup ( I do have the Z77 chipset ! )
- one R7850 or R7870, and optionally buy an identical one in a few months (however, I heard that X-fire is not very good and is causing headaches...)
- GTX 660 Ti or GTX 670, and stick with it for now (no money this year for another card of their class), but possible next year.
- one R7950 or R7970 (non Boost/GHZ), and forget about X-fire
7970GHZ or 680 are too expensive right now for my budget
Second question is memory:
- While I have no intention in getting a ultra-res monitor (25x16) or dual monitors, I do want anti-aliasing. Will 2GB of vram be enough 2 years for now or it will be as limiting as my old card with just 512MB is right now? There are a few options with 3GB for various cards.
Also, no clue about vendor. I've seen that Gigabytes are rather cheap here, Sapphires and MSIs a bit more, and ASUSes the most expensive for the same chip.
Suggestions ?
Opinions ?
Anyone else from Romania or similar eastern-european countries with similar overpriced electronics ?
Thanks !
Never imagined that I'm actually going to ask something here on Tom's, I'm usually only answering to other people
(Due to my many years experience with computers). Unfortunately, that experience is in other areas, not gaming...Today I have a dilemma: I want to upgrade this month my outdated R4870-512 DX10 card to a new generation one, which should have at least 2x the horsepower of my existing card. It was simple back then... 46x0, 48x0, 48x0 X2 ... and some nVidias which simpler naming schemes, and almost everyone used reference designs.
Today there are just SO many options ! I can't decide
So, here's the computer (which can be seen in the signature as well):
- Intel 3570K running @ 4.3Ghz on a Gigabyte Z77X-UD4H (Awesome mobo!)
- 32GB of Corsair DDR3-1866 ram @ 1800 (slightly lower for perfect stability), the huge amount of ram was causing rare random crashes at default speed.
- Big case Aerocool X-Predator ( no temperature or space problems )
- Corsair TX650 psu (has two 6+2 pci-e connectors), so a 6+8 card should be ok to power.
- Windows 7 x64
---
The idea is, here in Romania we're not that rich, we don't upgrade every year or two... so the config should last at least 3 years. The R4870 served me well, but it's outclassed now by most of the new mid-range cards.
Purpose:
- Gaming at 1920x1080, one monitor, with anti-alias turned ON (everywhere it's possible) - I see the pixels and aliasing is bothering me.
- Low noise at night, so the card should be dead-silent when idle.
- It should play all current games at high settings and perhaps future ones with lower settings, for at least 2 years
- Computation is not important, I don't "mine" or "fold" or whatever
- It should work OK in pro-apps and not fail flat on it's face (3D Modeling)
- Hardware accelerated video processing/encoding if possible !
Budget and preferences:
- maximum 450 euros (ideally below 400)
- nVidia or AMD, don't care... I just want a good card.
- Overclocking: Yes/Maybe (I'd like to keep the option open if possible, but it's not mandatory)
Possible options (which I have analyzed so far), which are within my budget:
- one GTX 660 (standard one, not Ti), and optionally buy another one a bit later this year for a SLI setup ( I do have the Z77 chipset ! )
- one R7850 or R7870, and optionally buy an identical one in a few months (however, I heard that X-fire is not very good and is causing headaches...)
- GTX 660 Ti or GTX 670, and stick with it for now (no money this year for another card of their class), but possible next year.
- one R7950 or R7970 (non Boost/GHZ), and forget about X-fire
7970GHZ or 680 are too expensive right now for my budget
Second question is memory:
- While I have no intention in getting a ultra-res monitor (25x16) or dual monitors, I do want anti-aliasing. Will 2GB of vram be enough 2 years for now or it will be as limiting as my old card with just 512MB is right now? There are a few options with 3GB for various cards.
Also, no clue about vendor. I've seen that Gigabytes are rather cheap here, Sapphires and MSIs a bit more, and ASUSes the most expensive for the same chip.
Suggestions ?
Opinions ?
Anyone else from Romania or similar eastern-european countries with similar overpriced electronics ?
Thanks !
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