Girl Gamer A Logical Glimpse Into the Future. Help needed!

Christie Clark

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Aug 3, 2013
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My build:
CPU: Intel Core i5-3470 (with packaged cooling only) with sucky Integrated HD 2500
PSU: Corsair 500Watts with 80 Plus
RAM: 8 GB Corsair Vengeance Blue
Motherboard: Asus P8-H77-I
Memory: 500GB Western Digital Caviar Blue
Case: Bitfenix Prodigy (with 2 installed fans)

I am in the process of picking out a GPU...I am primarily interested in running upcoming games like Battlefield 4 at 1080p at HIGH/ULTRA settings.

Here is the dilemma you all should critically think about.

Currently, Nvidia cards are the masters at running Battlefield 3 at higher FPS. However, Battlefield 4 is said to be specifically optimized for HD Radeon cards. In addition, we all know that the upcoming consoles will all sport a Radeon version of a GPU similar to the performance of a Radeon 7870.

In short, all mass produced games will be optimized for Radeon cards since the new consoles will be mass produced with Radeon cards. Logically, all upcoming games will from now on be optimized for Radeon cards since the primary market of consoles will no longer work with Nvidia, the only presence Nvidia will have is in PC gaming...however, if game devs will work to pump out the most juice out of an average HD Radeon on both upcoming consoles, it is a possibility that Radeon will take over in the quality, performance, and driver availability for all future games in the next 6-10years. Nvidia will thus be left in the dust for quite a while...its logical right?

Sooooo, with what I jumbled above, what would be you honest and not fanboish advice be in selecting a GPU for the future.

As of now, I am looking at getting either the overclocked version of Nvidia's GTX 760 or an overclocked HD Radeon 7970 in accordance with my quad core CPU.

What do you guys think? Thx.
 
Solution
both cards are great. the 7970 is a little bit better but more expensive. but the 760 is newer and is has better support

BN91

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Sep 13, 2012
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just because games are finally being made with amd in mind. doesnt mean that nvidia cards will all of a sudden become a bad choice, i know you didnt say that but just wanted to make it clear. some games play better on nvidia cards some play better on amd. id personally go for the gtx 760 because i like the feature Phys x. and currently nvidia cards are supported better. with drivers being updated more frequently. picking the graphics card is your choice

as for the rest of your build. since your not overclocking it looks good.
 
Nvidia will work it out, 'The way its meant to be played' will change and will result in games that are dual optimised, or the prices will balance out so as the market will decide. Nvidia have and will pay devs to optimise and i'm sure they'll carry on with that.

however with your two choices, chosen as they affordable I assume, the choice is pretty clear.
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/770?vs=854 and that is a stock 7970
 

xomm

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Jun 20, 2011
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It's a possibility, and something I'm looking forward to, but it definitely won't be an immediate or massive changeover, imo. Geforce drivers are still very much more refined than Catalyst drivers, though the latter are improving. Nvidia certainly won't be left in the dust, and there will be plenty of competition to be had.

That said, everything's just speculation at this point.

Purely price/performance-wise, the 7970 is somewhat a better buy at $300, but I'd be personally a bit reluctant to grab a 1.5 year old card with an impending successor and known Crossfire problems. I would go with a GTX 760, and grab a second down the line if you want more performance.





 




crossfire problems? 13.8b1 fixed all direct x 10/11 stutter problems(which battlefield 4 will be).
 


Not all the issues only some.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/7195/amd-frame-pacing-explorer-cat138/3
 


not seen you for a while mm, but this is an itx build so its all moot

 

xomm

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...totally overlooked the fact that it's a prodigy build. And to think that I'm planning a prodigy build myself...

In that case I would tentatively recommend the HD 7970 for price/performance. My only issue is: the HD 7970 might put out a bit too much heat for comfort to be stuffed in a prodigy. The fans will ramp up more than usual and your acoustics go out the window. Not to mention the possible release of a new Radeon generation before the end of the year.
 

Hi mate, it's not that moot a point as the OP may decide to go for a 7990. :whistle:
 


the problems left are generally for special users(DX9, Eyefinity, Dual Graphics). If you are talking about frametime, then AMD is not only at fault, litterally quoted from the concluding page

Similarly while AMD’s frame pacing has improved to the point where we find it acceptable, 20% deltas are still generally twice that of NVIDIA’s GeForce GTX 690, never mind the extreme consistency single-GPU setups offer. We never realistically expected AMD to match NVIDIA’s frame interval consistency overnight, but in time it would be nice to see them get close, and for both parties to further improve beyond that.

anandtech suggests both can still do better, and believe that AMD has hit the "acceptable" mark to which crossfire should not be a nuisance to a user unless you are part of the group that the driver has not been released for yet. This is especially significant since AMD's solution was a software outcome compared to Nvidia's hardware approach to frametime.
 


very true, especially for ultra BF4
 


http://www.kitguru.net/channel/luke-hill/overclockers-uk-cuts-amd-graphics-card-prices/
 


nice :) might be a precursor to next gen amd cards
 


We may know more in September, I saw something the other day over at Legit IIRC.
 

Christie Clark

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Aug 3, 2013
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Right, but if you compare the 760 to a 7970 on Game-Debate.com it indicates that although the 760 may have higher clock speeds, the 7970 is superior in regard to graphics memory and displaying more pixels faster - hence, making games look better than the 760. Plus, I am interested in using 4xAA at 1080p. The 760 would have trouble with that, right? It would drop fps if 4xAA would be turned on, right?