Wait Another Year or Two To Upgrade Graphics Card?

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Icaraeus

Icaraeus

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Oct 9, 2013
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Games are naturally getting more demanding, even more so due to the PS4 (6GB VRAM required for Shadow of Mordor and VRAM requirements increasing from 2GB as time goes on). I built my computer back in February this year and it runs pretty much everything maxed settings or max without AA but games will just keep getting more and more complex over time. Some games like Metro: Last Light and Tomb Raider run at 30-40 fps maxed settings no AA on my computer but soon I'm going to have to drop more than just AA to keep up. Should I invest in a GPU late next year when the next batch of GPUs release or should I hold out longer when they get even better (stacked VRAM plus architectural improvements in 2016)? I'm fine dropping to high settings in games but I'm just not sure how much longer my GPU will last.

GPUs have gotten quite fast recently with the whole R9 295x2's, Titan Black/Z's, GTX 980/970s, 780Ti/290X's so I'm just wondering when would be a good time to upgrade.

This is my first build and I've only built it in February this year so it's not even a year old but GPUs advance quickly and yeah.
 
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J
As FastGunna said, you don't need to upgrade unless you're at a point where your game eye candy compromises are becoming too frequent. With the good system base you already have you should only need to upgrade the GFX card in the future.

One thing to keep an eye on is the imminent emergence of Adaptive Sync (will become a VESA standard) and Free Sync (AMD). These are similar to NVIDIA G-Sync (NVIDIA cards only). These sync methods allow users to purchase lower cost GFX cards that would otherwise struggle in some games by preventing GFX stutter and tearing on the screen. I currently have a G-Sync monitor and it makes a big difference in gameplay smoothness in many games and allows me to turn up eye candy in those same games. Note...
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FastGunna

FastGunna

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Jun 25, 2013
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as long as your getting performance that you are happy with then you don't need to upgrade. If you start to having issues running games in a way you consider acceptable, start shopping for a new GPU. Pc parts are always improving so just hang on to your money until you feel you need an upgrade.
 
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J

Jim90

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Feb 3, 2013
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As FastGunna said, you don't need to upgrade unless you're at a point where your game eye candy compromises are becoming too frequent. With the good system base you already have you should only need to upgrade the GFX card in the future.

One thing to keep an eye on is the imminent emergence of Adaptive Sync (will become a VESA standard) and Free Sync (AMD). These are similar to NVIDIA G-Sync (NVIDIA cards only). These sync methods allow users to purchase lower cost GFX cards that would otherwise struggle in some games by preventing GFX stutter and tearing on the screen. I currently have a G-Sync monitor and it makes a big difference in gameplay smoothness in many games and allows me to turn up eye candy in those same games. Note though, that GFX cards too low in horsepower will not benefit (fps too low for these Sync methods), and, top end setups may not need it (fps already high enough to maintain smoothness).
 
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Icaraeus

Icaraeus

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Oct 9, 2013
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Ah okay, I'll just hold on to what I have and upgrade my graphics card when I need. I shouldn't need to change my CPU and motherboard for a while considering how many games only effectively use one or two CPU threads and are basically GPU-bound for the time being.
 
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