I need a new graphics card, should I wait?

PCGuy25 · Apr 28, 2015

Okay so I am looking for a new graphics card to replace my old gtx 285. My current set up is an i7 920 overlocked to 4.0 ghz, 6gb ddr3, on an x58 sli mobo. I know its old! But I am waiting for the release of skylake before upgrading my cpu and mobo. I am looking for a graphics card at $500 or lower (what ever is worth the price). Now keep in mind even if my CPU will bottleneck the GPU a bit, its okay because I will be upgrading to skylake soon so that doesn't matter.

Now I was planning on buying gtx 980 soon, but I have also heard new GPUs are releasing from Nvidia and AMD soon, and so I'm not sure if I should wait?

So my question is basically are there any GPUs that are in that price range releasing soon?
I have heard of the GTX 980 Ti and GTX 980 Metal, and also some new AMD cards.

Is it a good time to invest in a GTX 980?

thor220 · Apr 28, 2015

I would wait. AMD's R300 series is releasing before the end of June.

PCGuy25 · Apr 28, 2015

thor220 :

Is that going to be better than the gtx 980? And how will the price compare?

Onus · Apr 28, 2015

It depends on how much of an improvement you need. A GTX770 is six tiers higher than the GTX285, making it a pretty big step up. A GTX780Ti is another couple of tiers up, for around $420.

Guest · Apr 28, 2015

I would also wait, whenever new hardware comes out the older hardware gets a nice price drop usually. regardless of the r300's performance you will still get a nice deal.

PCGuy25 · Apr 28, 2015

Also I will be gaming in 4K, so really anything lower than the performance of the GTX 980 will be insufficient. Are you sure the price will drop? Somewhere I heard that the prices don't actually drop for PC parts until they are obsolete.

Onus · Apr 28, 2015

For 4K, you might be looking at SLI anyway, although a single GTX980 should manage 4K on "Good" settings for a while.

jjb8675309 · Apr 28, 2015

for 4k I'd personally be looking for 980 SLi. You may want to see what kind of large memory offerings that come next gen. 4k is darn demanding.

PCGuy25 · Apr 28, 2015

So should I be waiting or should I just go for the 980? If I decided to go for a 980 down the road would games run on max settings? I'm just concerned on price vs performance.

PCGuy25 · Apr 28, 2015

And how would a crossfire configuration for 4K compare to an SLI configuration for 4K?

Onus · Apr 28, 2015

At 4K, you would need SLI for "UltraMaxOhWOW" settings; a single one would manage "Good" settings.

thor220 · Apr 28, 2015

You should just wait. AMD's flagship card is going to be faster than a 980, especially at higher resolutions. It's going to be the first video card with stacked memory, which means it will be awesome for high resolution.

It should cost $400 - 600 when it launches.

PCGuy25 · Apr 28, 2015

thor220 :

In that case, I will wait! Which one is their "flagship" card?

thor220 · Apr 28, 2015

The "flagship" card is the top performing card. If they follow their current naming scheme, it will be the R9 390. Depending on it's performance it could land anywhere between $400 - 600 dollars. The price is going to reflect the market, so if it ends up getting performance near the Nvidia titan (a $1000 card), you can expect the price to be closer to the $600 dollar figure as Nvidia would have nothing to counter it.

gokitty199 · Apr 28, 2015

thor220 :

their 980ti is said to be around that price range, it should drop amd's 390 price

thor220 · Apr 28, 2015

gokitty199 :

Chances are the 980ti won't be as fast as the 390. The maxwell architecture isn't getting a massive revamp like what we are seeing from AMD's side. They are going to push maxwell but I don't see Nvidia getting past that architecture's one weakness, memory bandwidth.

Of course, I can't say by exactly how much stacked memory will improve performance other than the numbers that AMD has given so far. The performance and power usage claims are quite bold. If maxwell is a power efficient GPU, then AMD is aiming for both power and energy usage in it's next gen GPUs.

Amywalker730 · Apr 29, 2015

If you're going to go for 4k then I'd highly recommend the 295x2. It's one of the fastest cards on the market and for $650 it's a steal. Like others have said I'd wait until Nvidia releases the 980TI and AMD the 300 series this summer. Even if the cards are more expensive than you're willing to pay then at least the cards you're looking at now would have dropped in price to stay competitive.

As for that 920 it really should not be a bottleneck. You'd have to wait a few more generations before the 920 started preventing your GPU from performing as intended. This would be especially true if you overclocked it.

jjb8675309 · Apr 29, 2015

^^ there is some guy on here, I believe his username is 4k, that uses 295x2 x fire for powering his 4k display to give you an idea of how demanding it is for "UltraMaxOhWOW" as Onus said.

Onus · Apr 30, 2015

Thanks to the Bulldozer fiasco, I am reluctant to predict the performance of any new AMD product based on statements issued by marketing droids. I'll wait for actual tests.

thor220 · Apr 30, 2015

Onus :

At this point it's either AMD delivers of they go bankrupt and the Intel/Nvidia monopoly gets taken to a new level. AMD doesn't have the finances to weather another bulldozer so everyone better hope this next generation of cards is great.

jjb8675309 · Apr 30, 2015

I thought Samsung was going to purchase them or at least their CPU division...?

thor220 · May 1, 2015

jjb8675309 :

You really can't buy one without the other, seeing as they integrate so many of their technologies between the two. Not to mention that intel would have to agree to it, as AMD and Intel have an x86 cross license.

It would be nice for AMD but I don't really see a point for Samsung. AMD doesn't really have anything that would strengthen Samsung's mobile portfolio. The only reason I could see would be to acquire AMD's GPU tech. That would likely give them a huge lead in the mobile space.

Onus · May 1, 2015

In any case, whether or not you should wait depends a lot on whether or not anything currently available meets your needs, and at a reasonable price. After reading HardOCP's review of GTA V performance, I would not buy a rebadged AMD card, but any current-gen AMD or nVidia card should remain relevant for some time.

jjb8675309 · May 1, 2015

GTA V scales well but can still be darn demanding.

FoxtrotTango · Jun 17, 2015

■I would wait. I know I'm a little late to the discussion, but the new 390x and 390 deliver a big blow to the performance ratings of the GTX980. You can find the specs here: http://wccftech.com/amd-officially-launches-radeon-300-series-lineup-429-390x-329-390-8-gb-cards-official-sight-r9-fury/

I take my previous statement back. The performance will increase just the same as AMD's past offerings. They update the cards ever-so-slightly, rename them and push them as a brand new line-up. I really hope next year looks a little better in the performance department.

I need a new graphics card, should I wait?

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