Is it economically viable to upgrade my card?

Shep

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Mar 22, 2009
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I'm just wondering if it's actually worth the money buying a new graphics card. The sheer lack of decent games that take advantage of modern cards is making myself question whether it would be worth the money. I currently have a 9600GT and was thinking of upgrading to perhaps a GTX 275 or an HD5770/5850.

So my question is, should I spend now or should I keep my money and wait for a few months/a year in the hope that there'll be an explosion of DX11 games?

Thanks,
Shep
 

deadlockedworld

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Hey Shep,

I think this question really depends on your monitor, and personal finickiness. With a large monitor you will see a significant difference between the 9600GT and a better card, with a small monitor the difference won't be as noticeable.

Personally, my rule is to keep what you have until you can't play a game you want to at comfortable settings.. .

To debate this with more people you should probably add your resolution, system specs with PSU, and what games you are/want to be playing..
 

Shep

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Mar 22, 2009
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I've got a decent rig, certainly not outstanding, but it's a good workhorse and gets things done.

In a nutshell:
Intel Q6600 @ 3.2GHz,
Nvidia 9600GT,
4GB RAM @ 1066MHz,
Asus P5Q-Pro,
1TB Samsung F1 Spinpoint,
Windows 7 Home Premium.

I usually play games at 1280x1024 and prefer FPS and RTS's. But since there doesn't seem to be a huge amount of games coming out lately, is upgrading my GFX really worth it?

Thanks for the replies,
Shep.
 

jonpaul37

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May 29, 2008
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In my opinion, changing from a 9600GT to a 5850 would be night & day. For instance, playing CoD MW2, i had a 4850 which allowed me to play @ 1280 x 1024 with no AA and medium settings. Got the 5870 and HOLY &*%! the difference is nice, playing @ 1650 x 1280 with full AA and full settings, completely smooth!
 

deadlockedworld

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We are kind of a biased audience to be telling you if computer gaming is worth it :)

If you are sticking with 1280x1024 then a $150 5770 should be able to max most games and should be about twice the power of a 9600GT. You probably don't need to spend as much as a 5850. The 9600GT could potentially make a decent physx card.
 
@ Shep: If you are not really desperate, I'd suggest you hold on for a while, Nvidia have yet to launch their own new lineup and may have a few surprises in store.
If you cannot wait then the HD5770 is a fine card at that resolution and should really fly with the overclocked CPU.
One point on PhysX, your MB has a P45 chipset and while it supports Crossfire I',m not sure if it, or the relavent Nvidia drivers will allow a ATI graphics/Nvidia PhysX combination under Win 7-Anyone else know for certain one way or the other?
 
Yeah, an HD5750 or HD5770 would be a nice upgrade at that resolution. I'm sure in a good number of games right now you can't max settings and/or apply AA with the 9600GT. If you are fine with that then just keep your current card but both cards I mentioned will let you max almost every game and they are DX11 as well so you will be able to use the most advanced setting on the latest games that wouldn't be available on your 9600GT.
 

jonpaul37

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I have a very similar Rig (minus the video card), what size is your monitor? can it support higher resolutions?

I play games at 1650 x 1280 and i saw a very noticeable increase in FPS & was able to up the eye-candy when i changed from the 4850 to the 5870.
 


what is he going to do with 2 outdated GPU's once it is time to go DX11?

I would sell the 9600 and get a 5770 or equivalent...
 
Unless he is going for a bigger screen there is no point in a dual card setup, now if his mobo is CF only then Nvidia would be out of the question unless he is positive that he will only run 1 GPU on that board..

a 4870 or 5770 would be my vote...



 

pwndeta

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Nov 24, 2009
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Im going to say yes, going from my 8800GT to a 4850 seemed to be an upgrade at 1680x1050. Id say go with the 5770 for future ability of DX11 and have the performance of a 4870 (better than mine).

Then of course later down the road you decide to step up to a 22+" 1080p monitor, adding a 2nd 5770 would be very nice and logical.