Buy GPU Blackfriday/cybermonday or 69XX series release?

[thebucs2004]

Specs:
P5Q mobo
q6600 @ 3.6
4gigs of ddr2
4850 1gig
650w power supply

I'm looking to upgrade my 4850 and while it is adequate for most games for the time being, I have really felt is age playing some newer games on ultra or even on high. Will I get the best performance for the money during the upcoming black friday/cyber monday deals or waiting for the 69XX series/whatever nvidia's next series is?

I was leaning towards a 6870 or a cheap 6850 and saving some money towards a new hardware down the road. I'd also have no problem buying an Nvidia card either if it had a better performance/$.

Thanks!

 

[g00fysmiley]

will you get a better deal than normal on cyber monday or black firday? ... probably but depends on what newegg and tiger direct do with thier sales. i'm sure they'll have some good ones ... we'll just have to see if the 6 series is part of it. usually they assume high end part buyers aren't gonna wait for sales but they'll still probbaly kick a few bucks off the price

as for waiting till 69xx series to come out... this'll probably be the real price dropper for it (though likely a pretty small one as well) as then they will ahve a replacment in the high end with the new 6 series ... but only time will tell

 

[17seconds]

I know there is always a lot of hype over Black Friday deals, but I recall that there are usually a lot of great deals in the week leading up to Christmas (and even the days after). I would check Black Friday and see if there is something too good to pass up, if not, wait until December 13th to see if the 6900's have any impact on prices.

 

[purple stain]

I would suggest waiting until the sales are up in full swing.You could get lucky.If you have the money to spend and the deals are right i would go for a new mobo with crossfire/sli and go from there.

 

[jerreece]

Hard to say what will be on sale. But generally the "blow out" type deals are on low end stuff. So I'd expect to see ATI 5770's, GT 240's, less expensive stuff like that on sale.

That being said, you can pick up a GTX 460 1GB for $159 after rebate @ NewEgg.com right now. It's an ECS card, but that's pretty dang cheap for a 1GB 460. Think I saw an ATI 6850 as low as $189 right now.

Obviously the 69xx cards will be faster, and therefore more expensive. So the big thing it to decide ultimately what it is you WANT, and then determine the best time to buy it.

 

[purple stain]

I bet the Radeon 58xx cards will go on a serious sale.I'm seeing them bundled with XFX PSU's for $200.

 

[jyjjy]

What is your monitor's native resolution?

 

[thebucs2004]

1680x1050

 

[jyjjy]

For that resolution I wouldn't bother with more than an HD6850 or GTX 460 1gb. Either will be excellent and approximately 75% faster than your current card at reference speeds. They both also OC very well(usually over 30%) so look for one with good cooling. The Asus DirectCU or MSI Hawk would be great choices.

 

[purple stain]

^agree 6850/6870... 460/470

 

[g00fysmiley]

also depends on future plans. if you plan on getting a new monitor before a new video card, or getting another monitor or 2 for multimonitor setup then i'd say go for higher... but if not then yea 460/6850 really can't even justify the 470 or 69xx... heck the 6870 would be pushing it

 

[nolarrow]

For reference I had the same cpu as you OC to the same speed. I purchased a gtx 570 and saw 0% increase in sc2 and some other titles at your resolution. CPU bottleneck. I would consider a cpu mobo ram upgrade first before you go to a beefy gpu. Also, you can scoop gtx 570s on ebay for $90-$100.

Food for thought.