Argumentative upgrading @ christmas

[mrmacman]

Dear Toms,


I'm currently running somewhat happy with my current XFX 5750.
But i'm also feeling the pressure of not being able to run MAXED out aa and shaders and blabla on newer games @ 1920x1080.

Having upgraded to sandy and seeing the insane performance gain, obviously i'm now hooked.
I want more.


My Specs:

Cooler Master 310 Elite ( http://www.coolermaster.com/product.php?product_id=6528 )
Asus Z68 PRO
i5-2500k D0 stepping
Antec 620 H20 Cooler
8(2x4) GB Corsair Vengeance 1600 MHZ CL9
XFX HD 5750
Corsair Builder Series CX 500

Push/Pull with Standard Antec 620 Fan + CoolerMaster SickeFlow 120 MM / SickleFlow pushing Antec 620 Standard Fan pulling.
Also a 80 MM CoolerMaster BladeMaster + Elite 310 120 MM Standard Fan exhausting on the sides.

The reason is, i'm oc'ing to 4.5 GHZ (With annoyingly high voltage -_-).

Therefor i'm probably at this point drawing just about the limits of my CX 500.


I've looked at GTX 560 TI and 6950/6870 - however ive' heard rumours of the 7000 series coming sometime in Jan.
Or soon atleast.


I'll be doing a case upgrade at some point, but for now the to point:

I want to upgrade my GPU @ christmas.

If i'm going GTX 570/560 TI or 6950/6870(Or maybe higher with HD 7xxx

Will my PSU suffice?

I've not got a budget since i spend on what i feel is a good deal, wether thats 250 bucks or 500 bucks.
(I'm a notorious cheap ass, so lower the better however)
Should i wait to see what 7xxx will offer in benchmarks?

What would you recommend for my resolution(1920x1080), that's also future proof atleast year and a half?

Basicly arguments if i should wait some extra months til q1/q2 2012 for the new HD's or just decide on one now.
And if so, which one that will last a me some considerable time on that resolution?

cheeeeeeeers!

 

[nordlead]

Just looking at the graphics card change this is what you can expect for a increase in required PSU size compared to the same build with a Radeon 5750.

Radeon 6870 -- +96W
Radeon 6950 -- +148W
GeForce GTX 570 -- +173W

If you weren't overclocking you could run the Radeon 6870 with your current PSU, but with overclocking you'd have to actually measure the power draw to make sure you'd stay under the limit..

 

[farrengottu]

i really want the 7000 series to be out before Christmas but i doubt it will be. dont expect their performance to be amazing. they are just a die shrink from 40nm to 28nm. but since smaller circuits make for less heat. they are expected to throw on a bit more stream processing units since they have the xtra space from the shrink. id say expect at best 40% more performance out of the same model number....er model number +1000.
the lower model number cards are supposed to be out before christmas, likely 7770 and under, and the higher ones next year. but thats all rumor.

 

[mrmacman]

Just looking at the graphics card change this is what you can expect for a increase in required PSU size compared to the same build with a Radeon 5750.

Radeon 6870 -- +96W
Radeon 6950 -- +148W
GeForce GTX 570 -- +173W

If you weren't overclocking you could run the Radeon 6870 with your current PSU, but with overclocking you'd have to actually measure the power draw to make sure you'd stay under the limit..

In other words, id should for conservative safe terms atlaest get a 750W "just in case".
Anything with Bronze 80plus.

And even more if i want to SLI in future.

I was told a 500w might be a tight fit for a 6870 for example, but i'm geussing with the oc'ing that fucks the picture up completely.



Which would you pick however?

Would you try wait for some of the mid end 7000 cards, see the benchmark vs current mid/highend cards?

Money wise, not much difference for me from a 6870 to a6950.

However going to a GTX 570 is a 100 bucks more with my supply options.
Therefor i'd need quite a bit of performance increase from the 570 to consider it comparing to 6950.
What about the 560 TI?

 

[nordlead]

Eh, if I was picking a card now and had the money, I'd buy a new PSU and get a 6950. I like the fact that the Radeon's tend to draw less power (except at idle). Less power means less heat, which leads to less problems. I've had a few graphics cards burn out before I wanted to build a new PC (typically 5-year intervals), so I'd rather lose a smidgen of detail I'd never notice for a card that runs cooler. In fact, just recently my card burnt out and I was planning on building a PC this February.

A 6950 should run at 1080p with max details and should last you for quite a while. No card is completely future proof. Your best bet for future proofing is crossfire it later (at a cheaper price) and buy a capable PSU now. The 6950 in Crossfire would probably outperform the top cards today in single configuration.

As for waiting, it is a question of what you want now. I'm so tempted to build a PC now, but I want to see what bulldozer will do in the CPU market. On the GPU front, I'd buy one now if I wasn't waiting on the CPU.