Questioning the Upgrade of my Video Card

[aodknifer]

Hi there guys like many of you out there Im very excited for Battlefield 3 coming out late October. I have been playing the Beta and im loving it so far. The only thing that I'm having lots of issues is with the performance. I currently run a core i7 920 @ 3.8ghz 6 gigs of ram two gtx 260 (core 216) in sli (896 mb of GDDR3 RAM each) and everything installed on my intel 320 series 120gb ssd. I was runing msi afterburner to watch my FPS and GPU usage and I noticed that my memory usage is at 880ish +- 10 and this is when my performance just goes to *** (btw im running a 27 inch monitor at 1920x1080). Im not sure if the game performance will get better once the final game is released or with a driver update (I currently have the new beta drivers from nvidia that say are targeted for the game). So all this comes down to one question, should i wait for the new video cards gtx 6xx / amd 7xxxx cards or should I just upgrade to some Dx 11 cards when the game comes out? I really dont want to buy the video cards and then find out the new ones are coming out a month later because Im ok with waiting some time. what do you guys think is the best thing to do?

 

[rolli59]

Well if you wait the game will be out and you stuck with the GTX260's, remember we have 2 generations from then.

 

[aodknifer]

yeah thats true but that would also give me the opportunity to use my current video cards with the official release of the game (hopefully there are massive improvements to the performance)

 

[rolli59]

I was just putting out a perspective! 2xGTX260 is still a powerful setup but can be matched with a single card today.

 

[gmcizzle]

I have a similar setup to you, except I have a single gtx 285 (1GB). Since AMD delayed their 7xxx series, neither Nvidia or AMD's new cards will be out for months after BF3 is released. I went ahead and just bought a gtx 580, since a single 580 with a bit of overclock is all that's needed for a single 1080p monitor in BF3. If the new cards come out and are somehow a huge leap in performance vs. current gen (doubtful), then sell the 580 or buy another 580 in sli (if price drops). I figure, since the new cards will still be dx11, what's the point in waiting anyway?

 

[aodknifer]

I have a similar setup to you, except I have a single gtx 285 (1GB). Since AMD delayed their 7xxx series, neither Nvidia or AMD's new cards will be out for months after BF3 is released. I went ahead and just bought a gtx 580, since a single 580 with a bit of overclock is all that's needed for a single 1080p monitor in BF3. If the new cards come out and are somehow a huge leap in performance vs. current gen (doubtful), then sell the 580 or buy another 580 in sli (if price drops). I figure, since the new cards will still be dx11, what's the point in waiting anyway?

OHHH they did?? dang...that changes a lot. lol. Then I think I will buy new video cards. (plus i can sell these 260s and put that money towards the purchase of new ones) Now it comes down to either buying one powerful card like you're telling me or should I buy a gtx 460/560ti in SLI?

 

[rolli59]

560TI in SLI would be a awesome setup but here is a good article http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-performance-radeon-geforce,3018.html

 

[gmcizzle]

For me, it basically came down to 6950 2gb in crossfire or a single gtx 580. If you want the maximum performance now for the price (and your mobo can support it), 2x 6950 2gb seems to be a top pick. Now I have never actually used a xfire/SLI setup so I can't comment on issues such as game support/microstuttering/etc, but with a single powerful card like the 580 you are way less likely to have any issues. So it basically comes down to: would you rather take a little risk with the xfire/SLI setups but with possibly much higher framerates, or take good frame rates and be sure not to have any issues?

560ti I wouldn't advise in SLI since they only have 1GB of VRAM. (not as future proof as a 6950 2gb).

 

[aodknifer]

560TI in SLI would be a awesome setup but here is a good article http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-performance-radeon-geforce,3018.html

So according to the article the best bang for your buck in my budget range would be either 2 gtx 460, 2 gtx 560, 2 6850 or a single 570. But gmcizzle has a good point about the issues of SLI like the microstuttering. plus it would be easier to overclock 1 card rather than two cards. So the 570 seems like the winner here to me. wouldnt you guys agree?
EDIT: plus the 570 only loses by a small margin compared to the sli gtx 460.

 

[gmcizzle]

the 570 is a solid card. You should be able to run a 570 comfortably on high settings in BF3, but unless they really optimize BF3 before launch, ultra settings may be a stretch.

 

[rolli59]

Yep the GTX570 is a good choice.

 

[aodknifer]

Best answer selected by aodknifer.