Having trouble deciding on GPU. $350 budget!

[thebobizzle]

First off, I am trying to upgrade from my original radeon 4750 sapphire 1gb.

My current system setup.
Gigabyte motherboard GA-890GPA-UD3H
AMD Phenom ii X4 970 3.5hz
12gb ddr3 1333 ram, x2 4gb patriot, x2 2gb corsair
thermaltake 850w psu
thermaltake a90 armor case (x2 intake fans[front and side, x2 outtake fans[rear and top])
LG 1920x1080 monitor

Games I will be playing: swtor, LoL, WoW, Skyrim, and maybe some BF3 or other shooter when I get things running correctly.


I first purchased a 2gb EVGA gtx 560 ti. The reviews on newegg were very positive for this card. I was very impressed with the first impression of the graphics, but still noticed having some FPS and screen tearing issues. I also was very happy with the over clocking abilities!!! I was able to clock it very easily. The card then started to make a clicking noise... This noise got consecutively worse, so I decided to take it back to the store and get something that might eliminate that fps/screen tearing issue.
Avg settings on my 560: everything on high, x4 AA... would have random jumps of fps from 20-120 all depending on how much was going on.


The sales person at frys kept going on about how much better the 2gb twin frozr 6950 is than the card I currently had. He told me how the 6950 is a newer model and runs much faster. He also went to say how the radeon series are made for online gaming like mmos, shooters, ect... So I thought, its worth the extra 15 bucks to get rid of the issues I was having. I started this card up, and was not very happy with my initial impression. The graphics did not look as bright or crisp as the 560 ti and my fps dropped about 10. I found this strange because the 6950 should be a better, faster card... I also somewhat followed the rumor about AMD card working better with AMD motherboard/cpus.
avg settings for 6850: all on high, x2AA get 40-90fps

*For both cards, I downloaded the most recent drivers and even the test drivers for the Radeon*

My view on this situation is I want a card that will work with my system, blow everything out of the water now, and be able to handle medium settings of games to come over the next few years. I'm willing to spend around 350 max. So far i've been wondering if I should go back to the 560 ti, get a different brand of 6950, or upgrade to a 570/6970.. I would like to get enough vram to work with my 1920x1080 monitor and eventual getting another one as well. Thank you very much for your help!

 

[amuffin]

Msi Twinfrozr iii 6950 or 560ti HAWK (I would personally get the hawk, performs like a 570 and overclocks like a beast)
What are the amperages on your thermaltake psu? It could have been the intial cause to your gpu problem.

 

[thebobizzle]

I got it as a set for a really good deal about 2 years ago
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811133177

But I think its
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817153106

Oh! and there is a size crunch... The twin frozr iii might be a little big for my case. Im thinking around 10.5 max

 

[thebobizzle]

*update*
I'm still looking for a new card if anyone wants to offer up some help. I measured my case and can fit around 10.8ish inch in there. Could move my harddrive to get a few more inches if need be.

I've been looking around every day but just cant find anything to make me go Wow! thats a good deal! It would be even better to find a card that comes with battlefield 3 <3.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102956 Is a card I really like! It would fit in my case and said to say very cool. But by no means, do I think its worth $400...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130739 Also looks like it would be a very good card. I really like the size and fan count of the EVGA classified... and the price isint that bad at $300. But other new 560tis 448 cores come with BF3..

Should I hold out for the 7800s? or grab a 6970? I just cant decide on anything =(

Help would be great!! thank you!

 

[Vettedude]

The 7800 won't perform as well as the 6970, but will cost $100 less at launch.

 

[thebobizzle]

I've read that the 7800s will cost around 350-400 dollars. There are a few 6970s for around 320-350... But they are about an inch too large =(

 

[Vettedude]

I've read that the 7800s will cost around 350-400 dollars. There are a few 6970s for around 320-350... But they are about an inch too large =(

The MSRP of the 7870 is $299 at launch, with the 7850 going for $249. Those are the reference prices, they will vary when OEM's start putting on new coolers and PCB designs.

 

[cpitts1]

If you want to go the Nvidia route, this GTX 570 is on the cheaper side, i have one and i love it, it has a blue LED that you can't turn off, if that annoys you, but after MIR it's only 310$

 

[thebobizzle]

If you want to go the Nvidia route, this GTX 570 is on the cheaper side, i have one and i love it, it has a blue LED that you can't turn off, if that annoys you, but after MIR it's only 310$

I really did like the 560ti I used... but that noise. Anyways I would love to buy the 570, but I dont understand why there is 1.25 gb. I've read that with a 1920x1080 monitor, games like BF3 will eat up around 1.5gb or vram. I almost purchased a 570 at one point, but not having 2gb scares me =(.

 

[DM186]

I would still look at the 560 ti 448 core. It is almost a 570. It is as fast as a 570. If the prices ever come down, I would love to have two of them in SLI.

 

[esrever]

the 78XX should be more powerful or compatible to the 69XXs.

for 1920x1080 1 gb of vram is enough for any game unless you turn all aa to 32x on ultra which you won't be able to run the game either way. You will be running into shader limitations long before you hit the vram limit on 1 gb. To run bf3 with it using more than 1gb of vram would require 2 580s of processing power.

Either way, the 560 ti or the 6950 should be enough for your needs, you probably just had a bad chip with the 560 ti and the 6950 sounds like a software issue.

 

[Vettedude]

If you want to go the Nvidia route, this GTX 570 is on the cheaper side, i have one and i love it, it has a blue LED that you can't turn off, if that annoys you, but after MIR it's only 310$

I really did like the 560ti I used... but that noise. Anyways I would love to buy the 570, but I dont understand why there is 1.25 gb. I've read that with a 1920x1080 monitor, games like BF3 will eat up around 1.5gb or vram. I almost purchased a 570 at one point, but not having 2gb scares me =(.

The 570 isn't powerful enough to handle BF3 on Ultra at 1080p (which is what uses 1.5GB VRAM)

 

[thebobizzle]

Best answer selected by TheBoBiZzLe.

 

[thebobizzle]

Is there any tips on a good brand of 6950/6970 or maybe the gtx 560ti 448 core?

It would be really cool to get a copy of Battlefield with the purchase... This is the part that bothers me. I could buy a 6950 for around 300 after shippings/tax. Then after the game, That would be a total of 370ish after tax.. Well there is that 6790 sapphire for 400 >.< But it would be super cool just to get a 6950 for 300 with battlefield... blah its just a mess.

From what I've read, the 6970s have very good reviews... That sapphire might just be the way to go. Ether that or say screw it and just wait.. maybe even take a peep at that ps vista

 

[Mousemonkey]

This topic has been closed by Mousemonkey