Upgrading from a 5770, need some advice

[Gawl]

Hello all, while playing in the GW2 event over the weekend I noticed my card was finally starting to show its age a bit. Looking to upgrade but not sure which way I should go.

Looking to get a new card within the next couple of weeks. Ideally I don't want to spend more than $350 but I would be willing to drop $500 max if the card is worth it. Main use will be gaming at 1920x1200 and would like all settings maxed out.

Current specs are:

5770
i7 930@ 2.8
6GB Ram
Sabertooth X58A MB
Corsair 750W PS
Win 7 64

My current train of thought has always been to get the best card out there at the time so it will last a couple of years before needing replaced. If I go that route I'm looking at a 7970 or GTX 680 in the $500 range. Currently I can't find the 680 in stock for a good price so that leaves the 7970.

My question though is should I be looking at these 2 cards, or can I spend less money for similar performance for (ie max settings and getting at least a year's worth of use from it)? Thanks in advance for the help.

 

[Chainzsaw]

Hello,

If I were you I would stick with trying to wait for a 680...shouldn't be too much longer before supplies pick up again. If you truly cannot wait, I think a Radeon 7950 would fit your bill decently. It's cheaper than both those cards but still packs a punch.

I'm currently using the 7950 (as per my specs in my sig), and I can max out SC2, Crysis (no slow downs). Haven't tried any others yet though. Running at 1920x1080 resolution.

I'm sure the GPU might take a slight hit though with your higher resolution, but shouldn't be noticeable.

Do you plan on xfiring/SLI in the future?

If you plan on getting a dual card setup in the future - I would suggest waiting for the 680 again. Nvidia has better multi-card set ups at the moment (better driver support).

But really, if you can wait for the 680 - i'm sure you won't be disappointed.

 

[Gawl]

Thanks for the reply Chainzsaw. As for xfiring/sli I tried that with 2 5770's a couple months ago and it did not go well. Identical cards/chips and was getting micro stuttering like crazy. So for now and the future not looking the xfire.

I'm thinking of holding for the 680 but why not jump on the 7970? It's a tad slower than the 680 but when overclocked should reach speeds faster than a stock 680.

 

[Chainzsaw]

Thanks for the reply Chainzsaw. As for xfiring/sli I tried that with 2 5770's a couple months ago and it did not go well. Identical cards/chips and was getting micro stuttering like crazy. So for now and the future not looking the xfire.

I'm thinking of holding for the 680 but why not jump on the 7970? It's a tad slower than the 680 but when overclocked should reach speeds faster than a stock 680.

Totally your choice. I'm just trying to give you advice on a decent GPU that's not as expensive as the 7970 or the 680.

Although looking at the prices right now....some 7970's are just as "cheap" as the 7950's.

I also know a place that has an a 680...i wont say what name but if your interested i could pm you.

 

[Stubs101]

Check out these charts
http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/high_end_gpus.html

It seems the performance gains from the gtx 580 to 680 is almost nothing and one is 100 cheaper. Also the 570 seems like another good choice and cheaper still. The performance difference between these cards is minimal and probably you wouldn't even beable to notice. However, if you want to go the sli/CF route your max performance would be getting to 560 ti and running SLi. Check this chart out
http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/2011-gaming-graphics-charts/Enthusiast-Index,2674.html
Whats cheaper still would be the 6870CF or even chaper 6850s. the ti in sli will be better then any single card the other two options will be very comperable. If you want to go a little higher in price you could get 6950s reflash to 6970s and get better performance still. However, I know the 6950 use alot of juice so you might need to upgrade your PSU. I dont know the watt usage for the rest. I tried the 6850 in CF and I felt for the money they had some really nice performance. Also they arent to power hungry I would think your 760 should be able to handle them. Look at the charts see what you think. I personally have always found that the big expensive cards are always a let down relative to their price. Thus I always recommend going the cheaper cost effective route. I know you think you need to get the best card so it stays up to date but the technology advances so fast anything you get is out of date in a year. Plus it seems that amd pumps out the next x000 series so fast. Dont be surprised when you get your 7970 and in a few months there is a 8970. Go cost effective thats my 2 cents.

Also you should overclock the that CPU the i7 overclock real nice I have had my 920 at 4.2 for like 2 years. You get two 6850s and overclock your cpu and u will see some performance gains that will be very nice for the price.

 

[Chainzsaw]

Check out these charts
http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/high_end_gpus.html

It seems the performance gains from the gtx 580 to 680 is almost nothing and one is 100 cheaper. Also the 570 seems like another good choice and cheaper still. The performance difference between these cards is minimal and probably you wouldn't even beable to notice. However, if you want to go the sli/CF route your max performance would be getting to 560 ti and running SLi. Check this chart out
http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/2011-gaming-graphics-charts/Enthusiast-Index,2674.html
Whats cheaper still would be the 6870CF or even chaper 6850s. the ti in sli will be better then any single card the other two options will be very comperable. If you want to go a little higher in price you could get 6950s reflash to 6970s and get better performance still. However, I know the 6950 use alot of juice so you might need to upgrade your PSU. I dont know the watt usage for the rest. I tried the 6850 in CF and I felt for the money they had some really nice performance. Also they arent to power hungry I would think your 760 should be able to handle them. Look at the charts see what you think. I personally have always found that the big expensive cards are always a let down relative to their price. Thus I always recommend going the cheaper cost effective route. I know you think you need to get the best card so it stays up to date but the technology advances so fast anything you get is out of date in a year. Plus it seems that amd pumps out the next x000 series so fast. Dont be surprised when you get your 7970 and in a few months there is a 8970. Go cost effective thats my 2 cents.

Also you should overclock the that CPU the i7 overclock real nice I have had my 920 at 4.2 for like 2 years. You get two 6850s and overclock your cpu and u will see some performance gains that will be very nice for the price.

I highly go against buying old tech when new is out. It may be slightly more expensive, however the new cards run much cooler and can OC a bit easier than the old gen cards.

Dont be surprised when you get your 7970 and in a few months there is a 8970. Go cost effective thats my 2 cents.

What in the world does that mean? AMD hasn't even hinted yet at the next GPU. Heck AMD and NVIDIA are still somewhat fresh from releasing this current generation of GPU's.

 

[Stubs101]

I highly go against buying old tech when new is out. It may be slightly more expensive, however the new cards run much cooler and can OC a bit easier than the old gen cards.

Dont be surprised when you get your 7970 and in a few months there is a 8970. Go cost effective thats my 2 cents.

What in the world does that mean? AMD hasn't even hinted yet at the next GPU. Heck AMD and NVIDIA are still somewhat fresh from releasing this current generation of GPU's.

I was speaking from my experience everytime I buy the latest and greatest within a year there is something better and when you start getting into these enthusiast cards the performance to price ratio gets worse and worse. To me it seems like the only reason to get them is so you can say "yeah I have the best", but its so short lived its never worth it to me. Getting back to your question you asked if you have any other options besides the the 680 or 7970. I pointed out that you have several options. All will give you a huge performance increase from a stock Cpu with one 5770. It all depends on what you value more: saving money, having the newest tech, having great performance thats reliable and affordable. It seems like you care a great deal about having the best graphics card money can buy if thats the case wait for the best deal on a good 680. Ofcourse don't forget about the fact that you have the i7 930 great cpu but getting old. I know Ive been thinking about upgrading my 920 for a while now. Which is why I suggested saving some dough and considering the 6800 series in CF. Ive seen plenty of games that cant run true max settings flawlessly even with the newest card ie batman AC. Also you said your 5770 was getting old. Did you mean its failing or just cant handle the newer games. If it still works fine maybe see if you can find a used or open box 5770(same model as your current) for cheap on ebay and run CF. I ran 5770 in CF and they were a damn good card for the money. That will save you a bunch and you can put it towards upgrading you CPU MOBO and VID. That will really blow your mind, but it doesnt seem like you will be satisfied with the performance from that. Anyways take these things into consideration but based on what you have said go with the 680. Good luck i know how tough and sometimes frustrating making these decisions can be.

 

[Gawl]

Thanks for the replies. Since I can't find the 680 in stock anywhere and am chomping at the bit, I went with a 7970. I was going to do a 7950 and OC it to the same specs as the 7970 but I got a great deal on the 7970.

As for upgrading my CPU and MOBO, not any need to at this point or in the near future. While running games with settings cranked my CPU is hardly breaking a sweat with only 30% of the processing power being used. Same for RAM, only using 45 to 50% of what I have. What I'm seeing is graphical slow down as when I start backing features like shadows and what not off I see a big performance boost.

I figure this card should last at least a year in its current config and when the speeds of PCI-E 3.0 actually start netting an improvement, then I can look into upgrading the CPU and MOBO for a 3.0 board and hopefully squeeze a little more life from the card.

 

[Gawl]

Best answer selected by Gawl.