Should I wait for the radeon 8xxx/nvidia 7xx

[Plazmawolf]

I have me a radeon 6850 and it's seen me through and been pretty dependable. I don't think I really need an upgrade quite yet.

I haven't been terribly impressed with the 7xxx price to performance ratio and I don't think there will be much better looking games untill the next consoles come out. (current gen is holding back PC ports like crazy.) my question is when would the radeon 8850 or 8870 come out? Some say right before Christmas this year (I found that a little hard to believe)

your thoughts

 

[xunicronx]

I don't think it would hurt any to wait for the 8XXX or 7XX series. I'm not sure if AMD or Nvidia is done releasing drivers to boost more performance and to help the consumer get their money's worth. Nvidia will probably release the GTX780 at the first quarter of next year or maybe even sooner depending on what AMD decides to do.

 

[ismaeljrp]

I'm not a fan of upgrading every single generation. I like to skip one. Usually you see a much better improvement at a much better price. For example I like to Double my performance but only at the 200-250 price mark. I went from a 5770, to a 560ti Hawk edition ( about 15% more performance than stock )...and effectively doubled performance across the board. To double up again, I'd have to get a gtx 680.

So I'll just wait till I can get an 80% improvement or higher for the 250 price mark...without resorting to SLI.

My ti is doing fantastic, and I only game at 1680x1050.

 

[InvalidError]

My philosophy about computer upgrades is to upgrade only what I need to when I need to.

In my case, this means platform upgrades (MoBo+CPU+RAM) every ~4 years and GPU upgrades every 2-3 years.

I'm currently still using a 5770 and it serves me well enough that I don't really feel like the 7770 would be worth spending ~$130 on so I'll most likely skip the 7xxx cycle as well. Since the 67xx and lower are little more than 57xx and below respins, I'm not going to count 6xxx as a skip. I really loathe incoherent and often meaningless marketing renumbering, feels like misleading/fraudulent advertising to me.

 

[vmem]

My philosophy about computer upgrades is to upgrade only what I need to when I need to.

In my case, this means platform upgrades (MoBo+CPU+RAM) every ~4 years and GPU upgrades every 2-3 years.

I'm currently still using a 5770 and it serves me well enough that I don't really feel like the 7770 would be worth spending ~$130 on so I'll most likely skip the 7xxx cycle as well. Since the 67xx and lower are little more than 57xx and below respins, I'm not going to count 6xxx as a skip. I really loathe incoherent and often meaningless marketing renumbering, feels like misleading/fraudulent advertising to me.

To add to that, it's also good to upgrade depending on income/spending fluctuations. for example, I'm expecting to enter grad school soon, so I upgraded this year to the best of everything while I have the money to, and I won't be upgrading until I get out of grad school XD

so if you see your self be able to afford the 8*** or 7** series whenever they come out, and you're comfortable with the performance now, just wait. if you expect to be broke toward the end of the year, then upgrade now XD

 

[andyvet32]

I guess we havn't seen a true next gen game yet? Crisis 3 preview does look crazy good though. I just hope this GTX 670 I'm waiting on will play those games well... building these rigs costs like hell...

 

[InvalidError]

if you expect to be broke toward the end of the year, then upgrade now XD

Strange way to go about it IMO: the $300 you don't spend on upgrades today won't magically disappear tomorrow if you manage your money wisely. If times get rough enough that you end up having to dig into that reserve fund, you would likely land in an even worse spot if you upgraded on a whim while expecting to go broke later.

 

[beavermml]

im still rocking my old 4870 and i find it still capable of gaming at 1080p..

 

[Supernova1138]

I'm probably sitting out this generation too. I have a 6870 and it handles 90% of the games out there just fine at my resolution. The lowest worthwhile upgrade for me would be the 7870, and I can't justify dropping $350 just to get better performance in maybe 5 or 6 games I own. I think I can easily get another year out of my current card.

 

[jaguarskx]

I'm waiting for the HD 8000 or GTX 700 series. I am planning on a totally new PC next year when Intel releases Haswell, so I might as well put off upgrading my HD 5850 which still provides me with enough performance. Then again I don't consider myself a hardcore gamer.