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Advice on next card.

Last response: in Graphics & Displays
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Copy and pasted from the "asking advice"

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: By the end of this month, no sooner than 2 weeks, no later than 4 weeks.


USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: I would say 50/50 gaming and just browsing the web. Games I play - Rift, New Vegas, BF3.

CURRENT GPU AND POWER SUPPLY: XFX Double D HD-687A-ZDFC, OCZ ModXStream Pro 600W

OTHER RELEVANT SYSTEM SPECS: Mobo - ASUS M5A97, 8gigs of ram, 965 black edition. I got rid of the 8120 that I originally purchased... not so great for gaming. 128GB SSD.

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: newegg, or ebay - in USA

PARTS PREFERENCES: Doesn't matter

OVERCLOCKING: Possible O/C, most likely no SLI/Xfire

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1920x1080

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: I don't care how "hot" it gets. I have a giant full tower case with over 7 fans or so blowing on everything. I would prefer it to be somewhat quiet. Most of the time I have music playing or the headphones in, so it is not a priority.

MY NUMBER 1 priority is STABLE drivers. I hate BSOD...I have had a few with the 6870, and I've never had them before in any of my builds. Next is obviously FPS. I get around 20-25 FPS in RIFT in cities, and I would like to be around 40-60 at all times in the game.


My budget is under $250 used or new. I would just like the best bang for my buck with the priorities listed above.

Thank you four advice!

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Graphics card Expert

You're best bang for your buck under $250 is actually a gtx 480... an older card with very stable drivers,directx11, and great performance unbeatable at $200.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Your problem is going to be that this isn't a major upgrade over the 6870, it's a very small upgrade and you want double performance, I can't get you that under $250.

Your options are essentially to either massively overclock the 965 be or to move up to the $400 price point and get a gtx 670. If that isn't enough performance you'll need to do a complete rebuild based on an intel 3570k and a gtx 670 for nearly a grand.
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Graphics card Master

Wait for the 660ti to be released on Aug. 16th. It's going to shake up the market considerably, as it's bringing close to HD 7970 performance (at 1080p anyways) around the $300 price point.

Result: You may be able to get a card like the HD 7870 for $250 or less. Just wait and see.

The way the market is currently, I'd tell you to get a GTX 560ti or HD 7850, but that will change considerably in 2-3 weeks.
Graphics card Expert

The 7870 is 15-20% faster than the gtx 480 and is 40% more expensive than the gpu I linked, also the 7850 is the same performance for 15% more cost. It seems unlikely that the gtx 660 ti would move prices much, in the end it will be priced to fit the market.

slhpss said:
you could get a 6950 2gb or a 6970 for about 150-200 off ebay... I recently got a sapphire reference 2gb 6950 for 159 which was already unlocked to a 6970



How are the drivers on these cards?
Graphics card Expert

The best bang for your buck is probably crossfiring a second 6870. At 1080p it will be a great setup, and cheaper than starting over with new cards. (Even selling your old 6870, as is often suggested, won't change that.)

If you were going to get a new card for 1080p and don't care at all about heat, the 480 is a great value buy. Huge power usage and heat, but great frames--faster than a 560 Ti.

And if you are planning on a new card at $250 and up, I'd probably wait to see how the 660 Ti both performs and affects the prices of other cards. (Especially since you said no sooner than 2 weeks, and the 660 Ti is supposed to be released mid-August.)

motorneuron said:
The best bang for your buck is probably crossfiring a second 6870. At 1080p it will be a great setup, and cheaper than starting over with new cards. (Even selling your old 6870, as is often suggested, won't change that.)

If you were going to get a new card for 1080p and don't care at all about heat, the 480 is a great value buy. Huge power usage and heat, but great frames--faster than a 560 Ti.

And if you are planning on a new card at $250 and up, I'd probably wait to see how the 660 Ti both performs and affects the prices of other cards. (Especially since you said no sooner than 2 weeks, and the 660 Ti is supposed to be released mid-August.)


You can't crossfire with the 970 chip on my MOBO, or else I would have done it a long time ago.

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Graphics card Master

kevin83 said:
The 7870 is 15-20% faster than the gtx 480 and is 40% more expensive than the gpu I linked, also the 7850 is the same performance for 15% more cost. It seems unlikely that the gtx 660 ti would move prices much, in the end it will be priced to fit the market.


That's not true. HD 7870 is just 6% faster than GTX 480.

Graphics card Expert

Sunius I'm trying to factor in the ghz edition cards which have some performance increases. Plus I was guessing :) 
I really don't think you should worry about upgrading right now, any $250 upgrade will net you minimal performance increases from your current system. If you wait until spring you can upgrade everything to haswell+geforce 700 series.

kevin83 said:
Sunius I'm trying to factor in the ghz edition cards which have some performance increases. Plus I was guessing :) 
I really don't think you should worry about upgrading right now, any $250 upgrade will net you minimal performance increases from your current system. If you wait until spring you can upgrade everything to haswell+geforce 700 series.


Well from the graph above, it looks like a pretty substance upgrade. I am selling my 6870 for roughly $150, and getting one (gtx 480) off of ebay for roughly $220 ish. So in my eyes it doesn't look to bad.

ramsfan6239 said:
There is no way I can get a 580 for that price. If you can, please, show me where.


FWIW, I just grabbed this for my New Build -

GIGABYTE GV-R785OC-2GD Radeon HD 7850 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

$259 on Newegg.

This thing is a beast, i'm getting a constant 180+ FPS in Starcraft 2 with Extreme Graphics/Ultra settings. Very quiet as well. Is your monitor 60hz or 120hz?

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