2014: Boring Year for the GPU Market?

[thismafiaguy]

For most of 2013, it looked as though the following year was going to be full of game changers and actual new GPUs, not just rebrands. Nvidia's Maxwell GPUs were rumored to hit the market in Q1 2014 for quite a while, and many people including me, eagerly waited. But the only Maxwell GPU we got in Q1 2014 was the GTX 750 and 750Ti, which are impressive, but are hardly high-end game changers.

Recently, there has been rumors from Sweclockers that the 20nm Maxwell chips are being delayed to late 2014 or sometime in 2015. I wouldn't take that as an April fool's joke, because TSMC has been the talk of town for delays, it's not surprising to hear of Maxwell's delay.

But what will this mean for the GPU market? Along with the 750/750Ti, Nvidia has brought the Titan Black and the Titan Z, but those are cards that appeal to a relatively small portion of the market. Perhaps the dual-290X AMD Vesuvius or the GTX 790 will spice things up a bit, but I don't think my wallet can take that kind of punishment.

Unless AMD is planning an update to the Hawaii GPU this fall, I don't think we'll see much more action, we're pretty much stuck with the Nvidia cards from last year, and the AMD cards that are still in the process of deflating after the mining craze.

 

[Deleted member 1272578]

That's exactly how I feel, I just gave up on waiting for maxwell and just bought a GTX 780.

 

[thismafiaguy]

I'm contemplating on getting a GTX 780 as well, or an R9 290. Both of which will be more than enough for my games at 1080p, but I keep waiting because I've come this far and don't want to give up. If I see an exceptional deal on either of those cards though, I may change my plans.

 

[renz496]

to me even 2013 is a boring year for gpu

 

[thismafiaguy]

Then brace yourselves, this year is looking even worse. I thought the GTX 780 was pretty solid when it made its debut, but $650 was just too much. The only competition we saw last year was when the AMD R9 cards hit the market, and even that was short-lived.

 

[renz496]

i think i already know what to expect. but then again i will not in the market for new gpu for quite a while since i just build my 660 SLI mid last yer. i got my GTX460 in january 2011 and the card work fine for me for two years. heck even more than that actually since i just get 660 on a whim and then get a second 660 when i'm not impressed with the performance jump from 460 to 660. going for single more powerful card might be the better choice but in the end i just want to play around with SLI system myself.

 

[coolcole01]

yep its looking pretty weak the 780 ti will be king for a while been playing with it for a little while i just dont see anything beating it love that card

 

[Rationale]

What's the point of getting a new card when the current ones will run anything at 1080p/60 fps with so much room to spare anyway?
Oooo... 120 fps to 140 fps... What a noticeable difference...

 

[thismafiaguy]

What's the point of getting a new card when the current ones will run anything at 1080p/60 fps with so much room to spare anyway?
Oooo... 120 fps to 140 fps... What a noticeable difference...

Do you play modded Skyrim much?

 

[Rationale]

What's the point of getting a new card when the current ones will run anything at 1080p/60 fps with so much room to spare anyway?
Oooo... 120 fps to 140 fps... What a noticeable difference...

Do you play modded Skyrim much?

No, there's no point. Modding the Creation Engine to improve the graphics is like buying a lift kit for a Dodge Neon. It ends up looking silly, imbalanced, and highly inefficient.

 

[renz496]

What's the point of getting a new card when the current ones will run anything at 1080p/60 fps with so much room to spare anyway?
Oooo... 120 fps to 140 fps... What a noticeable difference...

not really. some people just get new hardware just for the sake they can slap new hardware in their machine

 

[coolcole01]

i like modded gta 4 anytime i cause destruction in the city running around shooting people as president Lincoln i love it dont get me wrong running around in skyrim as a werewolf was fun too

 

[thismafiaguy]

What's the point of getting a new card when the current ones will run anything at 1080p/60 fps with so much room to spare anyway?
Oooo... 120 fps to 140 fps... What a noticeable difference...

Do you play modded Skyrim much?

No, there's no point. Modding the Creation Engine to improve the graphics is like buying a lift kit for a Dodge Neon. It ends up looking silly, imbalanced, and highly inefficient.

There's a lot more to Skyrim modding than just graphical tweaks, and they add up to be really demanding on even the best hardware. Modding is one of the best parts about Skyrim, there's a reason why it's so popular.

 

[Rationale]

What's the point of getting a new card when the current ones will run anything at 1080p/60 fps with so much room to spare anyway?
Oooo... 120 fps to 140 fps... What a noticeable difference...

Do you play modded Skyrim much?

No, there's no point. Modding the Creation Engine to improve the graphics is like buying a lift kit for a Dodge Neon. It ends up looking silly, imbalanced, and highly inefficient.

There's a lot more to Skyrim modding than just graphical tweaks, and they add up to be really demanding on even the best hardware. Modding is one of the best parts about Skyrim, there's a reason why it's so popular.

Any mod that adds enough scripts or models to slow down a CPU is going to crash the game at least intermittently. Papyrus is crap, to put it bluntly.

 

[Catrinajones]

Although there are not many new products, the technology is still improving.

 

[thismafiaguy]

If the recent rumors of the GTX 880 specs are valid, I think this year may be salvaged after all. The leaked specs are believable and in line with what we've been expecting. and it seemed legit enough to show up on reputable YouTube channels. If these specs are real, the cards can't be too far off, certainly not 2015. One site even mentioned a July release for the GTX 880. So the next question will be cost/performance ratio, but we won't know that until pricing and benchmarks are released. Fingers crossed though, for a better price/performance ratio.

If you are perfectly content with your current hardware and performance, I understand your apathy toward this topic. But there are those of us out there who has invested in a gaming PC to enjoy all the privileges of this platform. Of course there is hardware available now that can run every current game maxed out, but that's not the point of spending so much money for a gaming rig. We never settle for good enough, there's always a point in more performance and innovation, because there's always a future to behold. At the speed that this market moves, good enough just isn't.

 

[renz496]

here i was hoping GM204 based GTX880 will sell for 500 even if the card end up faster than 780 Ti. i might not getting the flagship card but if a flagship card has move towards 700 price then i'm sure the midrage card (in this case it will be 860) will move into 300-500 territory instead of sub 250 mark.

 

[Rationale]

If you are perfectly content with your current hardware and performance, I understand your apathy toward this topic. But there are those of us out there who has invested in a gaming PC to enjoy all the privileges of this platform. Of course there is hardware available now that can run every current game maxed out, but that's not the point of spending so much money for a gaming rig. We never settle for good enough, there's always a point in more performance and innovation, because there's always a future to behold. At the speed that this market moves, good enough just isn't.

Though I understand your viewpoint, "never settle for good enough" is a pretty disgusting statement that unfortunately reflects the rampant consumerism of our culture. Sooner or later everyone will have to settle for good enough, or we'll all dig ourselves a mass grave.

 

[coolcole01]

Thats a rough one im not really interested in incremental improvement when i spend my money im investing in something that i enjoy but tweak till the day i get rid of it.

 

[thismafiaguy]

If you are perfectly content with your current hardware and performance, I understand your apathy toward this topic. But there are those of us out there who has invested in a gaming PC to enjoy all the privileges of this platform. Of course there is hardware available now that can run every current game maxed out, but that's not the point of spending so much money for a gaming rig. We never settle for good enough, there's always a point in more performance and innovation, because there's always a future to behold. At the speed that this market moves, good enough just isn't.

Though I understand your viewpoint, "never settle for good enough" is a pretty disgusting statement that unfortunately reflects the rampant consumerism of our culture. Sooner or later everyone will have to settle for good enough, or we'll all dig ourselves a mass grave.

You don't seem to get it. Consumerism is the whole idea behind the entertainment industry, and the ambition in never settling for good enough is what drives innovation. The pretty disgusting fact is that I have to defend the PC enthusiast's position in a PC enthusiast's forum, and you have brought absolutely nothing relevant to the topic of this discussion. I don't know if this thread is offensive to you in some way, but you can always move along to the next thread if this discussion doesn't interest you.

 

[nikoli707]

i think this has been confirmed by many sources, there will be no maxwell card faster than the 760 in 2014 for consumers.