a new video card

[N2gaming]

Hello Group,
I would like your help please. I haven't bought a video card in 2 1/2 - 3 yrs now and I have not been keeping up with it. I play FPS,s mostly and for the most part everything plays great until I DL,d Arma3, WOW!!

Here are my specs:
Windows 7 -64bit
Ram = 16 Gig
2 HDD 1st = 2 Terra HDD 2nd = 500 G HDD
CPU = Intel Core i5- 2500 661 (Clarkdale) @3.33 Ghz Socket 1156

Video Card = Radeon HD 6900

So I'm guess my Radeon HD 6900 card is the slug now, although, from what I understand Arma3 is quite a demanding game so I guess I am hoping that my mobo and cpu should be good enough for a while but I figure that I will need to upgrade my video card and I'm hoping that I can just spend around $200.oo to $250.oo is there any hope for me guys/gals??

Thanks for your assistance and listening ;-)

Jake

 

[SPBHM]

2500 or 661!? I guess it's just 661 from the rest of your specs,
this CPU is also going to limit performance in Arma 3

this should give you an idea of how your 6900 compares to newer cards in this game
http://gamegpu.ru/action-/-fps-/-tps/arma-iii-test-gpu.html


for this money GTX 760 or r9 280

 

[N2gaming]

I apologize, my CPU is Intel Core i5-2500 @3.33 Ghz and thanks for the link. My monitor is a 24" Samsung which on most games I can play at 1920 x 1080 or sometimes at a lower rez which I really cant tell the difference. Btw, when I got my video card a few yrs ago it seemed like the Radeon series was kinda losing the "King" of cards crown so after looking around a little it seems now that Nvidia is back on top, am I seeing this right??

 

[frozentundra123456]

nVidia still has the highest performance single card in the 780Ti, but in some (most??) segments, AMD offers equal or better performance per dollar.

As to your initial post, you can see if the cpu is limiting by turning down image quality or resolution and seeing if your framerate improves. If it doesnt, you are cpu limited and a video card update would not help. That is a pretty decent cpu though, so I think a video card upgrade as per SPBHM would help you.

 

[nurturedhate]

A 6950/70 isn't exactly the bee's knees any more but it is by no means a dog of a card. You would need to at least a 7950/280/760 to see an upgrade. The correct answer here is that Arma 3 is a terribly, horribly, ungodly unoptimized engine.

 

[blastingcap]

A 6950/70 isn't exactly the bee's knees any more but it is by no means a dog of a card. You would need to at least a 7950/280/760 to see an upgrade. The correct answer here is that Arma 3 is a terribly, horribly, ungodly unoptimized engine.

I mostly agree with above

 

[ChuckFx]

Go with a GTX 760, stable and efficient card!

 

[RussianSensation]

Go with a GTX 760, stable and efficient card!

Not a good choice at all for this game. R9 280X is 20% faster in the same price range as 760.

On avg. 280X is also 24% faster than 760 at 1080p. Alternatively, 280 @ 1Ghz will still be faster than the 760 for $200. Also, getting a 2GB card at this point doesn't make much sense when the competition offers faster performance and 3GB of VRAM. 280X for $260 provides $350 770 4GB level of performance.

The OP is clearly GPU limited in this game as even an i5 2500 3.3Ghz provides 50FPS but 6970 can only manage 28 fps. HD7970GE (~R9 280X) = 50 fps at VHQ.

Yes, this game is uber intensive: Ultra Quality really requires overclocking to 4.5ghz+ for modern i5/i7s for solid fps.

 

[Flapdrol1337]

It depends on settings and the mission. Arma gets cpu limited really really easily, still looks good on lower settings, and isn't demanding for gpu's at all at those lower settings.

My advice would be to try arma at a low resolution, this will be the performance with a new, much faster card, then decide if it's worth it. Try a big fight in a town or something.

Not sure if I'd recommend amd or nvidia for arma, amd cards are slightly more powerful for the money but nvidia drivers might have lower cpu overhead, which is important in that game.

 

[N2gaming]

Thanks everyone for your help. After going into the game settings I noticed that all of the settings were at "Ultra High", my bad

But good grief, I think I would have to spend a lot of $$$ to build another machine to play this game on those high settings..if I wasnt retired I would do it but now a days I have to watch my $$$.

But I am gonna have to buy another card just not a $ 500/$600 card! I have been looking at the R9 280X or a close facsimile or even the R9 280...thanks again and have a great week, Jake

 

[N2gaming]

Where would the R9 280x be put in the first graph? (Arma 3 VHQ 1920x1080)
Thanks, Jake

 

[Sable]

Where would the R9 280x be put in the first graph? (Arma 3 VHQ 1920x1080)
Thanks, Jake

R9 280x = 7970 GE.

 

[ocre]

if he plays WoW a lot he would be better off with nvidia

the gtx760

 

[Sable]

if he plays WoW a lot he would be better off with nvidia

the gtx760

Why? EVERYTHING can run WoW. And

 

[RussianSensation]

if he plays WoW a lot he would be better off with nvidia

the gtx760

Where did the OP mention that he plays WoW?

I play FPS,s mostly and for the most part everything plays great until I DL,d Arma3, WOW!!

I don't know why you keep recommending the 760. It makes little sense given the current GPU pricing landscape unless one wants the bundled WD. 980mhz R9 280 ~ 7970 goes for $210 which is not any slower than after-market 760s. OTOH, R9 280X is faster than 760 in almost all modern titles and costs $280.

 

[Mand]

Where did the OP mention that he plays WoW?

You quoted what is leading people to believe that he did. It was just the word, WOW!!, not the game.

 

[ocre]

My bad

He was listing games, WOW is a game. Surely you know it was a mistake........
no need to rant on about it

 

[toyota]

I apologize, my CPU is Intel Core i5-2500 @3.33 Ghz and thanks for the link. My monitor is a 24" Samsung which on most games I can play at 1920 x 1080 or sometimes at a lower rez which I really cant tell the difference. Btw, when I got my video card a few yrs ago it seemed like the Radeon series was kinda losing the "King" of cards crown so after looking around a little it seems now that Nvidia is back on top, am I seeing this right??

are you sure you have a 2500 i5? a 2500 is at 3.3 and you keep saying 3.33. also you said 661 i5 clarkdale socket 1156 which is a 3.33 cpu so what is all of that about?

 

[N2gaming]

are you sure you have a 2500 i5? a 2500 is at 3.3 and you keep saying 3.33. also you said 661 i5 clarkdale socket 1156 which is a 3.33 cpu so what is all of that about?

CPU = Intel, i5-2500k @ 3.3GHz (no OC'ing)
Socket = LGA 1155

 

[MongGrel]

Not a good choice at all for this game. R9 280X is 20% faster in the same price range

I still like my ASUS R9 280X TOP for general usage, though I haven't been gaming much lately I must admit.

It's definitely not slow and OC's pretty nicely though and has 3 GB vram, so depends on what you're pushing a bit.

 

[Leyawiin]

Not a good choice at all for this game. R9 280X is 20% faster in the same price range as 760.

That's not the same price point. The R9 280X generally starts around $300. The GTX 760 starts at $240. The R9 280X should perform better given that. I'm not disagreeing with you - its the better choice if its within the OP's budget. That said, the GTX 760 certainly isn't a bad mid-range card, the R9 280X is just a better upper mid-range card.

 

[N2gaming]

Thanks guys for your input, I might end up getting a used R9 280X, you can find them for approx. $ 199.oo

 

[N2gaming]

Hi Group,
Its me again! since I have been surfing the web and getting more and more ready to get another video card along with extreme-burnout at going all over the place for prices

It brought to the question of how big a card do I need?? for instance after searching to and fro I find that there are many variables in video cards, duh! anyway, my question is

how much on board memory do I need since I dont plan on using a large screen TV monitor as I love just gaming on my (24") computer, and nor do I plan on multiple monitors. It seems

they come in 2G, 3G, and 4G memory and also Memory Interface of 256-bit, and 384-Bit...so I call on your guys/gals wisdom once again ;-)

What size card would be ideal for a old school gamer like me who would like the card to last at least 2-3 yrs before I have to come in here again

Thanks for helping me and sorry for troubling you on your day off, Jake

 

[weevilone]

Conventional wisdom was that you don't need to be concerned with VRAM above 2GB when using a single display at 1080p. That being said, we've recently had a game (Watch_Dogs) that requires more than that to utilize the highest quality textures at that resolution.

We can argue back and forth about whether that's just a one-off, or if it's a sign of things to come.

 

[Attic]

If you want to go used you are assured to find 280x for ~$200.

But even better would be a 290 for around $300 if you can swing that.

Hard to predict out to the future, but 2-3 years should be fine. For that time frame 2gb might be ok, but 3gb will avoid potential pitfalls of vram limitations for certain settings/games at 1080p.