Advice in upgrading from GTX 260

[GeneralBacara]

Hello everyone,

I've been reading Anandtech for a good 2 years now, but just now have taken the time to register. Sad I know. Anyway I was just going to ask your advice on my options for upgrading my now old EVGA GeForce GTX 260 (Core 192, the 65nm one) to a newer DX11 card. BF3 is destroying it currently :'(

System Specifications:

I. Processor/CPU: Intel Core i7 860 @ Turbo 3.4 GHz (Zalman 9500 Cooler)


II. Current Graphics Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 260 896MB (65nm; Core 192)


III. Display Resolution: Samsung SyncMaster 2494 (24" LCD) @ 1080p


IV. Power Supply Unit Specification: Corsair TX750W (750 Watt) about 2 years old.


V. Case Specifications: Antec Nine Hundred (the old one) Running 4x 120mm 3 speed fans (on low) and one 200mm 3 speed fan (on low)

Other Specs:
Motherboard- Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD3 (Crossfire Supported)
RAM- Corsair XMS3 DDR3 8GB (4x 2GB DIMMs) @ 1333MHz
SSD- OCZ Agility 3 120GB SATA 2.0
HDD- WD Blue 1TB @ 7.2K RPM SATA 2.0
OS- Windows 7 Pro 64-bit
OPT- Samsung 4x Blu-Ray Combo Drive SATA

Purchase Details:

I. Budget? Under $350.


II. Any particular preferences?
I have used NVIDIA since 2006 when I had a 6600 GT AGP. Thinking about switching to AMD if convinced.


III. Do you plan to have any Multi-GPU solutions such as Crossfire or SLI?
My mother supports Crossfire, I'm wondering if its worth the money. I have heard there are issues with Multi-GPU tearing/lag.


IV. Have you previously looked at a product(s) which you feel would fit your needs?
I was thinking about getting either a GTX 660 Ti or HD 7950

V. What are your needs for this GPU? Which games(If any)do you intend to play? If you have this information at hand, what are the desired detail levels?
Playing Crysis, Battlefield 3, Batman Arkham City, Deus Ex HR, Rage, Skyrim, The Old Republic, Guild Wars 2, etc.


VI. Do you plan on overclocking the card you intend to purchase?
Maybe later, not at first.

Additional Notes
Today the GTX 660 Ti was released, the card I was waiting for. But after reading the Anandtech article on it, it seems the smaller bus (192-bit) will hinder it for future games. But it scores higher on BF3 than the 7950 / 7950B. But that's about it's only strength. Would it just be worth spending $30 extra for a 7950? Or is my current system too slow for such gains, maybe bottle-necked?

 

[hokies83]

Why not grab a Used Gtx 670? Buying used hurts nothing these cards have 3 year warrantys thru Serial numbers.. So the used market your going to get alot more bang for your buck.

Both my 680s were used.

http://www.overclock.net/t/1295175/evga-gtx-670s-ftw-2gb

 

[GeneralBacara]

Yeah, I was thinking about that. A GTX 670 would suite my needs best. It's still $400 new. I'll have to search around for one. Just wondering if my current setup would bottle-neck it?

 

[hokies83]

Yeah, I was thinking about that. A GTX 670 would suite my needs best. It's still $400 new. I'll have to search around for one. Just wondering if my current setup would bottle-neck it?

There is an Evga Gtx 670 FTW in the link i posted above he is asking 360$ offer him 350$ :thumbsup:

 

[GeneralBacara]

True. I'm not sure about getting one used online from a forum. I've never done that. Seems a little risky. I get pretty decent discounts from my job at Micro Center. I'll have to check what I get off a GTX 670 or 7950.

 

[hokies83]

Ah lucky job id love to work there.

1/2 of my Sytem comes used from these fourms.. Both my 680s did lol.
You are protected by Paypal not much risk.

 

[GeneralBacara]

Ah lucky job id love to work there.

1/2 of my Sytem comes used from these fourms.. Both my 680s did lol.
You are protected by Paypal not much risk.

Yeah it's pretty cool. I'm only at GSA right now, hopefully I can move to BYO.
I bet I'm the only one who doesn't have a PayPal account. :\
I better look into getting one. Thanks for the help man. I'll keep my eye out for a good used GTX 670. Do you think it would be worth getting a 7950, then doing Crossfire later? Or is multi-gpu stuff not worth it?

 

[toyota]

GTX 260 896MB (55nm; Core 192)

um there is no such thing as that. the gtx260 went to 216sp while still on 65nm and then had 55nm 216sp versions. there was never a 55nm 192sp version.

 

[GeneralBacara]

My bad, I meant the 65nm. I'll update it. Thanks

 

[toyota]

My bad, I meant the 65nm. I'll update it. Thanks

I miss my 65nm 192sp gtx260. it was the best card I ever had and served me well for 3 years. but yeah its time for something new and a gtx670 would be a massive performance increase.

 

[cmdrdredd]

if you don't mind using AMD cards the HD7950 is available for $350 with a $20 rebate for a lot of them. Specifically the MSI Twin Frozer card. They overclock like crazy and will easily match a GTX 670 if you are willing to do a bit of overclocking. Your current CPU would be fine, I ran a single GTX 670 on a 3.8Ghz Q9550 (your CPU is faster even with lower frequency).

Notice the GTX 670 beats the HD7950 at stock configurations but overclocked the 7950 easily beats the 670.

 

[Greenlepricon]

Not sure why people are avoiding your real question. I'm all for the 7950. Just bought one and at 1080 I haven't had to overclock it yet. The 660ti looks pretty good too but honestly it does look like it might get bottlenecked fast. You won't fill up the 3gb's or bus on the 7950 without some effort, especially at that resolution. If you plan to update your monitor in the future then it will be the better choice by far. If you can get a 670 then be my guest, but for buying a new card in the near future you know what has my vote. Crossfire isn't a necessarily BAD option later on, but as you've probably heard from everywhere, one card is the best. Two cards will keep you going for a long time though when one doesn't give you enough power.

 

[GeneralBacara]

Not sure why people are avoiding your real question. I'm all for the 7950. Just bought one and at 1080 I haven't had to overclock it yet. The 660ti looks pretty good too but honestly it does look like it might get bottlenecked fast. You won't fill up the 3gb's or bus on the 7950 without some effort, especially at that resolution. If you plan to update your monitor in the future then it will be the better choice by far. If you can get a 670 then be my guest, but for buying a new card in the near future you know what has my vote. Crossfire isn't a necessarily BAD option later on, but as you've probably heard from everywhere, one card is the best. Two cards will keep you going for a long time though when one doesn't give you enough power.

Thanks man. I'm pretty much ruling the GTX 660 TI out. The only thing really stopping me from switching to AMD are the reports that they're drivers are terrible. What have you noticed from your experience?

 

[cmdrdredd]

AMD drivers are not that bad in all honesty. I owned an HD 6950 before my GTX 670 and found it to work fine. Their x-fire doesn't work quite as well as SLI usually but for a single card they are fine. I do prefer Nvidia's drivers overall, but there is nothing wrong with the catalyst suite.

 

[GeneralBacara]

AMD drivers are not that bad in all honesty. I owned an HD 6950 before my GTX 670 and found it to work fine. Their x-fire doesn't work quite as well as SLI usually but for a single card they are fine. I do prefer Nvidia's drivers overall, but there is nothing wrong with the catalyst suite.

Thanks. I will keep that in mind. I see your running GTX 670. So many people praising that card. I'm wondering if I should just save some money and buy a GTX 670. But $400 for a card? I've never spend more than $250 a single card. Even the GTX 660 Ti seems overpriced.

 

[toyota]

Thanks. I will keep that in mind. I see your running GTX 670. So many people praising that card. I'm wondering if I should just save some money and buy a GTX 670. But $400 for a card? I've never spend more than $250 a single card. Even the GTX 660 Ti seems overpriced.

it is hard for me to stomach spending that much too. my gtx260 was only $185 new and my gtx570 was $260 new. I actually was silly enough to get a $420 gtx670 but returned it for a full refund due to issues.

 

[GeneralBacara]

it is hard for me to stomach spending that much too. my gtx260 was only $185 new and my gtx570 was $260 new. I actually was silly enough to get a $420 gtx670 but returned it for a full refund due to issues.

Indeed. My GTX 260 was $185 too. I got so much life out it. I feel like I'm being cheated a little now. I've been waiting a while to update to a DX11 card. I almost want to wait another generation... but Idk. If the price of the upcoming GTX 650 Ti is around $200, I might grab it. Around $200 is really the sweet spot to me. But I'm impatient.

 

[jiffylube1024]

True. I'm not sure about getting one used online from a forum. I've never done that. Seems a little risky. I get pretty decent discounts from my job at Micro Center. I'll have to check what I get off a GTX 670 or 7950.

Stick to users with very high heatware feedback (100+ heatware evals and 100% positive or as close as possible) for your first couple of purchases for the smoothest experience. Check ads thoroughly and make sure everything seems on the level.

I was leery to deal online 10+ years ago like you are now. In hundreds of transactions, I got burned only once, buying a CPU/Motherboard/RAM combo from someone who had a heatware record of 16-0-0 but hadn't traded in a little while and didn't respond to my questions very quickly.

 

[GeneralBacara]

Stick to users with very high heatware feedback (100+ heatware evals and 100% positive or as close as possible) for your first couple of purchases for the smoothest experience. Check ads thoroughly and make sure everything seems on the level.

I was leery to deal online 10+ years ago like you are now. In hundreds of transactions, I got burned only once, buying a CPU/Motherboard/RAM combo from someone who had a heatware record of 16-0-0 but hadn't traded in a little while and didn't respond to my questions very quickly.

OK. I will have to look into it. What would you say good forums are for buying used PC parts, such as GPUs? The other guy linked to "overclock.net", is that a good one?

 

[cmdrdredd]

OCN is ok, there's a for sale section here on AT too. Just get up enough posts to be able to participate and check it out.

I like the 670 but for a single card a HD7950 is faster after an overclock. If you will not ever overclock no matter what then the 670 likely is the better bet right now. I'd personally save a few bucks and grab a 7950. Unless you hookup with a good deal on the forums. I've seen a lot of 670s going there lately.

 

[CarpeDiem99]

If you want to buy new and at newegg, you have some good options, though at $370

Both these cards are on sale right now for $370, use the promo code

7970 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...na&PID=3891137

GTX 670 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...na&PID=3891137

Both cards come with game coupons that you can sell to bring the price down to below $350

 

[Greenlepricon]

As cmdrdredd said, AMD actually doesn't have bad drivers. I disagree that nvidia has the better drivers but will say that they are probably quicker to react. Games may be a little less smooth sometimes, but that goes for both companies depending on the cards. I've never had a completely bad experience with my amd cards. I'm using 12.7 drivers and my card is working almost perfectly. The only issue I've had with my 7950 is that I got a little artifacting in the Witcher II. This was very minor so it's not a deal breaker by any means. After overclocking each, I'm pretty sure you can get the 670 and 7950 about equal. The winner will still depend on the games you play but they're both fantastic cards. Personally I like cheap better, but the 670 does have some advantages I wish I was getting. Nothing worth the extra $70 in my opinion, but still nice.

It seems people like buying used cards, but I like the feeling of having something new. That's just a personal opinion though so if you buy one that's a little cheaper then you're probably a little smarter than me. Paying $330 for any card gives me a headache, which is why I'm really glad I didn't spend the extra on the 670. Like I said before, if you can happily afford it you'll be happy, but I think I'm just as happy with my savings since both cards will probably last just as long until it's time to replace them.

 

[Greenlepricon]

If you want to buy new and at newegg, you have some good options, though at $370

Both these cards are on sale right now for $370, use the promo code

7970 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...na&PID=3891137

GTX 670 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...na&PID=3891137

Both cards come with game coupons that you can sell to bring the price down to below $350

Woah didn't see these deals before. If you really want to go overboard get the 7970. If might be worth the extra cash. I don't like shroud coolers but for those prices you're getting some nice deals. Don't disregard the 7950 but if you're paying $20 more for the next step up you're getting one nice bargain.

 

[RussianSensation]

Indeed. My GTX 260 was $185 too. I got so much life out it. I feel like I'm being cheated a little now. I've been waiting a while to update to a DX11 card. I almost want to wait another generation... but Idk. If the price of the upcoming GTX 650 Ti is around $200, I might grab it. Around $200 is really the sweet spot to me. But I'm impatient.

There are going to be a 660 and some convoluted # of 650s (650Ti / GTS 650 / GTX 650) incoming.

From inside sources:

The vanilla GTX 660 is $229 and the GTX 650 Ti is $189, and the vanilla GTX 650 (not clear if it will be marketed as GTS 650 or GTX 650) will be $139.

Launch Sept 6th. More info here.

 

[Trailblazer]

if you don't mind using AMD cards the HD7950 is available for $350 with a $20 rebate for a lot of them. Specifically the MSI Twin Frozer card. They overclock like crazy and will easily match a GTX 670 if you are willing to do a bit of overclocking. Your current CPU would be fine, I ran a single GTX 670 on a 3.8Ghz Q9550 (your CPU is faster even with lower frequency).

Notice the GTX 670 beats the HD7950 at stock configurations but overclocked the 7950 easily beats the 670.

Agree totally. I want an HD7950 really bad, but you can't do PhysX anymore by supplementing it with an NVIDIA card. I've been researching this (google 'Hybrid PhysX') and at best there are hacks out there that supposedly enable it.

The upcoming Borderlands 2 is super-heavy PhysX. I really don't want to buy NVIDIA any more but their marketing is such that I really have to to enjoy my game to the utmost.

Damn those marketing geniuses! Am I wrong on this? Have I missed something? Can I do PhysX with an ATI card?