Buy now or wait?

[James3shin]

I'm in the market for a video card to play games at 1920x1200 resolution and have the dilemma of waiting or buying now. There have been some good deals on the 6970 for $300 after rebate but with 28nm cards on the way, should I wait? I have a $200 amazon gift card just anxiously waiting.

I'm not a hardcore gamer that demands 60 fps but I would like to play games such as Battlefield 3, Diablo 3 and Crysis with the eye-candy and steady 30 fps.

 

[lehtv]

Would be helpful to know your

- CPU
- current GPU
- power supply
- budget

 

[James3shin]

Sorry about that.

CPU: 2500K
Current GPU: Sandy Bridge iGPU
Power Supply: 850W OCZ
Budget: $300 max

 

[James3shin]

Just saw a GTX570 for $270 after rebates, is that good bang for the buck?

 

[dmoney1980]

I'd say wait, the 7900 series is right around the corner. If this was October, I would say go for it, but we are only a few weeks away.

 

[lehtv]

Which GTX 570? Do you mind it being noisy?

6950 2GB is what I normally recommend on your resolution and budget. Can be found for $240 AR on newegg, consumes less power than 570, has 2GB of VRAM and performs within about 10&#37; but can be of course overclocked. In addition many models can be unlocked to 6970 shader count with a BIOS flash, though it is not guaranteed to work. Extra <5% performance so not a big loss if it doesn't.

Your only other option really is waiting for 7850 and 7870 to be released in February. They are basically the same GPUs as 6950 and 6970 but die-shrunk, hence they will consume considerably less power and be more overclockable. Probably priced at about $250 and $300, respectively. Power consumption is probably going to be the major advantage but since your PSU is easily big enough for two 6950's, I'd say go with 6950 so you don't have to wait.

Sapphire 6950 2GB $260 from amazon, unlockable (dual-bios switch)
XFX 6950 2GB $265 from amazon, not unlockable but has transferable lifetime warranty. $235 AR on newegg.

I'd say wait, the 7900 series is right around the corner. If this was October, I would say go for it, but we are only a few weeks away.

Over his budget.

 

[James3shin]

The GTX570 is from Galaxy; how is there support?

I'm guessing the 6950 is a much better overclocker than the 570? Also does VRAM really matter?

 

[jsedlak]

Wait. Always wait as long as you can stand it. Then wait for a sale of some sort.

 

[Mars999]

I just posted about this in another thread, I would wait for the 7950 or get any card that has at least 2GB of VRAM. Games like BF3 use at least 1.5GB of RAM from what I read, and Skyrim and Rage using 8Kx8K textures are sucking up VRAM fast, but they sure do look awesome!!!

Right now if you want a card NOW, you will have to look at AMD versions that have 2GB VRAM as Nvidia only has 3GB on some 580's... AFAIK

 

[lehtv]

The GTX570 is from Galaxy; how is there support?

Probably pretty bad. Small company that produces pretty much the cheapest GPUs in each class. And the card itself only has one fan, it will be noisier than 6950 2GB with two fans. (GTX570 consumes more power to begin with although it's 10-15&#37; faster).

I'm guessing the 6950 is a much better overclocker than the 570?

Both can be decent overclockers, it depends on the particular model. In this case I'd expect XFX or Sapphire 6950 to OC better than a single-fan Galaxy 570. None of these are built to be overclocked per se - if you want big overclocks then look into MSI Twin Frozr III PE/OC.

Also does VRAM really matter?

I'd say yes, it does matter. Everytime I say that though there are people who disagree, but there are also those who back me up.

VRAM use depends a lot on the game you're playing and the graphics settings you're using. So how much VRAM you will be able to utilize does depend on how fast your GPU is, i.e. how high-end settings it can take advantage of. When the VRAM of a card gets maxed out, the GPU will start to use system RAM instead. System RAM is many times slower than GDDR5 and that will have a noticeable impact on framerates.

I use a 560 Ti 1GB which is slower than 6950 2GB, and I've encountered the VRAM limit in games including Crysis 2, Rage, CIV 5 (DX11) to name a few. Skyrim with custom 2K textures would also probably push it well over 1GB. In some instances, maxing out VRAM has made the game crash for me, but I don't know if that's common.

 

[Dark Shroud]

CES is about 2 weeks away and the sales always happen. On top of that the AMD HD 7000 series cards are coming out. At the very least a HD 6950 with a good sale should be possible. The HD 6950 MSI Twin Frozr III PE/OC model unlocks into a HD 6970 by design and it's MSRP $300.