Buy now or wait?

[Sonikku]

Windows 7 64
EVGA B1 600 watt psu
H77M 1155 motherboard
i5 2500 Sandy Bridge
Crucial 256gb ssd
8gb g skill ram
Radeon 7770

Game in 1920x1080 on one screen. Play WoW/Witcher/Inquisition/Battlefront etc.

Are there good deals these days on GPU's or is it best to wait on the new nm process due out later this year?

 

[Termie]

You're not going to find good deals on new GPUs for quite some time. The new GPUs are going to be VERY expensive.

Pick up an R9 380 or 380X for your system. You'll be happy with the improvement.

 

[Sonikku]

Is it possible the older tech 380/380x could become cheaper after the new gpu's are out?

 

[Headfoot]

I disagree that the new GPUs will be very expensive if we're talking in the midrange. AMD went on record just this week saying they are targetting price/perf for "as many gamers to get into VR" as possible. Polaris 11 will not likely be high powered or high priced (e.g. probably wont compete with 980 ti)

I would wait for the new GPUs if you are looking at the 380x to 390 performance range.

Worst comes to worst, the new ones come out and the existing product stack gets cheaper.

 

[AtenRa]

Windows 7 64
EVGA B1 600 watt psu
H77M 1155 motherboard
i5 2500 Sandy Bridge
Crucial 256gb ssd
8gb g skill ram
Radeon 7770

Game in 1920x1080 on one screen. Play WoW/Witcher/Inquisition/Battlefront etc.

Are there good deals these days on GPU's or is it best to wait on the new nm process due out later this year?

If you are not considering an R9 390 now, i would wait for Polaris.

 

[eRacer]

I wouldn't count on 14/16-nm video cards being very expensive compared to what their 28-nm counterparts sell for today. In order for AMD and NVIDIA to successfully sell mainstream 14/16-nm cards, they will need to sell for mainstream prices.

I personally am waiting for the new cards to launch before buying anything to see what the performance, pricing and features of the new cards look like before making a decision. I don't like the idea of buying a card and then a few months later watching a better card get released at nearly the same price. If time and money aren't a concern the other option is buy a better card now and sell it for a loss later if you eventually decide to upgrade to one of the newer cards.

 

[Termie]

OP's running a 7770 in modern games at 1080p, and folks here recommend waiting 4-6 months for anything new to actually hit the market, with no idea what the prices will be. Interesting.

OP, AMD is announcing in June its next-gen, for release in Q3'16. You can decide if you want to wait. And no, the cards that will be best for your system will not drop much in price, because the new cards will not target that market.

 

[AtenRa]

Well if the OP asks to wait or not it means he can wait until the new cards will arive. Otherwise he would ask what card to buy now.

As i have said, if he is not aiming for a R9 390 or higher it is better to wait. I believe he will get better performance and features at the same price as current R9 380/X with Polaris.

 

[Sonikku]

Is there a ceiling to the effectiveness I can see through faster GPU's when using a stock speed i5 2500? That is also a point to consider.

 

[lehtv]

Yes, there is. GTX 970 is the best GPU I would pair with that CPU, although a used R9 290 would be fine. I would not buy a new R9 390 without also upgrading to a newer and preferably overclocked i5, or an i7.

So any of R9 380(X), used 280(X), even 7970, and equivalent cards from NVIDIA side will also be fine.

 

[Silverforce11]

380X and 390 are good deals new. If you're ok with used, still can't touch a non-reference 290 for bang for buck.

A stock 2500 is still capable of delivering 60 fps in modern games. The CPU bottlenecks do not come into play until it's well into the 80s+ FPS range. My second rig has a 2500K and I don't notice any difference gaming at 60 fps.

 

[Sonikku]

I'm ok with used. Would waiting for the next gen cards if nothing else result in a big supply of 290's and 290x's on the used market? If so it could mean lower prices. I'm a big hesitant to buy used pc parts off ebay but if it were XFX I might feel safe.

 

[Silverforce11]

Sure, next-gen can potentially lower the prices of current stuff. At least a 3 months wait though and how much would you save? If you can get a R290 for cheap just go for it.

 

[Termie]

If anything, the value of the 290 has gone up since the release of the 390.

If you're looking for lower prices, you're not going to see them anytime soon. August at the earliest.

 

[Game_dev]

For the games you play a 970 for around $250 would be your best bet.

 

[maddie]

Yes, there is. GTX 970 is the best GPU I would pair with that CPU, although a used R9 290 would be fine. I would not buy a new R9 390 without also upgrading to a newer and preferably overclocked i5, or an i7.

So any of R9 380(X), used 280(X), even 7970, and equivalent cards from NVIDIA side will also be fine.

A 980Ti is about 150% a 970. A i5 6600 is less of an advance on an i5 2500. Are you saying that only i7 6700 owners should buy a 980Ti?

Also what happens with GP104 and GP100 next gen GPUs. Will no one be able to use it as we will still have Skylake and still getting a big jump in GPU power.

Are you saying don't buy as any and all CPUs are too weak?

 

[poofyhairguy]

Seems like a good GPU deal pops up regularly. For example, if you have never used Jet before you can use their 15% off coupon for first time buyers to get a R9 290 for around $240:

https://jet.com/product/Visiontek-R...ress-30-x16-/2db2cabf36f046b9a5c0005fd1d7ee4e

 

[Headfoot]

OP's running a 7770 in modern games at 1080p, and folks here recommend waiting 4-6 months for anything new to actually hit the market, with no idea what the prices will be. Interesting.

No dude. Raja just went on record giving a pretty good idea of what prices will be if you're willing to read in between the lines a little bit.

"no idea of what prices will be" is outright wrong. We don't have a definitive number, but we know quite a bit about it what it WONT be and therefore a narrowed range.

Reasonable Inference. Using basic understanding of product lifecycles we know that a new product which does not perform much better than an old product will not be much higher in price (much being roughly 25%). Using AMD's public demonstrations that small Polaris matches GTX 950 in SW:BF at lower Watts (= most likely somewhat higher performance with a FPS cap to 60). We already know one of the products is positioned against the GTX 950, so we already know it will be in the same price range (e.g.roughly between $150 and $250), again using basic and reasonable inference. Using the Hitman demo (http://techfrag.com/2016/03/15/amd-...t-1440p60fps-warhammer-to-utilize-directx-12/) we know big Polaris can run Hitman DX12 @ 1440p @ 60fps on Ultra. Using publicly available benchmark data

we can conclude that big Polaris therefore performs in the ballpark of 390x to Fury range in DX12 at least. Therefore, using our knowledge of product lifecycles, it will be priced similarly to the 390 to Fury range or $300 to $550.

So with a few small inferences we can conclude the new cards will fall between $150 to $250 and $300 to $550 based on what we know now, and assuming no major changes in product positioning strategy since the R300 and Fury series.

With additional, larger inferences, we know that the $200 and $250 marks are very important to consumers and that AMD will try and target them. Thus, it is reasonable if less certain to conclude there will be a SKU near $200 and near $250 (within $20).

Definitely "no idea" of what prices will be indeed.

 

[moonbogg]

Usually the lower cost cards come much later. I expect nothing but $500+ cards when new ones get here, with nothing but $1,000.00 cards after, and after everyone is done going crazy, then they will release the high value cards at $300.00.

 

[poofyhairguy]

Usually the lower cost cards come much later. I expect nothing but $500+ cards when new ones get here, with nothing but $1,000.00 cards after, and after everyone is done going crazy, then they will release the high value cards at $300.00.

Wasn't the 750 ti the first Maxwell?

 

[tential]

Wasn't the 750 ti the first Maxwell?

We have clear performance statements that AMD is releasing the low range first.
We have precedent of it being done before.
We have precedent of aggressively priced new cards before.
We have statements from AMD stating they are targeting price/performance with their lower end chips.

Doesn't matter what the evidence is here. People just say things to say things without any remote critical thinking whatsoever.

 

[maddie]

We have clear performance statements that AMD is releasing the low range first.
We have precedent of it being done before.
We have precedent of aggressively priced new cards before.
We have statements from AMD stating they are targeting price/performance with their lower end chips.

Doesn't matter what the evidence is here. People just say things to say things without any remote critical thinking whatsoever.

Direct from Koduri's mouth in the Ryan Shrout interview.

"You and your readers will be pleased and surprised at what we we're going to do with the positioning of those cards."

And yet, so many here know better.

 

[maddie]

Usually the lower cost cards come much later. I expect nothing but $500+ cards when new ones get here, with nothing but $1,000.00 cards after, and after everyone is done going crazy, then they will release the high value cards at $300.00.

I now realize you're talking about Nvidia and Pascal.

 

[Termie]

No dude. Raja just went on record giving a pretty good idea of what prices will be if you're willing to read in between the lines a little bit.

"no idea of what prices will be" is outright wrong. We don't have a definitive number, but we know quite a bit about it what it WONT be and therefore a narrowed range.

Reasonable Inference. Using basic understanding of product lifecycles we know that a new product which does not perform much better than an old product will not be much higher in price (much being roughly 25%). Using AMD's public demonstrations that small Polaris matches GTX 950 in SW:BF at lower Watts (= most likely somewhat higher performance with a FPS cap to 60). We already know one of the products is positioned against the GTX 950, so we already know it will be in the same price range (e.g.roughly between $150 and $250), again using basic and reasonable inference. Using the Hitman demo (http://techfrag.com/2016/03/15/amd-...t-1440p60fps-warhammer-to-utilize-directx-12/) we know big Polaris can run Hitman DX12 @ 1440p @ 60fps on Ultra. Using publicly available benchmark data

we can conclude that big Polaris therefore performs in the ballpark of 390x to Fury range in DX12 at least. Therefore, using our knowledge of product lifecycles, it will be priced similarly to the 390 to Fury range or $300 to $550.

So with a few small inferences we can conclude the new cards will fall between $150 to $250 and $300 to $550 based on what we know now, and assuming no major changes in product positioning strategy since the R300 and Fury series.

With additional, larger inferences, we know that the $200 and $250 marks are very important to consumers and that AMD will try and target them. Thus, it is reasonable if less certain to conclude there will be a SKU near $200 and near $250 (within $20).

Definitely "no idea" of what prices will be indeed.

This is a heck of a lot of inference for cards that are guaranteed not to actually hit store shelves until August. And as you've stated, the card you're referring to actually won't be that much faster than what's available, and will likely cost more.

Are you saying the OP, running an HD 7770 released over four years ago, should wait another six months longer to play "WoW/Witcher/Inquisition/Battlefront etc." on a $250 Polaris card?

Lots of prognostication in this thread, but I'll stand by my original recommendation. The OP should buy an R9 380 right now.

 

[Sonikku]

So I guess my tentative plan is to wait for the new GPU, if not, snag the first mind blowing deal on a 290 or 380 that pops up in the meanwhile.