Christmas GPU Upgrdes

[MisterMac]

Hi,

I've got the following Rig:

CPU-: i5-2500k - OC 4,5 GHZ
HSU-: Antec H2O 620 (Push/Pull with standard Antec 120 mmfan pull - CoolerMaster SickleFlow LED 120 MM pushing)
RAM-: Corsair Vengeance™ DDR3 1600MHz 8GB CL9 (2x4GB)
Mobo-: ASUS P8Z68-V
PSU: Corsair CX 500W Builder Series
GPU: XFX Radeon 5750 (Also slight oc of 10% stock values, just for fun).
Case: CoolerMaster Elite 310 (One without windows but 2 exhaust options on side)

The Elite 310 Standard 120MM fan on the side(it's uselss i know.)
A CoolerMaster 80MM BladeMaster also on the side.
Both exhausting (Intake might be better actually, have to try that).

Performance is quite great (Well, the OC is 79-80C in prime95 at one core, but i've chosen to live with it, risky!)


At christmas, i want an upgrade.
And specificly i want a GPU Upgrade.

I've tried other popular tech forums, but honestly comparing the discussions they seem midly retarded and/or kids - not using any logic or argumentative facts to back up they're choices.

So i turn to anandtech.


I want to game, and i want to game at highest FPS for the longest time.
I've got no...real budget max but i've been looking at following area:

GTX 560 TI
HD 6870
HD 6950

In other words 250 to 350 US dollars.

Cheapest being 6870 in my area (Denmark) - most expensive being 6950.

I've also looked at GTX 570, but it's roughly 400 dollars here and that's pushing it for my idea of a good higher endish performance vs buck value.

Would people recommend waiting for HD 7xxx? or Nvidia's 6xx series?
Or are we talking max 10% rough overall performance increases from the next generation all over the board.

I'm mostly tempted towards 6950 for it seems to offer most bang for buck while keeping me inline for ATLEAST 2 years.

So what's the best choice? Id like to save cash but the i'm having trouble settling on the performance/value ratio of 6950 to 6870/560 TI.


I'm aware ill need to upgrade my PSU with my OC as well, was considering anything 750W or above from Corsair or Seasonic, but will listen to advice of course

 

[Ancalagon44]

If you're waiting for Christmas, the HD 7 series should be out by then. AMD has committed to getting them out by the end of the year.

 

[MisterMac]

If you're waiting for Christmas, the HD 7 series should be out by then. AMD has committed to getting them out by the end of the year.

Hence my hesitation.

If it however will be end of q1 12, forget it, it may upgrade in november.
Especially if the newer generation of 6870/6950 only offer.. MILD performance increases.

Is the general consensus on 7xxx it will be a bulldozer with marginal improvements or are we looking at atleast 15 to 20% on the same market for market cards?

 

[Ancalagon44]

Wait until December. Should be out by then.

No idea what the performance increase will be like. Its also a die shrink, which should help lower costs and power consumption. I imagine you should get at least 20% performance for the same amount of money.

 

[Madcatatlas]

since AMD has not mentioned spesifics, general..."consensus" on this forum, is that AMD will launch lower end performance cards first, and higher end in q1 2012. Noone knows for sure though.

id buy now, no matter what card you aim for. both the 560ti and the 6950 are good buys. the 2gb versions of the 6950 especially.

 

[MisterMac]

since AMD has not mentioned spesifics, general..."consensus" on this forum, is that AMD will launch lower end performance cards first, and higher end in q1 2012. Noone knows for sure though.

id buy now, no matter what card you aim for. both the 560ti and the 6950 are good buys. the 2gb versions of the 6950 especially.

Definately getting a 2GB version to futureproof as much as possible.

But would you choose 6950 over the 560TI?

In 2 GB Configs, 6950 is actually 20 to 40 bucks cheaper here.

Everything seems to poitn towards 6950, especially later for flashing to 6970 when im comfortable.

 

[Qbah]

What resolution do you game at?

1920x1200 or lower - throw a dice between a GTX560Ti and a HD6950
2560x1440 or higher - get the HD6950 2GB

Performance-wise it's a wash between a GTX560Ti and a HD6950, unless you run out of VRAM.

 

[blackened23]

From what i've been reading, the 78xx series will be out this year, with tahiti XT (79xx) following Q1 2012. Personally, I have a feeling that AMD may delay it - if I was in your position i'd get a GTX 580 and be done with it.

 

[ransomlist]

Get a 7870 when they arrive before X-mas.

The rumormill says they will be 2gb and have performance similar to 6950 at much lower TDP.

 

[MisterMac]

Get a 7870 when they arrive before X-mas.

The rumormill says they will be 2gb and have performance similar to 6950 at much lower TDP.

See this is interesting, especially since that would leave more headroom for OC'ing eventually.

I'm hooked on 6950 2GB since i'm sure it would last 2 to 3 years.
a GTX560TI not so much - and 2 gb version being more expensive anyway.

But if... rumour points 7870 being slightly more powerful at lower tdp + bang for buck at only a couple o months wait then i could be tempted.

If you were to buy now, a 6950 in my price range adn situation - optionally 2GB - would probably be best bit no?

I'm gaming on a 22inch Samsunsung (1920x1200) - and may want a 27 inch in the future, so 2 GB seems a must.


I can live with downgrading from ultra high quality to high to medium slowly before getting a new again - as long as fps is always 35+.


@Blackened

I came here, cause i expected people to read, not to blatantly tell me best GPU is best GPU(It's not, but that's besides the point).

Please learn to read.

 

[Zap]

Hello MisterMac, and welcome to AnandTech Forums.

I've tried other popular tech forums, but honestly comparing the discussions they seem midly retarded and/or kids - not using any logic or argumentative facts to back up they're choices.

Oh, so you've been to Overclock.net. :sneaky:

Actually I hang out there too, but yeah they seem more fanboyish.

So what's the best choice?

Best choice is to start saving the money now, and figure out what you will buy when you are ready to buy. The reason is because things can and will change by then, so whatever decision you make now may or may not be valid by then. It isn't just the new stuff coming out, but potential deals. Think Black Friday. What if you had your heart set on a particular card, but come Black Friday (or Cyber Monday) that card is sold out? Or another card gets a huge discount?

 

[Xerin7]

750W is overkill on your PSU upgrade. You you will have plenty of headroom with a quality 650W (and many do just fine with 550W).

I recently asked a similar question on which card to get, and got some good feedback:

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?p=32263674#post32263674

I decided on the 570, which will get me through the next 2 years.

 

[toyota]

750W is overkill on your PSU upgrade. You you will have plenty of headroom with a quality 650W (and many do just fine with 550W).

I recently asked a similar question on which card to get, and got some good feedback:

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?p=32263674#post32263674

I decided on the 570, which will get me through the next 2 years.

did you get the galaxy?

 

[Xerin7]

did you get the galaxy?

Not yet, but thanks for the heads up that it is back in stock.

 

[toyota]

Not yet, but thanks for the heads up that it is back in stock.

well it went back up 20 bucks today so you should have bought it yesterday when it came back in stock. if you are serious about it then you can call newegg and tell them it was out of stock two days ago and by the time you had a chance to come back the price was 20 bucks more. they will sometimes work with you.

 

[ransomlist]

I'm hooked on 6950 2GB since i'm sure it would last 2 to 3 years.
a GTX560TI not so much - and 2 gb version being more expensive anyway.

But if... rumour points 7870 being slightly more powerful at lower tdp + bang for buck at only a couple o months wait then i could be tempted.

If you were to buy now, a 6950 in my price range adn situation - optionally 2GB - would probably be best bit no?

I'm gaming on a 22inch Samsunsung (1920x1200) - and may want a 27 inch in the future, so 2 GB seems a must.


I can live with downgrading from ultra high quality to high to medium slowly before getting a new again - as long as fps is always 35+.

Given how close 560TI and 6950 are pricewise and regards performance, i'd make the gamble that 2gb memory is a good investment; you can use more than 1gb in current games due to some texture packs and some more PC focused games hitting next month are under suspicion of taking advantage of that extra memory). That aside, 560ti's suck more power than 6950's.

560ti's arent bad cards though- if you see one thats a superb deal by all means get one and you wont be disgusted with it.

If i HAD to buy now, it would be a 2gb 6950 and it would be an MSI PE/OC twin Frozr III or Saphire Toxic (in case of the latter you are paying ~£30 for a promise of overclocks that threaten stock 6970's in game performance, the former has a superb cooler and MAY unlock 6970 shaders but you should be buying it because it runs cool and overclocks nicely). Forewarning, a 750w PSU isnt a bad idea if you decide to go crossfire in the future; a GOOD 650w supply could handle two 6950's but imo its better to have some headroom and think in terms of efficiency of the PSU under a typical load.

But, i can afford to wait!

6950 probably will last you two years if you don't mind small compromises and don't cook it, i tend to buy graphics cards every 1.5-3 years so i'm skipping at least a generation and wont buy 'flagship' products.

 

[MisterMac]

Given how close 560TI and 6950 are pricewise and regards performance, i'd make the gamble that 2gb memory is a good investment; you can use more than 1gb in current games due to some texture packs and some more PC focused games hitting next month are under suspicion of taking advantage of that extra memory). That aside, 560ti's suck more power than 6950's.

560ti's arent bad cards though- if you see one thats a superb deal by all means get one and you wont be disgusted with it.

If i HAD to buy now, it would be a 2gb 6950 and it would be an MSI PE/OC twin Frozr III or Saphire Toxic (in case of the latter you are paying ~£30 for a promise of overclocks that threaten stock 6970's in game performance, the former has a superb cooler and MAY unlock 6970 shaders but you should be buying it because it runs cool and overclocks nicely). Forewarning, a 750w PSU isnt a bad idea if you decide to go crossfire in the future; a GOOD 650w supply could handle two 6950's but imo its better to have some headroom and think in terms of efficiency of the PSU under a typical load.

But, i can afford to wait!

6950 probably will last you two years if you don't mind small compromises and don't cook it, i tend to buy graphics cards every 1.5-3 years so i'm skipping at least a generation and wont buy 'flagship' products.

I've become more unsettled, since i've now forced myself to get atleast 2 GB.

I do not think i will be waiting til christmas after all, too hooked on getting new



Now comes the question of what brand to get?


Price wise (Retail, cheapest outlet online in DK - consider it newegg/tigerdirect).
And don't listen specific versions, DK doesn't have a huge market - so some high end brand/manufacturers are availeble only novelty wise and has a HEFTY premium on them.

I've got these on the HD 6950 Side:

PowerColour HD6950 - 2 GB-: 315 Dollars Approx.

HIS HD6950 - 2 GB-: 315 Dollars Approx.
(ICE-Q X Version)
XFX HD6950 - 2 GB-: 334 Dollars Approx.
(Dual Fan Version for 5 dollars more? worth it? - seems like it).

Sapphire HD6950 - 2GB-: 344 Dollars Approx.
(Dirt 3 addition)

ASUS HD6950 - 2GB-: 352 Dollars Approx.

Sapphire HD6950 - 2GB-: 371 Dollars Approx.
(TOXIC - Edition)

MSI HD6950 - 2GB-: 390 Dollars Approx.
(Twin Frozr 3 Power Edition)


I'm having a hard time choosing, i've got a semi negative mark on PowerColour / HIS in my head, and most american seems to agree?(perhaps wrong?).


And i'f im getting a Toxic or twin frozr - i'm nearing the 400 dollar limit.
Which means i might as well go for a GTX 570.

In the GTX 560TI with 2 GB, there's the Gainward Phantom for 333 Dollars and a MSI Twin Frozr II for 352 Dollars.

If the performance is roughly same, Gainward/MSI brands seems more reputable than low end power/his/XFX - no?

Now im starting due to my market offerings jump on the 2gb 560 TI.

-_-

ugh.


TL/DR;

Are the GTX offerings brandwise / bang for buck not better than 6950 in my area?

If so, i think im sold on the phantom Gainward gtx 560 TI 2 GB.

EDIT:*

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127575

Screw my wealthy nation for a 90 dollar premium!
nutsucks!!

 

[VirtualLarry]

I'm curious what the 28nm GPUs are going to do to the pricing structure.

Are the 6950/6970-equivalent cards going to simply replace them at the same price point, and then the newer higher-end cards going to sit at a higher-still price point, or will prices on everything slide down, such that you can get the highest-end single-card 28nm GPU for an equivalent price of a 6970.

 

[Fanatical Meat]

Last power color ati x850 card I owned burned out after about 16 month's. So I can't recommend power color. I didn't over clock or mod the card in any way.

 

[m3t4lh34d]

Looks like there wont be any 7xxx series out by Christmas buddy... time to start comparing what's already out

 

[MisterMac]

Looks like there wont be any 7xxx series out by Christmas buddy... time to start comparing what's already out

Wouldn't you agree a 2GB Gainward Phantom GTX560TI @333 dollars would command more worth than a HD6950 2GB Toxic or Twin Frozr 3 series @371/390 dollars respectively?

When we factor in performance vs value/bang for buck?


I mean 50 more bucks for 5&#37;< performance in some areas, more performance in others?

I'm probably pulling trigger tomorrow

 

[biostud]

Hvis du ikke kan vente s&#229; 6950 2Gb, ellers vent. Du kan du altid s&#230;lge det p&#229; dba.dk uden det helt store tab. Sk&#229;l

 

[MisterMac]

Hvis du ikke kan vente så 6950 2Gb, ellers vent. Du kan du altid sælge det på dba.dk uden det helt store tab. Skål

Så kan du måske lige lære engelsk og genlæse min sidste post.

For den der giver ikke mening, til hvad jeg vil hen til siden (højst sandsynlig)7xxx = delayed.