Everything but my graphics card

[TechRookie16]

I just recently bought all the pieces for my next PC. Without the video card I'm at about 1,300 dollars and it's going to be quite the system. My question is with the new graphics cards right around the corner. I'm considering buying a 550 right now and using it for about 6 months until the new video cards are released. What do people think about this?

 

[Denithor]

How high end do you plan to go? AMD is set to launch the 7970 on January 9 and hopefully the other models will filter in after that fairly quickly. nVidia won't launch their new lineup for another 3-4 months if rumors are correct.

Depending on your resolution, a 550 is going to seriously hold back the rest of your system.

 

[Termie]

Are you in the U.S.? What price are you seeing for the 550? Generally, it's a terrible card for the price, unless you're getting it really cheap. The HD6850 and HD6870 are usually near the same price and are far better. The similarly-priced HD6790 will beat the 550Ti in nearly everything, and even the much cheaper 5770/6770 comes close to the same performance: http://www.anandtech.com/show/4260/amds-radeon-hd-6790-coming-up-short-at-150/3

In other words, there's no reason to buy the 550Ti.

 

[TechRookie16]

Well I've already bought a P67 motherboard (I know Z68 blah blah, lol) and an intel processor so I can't use those video cards correct? I'm planning to play with just one 1080p monitor (nothing crazy, but I do expect to play everything on Ultra settings and then in 5-6 months I plan to spend about 400-500 on a legit graphics card)

 

[Termie]

Well I've already bought a P67 motherboard (I know Z68 blah blah, lol) and an intel processor so I can't use those video cards correct? I'm planning to play with just one 1080p monitor (nothing crazy, but I do expect to play everything on Ultra settings and then in 5-6 months I plan to spend about 400-500 on a legit graphics card)

I'm not sure what you mean - any AMD or nVidia graphics card is compatible with the P67 chipset.

By the way, in games released in the past 3 months, no single card can play ultra settings...certainly not the 6870. That's what your mid-2012 $400-500 card is for.

 

[TechRookie16]

Oh I thought crossfire only worked on AMD and SLI only worked on Intel. I'll def have to include all graphic cards in my decision making.

 

[Termie]

Oh I thought crossfire only worked on AMD and SLI only worked on Intel. I'll def have to include all graphic cards in my decision making.

Crossfire works on all chipsets with dual PCIe slots, SLI usually only works on Intel (and it the motherboard has to specify SLI compatibility). But you're not considering dual cards, are you?

 

[TechRookie16]

Not now but in the future possibly