fermi now or wait for amds 6 series?

[Meghan54]

I don't know what to do at this point, I mean with everyone talking about the new 6xxx series and nvidias 5xx series. Currently my computer has been sitting without a video card solution for over a month. What do you people recommend?

If you've waited over a month, a week won't make much difference in the grand scheme of things, except to watch the prices drop and get an idea of how AMD's new gpu performs. Got nothing to lose by waiting for a few days at this point.

 

[asus6983]

I'm not really interested in waiting until december for some decent cards from amd.

 

[RussianSensation]

I don't know what to do at this point, I mean with everyone talking about the new 6xxx series and nvidias 5xx series. Currently my computer has been sitting without a video card solution for over a month. What do you people recommend?

I'm not really interested in waiting until december for some decent cards from amd.

There is little chance that an HD6870 will be significantly faster than a GTX470, and 0% chance that it will be anywhere near the 480. The cards you seem to be interested in are the 69xx series and they are scheduled for the end of November.

So you'll be waiting at least another month.

Also, something to think about it is DX11 performance. HD5000 series is so much slower in DX11 over GTX470/480 cards, that even if 6950/70 cards have massive improvements over HD5000 series, they have a mountain to climb to substantially exceed Fermi's DX11 performance.

DX11 - Check out Alien vs. Predator, STALKER:CoP, Metro 2033, BattleForge, Lost Planet 2. Besides Dirt 2 and BF:BC2, HD5000 can't compete in DX11. This means that getting HD6000 be about 30% faster than HD5870 will only be enough to match a GTX480 in DX11. So if HD6000 series is 60% faster than HD5870, it will only be about 30% faster than a GTX480 (the only thing though is it will prob. run cooler and quieter than the 480).

You can always grab a single GTX480 from EVGA now. Then you have 90-days step-up in case NV releases a faster refresh card. Also by buying a single card, you stand to lose $$$ on 1 of the cards and not 2. Then down the line you can always pick up a 2nd GTX480 if prices fall.

On a sidenote, $800+ is a heck of alot to drop on videocards. You can get 2x GTX460s overclocked to 800mhz for $460, 2x 5850s in CF for $480 or 2x GTX470s for $540. Alternatively, wait 1 week and grab 2x 6870s.

 

[taltamir]

I don't know what to do at this point, I mean with everyone talking about the new 6xxx series and nvidias 5xx series. Currently my computer has been sitting without a video card solution for over a month. What do you people recommend?

ah, I thought you were looking for an upgrade from existing working card, not replace a defective card...

If you have nothing now... mmm, does XFX have a step up program?

 

[v8envy]

But what if the 6 series is not competitive? In other words, what if it just offers features like 6 monitor support, hdmi 1.4a and is only slightly faster or slower than current products, at a higher price?

I could see a massive rush for nv hardware at that point, with prices doing the exact opposite of falling.

We saw this with pricing on the 4890 when the 5770 came out. Also, if you have a machine now -- why didn't you say so? That would determine whether you can run SLI or CF or neither.

 

[asus6983]

But what if the 6 series is not competitive? In other words, what if it just offers features like 6 monitor support, hdmi 1.4a and is only slightly faster or slower than current products, at a higher price?

I could see a massive rush for nv hardware at that point, with prices doing the exact opposite of falling.

We saw this with pricing on the 4890 when the 5770 came out. Also, if you have a machine now -- why didn't you say so? That would determine whether you can run SLI or CF or neither.

I have an i7 machine with the rampage III extreme, so I'm in good shape for running either CF or SLI. It's just lacking a video solution.

 

[asus6983]

I made the leap and purchased 2 evga gtx 480's for $900. Now I'm wondering if it was the wrong decision considering the release of cayman is only weeks away.

 

[betasub]

Enjoy your purchase. Buyer's remorse shouldn't be a problem for those that can afford the ultra-high end. (And then upgrade again few months later )

 

[RussianSensation]

Faster cards will always be around. Since you had all your computer parts just sitting there for a month already, it's painful to wait another month for 69xx series to show up in November.

Make sure to register your EVGA cards within 30 days to get lifetime warranty (and upload your invoice). Also, you may be entitled to a free game like Mafia 2 (just check My Products Tab).

Remember you still have 90-day step-up with EVGA in case GF110 launched within 3 months.

 

[badb0y]

I made the leap and purchased 2 evga gtx 480's for $900. Now I'm wondering if it was the wrong decision considering the release of cayman is only weeks away.

o/, enjoy the new cards, no need to regret anything.

 

[WhoBeDaPlaya]

Still happily holding out with a 4890 (gaming at 1920x1080).
I'm a little behind the curve right now, but what's currently out there that really needs more power than a 4890 can provide?

 

[gammaray]

Still happily holding out with a 4890 (gaming at 1920x1080).
I'm a little behind the curve right now, but what's currently out there that really needs more power than a 4890 can provide?

I'm in the same boat, but if i had to upgrade i'd probably get a 5850 anytime way before a 460GTX 50$ more for that card is nothing given its cooler, consume less power, and overall perform better.

 

[tyl998]

DO you guys think that the GTX 460 will also drop in price once the new AMD cards come out? I have a GTX280 right now and am thinking of upgrading.

 

[bryanW1995]

depending on your res that would be a side/down grade, not an upgrade. well, in all fairness at 14x9 or 16x10 it would be a bit of an upgrade, but at higher res/AA you're only looking at ~ 10-15% improvement across a wide range of games. If you're like me and play lots of civ 5 then it probably makes sense for you, but in almost any other scenario you're wasting your $$.

 

[Idontcare]

DO you guys think that the GTX 460 will also drop in price once the new AMD cards come out? I have a GTX280 right now and am thinking of upgrading.

I think it is reasonable to expect there to be some manner of price drop.

Unfortunately history in this industry includes price-fixing...so while I'd like to say 100% yes prices will drop, I can't be so certain since I can't rule out the asinine illegal stuff for these two companies.

 

[RussianSensation]

I have a GTX280 right now and am thinking of upgrading.

I would start thinking about HD6950/70 or GTX480 with your card. Even a GTX470 will prob. be only 30-35% faster than a GTX280 (and sometimes slower in older texture fill-rate limited games like Quake 4, Return to Castle Wolfenstein, etc.).

 

[asus6983]

I'm beginning to worry that my psu will not be able to handle my rig (antec 850w). I mean my i7 at it's current clock will peak at 450 watts alone. Also I was under the impression that the power rating of a PSU was calculated before the efficiency % is counted. I could be wrong, but lets say my 850W PSU is efficient at 80% (80PLUS), leaves ~680W of power for the rig. So if my system goes over this it's dangerous for the PSU. While it may still work with my PSU, if my rig really pulls around 700W of power, and what I think is right (efficiency % is not calculated in a PSU's rating), then my PSU will start overheating, eventually leading to PSU failure. Or shutdowns while in the middle of a bench/game session.

 

[Nintendesert]

Yeah.. 2 480's draw a good chunk of power. I'm sure there are sites out there that'll help you calculate it. But I don't think I've seen systems running those in SLI without 1k+ PSUs.

 

[bryanW1995]

If it's a high quality psu and you only game for 3-4 hrs in a typical day then it's ok to get up to (and sometimes above) the limit. How high is your i7 clocked that it is drawing 450w?? 200w is pretty close to 4.0ghz territory iirc, are you saying that everything else in your system takes up another 250w? how many hd's do you have??

As long as you're not going over 4ghz on the cpu and you don't oc the gpus you should be ok. next time I'd get a 1kw or 1200w psu just to be safe, however.

If you are still worried about it and you have the space a possible solution would be to use a 450-500w psu to run the system and the 850w psu to run the gpus.

 

[asus6983]

If it's a high quality psu and you only game for 3-4 hrs in a typical day then it's ok to get up to (and sometimes above) the limit. How high is your i7 clocked that it is drawing 450w?? 200w is pretty close to 4.0ghz territory iirc, are you saying that everything else in your system takes up another 250w? how many hd's do you have??

As long as you're not going over 4ghz on the cpu and you don't oc the gpus you should be ok. next time I'd get a 1kw or 1200w psu just to be safe, however.

If you are still worried about it and you have the space a possible solution would be to use a 450-500w psu to run the system and the 850w psu to run the gpus.

4.2ghz on the i7 and just 1 hdd.

 

[tyl998]

depending on your res that would be a side/down grade, not an upgrade. well, in all fairness at 14x9 or 16x10 it would be a bit of an upgrade, but at higher res/AA you're only looking at ~ 10-15% improvement across a wide range of games. If you're like me and play lots of civ 5 then it probably makes sense for you, but in almost any other scenario you're wasting your $$.

My current game resolution is 1024 x 768 with no AA since my monitor (and CPU) sucks. Once i put together my new rig though I will try to game at 1920 x whatever. Is GTX280 better at that resolution?

 

[jacktesterson]

My 2 cents... Why do you new 2 480's? What resolution are you gaming at?

I'm only 1080p for now and probably for a while, but there isn't anything I can't play maxed out with two 470's that ive come across so far, and ive got an amd setup at stock.

Planning on overclocking to 4 ghz soon though

 

[ZimZum]

n/m

 

[asus6983]

My 2 cents... Why do you new 2 480's? What resolution are you gaming at?

I'm only 1080p for now and probably for a while, but there isn't anything I can't play maxed out with two 470's that ive come across so far, and ive got an amd setup at stock.

Planning on overclocking to 4 ghz soon though

1920x1200

 

[taltamir]

Faster cards will always be around. Since you had all your computer parts just sitting there for a month already, it's painful to wait another month for 69xx series to show up in November.

But typically its months to years away, not days away.