From 7950 to GTX 970 ? Time to upgrade ?

[ShintaiDK]

AMD said only a month ago that they will be releasing 20nm products in 2015.

“20nm is an important node for us. We will be shipping products in 20nm next year and as we move forward […],” said Lisa Su, senior vice president and chief operating officer of AMD. “If you look at our business, it is quite a bit more balanced between the semi-custom, embedded, […] professional graphics […] as well as the more traditional sort of client and graphics pieces of our business. [20nm] technology plays in all of those businesses.”

Doesn't sound like we will see them early in 2015 though. Probably not before the 2nd half of the year.

And 20nm may only be small core chips. Even the next big core x86 is 28nm.

 

[ShintaiDK]

I don't think there will be any GPUs from either camps on the 20nm process. I don't even know the process will provide any conceivable performance/power improvements vs the cost.

All the rumours at this point in time point to 16nmFF for the next node which will be awesome.

And as for the OP, if the performance is required, the GTX970 wouldn't be a bad upgrade. It offers almost twice the performance for the same power envelope (plus features that could become useful) becoming just a drop in replacement.

The problem is 16FF cost even more than 20nm. And 20nm already cost more than 28nm.

So something gotta give. Higher prices or stay at 28nm?

 

[amenx]

Not really. You may want to wait several more months and see what AMD comes up with. The 300 series are going to come out in 20nm and should be a lot faster and efficient than Nvidia's offering.

When AMD come out with their 20nm cards, so will Nvidia. 20nm is not exclusive to one party over another.

 

[RussianSensation]

Here my PC :
What i play : BF4 , Star Citizen (alpha) , Metro ad ect ...
Will play BF Hardline and BF5 , Assassin's Creed Unity , Dragon age 3 ,The Witcher 3 and ect

Do you feel that you need more performance in the games you currently play?

To get nearly double the performance over a 7950 for $270 is a pretty good deal if you ask me considering people are paying $220 to move up from 970 to 980 for only a 14-16% increase in performance and moving up from 780 to 780Ti was even more expensive 1/5 of the gains. Having said that, 7950 is an awesome overclocker and if yours isn't overclocked yet, you can put it to to 1.175-1.225Ghz at 1.225V and upgrade when the majority of the games you listed actually arrive. You don't lose much since 7950 is unlikely to fall any more in price. Also, at 1080p, an overclocked 7950 is still pretty fast (at least as fast as GTX770/R9 280X). If you want to upgrade for fun, 970 is a great card.

 

[loccothan]

Wait for ATI R3xx and then think
-> http://videocardz.com/52764/amd-teasing-new-product-is-it-radeon
25.IX sooon

 

[aznb0b]

Whatcha gonna do with ur 7950?

 

[Wild Thing]

You guys gotta give more love to the enjoyment of getting a shiny new card.
If he doubles in performance it will feel and look great on his PC and would be worth it.
GTX970 is a very good card for the price.
I'd say grab it and enjoy.

 

[fleshconsumed]

My opinion is if it plays everything you play at acceptable frame rates, then there is no need to upgrade. Only upgrade when what you have is no longer adequate. With how fast electronics depreciate you'll be paying dearly for that brand new product smell. I'd try to hold on to what you have until you actually need to upgrade, not until you want to. Of course, if you got money to throw around, then you may as well, but it doesn't sound like you are.

 

[brandon888]

My opinion is if it plays everything you play at acceptable frame rates, then there is no need to upgrade. Only upgrade when what you have is no longer adequate. With how fast electronics depreciate you'll be paying dearly for that brand new product smell. I'd try to hold on to what you have until you actually need to upgrade, not until you want to. Of course, if you got money to throw around, then you may as well, but it doesn't sound like you are.

i can even take 980 or two , but that will be overkill for my resolution and useless .... in 2015 we won't see new cards and only worried me ... hold for 2 years ? well...

 

[Dylanharvey999]

7950's are such a crazy good deal used these days

 

[Pariah]

And 20nm may only be small core chips. Even the next big core x86 is 28nm.

Since when are professional graphics based on small cores? Professional and consumer grade GPU's are based on the same architectures. If they're making it for the pros, there will be a consumer version.

 

[f1sherman]

AMD said only a month ago that they will be releasing 20nm products in 2015.

“20nm is an important node for us. […],” said Lisa Su, senior vice president and chief operating officer of AMD. “If you look at our business, it is quite a bit more balanced between the semi-custom, embedded, […] professional graphics […] as well as the more traditional sort of client and graphics pieces of our business. [20nm] technology plays in all of those businesses.”

Doesn't sound like we will see them early in 2015 though. Probably not before the 2nd half of the year.

AGREED 100%

" We will be shipping products in 20nm next year and as we move forward "


Pay attention to "as we move forward" part :|