General "how long should I wait" to upgrade question

[Cr0nJ0b]

Hey guys,

I've been itching for an upgrade since the SB's came out. My company's president (Pat Gelsinger) came from Intel Engineering and got me pretty fired up on the new chips...

But my question for this thread is regarding Vid cards. I assume that I will be moving to SB later in the year when Z68 comes out. Maybe 6 core, maybe not.

I really want to know, if i up my CPU should I plan to up my vid card too? I like efficiency a lot, especially power efficiency. I hate the amount of power my vid sucks now...but i don't want to sacrifice performance. Better more efficient chips make me happy.

Purchase Details:

1.Budget(Be sure to include currency if not USD):

My budget is pretty open. I usually keep systems from 3 years+, and reuse old parts, so I'm just looking for value for money. I don't want to throw cash and the super premium line if there isn't much benefit. Anything over $300 for a Vid card hurts, but I can take it.

2.Do you consider rebates? Yes, I've generally had good luck with these.

3.Any particular preferences(Manufacturer[nV or AMD], Brand[XFX, Sapp, EVGA, etc], non reference cooler)? No preference. I've used eVGA in the past and like them somewhat.

4. Crossfire/SLI? Doubt that I will go SLI out of the gate.

5.Have you previously looked at a product which you feel would fill your needs? No

6.Which games (If any)do you plan to play and @ which desired detail levels? Crysis, Half-life, FPS mostly. Some Civ and some RPG when good ones come out. Balder etc...No WOW.

7. Are there any other uses(Folding, Photoshop, Video editing or watching Blu-Ray) or features (DX11, CUDA, OpenGL, 3D, Eyefinity) you are looking for besides gaming? LOTS of encoding and ripping. I'll be doing more of this as i convert my media library to digital. I have 2 monitors and I always run side by side. 1920x1080 each.

8. Is the performance added by overclocking something you would take into consideration? I don't like OCing in general for vid cards.

System Specs: In my sig.

1. Pre-built(HP, Dell, etc)? Ordering(a new computer) or Upgrading?

2.Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080 dual monitor

3.Processor: E8500

4.Power Supply Unit: 750Watt TX corsair

5.Case Dimensions(Length, Low Profile, Cooling): Antec P190

 

[cusideabelincoln]

Is your GTX 260 not satisfying you? At idle I don't think it should be that inefficient, but a newer card would be a bit more efficient.

I'd probably suggest upgrading everything at the same time, or close to the same time. Encoding and ripping is going to require a better CPU, as will Civ 5. But if you were to buy now, I'd say get the 6950 2GB or 560 2GB and plan on upgrading the rest of your system.

 

[bryanW1995]

for 1920x1080 single monitor a 560 ti is slightly better and costs ~ $250, if you game on both monitors at once the 6950 2gb is a better way to go and is ~ $270 AR. 6950 2gb is particularly nice if you don't OC because it has a manual dual bios switch and a very high unlock rate (>90&#37😉 to a true 6970.