GPU upgrade options

[Hallowed_Dragon]

After the release of the new 69xx cards from AMD I am even more confused about which card to purchase.
Let me explain my situation.
I have a 27" Full HD monitor, a Q6600 @ 2.7GHz and a Corsair 650W PSU. All this is paired with a HD4870 512MB. I don't have a Crossfire motherboard so that is out of the question.
I play at the moment Starcraft 2 and World of Warcraft, but in the future I want to be able to play Diablo 3 and Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. I am pretty strict about IQ and resolution and don't really like to play at lower than maximum quality settings and in no way I want to lower the resolution. At the same time I would like a graphics card that will consume less power than my current one seeing that in the 2 years I have it the power bill increase could have let me buy another 4870. The other problem is that I think my CPU will limit the available choices.
And another deal breaker, this purchase should keep me from upgrading for 2 years.
So what would you do?

 

[cusideabelincoln]

A 6950 will decrease power consumption and give you better performance than two HD4870s 512MB in Xfire. An HD 5850, HD6850, HD 6870, GTX 460 would also be a good choices - not quite as fast but I believe it will give you about the same performance in SC2 and WoW, cheaper, and use even less power.

 

[Hallowed_Dragon]

A 6950 will decrease power consumption and give you better performance than two HD4870s 512MB in Xfire. An HD 5850, HD6850, HD 6870, GTX 460 would also be a good choices - not quite as fast but I believe it will give you about the same performance in SC2 and WoW, cheaper, and use even less power.

Yes, I was considering the 6950, but after seeing all those reviews, I am very confused because the performance is all over the place. In the future I will play Elder Scrolls Skyrim and that I bet will bring some GPUs down and I wish I have a GPU that will be able to run that at max settings.
On the other hand won't my CPU limit the 6950? If I have to overclock the CPU more I will be back at square 1 with the same power consumption or even more than now. And seeing some reviews that show the OC potential of the 6950 I am tented to OC that too. Damn, so many questions :hmm:

 

[Dark Shroud]

I would recommend the 6950 at it's current price point. If you go with a GTX 460 make sure you get the 1GB version & also make sure you don't get one of the under powered models.

EDIT: AMD is also launching a big driver release shortly that will be optimized for the 6900 series cards. In a few months time performance should be up across the board. AMD has to redo all their performance enhancements for their new architecture.

 

[Triggaaar]

I have a 27" Full HD monitor

Full HD is is what, 1080 vertical lines? A 27" could be 1920x1200 or 2560x1440. If it's the latter, and you want to run at 2560x1440, AMD might serve you better with 2Gb of ram.

I'm also struggling to choose between a 6970 and 570. I hope to buy a 2560x1440 27" display, but I think I'll be happy running that at lower resolution anyway (I think it's tough to tell the difference in a game, I want the high res for photos).

 

[Hallowed_Dragon]

Full HD is is what, 1080 vertical lines? A 27" could be 1920x1200 or 2560x1440. If it's the latter, and you want to run at 2560x1440, AMD might serve you better with 2Gb of ram.

I'm also struggling to choose between a 6970 and 570. I hope to buy a 2560x1440 27" display, but I think I'll be happy running that at lower resolution anyway (I think it's tough to tell the difference in a game, I want the high res for photos).

Full HD as in 1920x1080.
In moments like this I am thinking of just buying the 6950, OC it to 6970 levels and OC the CPU too. But I bet I will have a heart attack when the power bill comes. Already my computer is the highest electricity consumer in the house. And I keep thinking about the fact that I could have bought another 4870 just from the added power bill cost.

 

[toyota]

your pc isn't loaded with super power hungry parts and is at idle most of the time so it hardly makes a huge impact on the power bill. there are 3 of us here in a large 3 story house with 3 computers in addition to the usual appliances and our power bill in the winter is only about 80 bucks. on the other hand the power bill is about 250 bucks in the summer because of running central air. so again your single pc is hardly making a huge impact.

 

[cusideabelincoln]

your pc isn't loaded with super power hungry parts and is at idle most of the time so it hardly makes a huge impact on the power bill. there are 3 of us here in a large 3 story house with 3 computers in addition to the usual appliances and our power bill in the winter is only about 80 bucks. on the other hand the power bill is about 250 bucks in the summer because of running central air. so again your single pc is hardly making a huge impact.

Well he lists his location as Romania and the 4870 does have a high idle power consumption. A 6950 or any new card will cut his idle power by... about 40W.

 

[Athadeus]

I vote wait for 28nm if you are satisfied with your 4870's performance.

You will save a lot more power and have a much nicer system if you wait until those games come out in late 2011 and get a new system with a 22/32nm CPU and 28nm GPU then.

Do you know what your kWh cost is?

 

[happy medium]

In your case I'd wait a bit for the gtx560 release and see if some prices drop.
Give it a few weeks.

 

[Hallowed_Dragon]

I your case I'd wait a bit for the gtx560 release and see if some prices drop.
Give it a few weeks.

Well I will buy a new card in January. Maybe the GTX560 will bring the 6950 down in price.
I simply can't wait any longer as even my WoW experience is getting hammered by Cataclysm at full detail without AA (and I already hate that I don't use AA). I don't even want to consider how will Elder Scrolls or Crysis 2 look and feel with my 4870 (512 MB)

 

[Zargon]

Full HD as in 1920x1080.

LOL

thats 1080P, 'full hd' doesnt actually mean anything FWIW

 

[Hallowed_Dragon]

LOL

thats 1080P, 'full hd' doesnt actually mean anything FWIW

Thank you for your very informative comment which really solves my problem :awe: