GTX460/6850/6870 now, or wait for Kepler/Pitcairn?

[imported_Ever]

I'm currently on a 8600gt, however I'm looking at a new card for obvious reasons, but mostly for Diablo 3. I'm not currently planning or playing anything else, however it's possible in the future. Would waiting for Kepler/Pitcairn be worth it, or overkill? Should I opt for the GTX460, or pony up the extras for 6870?

edit: Just saw an article that puts Pitcairn at 299/249, so I guess that would price me out of those (and likely Kepler) but would those drive the current prices down enough to matter?

 

[96Firebird]

No point in buying now if you are just going to play Diablo 3, since it isn't out yet. Wait until it is released and see what cards are available then.

 

[imported_Ever]

No point in buying now if you are just going to play Diablo 3, since it isn't out yet. Wait until it is released and see what cards are available then.

Yeah, seems like the best idea in practice but I'm quite impatient. I've already upgraded everything else in anticipation (went from e6400 to i5 2400; 4gb to 8gb ram; etc)

I saw a deal on a 6870 for ~140 after rebates, but I was eyeing the GTX460 that was recently $100AR. Seems current benchmarks favor the 6870 but not sure if it's worth the $25-$40 increase.

 

[tviceman]

You have made it this far, what is another 6-8 weeks going to matter?

 

[imported_Ever]

Is it confirmed AMD is releasing their first set of cards Feb 15th? I've seen it on a few sites, the 7770 or something releasing Feb 15th?

 

[Arsynic]

7770 probably won't be faster than a 6870. You should be looking for a 7870.

 

[RavenSEAL]

Why would you wanna buy a GTX460 this late into the game?

 

[Nintendesert]

No point in buying now if you are just going to play Diablo 3, since it isn't out yet. Wait until it is released and see what cards are available then.

That's the best advice.

 

[Arzachel]

Get a 6870 now, they aren't really going to get much cheap... wait, Diablo 3? You might be better off waiting then, who knows when Blizzard's going to release it Any other games you want to play in while it's not out?

 

[lifeblood]

I'm in the same boat as you. I can get a 6870 right now for $140 that blows my current 4830 away. I would like to get a compute capable card, but I'm not sure its worth it. What would I use its compute for anyway? I don't rip movies and such so that's meaningless. I just don't see a killer GPU app that interests me. But the techie in me keeps saying I should get something compute capable.

I could wait until the supposedly uber-killer nVidia midrange card comes out and trashes everything AMD has, then pick up a 7870 for fifty cents, but somehow I don't think its going to happen like that. Way to many outrageous rumors floating around to make a decent prediction. Even my magic 8-ball says "ask again later".

 

[RavenSEAL]

That's the best advice.

Considering the fact that the X10000 series might be out by then, this is probably the best way to go.

 

[imported_Ever]

Why would you wanna buy a GTX460 this late into the game?

Price. I've seen it for $100 AR, and based on the hierarchy charts I've seen, it places well up there. Seems to really be GTX460 (at $100AR) vs 6870 (at around $135AR) would be my only options outside of waiting, but not sure if (a) it's worth the increase in $ or (b) just wait until 2014 when Diablo 3 & Kepler release

 

[Zenoth]

Heck I'm still running on a GTX 285. I'm waiting for Kepler, but that's not even the reason as to why I "still" have a GTX 285. I've had it since around February 2009 which by now makes it a three years-old card within my PC case, and for all that time I always thought that it was simply doing the job. It's been showing its age since a few months though, and by the time Kepler is released I think that finally it'll be the time to upgrade.

There were just no reasons for me to upgrade, and I play games almost exclusively on my PC, I own a Nintendo Wii and the latest Zelda, but as far as current generation consoles are concerned that's all I have. If Kepler does make it in Q1 or perhaps Q2 then there's just a few months to go, there would be no reasons to buy a new GPU now knowing that a new architecture is just around the corner.

 

[BD231]

For $100 bucks as a drop in upgrade you can't go wrong with the 460 on value alone, especially if you're ok with overclocking. Sadly not a single person in this thread or entire forum can tell you *WHEN* a more viable card may come out nor do they have the first clue how much it will cost or what kind of performance to expect. The GTX 460 didn't come around until nVidia's refresh of Fermi so there's always the chance you'll be stuck waiting. By then the only thing you can be sure of is anything worth a purchase is going to be around $200 or more, and once you get below that price bracket you'll probably be paying MORE for the same or lesser performance you could have gotten out of a GTX 460 for $100 now.

It really just depends on how badly you want an increase in performance RIGHT NOW, if you game a lot I'd go for it. A 460 will *SPANK* your 8600 on every level and OC'd fall somewhere in between 6850/6870 performance. If you're going for cheap and fast you won't beat the 460 now or in the near future for the price.

 

[Nintendesert]

For $100 bucks as a drop in upgrade you can't go wrong with the 460 on value alone, especially if you're ok with overclocking. Sadly not a single person in this thread or entire forum can tell you *WHEN* a more viable card may come out nor do they have the first clue how much it will cost or what kind of performance to expect. The GTX 460 didn't come around until nVidia's refresh of Fermi so there's always the chance you'll be stuck waiting. By then the only thing you can be sure of is anything worth a purchase is going to be around $200 or more, and once you get below that price bracket you'll probably be paying MORE for the same or lesser performance you could have gotten out of a GTX 460 for $100 now.

It really just depends on how badly you want an increase in performance RIGHT NOW, if you game a lot I'd go for it. A 460 will *SPANK* your 8600 on every level and OC'd fall somewhere in between 6850/6870 performance. If you're going for cheap and fast you won't beat the 460 now or in the near future for the price.

If Diablo 3 was out right now I'd agree. But since he's already waiting for Diablo 3 to release, why not wait for a new video card too since we're already into the 28nm GPU release timeframe.

 

[BD231]

If he doesn't do any gaming right now as he kind of suggested he's fine waiting, but if he's gaming consistently there's no reason to wait at the price's he's aiming for.

 

[3DVagabond]

Which GTX-460? There are multiple designs and not all perform the same. Maybe post us a link to the cards you are comparing.

 

[Stuka87]

Your 8600GT will run Diablo 3. The system requirements (per every Blizzard game) are not high. Although if you have a big display, probably not well. I have seen it (beta) run on a 9800GT and it ran fine. Although not all eye candy was on, and it was on a 1440x900 display.

So I say wait. If the game ships before you get a card, you can still play, just at lower settings.

But it should be noted that a 78x0 is going to cost quite a bit more than a 68x0 card. If 200 if you upper price point, dont bother waiting. As the 78x0 is going to be a 300 dollar card most likely (6970 performance).

 

[rageofthepeon]

I'm in the same boat. I want to upgrade my 9800GT really badly. Mostly playing my new PS3 to pass the time until I can upgrade and install all those delicious texture mod packs.

 

[Arkadrel]

Diablo III Recommended System Requirements

Windows

• Windows® Vista/7 (latest service packs)
• Intel® Core 2 Duo 2.4 GHz or AMD Athlon™ 64 X2 5600+ 2.8 GHz
• 2 GB RAM
• NVIDIA® GeForce® 260 or ATI Radeon™ HD 4870 or better

from here:
http://www.diablowiki.net/Diablo_III_System_Requirements


So you ll probably want to upg the card, for diablo III.
However the game isnt out yet, so you can wait abit with upg.

 

[bryanW1995]

Wait until diablo 3 is actually out, then figure out what you want/need from there. Upgrading from anticipation of a new game can often result in a 2nd, later, more expensive upgrade soon after the game actually launches.

 

[Leyawiin]

Why would you wanna buy a GTX460 this late into the game?

Or any of them if you don't have to at the moment. Your bias is showing.

 

[Gothgar]

IF you can save the money for it, just wait. If money burns a mother fucking hole in your pockets like it does for me, buy the card now.

Also, get a 6870.

 

[imported_Ever]

Which GTX-460? There are multiple designs and not all perform the same. Maybe post us a link to the cards you are comparing.

(I know they're deactivated, but these are the cards I had in mind)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814133428
vs
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102913

Your 8600GT will run Diablo 3. The system requirements (per every Blizzard game) are not high. Although if you have a big display, probably not well. I have seen it (beta) run on a 9800GT and it ran fine. Although not all eye candy was on, and it was on a 1440x900 display.

So I say wait. If the game ships before you get a card, you can still play, just at lower settings.

But it should be noted that a 78x0 is going to cost quite a bit more than a 68x0 card. If 200 if you upper price point, dont bother waiting. As the 78x0 is going to be a 300 dollar card most likely (6970 performance).

I saw the 8600gt is labeled LOW if I recall, I'm gaming on a 1680x1050 display (secondary monitor is 1440x900, it's to watch emails and such though). I've noticed the same thing re: 78x0 prices after I posted the thread, but wasn't sure if they might force the market downward on some of the older cards.

I've already upgraded my whole PC from the 775 socket (e6400) to the 1155 socket (i5 2400) so the only remaining part is the graphics card (and a possible SSD but that'd be unrelated to Diablo 3). The deal I was going to get on the 6870 is out of stock now, though, so I'm probably just gonna see how the market unfolds middle of Feb probably or if another good deal comes up.

 

[FalseChristian]

I'd grab the GTX 460 1GB now or buy 2 in SLI and get frame-rates higher than a GTX 580 and close to a Radeon HD 7970. I have 2 eVGA GTX 460 1GB in SLI and they're still overkill for any game out there. Just make sure you get the 1GB version with 336 CUDA cores, a 256-bit memory bus and 32 ROPS. Happy gaming for years to come!