Help, Uprade from 460 1GB SLI to...???? what next?

[Syncrosys]

System Specifications:

I. Intel i5 2500k


II. 2x EVGA GeForce 460 GTX 1GB in SLI both @ 720mhz


III. 1920x1080


IV. CoolerMaster GX 750w (1 yr 2 months old) LINK TO PSU HERE


V. CoolerMaster HAF 922


Purchase Details:

I. Budget? 400~550$ CAD, retailer preferences are NCIX.com and CanadaComputers.com


II. Nvidia (had extreme bad luck with AMD's) EVGA, ASUS, no opinion on cooling


III. SLI or Single, whatever gives me more performance for my budget.

IV. Looked at ASUS GTX 560 Ti Direct CUII, not sure if its worth the ugprade or a single 580 would be better.


V. SWTOR, BF3, MW3, Diablo III when it comes out.


VI. Do you plan on overclocking the card you intend to purchase? Not really.


Additional Notes

 

[nickb64]

I would say unless you absolutely need to buy something right now, you should wait and see what Kepler has to offer.

 

[nurturedhate]

Your cards vs a 580
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/314?vs=305

Single card - Unless you want to buy a 7970 you aren't going to gain any tangible performance and may possibly lose some.

Your cards vs 560ti SLI
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/314?vs=441

SLI - is that marginal increase worth almost your entire $550 budget?

 

[MrK6]

I'd wait to see other cards drop, there's really nothing on the market right now that fits your wants. A GTX 580 wouldn't be much of an improvement, a 7950/7970 doesn't really breathe until you overclock it.

 

[Syncrosys]

Your cards vs a 580
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/314?vs=305

Single card - Unless you want to buy a 7970 you aren't going to gain any tangible performance and may possibly lose some.

Your cards vs 560ti SLI
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/314?vs=441

SLI - is that marginal increase worth almost your entire $550 budget?

This is why I like other enthusiasts opinions. I knew going into this topic I'd probably would out empty handed. But at least I know I'm reinforcing what I was thinking originaly.

Thanks

 

[Crap Daddy]

Not a good time to upgrade. Come back in one month (hint: GK104)

 

[aaksheytalwar]

If you buy a 7970 and overclock it 20%+ it will be a decent upgrade, not great, but not too bad either.

 

[magomago]

i'm feeling the same way; I could get ~100 each for my GTX460 SLI setup (I have 768MB version, but honestly it never felt slow, even in oblivion its lovely fat) right now, but there is nothing really worthwhile to move up to.

IMO not the best time to buy a card...

 

[BD231]

Sitting on 2 460's (1gb) as well, although I just retired one to a second gaming box. Short of the 7970 there's nothin out there worth switchin to, and that's only worth it due to the added texture memory which for a better part of games isn't even required at the moment. I'm aiming for GTX 580 performance with 2gb or more of texture memory when kelper comes out. If that's not available I'll wait some more.

 

[guskline]

I have 2 of the MSI Cyclone 460GTX-768s in SLI on my 1100 Thuban rig and must say that though the upgrade bug bites a significant upgrade is not yet cost justified. The 460, even at 768 is a great card in SLI.

 

[Absolute0]

460GTX SLI is pretty damn powerful... I just upgraded from a GTX275, and even that GPU only had problems with the newest games (namely BF3, even skyrim played beautifully). I think SLI 460GTX can last a while longer.

 

[exar333]

I would say unless you absolutely need to buy something right now, you should wait and see what Kepler has to offer.

This.

Terrible time to 'upgrade' from what you have unless you plan to spend $450+.

 

[Barfo]

580 GTX SLI

 

[blckgrffn]

580 GTX SLI

Haha, yes. Preferably a couple EVGA that already come skinned in waterblocks. 3GB, of course.

-------

It *might* be getting to be a good time to sell one of those 460's, depending on your used market. The only thing worse than still holding on to a rapidly depreciating card is holding onto two

That said, what Kepler might do to the mid range nvidia market is anyone's guess.

 

[TheAdvocate]

Sell one of the 460s while it still has some value and then wait patiently for kepler.

 

[xp0c]

http://www.hookbag.ca/product/H3C06MPPC/

Nevermind, I see you want Nvidia.

and the card is a mislabeled 7950. my bad

 

[tviceman]

The answer is nothing is worth upgrading to right now. Sit on what you have and enjoy it for a little bit longer.

 

[Syncrosys]

Thanks for the replies. Fantastic to see alot of like minded people. I'll wait for Kepler, and if worth it, I'll drop the 460's in my spare rig.

 

[SickBeast]

I found GTX 460 SLI a PITA. Perhaps I was CPU limited.

OP as others have said it's hard to reccomend an upgrade. There are single cards that are as fast as your setup but you'll basically pay out $400 or so just to avoid the pitfalls of SLI.

 

[Syncrosys]

so to update my situation. I waited. And the day after the 680 Came out, or rather when it was set to hit the local store, I grabbed the ONLY GTX 680 available in town, and sold my pair of 460's. And HOLY CRAP is it ever great.

Sorry it took a bit for me to update.

 

[Attic]

Nice. Can you give some examples of the improvements? Overall smoother?, able to run higher settings?

 

[SickBeast]

7850 crossfire gets my vote.

 

[Dark Shroud]

Get a 7850 and OC it between 1000 & 1100 and you'll be set.

 

[aaksheytalwar]

He has already bought a 680

 

[BD231]

so to update my situation. I waited. And the day after the 680 Came out, or rather when it was set to hit the local store, I grabbed the ONLY GTX 680 available in town, and sold my pair of 460's. And HOLY CRAP is it ever great.

Sorry it took a bit for me to update.

Nice switch, relative performance potential at half the power consumption. Must scream at 1080p. I couldn't squeeze the 460's with aftermarket cooling into a smaller case so they had to go, replaced them with a 480 for more eye candy and put the left over $100 towards a 2550k to see what the hype was about.