Is this a bad time to buy a GPU?

[nickv360]

Are we at the end of a production cycle, or is there still a lot of value to be had in the current wave of cards? I'm looking to spend 180-200 on a card. Will I be able to get a lot more value out of that if I wait until later this year? Or is everything mostly going to stay the same between now and January?

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

Are we at the end of a production cycle, or is there still a lot of value to be had in the current wave of cards? I'm looking to spend 180-200 on a card. Will I be able to get a lot more value out of that if I wait until later this year? Or is everything mostly going to stay the same between now and January?

We are now in the redesign phase and no new cards will be released until Q1 of 2012. What you'll see now is niche cards being released such as low profile, low power, silent etc...

This occurs each and every year at this time yet, no one seems to remember that.

 

[happy medium]

Or is everything mostly going to stay the same between now and January?

I'd say ,yes

 

[SickBeast]

GPUs typically depreciate very fast. That said, they don't seem to be depreciating as fast any more. I have a feeling that they're hitting some sort of wall whereby they're having a hard time creating new GPUs that are massively more powerful that the previous renditions.

AMD is rumoured to be releasing their "7000" series soon. I'm not sure how soon, but it might be worth waiting for, who knows.

 

[LOL_Wut_Axel]

The Radeon HD 7800 series will more-than-probably be out by December of this year, so wait. The Radeon HD 7850 in particular should be around $200 or a bit lower and deliver considerably higher performance than what you can currently get at that price range.

 

[LOL_Wut_Axel]

I'd say ,yes
Try to find a gtx560ti within your budget

Probably one of the worst cards to recommend at this point in time. The HD 6950 1GB is a better buy because it's made for the Enthusiast market instead of Performance like the GTX 560 Ti. That's why the 6950 is on average faster.

Plus new AMD cards will probably be here at the end of this year.

 

[happy medium]

That's why the 6950 is on average faster.

nvm

 

[LOL_Wut_Axel]

There are pre overclocked gtx560ti's that are as fast/faster for the same price.

But the HD 6950 will overclock just as good and and clock-for-clock it's faster, thereby nullifying their existence in the first place.

There's no reason to recommend a GTX 560 Ti over a Radeon HD 6950 1GB unless you're heavily biased in favor of NVIDIA.

In either case, unless you have to purchase NOW there's not much reason to not wait a month-and-a-half for the next-gen to come out.

 

[SickBeast]

The GTX 460 is still the best deal. The cards above it in the market are over inflated in terms of price IMO.

 

[Fanatical Meat]

What is anyone's best guess performance for the 7xxx amd cards?

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

The Radeon HD 7800 series will more-than-probably be out by December of this year, so wait. The Radeon HD 7850 in particular should be around $200 or a bit lower and deliver considerably higher performance than what you can currently get at that price range.

You can wish all you want to but no one will see it til first quarter of 2012.

 

[LOL_Wut_Axel]

You can wish all you want to but no one will see it til first quarter of 2012.

Here it says otherwise: http://www.tomshardware.com/news/amd-southern-islands-28nm-gpu-ati,13715.html

Do you have any evidence pointing otherwise?

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

Here it says otherwise: http://www.tomshardware.com/news/amd-southern-islands-28nm-gpu-ati,13715.html

Do you have any evidence pointing otherwise?

We won't even discuss the "reliability" of tomshardware. Instead, I'll mention the difficulties experienced moving to 28 nm production and the historical evidence of neither AMD or Nvidia releasing a major GPU series in December.

 

[WhoBeDaPlaya]

One could argue that while prices stayed the same, the value went down on some cards.
Take the 6950 2GBs for instance - they were readily available for ~$250 AR at the beginning of the year (or a little lower - I got mine for $230 AR) and pretty much all unlocked.
The price hasn't really budged and quite a few of them no longer unlock.

Same situation with the 2600K, although we were all hoping for Bulldozer to be competitive and drive prices down.

 

[happy medium]

But the HD 6950 will overclock just as good and and clock-for-clock it's faster, thereby nullifying their existence in the first place

nvm

 

[happy medium]

nichv360, we need to know your cpu speed, psu brand and wattage, and resolution of your monitor before we can make a proper recommendation.

 

[tviceman]

The Radeon HD 7800 series will more-than-probably be out by December of this year, so wait. The Radeon HD 7850 in particular should be around $200 or a bit lower and deliver considerably higher performance than what you can currently get at that price range.

No I seriously doubt it. All current rumors (and there are plenty of sources) indicate that new low end cards (possibly even mobile only) are coming in December. Even recent driver leaks by AMD show only up 76xx series cards in the pipeline. All signs are indicating that no new performance or high end GPUs will see the light of day this year.

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

nvm

[H] has a good comparison here. It probably comes down to which games you prefer but, you can find the HD 6950 considerably cheaper than the GTX 560 Ti.

 

[LOL_Wut_Axel]

We won't even discuss the "reliability" of tomshardware. Instead, I'll mention the difficulties experienced moving to 28 nm production and the historical evidence of neither AMD or Nvidia releasing a major GPU series in December.

AMD has had working samples of 28nm GPUs for more than a month now. Also, AMD was faster to market with a full 40nm series than NVIDIA by six months--not counting the HD 4770. Everything keeps pointing to it not being a huge problem, especially since the HD 7800 series will be a die-shrinked Cayman and not a new architecture.

You have proof of that?

Both stock, the HD 6950 2GB (keep that in mind, as the 1GB version is either the same speed or 1% faster at 1920x1200 with 4xAA) is ~8% faster at the target 1920x1200 resolution. The HD 6950 is also clocked 22MHz lower on the Core, meaning it has higher performance-per-clock. It's also known that both have similar overclocking headroom including overvolting. There's a reason why Tom's recommends it over the GTX 560 Ti in their "Best Graphics Cards for the Money" articles.

51/47=8%.

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

AMD has had working samples of 28nm GPUs for more than a month now. Also, AMD was faster to market with a full 40nm series than NVIDIA by six months--not counting the HD 4770. Everything keeps pointing to it not being a huge problem, especially since the HD 7800 series will be a die-shrinked Cayman and not a new architecture.

Working samples are not the same as production chips. There are yield problems as expected with 28nm chips at TSMC. This is BOTH a technological problem and a marketing stance issue. Historically, neither AMD or Nvidia have released new series in December. I don't think they'll start now because the early adopters are getting antsy.

 

[swilli89]

I think now is a fine time to upgrade. If you're into shooters, Battlefield 3 comes out this week and can be considered the biggest FPS release of the year.

A personal tradition of mine has been buying last generations high end about a year and a half after release.

My recommendation? Nab a HD5870 off of ebay for $170. Nothing can touch that. I've seen some 5850's for $130.

 

[LOL_Wut_Axel]

Working samples are not the same as production chips. There are yield problems as expected with 28nm chips at TSMC. This is BOTH a technological problem and a marketing stance issue. Historically, neither AMD or Nvidia have released new series in December. I don't think they'll start now because the early adopters are getting antsy.

Right, and?

Getting out products based on an older architecture on a new process node is much easier, especially since die sizes aren't very big. There were yield problems initially with the HD 5000 series, too, and that didn't stop AMD from releasing their products. The HD 7800 series would be based on Cayman, while the HD 5800 and 5700 series were based on the then all-new Cypress and Juniper. As history will tell you, again, going down a full process node is much easier when it's not done in conjunction with a new architecture.

And obviously working samples aren't production chips. No one said otherwise. It's to prove that they can get working chips, which they've shown us for more than a month now.

 

[3DVagabond]

We've had new cards released in December and before. Last two years, if memory serves me well? AMD has said they will have 7000 series out this year. They've said it repeatedly and recently. Now, granted, it's AMD and you can't bank on anything they say. That's why I think that it's likely they will be out this year, but not certain.

I've also heard nothing reliable that the 7800 series, or any other, is going to be VLIW4. AMD has actually said otherwise. People are basing that on Trinity using VLIW4 and AMD needing something to crossfire with it. Possible, but AMD has denied that as well saying that you'll be able to crossfire GCN with Trinity. Again, it's AMD. So, it's not as certain as it should be.

That said, I'd wait, if possible, to see what's going to happen. If I really really needed a card now and wanted it to be <$200 I'd probably get this... http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814150563 2GB VRAM, lifetime warranty, modern features (not a last gen card), lots of connectivity (Should you need that? Maybe in the future?), free game (You can keep or sell to reduce your expense.) under $200AR including shipping, in stock, and ready to go. If you don't think you'll need 2GB VRAM you can find a 6870 even cheaper, but I think it's worth it. It should extend it's useful lifespan, enough VRAM if you decide to crossfire, better resale value (along with the lifetime warranty) if you want to resell it.

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

Right, and?

Getting out products based on an older architecture on a new process node is much easier, especially since die sizes aren't very big. There were yield problems initially with the HD 5000 series, too, and that didn't stop AMD from releasing their products. The HD 7800 series would be based on Cayman, while the HD 5800 and 5700 series were based on the then all-new Cypress and Juniper. As history will tell you, again, going down a full process node is much easier when it's not done in conjunction with a new architecture.

And obviously working samples aren't production chips. No one said otherwise. It's to prove that they can get working chips, which they've shown us for more than a month now.

We shall see. Working samples are for testing not, to prove they can be built. Die shrink is easier on Engineers not, in production.

We've had new cards released in December and before. Last two years, if memory serves me well? AMD has said they will have 7000 series out this year. They've said it repeatedly and recently. Now, granted, it's AMD and you can't bank on anything they say. That's why I think that it's likely they will be out this year, but not certain.

They have released new cards but NOT a new series. We shall see. I'm going with historical evidence and the difficulties of production rather than tech sites who have a vested interest in hyping the latest and greatest.

 

[WMD]

They could have 28nm high end parts finalized and getting ready but waiting for BF3 to sell off all existing 6000 series GPUs before announcing anything.