Looking for a new graphics card

[Davste]

I currently have a 6850 and it's okay, but I'm always greedy for more power somehow 🙂

I want to be able to run BF3 on ultra + AA, under 1920x1080 at least at 60 fps.
This card isn't capable of doing that. And crossfire is out of the question. All in all, the drivers aren't TOO bad, but they have given me some problems. Sometimes, display driver error. One time I spent a whole half day installing different versions of AMD catalyst to get RAGE to work. It wasn't that good of a game anyway, but still. It kept crashing every few minutes.
Other games, like crysis 2, battlefield and skyrim, give me shadow problems.

Things I like about this card:

• Cool
• Quiet
• Good Performance/Money
• Runs most games on high

Things I don't like:

• Something is wrong with the shadows. They flicker, alot. EX: Skyrim, BF3 when using a scope outdoors
• On BF3, using a scope and looking at buildings that are far away results in many artefacts. Flickering windows in buildings. It's distracting and makes me very angry, lol.
• It doesn't overclock much. I didn't think I'd want to overclock it, but now I do. It's a powercolour model, so no overvolting. Well, maybe thank god for that. I have a tendency of pushing these things too far.
• Skyrim doesn't look nice when I'm outdoors. Most games don't, actually. Other games with a different ambience look absolutely beautiful. Ex: Mass Effect 3, BF3 on some maps.
  I think it's mostly because of the lack AA + Flickering shadows on trees. The jagged edges and such.

All in all, if I had a 35%-50% faster card, I'd be happy. Probably a 6950 or 6970 would have done the job just fine, but I'm not sure if I want to get a generation old card.

So, let's say I have around €300-€400 to spend. What would you recommend? I have an i7 2700K, 8GB of 1333Mhz ram, and a Corsair 440W PSU. Yeah I know, I'd need a new one. I'll get the corsair 750W.

Prices differ greatly locally. A GTX 680 over here is grossly out of budget, costing €570. Here are some local stores if someone wants to really help 🙂

http://www.simarksupplies.com/Product.aspx/Category/C140-PCIExpress-Cards
http://www.scanmalta.com/eshop/comp...rds.html?SID=2c3ee9551386ab51aad326cfb699ef5a
http://www.ultramalta.com

 

[SickBeast]

OP I'm in a similar position and I'm thinking about getting a GTX 560 Ti 448. They've been selling for as little as $190 shipped and are as fast as a GTX 580 if you overclock it. I'm thinking it will run pretty much any game maxed out at 1080p.

I don't know what's causing all your issues. It could be drivers. Some games are just poorly made and you can see "defects" in the shadows and textures sometimes.

 

[Davste]

OP I'm in a similar position and I'm thinking about getting a GTX 560 Ti 448. They've been selling for as little as $190 shipped and are as fast as a GTX 580 if you overclock it. I'm thinking it will run pretty much any game maxed out at 1080p.

I don't know what's causing all your issues. It could be drivers. Some games are just poorly made and you can see "defects" in the shadows and textures sometimes.

What do you think of the 7850? I wouldn't even need a new PSU...

 

[SickBeast]

What do you think of the 7850? I wouldn't even need a new PSU...

The 7850 looks to be slower than the GTX 560 Ti 448 plus it costs about $60 more. If power and heat mean that much to you and if it saves you buying a new PSU it could be a good option, though.

The 7850 might overclock better as well.

It's also nice that the 7850 has 2gb of vram which would help in Crossfire and future games.

 

[Davste]

The 7850 looks to be slower than the GTX 560 Ti 448 plus it costs about $60 more. If power and heat mean that much to you and if it saves you buying a new PSU it could be a good option, though.

The 7850 might overclock better as well.

It's also nice that the 7850 has 2gb of vram which would help in Crossfire and future games.

Show me some numbers please. I thought the GTX 560Ti was neck in neck with a 6870, and also overpriced (here in malta) for all it's worth.

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/290?vs=330

I don't like that card in general. My friend got it and has a lot of problems, he has been reading and it seems like he isn't on his own. Plus I read an article describing a large amount of microstuttering on that card. I would never get it.