New GPU now or later?

[lifeblood]

My daughter wants a PC’s in her room so she can do her homework without disturbing us. She also wants to play online games with me (we’re big Guild Wars 2 fans). Currently when we play GW2 together she uses my game machine and I use the PC hooked to the TV. If I buy a new monitor I can give her the TV PC (AMD FX-6350 CPU), but the graphics card sucks. It’s an old HD 4830 which is fine on the TV at 720P, but won’t be able to keep up at 1080P. The GPU in the game PC is a HD 7850 and it does everything I need it to do (today). But a lot of new games are coming out, particularly VR and DX 12 games, and it won’t be too long before the VR setups are actually affordable. So I’m planning on upgrading at some point.

I need your advice. I can:
1. Buy new midrange DX12 GPU now (GTX 1060 or RX-480) for the game PC and give her the 7850.
2. Buy new 7850 equivalent now (GTX 1050 or RX-460) and get better card later.
3. Buy used 7850

Any suggestions? A used 7850 really isn't much cheaper than a new equivalent so I don't think i'll really save any money that path. I think 1 and 2 are my real choices.

 

[poofyhairguy]

I think the answer to the question depends on the CPU in the gaming PC.

 

[lifeblood]

I think the answer to the question depends on the CPU in the gaming PC.

And the answer to that depends on whether Zen rocks or bombs. It will be a $200 - $250 priced CPU either way. Core i5 minimum.

 

[poofyhairguy]

And the answer to that depends on whether Zen rocks or bombs. It will be a $200 - $250 priced CPU either way. Core i5 minimum.

Hmmm..

Any way you would consider a discount 1070 for the gaming rig? That would be a slam dunk decision.

 

[moonbogg]

What CPU is in the game PC now?

 

[96Firebird]

Are you interested in VR? You mentioned it in the OP but I couldn't really tell if you wanted to play VR games...

 

[PontiacGTX]

if you will upgrade to a high end gpu later maybe a cheap 1050Ti or a R9 380/X used

 

[lifeblood]

Hmmm..

Any way you would consider a discount 1070 for the gaming rig? That would be a slam dunk decision.

I haven't decided on the GPU type, just trying to decide which route to take. If I found a good deal on a 1070 then I'd absolutely buy it. I'd buy a 1080 but it would have to be an awesome deal for me to be able to afford it. I have a daughter (ie ballet lessons, figure skating lessons, private school, etc). I make a decent salary but she finds new ways to spend it for me.

VR is a goal but I have to buy components a piece at a time. It's slow but it's what I can afford. I figure it will take about 9 months to buy everything. A VR headset will be last item I get.

The current CPU is a i3-6100 but once Zen comes out and we see how well it performs I can replace the i3 for a i5/i7 and keep the current motherboard, or get Zen plus MB & RAM.

 

[poofyhairguy]

For VR a 1070 would be optimal. Any chance you want Gears of War 4?

https://m.newegg.com/Product/index?..._-cables-_-na-_-na&itemnumber=N82E16814125875

 

[lifeblood]

For VR a 1070 would be optimal. Any chance you want Gears of War 4?

Nice deal but still a bit steep. And Gears of War isn't my top game choice. I was really hoping for something in the $250 price range.

 

[GaiaHunter]

For GW2 the most important is going to be the CPU by a mile.
With a FX6300@4.4 GHz I didn't see much difference between a 4850/4890 and a 6850 or a 7870 XT.

At the moment the difference between a 7870 XT and a RX480 in GW2 is very small with an i7 6700K@4.5GHz.

(By the way going from FX6300 to i7 6700K I went from low 20s fps in big battles/LA to mid 40s in the same big battles/LA with that 7870 XT@1150 MHz. General open world I always hit the vsync cap now. I also run higher settings most notably shadows.)

I recommend whatever is the cheapest or you upgrading another machine and giving the 7850 to your daughter if GW2 is the main concern.

 

[lifeblood]

For GW2 the most important is going to be the CPU by a mile.

Guild Wars 2 is the game she and I play. I also play FPS's Doom and Strategy games like Civilization.

Agreed concerning the CPU in GW2. The FX 6350 is superior to the i3-6100 due to the numbers of cores. In WvW the i3 slows way down while the 6350 handles it fine.

 

[Newbian]

Wait until you can get a deal this black friday or for christmas if you can but it sounds like either the rx 480 or 1060 will be your best bet for that price range if you want a new one that bad.

 

[poofyhairguy]

Nice deal but still a bit steep. And Gears of War isn't my top game choice. I was really hoping for something in the $250 price range.

Then go for a 6GB 1060 (it is better than the AMD 480 for VR).

 

[tential]

Then go for a 6GB 1060 (it is better than the AMD 480 for VR).

Is it really worth factoring in vr at that price range? I truly believe the entry level vr offerings are a joke for vr. You'll want at least a 1070 and if he doesn't want to get that i think he should ignore vr for now.

 

[lifeblood]

Wait until you can get a deal this black friday or for christmas if you can but it sounds like either the rx 480 or 1060 will be your best bet for that price range if you want a new one that bad.

Well, that kinda gets to the point of the question. I wanted to wait until Vega and Zen came out to see if they rocked or bombed. If they rock they should put downward price pressure on older GPU's and CPU's so that I can afford better. But the daughter needs the computer now so the question is, Get "good enough" now and "great" in 6 months, or go for the best I can afford now and don't look back?

Is it me or is AMD annoying everyone else too? First Zen got pushed to Q1 2017, now it appears Vega is pushed back to H1 2017 as well.

 

[poofyhairguy]

Personally I don't see Zen creating a sea-change in prices across CPUs except for the expensive ones with more than four real cores. What competition AMD creates will not be enough I think to cover the costs of a mobo and all of that. Your obvious upgrade is Skylake, and I really don't see Zen beating the IPC of Skylake. AMD is sick of being budget so I expect them will try to stay close to Intel prices when they can.

Plus if it is anything like the launch of new AMD gpus they will target only a few segments at first and it will take 6+ months from the initial launch day to cover all the relevant segments. You aren't alone with being annoyed by AMD.

If I was in your shoes I would do this- coming up Black Friday I expect clearance sales on 6600/6700(k)s, as the stock moves over to Kabylake. I would get one of those plus a Black Friday 1070 (if you care about VR at any point) for hopefully around $330-ish. Sell the i3, give her the old GPU, be set for a few years.

 

[Ranulf]

I agree with PHG, go intel and get a good deal with the holiday sales and upgrade to an i5/7 and new card.

At this stage you're gonna be waiting 6 months for Zen, if not longer to see how things shake out unless you want to be an earlier adopter. This summer I made the decision to just wait things out and likely skip gen1 Zen. I even bought another 8300 cpu since I have spare parts lying around that could use it. Though I too have the "being annoyed by AMD" feelings and regret at buying into the new gpu hype this year.

 

[lifeblood]

So, in essence, try to get a 1070 on Black Friday and upgrade to a better i5/i7 once I can afford it. That sounds reasonable. In a way it's kinda fair, I tried to give AMD a chance but they just can't keep to a schedule.