PC Graphics card benchmarks

[Randum]

Alright, so its been about a year since I jumped back into the "modern PC gaming era" - I was out for a long time, since AGP was more or less phased out- and there was a clear line of good cards, benchmarks, and the progression every 6 months of what to buy/why etc.

I currently am running a crossfire setup, 2x6870s (1gb models)- which is really taking down about everything I'm throwing at it - but being its about a year old, I'm looking to jump on a nice upgrade. I'd like to get at least 3gb of ram and do a single card setup. I am also running them slightly overclocked. Or hell, run a SLI/Crossfire setup with 2x 2gb cards. I find my GPU ram is what usually is explained for lower FPS when running games like SLEEPING DOGS, or BF3 or anything with High Res texture options.

The problem, I don't see nearly as many nice benchmarks and game comparisons, there are some here or there- but anyone have experience with a single card they'd recommend that kills any particular games?

I am thinking I should just wait it out until some game I want to play looks horrid or low FPS to the point it ruins the game.


EDIT Looks like I found a good thread: http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2331623



Moved from PC Gaming.

Anandtech Moderator
KeithTalent

 

[Termie]

A single HD 7950 or GTX 760 at $250 is equivalent to your dual HD 6870 cards, and will significantly outperform them when in VRAM-limited situations (typically, high levels of MSAA or resolutions above 1920x1080). If you wanted a significant performance increase, a GTX 770 would be your best bet, at $400.

 

[3DVagabond]

To get a single card with 3gig of RAM and a worthwhile performance increase you'll need to go GTX-780. They are $650+. You can get a 7950 or 7970, but the stock performance increase, at least in games that your 6870's scale well in, won't be dramatic.

If you are an O/C'er it's fairly common now to see 1.2GHz+ from Tahiti chips (HD 7900), which will put you in the same performance area as the 780 for a lot less money, but with O/C'ing there are no guarantees. Where the 780's performance can be counted on.

Depending on how often you want to upgrade from here on out, you might want to wait. AMD is supposed to be dropping new cards in October. If you upgrade now, you might be back here in a few months asking the same questions again.

So, if the 780 isn't too rich for you and you don't mind it's premium pricing, it's likely your best option. Also if you are going to hang onto the card for a longer while it mitigates the larger outlay. Want to save some money and roll the dice a bit then a 7950/70 could give you what you are after for significantly less money. Also, if new cards to come in a few months and you decide to upgrade, the hit on the pocketbook won't be as hard to swallow.

 

[Randum]

Thanks guys! Yeah I might just wait it out considering I can run everything I want at this point pretty solid. But i think the single card setup is what I want to do. I'll eye that 7970 or the 770/780 pending price drops...