Planning a new system, should I really replace my GTX 670 GPU?

[Moosehuffer]

I have a computer built over 5 years ago. I've squeezed a lot of value out of it, but it is finally time for a new box. The machine will probably be a mid-range system very similar to those in the sticky post, but I'm not shopping for individual components just yet. Instead, I want to figure out if I really need a new graphics card or not.

I currently have a GTX 670 2GB that I bought 2 years ago. I play games 1920x1080. Its an old video card and an even older computer, but I've generally been happy with the performance even on newish games. It handled metro-last-light OK. It struggles with Red-Orchestra/Rising Storm. I am probably at least a year away from wanting to play GTA5 or Watchdogs.

What I am wondering is : will I be OK upgrading the computer, but not the GPU? Plan would be to continue using the 670 at least until the next gen nvidia cards come out. Will new motherboards I buy still support the 670? Will power supplies I buy today be enough for GPUs of tommorrow?

If I can buy a card for $100-$200 dollars that will blow the 670 away, I'd rather just upgrade. But if a 280x or 290x are only going to be a marginal improvement for $300+, I'd rather just wait, get a better value down the road, and use the money saved for bigger memory/cpu/ssd. I love games and gaming, but with my current back-catalog of games I generally don't buy the hot new games until a year or two after release.


Current machine stats on my 5+ year old box are :

Mobo : GIGABYTE AMD 790X ATX AMD Motherboard
CPU : AMD Phenom II X3 720 2.8GHz
Graphics : GTX 670 2GB
PSU : CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W
Memory : Crucial Ballistix 4GB (2 x 2GB)
Case : Antec P182 Gun Metal Black ATX Mid Tower

 

[MentalIlness]

I have a computer built over 5 years ago. I've squeezed a lot of value out of it, but it is finally time for a new box. The machine will probably be a mid-range system very similar to those in the sticky post, but I'm not shopping for individual components just yet. Instead, I want to figure out if I really need a new graphics card or not.

If it were me, Id go with a cpu and motherboard.

I currently have a GTX 670 2GB that I bought 2 years ago. I play games 1920x1080. Its an old video card and an even older computer, but I've generally been happy with the performance even on newish games. It handled metro-last-light OK. It struggles with Red-Orchestra/Rising Storm. I am probably at least a year away from wanting to play GTA5 or Watchdogs.

I have a GTX 760, which is almost identical to a GTX 670, and I can run everything just fine at 1080 res. Cpu upgrade, I bet you could as well.

What I am wondering is : will I be OK upgrading the computer, but not the GPU? Plan would be to continue using the 670 at least until the next gen nvidia cards come out.

I would upgrade the cpu and motherboard, not the gpu. But thats me.

Will new motherboards I buy still support the 670? Will power supplies I buy today be enough for GPUs of tommorrow?

PSU's today, is enough for GPU's of tomorrow in my opinion. Should be fine with a good quality unit.

If I can buy a card for $100-$200 dollars that will blow the 670 away, I'd rather just upgrade. But if a 280x or 290x are only going to be a marginal improvement for $300+, I'd rather just wait, get a better value down the road, and use the money saved for bigger memory/cpu/ssd. I love games and gaming, but with my current back-catalog of games I generally don't buy the hot new games until a year or two after release.

I doubt you can find a card today, to "blow away" a GTX 670 in that price range. I paid $259 for my GTX 760 and it only equals your GPU. And probably, yours could be a hair faster in certain instances. Except you could probably find a R9 280 or so for a hair over $200...but your cpu may limit the card. I think you would be better off with a faster cpu and your current card, than keep the current cpu, with a faster card.

Id go the a Intel CPU / mobo combo route. And honestly, I dont see AMD getting their act together any time soon, Ill be going Intel as well. And I just noticed, I am using the same exact PSU as you are.


Current machine stats on my 5+ year old box are :

Mobo : GIGABYTE AMD 790X ATX AMD Motherboard
CPU : AMD Phenom II X3 720 2.8GHz
Graphics : GTX 670 2GB
PSU : CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W
Memory : Crucial Ballistix 4GB (2 x 2GB)
Case : Antec P182 Gun Metal Black ATX Mid Tower[/QUOTE]

 

[mfenn]

I agree with Mental. The GTX 760 very close to the GTX 670; they're both GK104 with the GTX 670 having more shaders and the GTX 760 being clocked higher. The GTX 760 isn't a great value right now, but you're not going to significantly beat it for <$200.

Your CPU on the other hand is based on an old architecture (Phenom II gives 2006-era Core 2 performance) and isn't clocked particularly high. You're probably hitting big single-thread performance bottlenecks in newer games.

 

[monkeydelmagico]

That CPU is actually holding back your GPU. Time to upgrade.

Just out of curiosity have you overclocked your current CPU? It's likely you could add around 1ghz to the core clock if you have decent cooling. That would get you a few extra FPS and it's no big loss if you destroy a chip you were going to replace anyways.

 

[sm625]

Your gpu is still kind of high end. It just goes to show how much things have stagnated. In the last 2.2 years we've had pretty much nothing new. Just slightly reduced pricing.

 

[Insert_Nickname]

As the other posters have pointed out, you need a CPU upgrade before a GPU upgrade. The Phenom 720 is getting very long in the tooth. A Haswell i3 or i5 will solve your problems, depending on how much you're willing to spend on an upgrade. An i3 + mainboard should be doable for under $200, you can even reuse your RAM. $300 ought to get you an i5.

Even the i3 will be around twice the performance as the Phenom, even while lacking the third physical core.

There is little reason to upgrade the 670, it based on the same GK104 chip as the 770. I'd definitely hold of upgrading the GPU until the next Nvidia/AMD generation comes along.

 

[Makaveli]

Agreed with everyone do a platform upgrade your GPU is still good enough for 1080p.

 

[Moosehuffer]

Thanks all. I didn't realize that GPU technology has moved so little in the past few years. I'll certainly stick with the 670 for now, excited about the cost savings.

I hadn't thought about overclocking my current rig. I guess I could, but a new mobo+cpu really just is not that expensive, especially considering the $$ I save keeping my old GPU.

 

[MentalIlness]

Exactly right. Up until this past February, I was still using a HD 6870. Just didn't feel the need for a upgrade.

 

[master_shake_]

i have a 670 in my console killer, at 1080p its great but i think it may be lacking at anything near 2k

but you should seriously get some new main components before spending anything on a gpu.

 

[Techhog]

Upgrade everything except the GPU now, and then get a 20nm GPU next year.