Replace HD6850 or wait awhile longer?

[Pilsner73]

Last year I built a new z170 computer with an Intel i5-6500 (now i7-7700) 16gb of ram, ssd drive but decided to wait to buy anew video card and kept my reliable hd6850 video card. Eveyrone was right saying new video higher tech video cards were around the corner, just there was no prediction how much the mining craze affecting the market with low stocks and higher prices. I don't OC and for general operation want a quiet card.

I currently have run a 22" dell 2209wa (1680x1050) but once I get a new video card am thinking of a 1080p monitor.

So now I really would like to upgrade my video card and have some different thoughts -
1) Buy something between 100-225 that would be a nice upgrade and keep waiting for the video card market to stabilize. I was thinking 1050,1050ti, 560, 1060 3gb.

2) Buy something between 250-400 that will be a great card for many years but again with the inflated pricing am I really getting a good value? 1060 6gb or 1070. since 470/570/480/580 are nowhere to be found.

I'm leaning towards option 1 spend just a bit since it seems some of those cards should be a nice upgrade over my 6850 and hold me over till the market stabilizes (if it ever does).

 

[CuriousMike]

The problem with option #1 is you're going to end up buying two video cards.

So, you spend $140 today for a 1050ti, then you spend another $250 in a year for the 1070 or 580.

Only go with option #1 if you know that a 1050ti will hold you over for awhile - don't buy twice.

Paying inflated price for the 1070/570/580 is infuriating - but maybe it'll last you longer so you don't buy twice.

Also - depends on games you play and resolution and quality you want - a 1050TI just might be perfect for you so all my points are moot.

 

[Headfoot]

personally I really favor going to the FS/T forum here and watching for really good used deals. https://forums.anandtech.com/forums/for-sale-trade.19/. You can see 980's going for $200, I see some 480's in there. You could get a lot of card for the money compared to new while GPU prices are so inflated. It's what I would do right now.

I've also got a (two actually) reference cooler 290 4gb sitting around id be willing to sell if youre interested. Id let it go pretty cheap.

Personally I think no less than 290-class performance is really pretty achievable if youre willing to go used for cheap. 980, 290/390/480/580, 470/570, 1060 6gb, etc. are all decently available used

 

[Pilsner73]

The problem with option #1 is you're going to end up buying two video cards.

So, you spend $140 today for a 1050ti, then you spend another $250 in a year for the 1070 or 580.

Only go with option #1 if you know that a 1050ti will hold you over for awhile - don't buy twice.

Paying inflated price for the 1070/570/580 is infuriating - but maybe it'll last you longer so you don't buy twice.

Also - depends on games you play and resolution and quality you want - a 1050TI just might be perfect for you so all my points are moot.

Thanks for your response - I updated my original post with my current display and what I'm thinking of going to. I like to play rts, fps, rpg type games and enjoy them looking good and moving well. I actually migrated away from pc gaming to my PS4 but lately have the itch to get back into pc gaming.

 

[Pilsner73]

personally I really favor going to the FS/T forum here and watching for really good used deals. https://forums.anandtech.com/forums/for-sale-trade.19/. You can see 980's going for $200, I see some 480's in there. You could get a lot of card for the money compared to new while GPU prices are so inflated. It's what I would do right now.

I've also got a (two actually) reference cooler 290 4gb sitting around id be willing to sell if youre interested. Id let it go pretty cheap.

Personally I think no less than 290-class performance is really pretty achievable if youre willing to go used for cheap. 980, 290/390/480/580, 470/570, 1060 6gb, etc. are all decently available used

Thanks for the suggestion - Do those cards support directx 11 and/or 12?

 

[Headfoot]

Yes, that's why I would suggest nothing lower than a 290 class GPU, you definitely want to have good DX12 featureset as that becomes increasingly available. So I wouldnt get anything from AMD's 7xxx line or Nvidia's 6xx, 7xx lines or older.

I'd only look at AMD 290/290x/390/390x/Fury/FuryX and then their current line up, and nVidia Maxwell 9xx series and 10xx Pascal.

 

[Rifter]

I agree with above, option 1 will result in you just buying another card in a year or two anyways unless you are happy with the cards performance for what you want to do.

 

[SPBHM]

you should upgrade now, the 6850 is super slow on current games and even worse is lack of support; games like BF1, MEA have some weird glitches (like squares) with it, basically not playable, others don't even run properly or are just absurdly slow... it's a fine card for old games, but for newer games even a GT 1030 would a good upgrade.

GTX 1050 will be a great upgrade, the nice thing is that the 1050 and 1050 ti are power efficient and their price is still close to what it was before the latest mining madness.

the card is cheaper anyway, so just upgrade more often when needed and avoid being stuck with something as outdated again.

 

[2is]

You aren't going to get a good value for any GPU you buy today relative to what they cost a few months ago, so you'll have to settle for the best value you can find, which isn't great. If you want to play games, waiting probably isn't much of an option. A 6850 is pretty anemic, even when brand new it was slower than a 5850 that came before it.

 

[Shmee]

Yes, that's why I would suggest nothing lower than a 290 class GPU, you definitely want to have good DX12 featureset as that becomes increasingly available. So I wouldnt get anything from AMD's 7xxx line or Nvidia's 6xx, 7xx lines or older.

I'd only look at AMD 290/290x/390/390x/Fury/FuryX and then their current line up, and nVidia Maxwell 9xx series and 10xx Pascal.

Pretty good advice, though I would also add the Tahiti cards in there to the used options. 7950 or 7970 (280 or 280X) will support DX12, have 3GB of memory which is decent enough for your setup, and as long as the card you pick is in good condition and has a good cooler, it could be a good fit. They should all be under $200 used, a 290 is likely to be closer to $300 from what I can see.

If you want a decent used card for a bit, that can hold you over just till you can get better prices on cards like the 1070, rx580 and later vega 56 offerings, I would try to find a good 280x for about $100 or so. It is basically a refreshed 7970 with faster clocks, and will be much faster than the 6xxx series, and will support latest radeon drivers and DX12.

 

[Pilsner73]

Thanks to everyone for their response. I looked a bit at ebay and forums for used cards but I decided to go with a new card with a good return policy in case I have any issues. I decided to order a 1050 ti card where I already had a 150 credit to spend and found a decent deal. Though the card isn't due in stock till later this week so if a great deal happens before it ships I can change my mind.

My plan is that I have two desktop computers in my household, one used for gaming and the other used for web browsing/photo editing/light gaming so I will use the 1050ti in the gaming machine then when I go to replace it move that card to the other computer.

 

[CuriousMike]

Good option in this dark ages of GPU's.

 

[Pilsner73]

Update I found a evga gtx980 for a great price and decided to take a gamble on used and cancelled my 1050ti order. Is there anything I should check on the gtx980 before plugging it in to my computer and then check after i power up and install drivers?

 

[amenx]

The only real way to check the card (aside from visible physical damage) is to plug it in and test it. If its same PC you had the AMD card, maybe a driver cleaner to remove all traces of the old driver. Plug in card, install Nvidia driver, run 3dmark firestrike, Unigine heaven, (avoid Furmark), and play a few games. Observe temps, look closely for artifacts or white dots that may appear, if all looks good, enjoy your card.

 

[Pilsner73]

The only real way to check the card (aside from visible physical damage) is to plug it in and test it. If its same PC you had the AMD card, maybe a driver cleaner to remove all traces of the old driver. Plug in card, install Nvidia driver, run 3dmark firestrike, Unigine heaven, (avoid Furmark), and play a few games. Observe temps, look closely for artifacts or white dots that may appear, if all looks good, enjoy your card.

Thanks what's a good drive cleaner for windows 10?

 

[amenx]

TBH, I havent used a driver cleaner in years. Having a look at one of the more popular ones (DDU), I am not entirely comfortable in recommending it for Windows 10, as safe mode is now required to avoid potential boot issues.

https://www.wagnardsoft.com/content/display-driver-uninstaller-ddu-v17073-released

https://forums.guru3d.com/threads/display-driver-uninstaller-thread.379506/

Personally, I would just use the normal driver uninstaller. Should be OK.

 

[2is]

I've done several hundred driver updates through the years. Maybe thousands. I can count the times I've needed to use driver cleaner on one hand. Maybe a hand and a half. Using the standard uninstaller is all that's necessary almost 100% of the time.

 

[amenx]

I agree with that, esp if same AMD to AMD or NV to NV driver updates. Just that some may be a little 'iffy' about it if AMD to Nvidia or vice-versa swapping. However would think now over the years both manufacturers got their uninstallers down pat and should be good to go. At worst, fresh OS install would ensure everything working proper.

 

[Headfoot]

Yeah a regular uninstall will be fine on Windows 10 in all likelihood.

That 980 should be one heck of a step up from your 6850 though!

 

[Pilsner73]

Thanks again to everyone, got my EVGA SC gtx980 up and running. So far so good, once video card prices stabilize (if they ever do) I'll look at updating but for right now this card should do the trick.

 

[Guru]

GTX 980 is actually a bit faster than the 1060 6GB in most older games, newer games the 1060 6GB seems to be performing a little bit faster, especially in DX12 games, but yeah the GTX 980 is actually overall slightly faster if we take into account games that are 2-3 years old.

The only downside is that it only has 4GB of ram, so extremely vram demanding games will take a blow in performance, but fortunately for you those games are still(to my surprise) quite rare.

It seems that we are at 4GB as a threshold right now, where 4GB is okay for most titles right now and even in the short term future, but purely for futureproofing you obviously want more vram.

Obviously 1440p requires more ram, but the GTX 980 is a 1080p card and going for higher resolution it is the core that would limit you first either way, before the vram.

 

[VirtualLarry]

I think that you "did good", OP. Good find. Hopefully, it is stable for you.

 

[EXCellR8]

still using a pair of EVGA 980's myself... great cards but they're classifieds and both have 8x8x6 power connectors. thought about moving to the 10 series but yea, prices.

good work!

 

[Face2Face]

you should upgrade now, the 6850 is super slow on current games and even worse is lack of support; games like BF1, MEA have some weird glitches (like squares) with it, basically not playable, others don't even run properly or are just absurdly slow... it's a fine card for old games, but for newer games even a GT 1030 would a good upgrade.

GTX 1050 will be a great upgrade, the nice thing is that the 1050 and 1050 ti are power efficient and their price is still close to what it was before the latest mining madness.

the card is cheaper anyway, so just upgrade more often when needed and avoid being stuck with something as outdated again.

HMBRZ? Is that you?