Should i get a GTX 260/4870 this Christmas or wait for the next-gen cards?

[LW07]

The reason i ask is because i don't want to get a high-end current card only to have Geforce GTX 3xx/Radeon 5800 cards come out on me soon afterwards, so should i go ahead and get the 4870 or GTX 260 or keep my 1900XT and wait?

 

[Cookie Monster]

Id say wait since refreshes are coming soon (most likely from nVIDIA). If you want to wait for the next gen cards, it means waiting til 2H09 or later.

 

[LW07]

Originally posted by: Cookie Monster
Id say wait since refreshes are coming soon (most likely from nVIDIA). If you want to wait for the next gen cards, it means waiting til 2H09 or later.

Would my X1900XT last me acceptably until then, or should i get like a 9600GT as a stop-gap?

 

[Cookie Monster]

Depends what you play tbh. If you require some horsepower right now, 9600GT or 9800GT (can be had for $100 AR i believe) as a stop gap is pretty good.

Games like FC2 or any modern games will probably crawl with your current card unless playing with the absolute lowest settings.

 

[myocardia]

I upgraded from an X1900XT to an 8800GT, and the difference was very noticeable. The GTX260 and the 4870 aren't as much of a step up from an 8800GT as the 8800GT is over the X1900XT, but they're a considerable jump, especially @ higher resolutions. You should get at least a 9800GT, it's close to twice the performance of your current card, assuming you have enough CPU to push it. The GTX260 or 4870 are at least 3x the performance of your X1900XT, I would guess.*


* Assuming again that you have enough CPU to push them.

 

[EnzoLT]

i would just get one of the refresh nvidias/ati. the next-gens arent coming until 2H09 as Cookie Monster said. the refresh should be out by Q408 or Q109. the cards out right now arent that bad either. and if you wait, there will always be something better so you might as well get it now and not miss out on anything.

 

[LW07]

Originally posted by: myocardia
I upgraded from an X1900XT to an 8800GT, and the difference was very noticeable. The GTX260 and the 4870 aren't as much of a step up from an 8800GT as the 8800GT is over the X1900XT, but they're a considerable jump, especially @ higher resolutions. You should get at least a 9800GT, it's close to twice the performance of your current card, assuming you have enough CPU to push it. The GTX260 or 4870 are at least 3x the performance of your X1900XT, I would guess.*


* Assuming again that you have enough CPU to push them.

My cpu is an Athlon 64 X2 4800+ S939

 

[bigsnyder]

I also have a X1900XT. I decided to go ahead and jump on a HD4850 out of the FS/FT forum. I hope to crossfire with another 4850 by Christmas. I didn't really see a point in waiting since some of the titles I have now can really take advantage of the extra horsepower. I have bought into the philosophy that if you always wait for the next thing, you will keep waiting (unless of course you are in within a 1-2 month window of new hardware coming out then it makes sense to wait).

 

[cusideabelincoln]

That will be fine for a lot of games.

 

[LW07]

Originally posted by: cusideabelincoln
That will be fine for a lot of games.

are you talking about the 9800GT?

 

[happy medium]

Originally posted by: myocardia
I upgraded from an X1900XT to an 8800GT, and the difference was very noticeable. The GTX260 and the 4870 aren't as much of a step up from an 8800GT as the 8800GT is over the X1900XT, but they're a considerable jump, especially @ higher resolutions. You should get at least a 9800GT, it's close to twice the performance of your current card, assuming you have enough CPU to push it. The GTX260 or 4870 are at least 3x the performance of your X1900XT, I would guess.*


* Assuming again that you have enough CPU to push them.

:thumbsup: Yea your cpu x2 4800 is perfect for a 9800gt.

 

[LS8]

I also have an X1950XTX. I don't plan to upgrade until some time in mid-2009. There isn't any game out right now I can't play.

 

[LW07]

yeah i'll get the 9800GT and try to last a year and a half, should be pretty easy considering i only play at 1152x864 and 1024x768.

 

[Cheesetogo]

Refreshes don't seem to add a whole lot of performance in most cases. If you need a card now, you should probably buy it now. I doubt that the refresh cards will add more than 20% to the current performance, and I wouldn't be surprised if it was less. I haven't heard anything about what ATI's refresh will be like, but supposedly the Nvidia cards are just going to get a die shrink.

 

[LW07]

would a 4850 be worth the extra ~$50-60 over the 9800GT?

 

[Zenoth]

The refreshes won't be worth it more than the current ones are, unless one would consider a 2% to maybe, with very good luck, up to around 5% extra performance a worthy reason to wait for that instead. And nowadays the GPU's can be over-clocked so easily it's almost a crime not to do it, and you can gain more than the performance that the "refreshes" would, and you'd have it now rather than having to wait.

For you CPU the 9800GT would be a great choice indeed, and over-clock the little beast to some extent at least, and you'll be set for around two years or so, as long as you don't go above 1280x1024 in recent games you won't notice much slow downs if any at all even if today's games like Crysis and others well known (the one thing that people underestimate about Crysis is that when ran under lower resolutions many systems do suddenly reach the magic 40+ FPS mark at highest settings). So, indeed, playing at lower resolutions won't ask too much for your 9800GT and it'll perform very nicely.

 

[LW07]

Originally posted by: Zenoth
The refreshes won't be worth it more than the current ones are, unless one would consider a 2% to maybe, with very good luck, up to around 5% extra performance a worthy reason to wait for that instead. And nowadays the GPU's can be over-clocked so easily it's almost a crime not to do it, and you can gain more than the performance that the "refreshes" would, and you'd have it now rather than having to wait.

For you CPU the 9800GT would be a great choice indeed, and over-clock the little beast to some extent at least, and you'll be set for around two years or so, as long as you don't go above 1280x1024 in recent games you won't notice much slow downs if any at all even if today's games like Crysis and others well known (the one thing that people underestimate about Crysis is that when ran under lower resolutions many systems do suddenly reach the magic 40+ FPS mark at highest settings). So, indeed, playing at lower resolutions won't ask too much for your 9800GT and it'll perform very nicely.

Alright, i'm pretty set on the 9800GT. Just gonna pop that thing in and breathe 2 years of life into this aging rig.

 

[Zap]

Originally posted by: EnzoLT
if you wait, there will always be something better so you might as well get it now and not miss out on anything.

:thumbsup: There is ALWAYS something new around the corner. If you're that concerned, buy from a company that has a trade-up program (EVGA or BFG).

 

[myocardia]

Originally posted by: LW07
would a 4850 be worth the extra ~$50-60 over the 9800GT?

With your processor and resolution, absolutely not. If you had a ~3 Ghz E21x0, then it would be, especially if you were gaming @ higher resolution. At the resolutions you're gaming at now, you're CPU-bound with your current card.

 

[Oyeve]

Originally posted by: LS8
I also have an X1950XTX. I don't plan to upgrade until some time in mid-2009. There isn't any game out right now I can't play.

Same here. In my secondary game PC I have an X1950XTX and a s939 X2 3800+ and this system plays everything from BF2 to Crysis (on fairly decent detail levels). The X1950XTX was/is a great card. I was going to sell mine but it works great, plus it look so damn gorgeous with all that shiny copper.

 

[Psynaut]

I was wondering the same thing, then I started looking at the benchmarks and noticed that the 9800 GX2 perform, on average, as well as, or better than, everything but the 4870 X2 in most games. In the games where the GTX 280 or another card do beat it, it is usually only by a few frames per second, but the GTX 280 costs twice as much.

I decided to go on EBAY and find a used 9800 GX2 for about $200.00, or even less if you use the MS cash back thing. For half the money, the 9800 GX2 will provide equal or superior performance in almost every game to any card on the market other than the 4870 X2. Sure, people say that the dual cards don't scale well in some games, but I don't know what games those are cause they are never any of the games in the reviews (except Assassin's Creed) and I only play the big name, well reviewed games.

So I figure that a 9800 GX2 is a bargain right now and I will upgrade to a 4870 X2 or a next Gen card next year.

*edit: The one concern about the GX2 is heat. People say it is important to have good air flow around the card or it will overheat.

 

[nyker96]

I heard a rumor next get 40nm parts are due in June. 2009, so may be a longer wait.

 

[Zap]

Originally posted by: nyker96
I heard a rumor next get 40nm parts are due in June. 2009, so may be a longer wait.

But wait, the next next gen 32nm parts are due in Aug 2011, so maybe wait for that. but wait... 28nm parts...

See, can go forever like this.

 

[tvdang7]

Originally posted by: myocardia
I upgraded from an X1900XT to an 8800GT, and the difference was very noticeable. The GTX260 and the 4870 aren't as much of a step up from an 8800GT as the 8800GT is over the X1900XT, but they're a considerable jump, especially @ higher resolutions. You should get at least a 9800GT, it's close to twice the performance of your current card, assuming you have enough CPU to push it. The GTX260 or 4870 are at least 3x the performance of your X1900XT, I would guess.*


* Assuming again that you have enough CPU to push them.

9800gt is the same as 8800gt.