Torn! Upgrade vid card now? Or wait for Radeon 7K and upgrade cpu/mobo?

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Informant X

Senior member
Jan 18, 2000
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Greetings, looking for some opinions. Currently I have a gigabyte ultra durable mobo with a Intel E8400 CPU and 4 gigs of ram (DDR2). My video card is a Radeon 4870 512 meg. I just got BF 3 and it's having some issues. It's playable, but at lower settings. So i'm thinking it's time to upgrade as I plan to get MW3 and Batman AC soon too. So here is my options. I want to either get a vid card now (and mobo/cpu/ram for xmas) or get the mobo/cpu/ram now and get a vid card for xmas. I was going to get the 6950 2gig now BUT I'm wondering if the Radeon 7K series will come out in the next few weeks. If that's so I would expect Radeon 6K prices to drop making them a better deal then, or I could even get a 7K. If i was to wait on that I would get a i5 2500 cpu/ram and mobo. So any thoughts? Gonna order from new egg tomorrow! :)
 
pandemonium

pandemonium

Golden Member
Mar 17, 2011
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At this point I'd wait. Prices on HD6xxx's should drop when HD7xxx's release, so you'll probably save a lot of money. It's really up to you, whether you can hold out with what you have and wait for some reviews when the next line-up comes out and see how they perform or not.

I'm sure getting a 2500k or 2600k, new MoBo, new RAM, and possibly a SSD now or later will prove to be a wise decision either way.
 
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Informant X

Senior member
Jan 18, 2000
840
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Yea I hear ya. Any idea when the 7K series will come out? Also do you think upgrading the cpu/mobo/ram would net me a nice difference (fps wise)?
 
pandemonium

pandemonium

Golden Member
Mar 17, 2011
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From several speculative news reports - due to delays in 28nm production - probably not until 2012.

I'd be willing to bet you'd see a noticeable improvement upgrading everything while keeping your HD4870 for now. Someone else may be able to provide concrete evidence, however. I personally wouldn't be able to - sorry.
 
RussianSensation

RussianSensation

Elite Member
Sep 5, 2003
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Batman AC isn't graphically or CPU demanding. MW3 is essentially the same engine that powered MW1/2. That should run well on a 4870 with minimal AA (due to 512mb Vram limitation).

HD7900 series likely won't launch until January 2012. Ivy Bridge 22nm CPUs launch April 2012 or around that time.

If I was you, I'd beat MW3 and Batman since those will run well on your system. That would take you closer to December and then it's just a couple months before HD7000 series launches when you can buy a new GPU.

Not sure why you were waiting all this time to pick up a new CPU platform though. 2500k didn't get cheaper since January 10, 2011. ^_^

Not sure why you keep waiting to upgrade the CPU and GPU at the time time. I think you can go with 2500k right away. There is no point in waiting to upgrade the CPU unless you desire to wait until Spring 2012, and 2500k isn't going to get cheaper by more than $10-20.
 
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darckhart

Senior member
Jul 6, 2004
517
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personally, i'd wait on the video card as it seems bf3 is the only game that will really force you to tone down the graphics settings. and dont the 7k rumors say there'll be MASSIVE performance gains at simliar price points? =D (btw, i've been browsing the internets and mw3 screens look super fuzzy/blurry without the config tweaks.)

as for your cpu+mobo upgrade, yea, as russiansensation mentioned, if you had wanted the 2500k combo, you shoulda jumped on that waay earlier. as it is, i could probably make myself wait for the IB release.
 
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Spjut

Senior member
Apr 9, 2011
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I agree about waiting for the HD7000 series...As Russiansensation said, Batman and MW3 should be fine on the HD4870

One advantage with getting a midrange, or higher end, HD7000 card instead of a current card is that the new series will get better driver support than the older ones
 
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Informant X

Senior member
Jan 18, 2000
840
1
81
Hey guys, thanks for your input. I kinda already knew i should way for the vid card. As far as why I didnt' upgrade sooner (cpu/mobo) I never had a urge nor did I need to. Everything I played until BF3 basically played fine with higher settings. So it's not like I was waiting for the price to drop on that or something. :)
 
RussianSensation

RussianSensation

Elite Member
Sep 5, 2003
19,458
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Well for BF3, you are definitely more GPU than CPU limited. Current HD6950 cannot use Ultra with 4x MSAA in the game. So if you want to max the game fully, you'll need a next generation GPU. I don't particularly think the deferred MSAA makes the game look better though, despite a huge performance hit.
 
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OVerLoRDI

Diamond Member
Jan 22, 2006
5,490
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Upgrade the platform now and hold off on the gpu. 2500k is the no brainer choice and you won't regret it.
 
IAteYourMother

IAteYourMother

Lifer
Nov 3, 2004
10,491
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I almost bought a card last night, but instead will hold off for Black Friday. Is this a good decision? I haven't bought a new graphics card in so long, does BF typically have great deals on graphics cards?
 
cmdrdredd

cmdrdredd

Lifer
Dec 12, 2001
27,052
357
126
If you had a quad I'd say video now, but you have a dual core. It's time to go quad...

I had a quad core CPU @ 3.8Ghz already but no DX11 card and my 295 was showing age in some games that had poor scaling and it also has limited VRAM.

Anyhow...I went with a video card now, then when I upgrade the rest of my stuff I'll just do crossfire. If I had a dual core I would go the other way and do the mobo/cpu/memory first.
 
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RussianSensation

RussianSensation

Elite Member
Sep 5, 2003
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TheUnk said:
Wait for LGA2011 next week
Click to expand...

~ $100 more expensive motherboards
~ Majority of high-end coolers will likely be incompatible with LGA2011 socket due to lack of brackets/revisions in the short-term
~ The cheapest CPU on that socket will probably approach $300 and have almost no difference in performance for games over a $220 2500k
~ LGA2011 is an enthusiast platform, more suitable for someone who wants 8-DIMMs, Tri-Fire/Tri-SLI, and a 6-core CPU.
~ I have my doubts that more memory bandwidth or cache on the 3930 will make it more than 3% faster than a 2700k.
 
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deadseasquirrel

Golden Member
Nov 20, 2001
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Funny. I had the exact same setup-- e8400, 4870, 4gb. I thought it over for a few weeks in early October and then said "F it" and grabbed an i2500k, 8gb, and 2x 6950s (and made the move to SSD).

Part of the reason was because BF3 was coming out. Skyrim, Batman, MW3, and others too. And I didn't think the new GPUs would be out before 2012. Plus, getting a really nice commission check helped seal the deal. It's been a slow gaming year for me-- only played Witcher2 and DX:HR (both performed "ok" on my old system). But I'm getting bit by the gaming bug once again, so it was definitely time to upgrade for me.
 
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Silverforce11

Lifer
Feb 19, 2009
10,457
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RussianSensation said:
I don't particularly think the deferred MSAA makes the game look better though, despite a huge performance hit.
Click to expand...

It doesn't. I've been playing BF3 heaps and 4x MSAA still leaves too much jagged edges.

It's nowhere near as good as post AA on medium at AA. Post AA does cause a slight blur, but its only noticeable in zoomed in screenshots and not in gameplay.

Jagged edges however are very annoying in gameplay. Shimmers and edges pop in/out annoy me too much.
 
nOOky

nOOky

Diamond Member
Aug 17, 2004
3,221
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If you can swing it I would go for an i7-2500K and new mobo and new memory. Keep the 4870 and see if it BF3 improves. If not I'd spring for a current 6xxx series card or play the waiting game. When the 7- series cards come out I doubt the 6- series cards will drop in price, if anything they go up slightly from what I remember...
 
nenforcer

nenforcer

Golden Member
Aug 26, 2008
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The Intel X79 Socket 2011 platform will release on November 14th, I believe.

Even though you will probably end up going Core i5 2500K Socket 1155 I always like to compare both platforms so you can see the benchmarks and reviews before you make a purchase.

It's less than a week away.

Batman : AC is now postponed until November 25th? and will feature DirectX 11 w/ PhysX effects for PC but your obviously not expecting those with a Radeon card.

COD : MW3 will run just fine on your existing computer and video card.

BF3 obviously features massive DirectX 11 improvements and is the most demanding game now. You could try and hold off until early next year and have a Radeon HD 7000 series card for it.
 
RussianSensation

RussianSensation

Elite Member
Sep 5, 2003
19,458
765
126
Piano Man said:
If those pan out, I expect the 7850 to be very close to the 6970, except the 7850 has a 90 watt TDP vs. the 250 watt TDP of the 6970. Me want so bad.........
Click to expand...

HD5850 is a fine card. I am sure you can overclock it to HD5870 speeds. At that point, an HD7870 with similar specs to an HD6970 isn't that much of an upgrade to be honest. HD5850 was a ridiculous value card for $270-280 way back in September/October 2009.

Also, if you are seeking a huge reduction in power consumption, then going with a 2500k or IVB system might even reduce your power consumption more than what a new graphics card will provide. Those Nehalem i7 CPUs @ 4.2-4.3ghz were power pigs!

core-i7-950-1.png

Source
 
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