Upgrade from geforce 480

[tygeezy]

So this system of mine has been going strong for about 4 years now. I usually upgrade every 2 to 3 years, but haven't found much of a need to upgrade. My current system is as follows.

i7 860 (at stock, but plan to oc a bit, just switched from a stock cooler to coolermaster 212+)
Biostar TP55
I got these two in a combo deal from frys years back http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2039730

12 gig of ddr 3 1333 mhz
Geforce 480 (of course)
Windows 7 N (64 bit)
240 GB kingston ssd
500 GB 7200 rpm slave drive
LG w2442PA 1080 p panel
corsair 750 Watt PSU

The only game that has really given this system any opposition is bf4 which i have been playing more of as of late. I can get it running quite well with the settings provided below. I play cs go quite ab it with my gf quite a bit so I know I wont see any benefit from a new card in that game. I do play the fancy single player games when they come out (looking forward to next batman) and i'm definitely looking forward to the next battlefront game, so I would be looking for some future proofing and getting more miles than normal out of my cpu.

I figure with the new trend in cpu efficiency with dx 12/ Mantle and even nvidia's dx 11 optimizations I can overclock my cpu a bit, toss is a new card and hopefully be able to boost some IQ/performance and be able to run some future titles as well.

I have a couple hundred bucks in amazon credit and I can spare another 100 plus in cash for an upgrade (money is a bit tight since I was laid of at the start of December and diagnosed with type 1.5 diabetes a month later). Being diabetic is ludicrously expensive. Anyway, I was sort of targeting the the geforce 770 2 gb at my 1080 resolution. I'm open to AMD's offerings as well, but have never personally owned an AMD card.

My previous card before the 480 was a geforce 8800 gtx, so i'm use to pretty large upgrades when stepping up. Although I was also on a core 2 duo with that setup.

I know that Maxwell is around the corner, but it seems like it has been forever.

 

[blastingcap]

I have a couple hundred bucks in amazon credit and I can spare another 100 plus in cash for an upgrade (money is a bit tight since I was laid of at the start of December and diagnosed with type 1.5 diabetes a month later). Being diabetic is ludicrously expensive.

OP: If I were you, I'd use the Amazon credit and cash on more important things than video cards. Unless you have a ton of savings, you will be burning through reserves quite quickly even with unemployment checks. Also, less time spent gaming = more time spent seeking employment and/or taking care of your health issues.

You said yourself that games just aren't demanding. And they aren't. Thank console ports for that. A GTX 480 is plenty powerful even today. It's about as powerful as, what, a HD7850 or so. To save on power and bump up VRAM you can sidegrade to a 750 Ti or something and do your real upgrade down the line when you are in a better situation.

 

[tygeezy]

Yeah, I guess it might be a bit irresponsible and unnecessary. The initial cost of finding out I was diabetic was expensive because of all the doc visits, blood tests, prescriptions ect. Now that I am dialed in on a treatment plan and on a better insurance the cost isn't as bad.

I guess i'll just go with an overclock of the processor for now to get a little boost in performance. Would a geforce 770 hypothetically be a pretty big upgrade for me? As large as my leap from geforce 880 gtx to 480?

 

[Yuriman]

Looks like a 770 is 50-100% faster, depending on the game.

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/1135?vs=1037

 

[blackened23]

The 480 isn't a bad 1080p GPU. You can make everything work easily by lowering a few settings, and even then, most games will look no different. There's no set in stone rule that you have to max everything out, I mean when you think about it, not even a 780ti can max everything out in some games with a fluid 60 fps, and that's the fastest single GPU on the market. Games just have stupid settings these days that cripple GPUs "just because". Those overkill settings. That's what I think anyway. Cuz I can run crysis 3 maxed out vs high with a couple of settings dropped and the game looks 100% identical to these 20/20 eyes. Yet the latter settings run at such a faster framerate.

Anyway... if you're hellbent on upgrading...the 770 or better would be what to look at. But i'd agree that it may not be wise to spend the cash given your situation. It's your money and choice though.

 

[f1sherman]

I have a family member with Type 2 and he turned his life habits 180, and he's all about exercise now. Does him world of good.

I'd seriously consider finding some other hobby than video-games.
Straight from Wikipedia (sorry about that )

LADA often does not require insulin at the time of diagnosis and may even be managed with changes in lifestyle in its early stages such as exercise, eating appropriately, and, if indicated, weight loss.
However, some clinicians believe that insulin should be started at onset or as soon as possible, rather than using sulfonylureas or other diabetes pills for initial treatment.
Moreover, it is not clear whether early insulin therapy is of benefit to the remaining beta islet cells.[8][20]

Initially, a person with LADA may respond to oral diabetes medications, eating appropriately and lifestyle changes, although beta cells continue to be destroyed and LADA patients should be closely monitored.

 

[tygeezy]

Yeah, I think I am going to hold off on the upgrade and just overclock my cpu for now. Really I wanted to boost my fps in bf4 and be able to turn up a bit more eye candy as well as have future titles in mind. I also do have hobbies other than videogames. I play Tennis with my gf all the time if the weather permits it, we go hiking and I use to play basketball. I want to get back into it but i'm still getting use to activity levels for amount of carbs and insulin I need. I have had several low blood sugar episodes playing tennis and doing yard work. I hit a record low of 58 on monday when I was helping my brother dig out a trench.

Type 2 is quite a bit different, but the net result is the same, high blood sugar. Most type 2's that I know only have to take pills to control their blood sugar, there are a lot that take injections though. I have to take 4 injections a day though (1 before eah meal with a fast acting insulin and my basal long lasting insulin at night) My a1c dropped from 10 (which was when I was diagnosed back in late december) and its at 5.5 now, which is pretty dang good. The weight I lost I put back on which was kind of scary for me because I was already skinny and lost 10 lbs.

Lifestyle changes are going to reverse type 1.5 like they can for type 2. Either way I eat plenty of vegetables, try not to eat a ton of meat and keep my carbs at about 60-75 gram per meal.

 

[f1sherman]

Well good then, I thought you were looking at better ways to sit on your ass even more than before
Tennis is good, as is hiking and basketball etc,
but the far best exercise is right after the meal - to smooth out that sugar level curve.
see here
(Control group is a bit off, but the conclusion is likely applicable on wider population.)

Back to BF4 - AMD with Mantle is doing particularly good in that game, so that means R9 290/x

 

[Termie]

.,..
I guess i'll just go with an overclock of the processor for now to get a little boost in performance. Would a geforce 770 hypothetically be a pretty big upgrade for me? As large as my leap from geforce 880 gtx to 480?

Just to answer your question, the 8800GTX to GTX 480 was a jump of 300% (i.e., 3x faster). The 770 is only about 66% (i.e. 1.66x) faster than the 480. There is no single-GPU card on the market today that will give you a 3x boost over the GTX 480. Remember, the 8800GTX was released in 2006, and the 480 was released in 2010 at around the same price ($500). They were four years apart, and now we're at another four years since the 480. Unfortunately prices have gone up on video cards in the past two years or so, meaning $500 no longer buys you the same upgrade over four years. It does, however buy a GTX 780, which is twice as fast.

Overall, I'd try overclocking the CPU to 3.5GHz or so - I had that chip previously, and in games like BF3, which I tested on it, that overclock helped a lot with a card at the level of the GTX 480.

BTW, good luck with the health issues.

 

[moonbogg]

Your CPU will go much farther in BF4 if you get a new AMD card and use Mantle. The R9 290 (not the X version) is super fast and costs between $4-500. I say go for that if you can stretch for it. Otherwise, the R9 280x is the next best and will run the game well. Also its right at your price point.

 

[lavaheadache]

you might just want to take that $100 to the fs section and possibly snag up another used GTX 480. Pmonks just sold one for like $80. I think it might just be your easiest route.

Other than that you might want to try selling the 480 there and add that to your cash on hand. I bet you could get somebody to sell a GTX 680 for about $200.

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2379220

here is a 670 for $200 obo. Easily in your budget and a good step up from your current card.

I might also take that 480 off your hand if you give me a good deal.

 

[tygeezy]

Thanks for the info guys. It is a bit disappointing how far we have come in 4 years technology wise compared to years past. Feels like Nvidia and AMD miled kepler and the the 7x series. Is mantle quite a bit faster than dx 11 in bf4? I thought nvidia closed the gap a bit with the new drivers?

Adding another 480 sounds like a bad idea with how much heat they generate and power they use. Also, my board is only 8x pcie in an sli config.

Any purchase i would make would be through Amazon because of all the credit i have. Also I forgot to mention that this current 480 is my second one. My first one died back in december and I had it rma'd. I'm not to keen on buying used videocards as just about every one I have owned I needed to rma at some point. My geforce 6800 I had to rma like three times and I rmad my 8800 gtx once.

I'm thinking my best bet would be to over clock ( I might start a thread on that because I never tried my hand at ocing before) and just stick to my guns until they start releasing something more powerful, games that actually use it and my financial situation is a tad better.

 

[f1sherman]

ya Mantle is really good in BF4, particularly with not top-of-the-line CPUs

Hawaii/BF4-Mantle is pretty safe combo, Tahiti not so much, but that may (have) change(d)

 

[Gloomy]

There's an open-box DD R9 290 on Amazon right now:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listi...&condition=new

360 dollars. Guy says it's brand-new.

 

[tygeezy]

I'm not sure if my amazon gift cards will work with regular sellers?

 

[showb1z]

I wouldn't get a 2GB card like a 770 this late if you like to keep your cards around for a while.
I'm surprised you can put texture details on high without hitching on a 480. Have to keep it at medium for my 570's. Guess that extra 256mb makes the difference. Too bad nvidia cheaped out there.
You should put mesh quality on ultra if possible, increases visibility/spot distance.

 

[tygeezy]

Yeah, I remember at the time I got my 480 I was actually trying to purchase an ATI 5870 which I believe had much less ram. Everybody was saying the amount of ram in the 480 was overkill at the time, and the reason I got this card was because frys had just got it in stock when this card was new and I had like 400 dollars worth of credit at frys.

I see no difference running this game at low textures vs high, so I obviously opt for the higher quality.