Upgrade video card? Or add another?

[firebirdude]

I have an older setup and I'm about to upgrade processors (which requires a mobo change). While upgrading this, I'm taking a look at other parts of the PC to update. I currently have an XFX HD 6950 (2GB) video card. Should I junk it and buy something current? Or should I find and buy another identical card to run in Crossfire? Any decent current card is going to run me ~$250, whereas another HD 6950 can be found under $100.

As for my gaming demands, it's pretty light. I largely don't play many games. Lately I've played Borderlands 2 and a little bit of the new Call of Duty. But before that...probably a year+ without playing a game on this PC. But I don't upgrade often, so I kinda want to get it to a level where it can hang around 3-4 years without any more upgrades.

 

[raghu78]

R9 280 is 2x the perf of HD 6950 and easily faster than HD 6950 CF. The VLIW4 architecture of HD 6950 is very old and performs poorly in the latest DX11 games. DX11 tesslelation and compute performance is poor on HD 6950 cards. Moreover CF scaling varies from game to game ranging from good to poor to non-existent. The smoothness is much better in a single GPU and frametimes are lower. Most importantly 3GB is becoming necessary to run at the highest texture settings in the latest games even at 1080p. so sell the HD 6950 and get a R9 280. its a no-brainer.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814202099

 

[WT]

Sell the 6950 for $65-70, buy the linked 280 for $165. $100 out of pocket for that upgrade is an easy decision.

 

[DooKey]

If you are really going to hold onto your next video card for 3-4 years I would seriously consider spending a bit more money and buy a 290 or GTX 970. You'll be much happier in the long run.

 

[nurturedhate]

I would be looking at the 280 around the $170 marked as linked above or a 290 around or under $230. If it was me it would be the 290. Planning on buying a 290 over black Friday week to replace the wife's 580 if I can find a sweet enough deal.