video card upgrade: good or bad?

[biffbacon]

please forgive my lack of knowledge on some of this. i currently have an asus 9800 gtx+ video card. i ran across what seems like a decent deal on a ati radeon 4870 (1gb). ive looked at toms hardware, and it seems that the 4870 is overall a better card. i mostly play call of duty, and world of warcraft, so do you think i would notice a big boost from this card, or do you think it would just be mostly a sidegrade?

thanks for you help in advance

 

[Syntax Error]

Is there some reason why you think you'd need an upgrade? A 9800GTX+ isn't a slow card and it should be enough for games like Call of Duty or WoW, unless you're gaming at like 2560x1600 or something.

If you really do want to upgrade your video card, though, I would wait for AMD's new cards to see what's out there. At the very least, it'll serve to drop the prices of the existing 4xxx cards even lower.

But in terms of "if you really need an upgrade"? I don't think so.

 

[cusideabelincoln]

Expect about a 30% performance boost, give or take depending on the game. It's not really worth it. Hold onto your card and wait for the next gen to come out, or better yet hold on to your card until you feel it isn't fast enough to do what you expect it to.

 

[OoteR02]

When is this so called new generation expected?

 

[cusideabelincoln]

Should be out by the end of this year.

 

[FalseChristian]

ATI's next-generation could be out as early as September 10th.

 

[Clinkster]

Originally posted by: FalseChristian
ATI's next-generation could be out as early as September 10th.

Well, only the details of those cards are expected at that point. The predicted release is anywhere from very late September to mid October.

EDIT: If you upgrade to a 4870, you'll get about a 40% boost in frames in CoD, while you card is plenty sufficient to run WoW at maximum setting and good frame count.

I'd say at least wait until the next generation of cards is out, then you can consider those or are least get a good $20-30 off.

 

[Pantlegz]

I was in a similar boat with a pair of 8800GT's but one died and got them replaced with a pair of 260GTX's and honestly I haven't noticed much of a difference. I would suggest at least waiting until the first generation of DX11 cards are released and make a decision then. I'm going to hold off until the 2nd gen, I think.