What makes you decide what Graphics card to buy?

[spat55]

For me I have a budget and try to stick to it unless there is something about price to performance that dominates enough to make me spend a little more.

Thanks to brandonmatic with the poll.

 

[sze5003]

For me I have a budget and try to stick to it unless there is something about price to performance that dominates enough to make me spend a little more.

Thanks to brandonmatic with the poll.

You get what you pay for they say. This is true with cards especially. If you want to max everything out, go for the best bang for the buck with a top tier model. Otherwise, if you want something that's not top tier but good enough you can go lower. It's based on what resolution you play and what settings you want to achieve. I'll always go for the top model but won't pay near $600 for a card. My highest price I'll pay is close to $500.

Do the research and if that 2-300 card will perform how you want at your settings compared to a more expensive one, go for it.

 

[brandonmatic]

It would also be interesting to see how people's poll choices match what they did in their last GPU upgrade. I chose same price for 50% more performance. My last upgrade was from a 5850 to a 7950.

 

[lavaheadache]

Where is the Magnet option?

 

[sze5003]

Well I went from a 560ti msi model to a 7970ghz so it was a big difference. I was going to get a 670 but there were no good deals. The one I wanted was $400 and the 7970ghz was $50 bucks more with a rebate. See how easy that choice was haha.

 

[spat55]

It would also be interesting to see how people's poll choices match what they did in their last GPU upgrade. I chose same price for 50% more performance. My last upgrade was from a 5850 to a 7950.

I think my next buy will be a £400 to £500 card, when I got my first card, the HD 7850 it was £180, but it depends on how it is doing later on. I think spending big when a big change happens then keeping it for 2-3 years is the best way to do things now.

This poll is getting interesting...

 

[GaiaHunter]

Generally I only upgrade for >50% more performance or if there is some feature I really need for a game (lets say a game is DX12 only).

I also only upgrade when my gaming experience is affected by my hardware components (or if there is an impossible to turn down bargain).

 

[Zanovar]

I bought a graphics card once,it cost £10000 pounds.*scratches head*50%ish for roughly the same price.*shrugs*

 

[Piroko]

Haven't gone above 150€ for the past...for how much did the 6600GT sell back in the days?

Anyways, might only see a point to spend more if I also buy a higher res screen.

 

[MrK6]

I tend to upgrade once I can get ~50% more performance than my current setup. There are exceptions, such as if it is an easy upgrade, but since I've been running water for awhile I usually wait until I can get the 50%. I also keep it in the $500-600 range as above that the returns start diminishing quickly.

 

[Brunnis]

I want at least 50% more performance for the same price as my current GPU. I actually upgraded yesterday, after four years with the same GPU. I upgraded from a HD5870 1GB to an R9 280X. I paid 30% less for this new card and the performance is 70-100% better. I'm quite satisfied.

It's also quite amazing how well the i7-860 is holding up after four years (overclocked to 3.6GHz, though).

 

[Subyman]

I usually stay in my price bracket, but every now and then I drop down in price if I don't need the extra performance. Recently I went from a 680->7970->760 because I changed over from gaming at 1440p to 1080p (moved the gaming rig to the living room) and went with an ITX build. For me it all depends on the situation.

 

[wand3r3r]

Since there is no on a whim option I choose my general overall philosophy.
I'd pay only up to the same price as my current card for 50% more performance

However in reality since I've owned e.g. multiple cards in a single generation it's more of a whimsical purchase. Every purchase however, takes the P/P into account as the first priority.

 

[DSey]

I want at least 50% more performance for the same price as my current GPU. I actually upgraded yesterday, after four years with the same GPU. I upgraded from a HD5870 1GB to an R9 280X. I paid 30% less for this new card and the performance is 70-100% better. I'm quite satisfied.

It's also quite amazing how well the i7-860 is holding up after four years (overclocked to 3.6GHz, though).

Ha, I like your post because you have exactly the same setup as I do. Same cpu, mobo, ram, vid card, and while you have satisfied your urge to get a 280x, I'm still eyeballing one myself.

 

[skipsneeky2]

When i have a gpu budget,i tend to buy as much gpu as money permits based usually off my favorite game and which gpu performs best at that price range.Explains why i got the 770 in my sig as it outruns the 7970GE in BF3.

Battlefield games usually dictate which gpu i pick as 90% of my gaming is spent on those titles,all my other titles run perfectly fine even on a 7850.BF5 may be the game that might make me upgrade to another card at $400 if performance has improved much at that price point.

 

[railven]

Wow, tons of cheapos around here (haha me included.) No longer on the every GPU upgrade cycle, I'm now heavily in the "pay same price as previous card, group."

HD 4870X2 to HD 5870 Eye6 2GB
5870 Eye6 2GB to HD 7970 3GB
Now waiting to see where prices drop for 780 after Ti is released and for custom coolers on 290X.

 

[Rezist]

I find it hard to spend more then 300$ since whether you have as 700$ card now or a 300$ card now, 2 years from now they'll be close anyways and getting destroyed by the current 250$ card. That is holding less true now a days it seems however since progression is slowing down. but if im gonna spend double I want double the performance.

 

[BrightCandle]

I try to upgrade for around a doubling of performance. Typically that should be in and around the same price or less as the previous build. But GPU price/performance increased quite sharply with 28nm initially compared to the previous generations, and then again increased quite sharply with the refresh (780 and 290X). Refreshes historically came in at the same price and replaced their predecessors so the 780 and 290X are really expensive considering their performance increases are comparable to refreshes done in the past.

Ever since I first went dual cards (4970X2) I have been stuck on dual cards in order to continue to get my performance boost with each new silicon process. That has made it more expensive to maintain a doubling and I am riding on a mighty expensive upgrade every 2-3 years.

Hopefully with 20nm I will be able to drop to a single high end card and save some cash and get rid of all the daft problems of dual GPUs.

 

[GodisanAtheist]

I look for 100% more performance (doubling of perf.) for roughly ~$200. Generally when a card can give me that I take the plunge. I guess there really isn't a poll option for me then.

Recent Upgrade path has been 7900GT -> HD4800 -> GTX460 -> HD7950

There have been blips in that path when I had to swap a card in for a dead card or a friend was willing to part with a slightly better card for small money, but that has been my new card purchase philosophy.