What's your current card and when do you plan your next upgrade?

[Arg Clin]

XFX 6870 1GB in CrossFire.

I'm quite happy with it, and my next upgrade will be the monitor, since these cards are almost begging for higher res. than my current 1680x1050 :biggrin:

 

[flopper]

current 6850 crossfire playing at 5760x1080.
planned depending on price/performance, 3x6950 or 2x6970 or 1x6990.
Likely adding 3 screens at 120hz down the line also

 

[IndyColtsFan]

I just upgraded to the 6870. Barring it dying or unforeseen performance issues, 18 months is the minimum I'll hold on to it and more likely, 2 to 2.5 years. My last video card was an 8800 GTS 512 and to be completely honest, it ran every game I played very well with only an occasional stutter in BF:BC2 due to lack of texture RAM. I could've probably held on to it even longer (it was 2.5 years old), but the upgrade bug bit me.

Prior to that, my main graphic card was a 6800 GT and that lasted from mid 2004 until early 2008. It had to be upgraded because I moved to a PCI-e board and I was starting to see performance issues. Before that card, I did upgrade regularly but lately, PC games aren't pushing the envelope enough to justify more frequent upgrades IMO.

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

Just put the msi gtx 480 I bought off another anandtech member in my machine last night. I forgot what it's like to own a high end card. Solid construction. Almost gives you the feeling it's a high quality industrial tool. Feels like a brick in my hand. And that's a good thing. Heavier means good solid parts. As far as heat goes it's no more hotter than my gtx 470 ran which surprises me. I'm keeping this thing for awhile. I really upgraded to the 480 for crysis 2 and in the meantime I have a kick ass card to chew up games.

 

[jacktesterson]

Delete

 

[Avalon]

Sitting on a 512MB HD4850, playing at 1680x1050 resolution. So far it runs everything on max, although a few games now I've had to turn off AA which makes me sad, and is giving me that upgrade itch. Was thinking maybe if I found a sweet deal on a 6850 I'd jump on it.

 

[FalseChristian]

I have 2 very young eVGA GTX 460 1GBs powering my games overclocked heavily and won't need another card for 5 years. Thank God because I really had to suffer to get my 2 GTX 460s.

 

[fliguy84]

As in my sig, a 8800GT 256MB. I'm planning to get a GTX 460 1GB but I'm gonna wait for a few weeks for GTX 560.

 

[omek]

Currently got a GTX470 on the way that I was able to get for $197 and a 275 in my system. My 7900GS didn't hold me long in that day either. The longest running card I've had was a 8800GT 512 for 2.5 years or my Voodoo3 3000 for 4.
Hoping the vram and overclocking yeilds on the 470 is enough of a jump to get me close to the current record. The only real intensive game I play is BFBC2 and will be getting DNF and BF3 (if) and newer titles. + I'm a sucker for those smoothed out shadows/props using DX11 when in BC2.

 

[Cykoth]

I've got a 4890 1GB. I've had it for a year or two. I had a 8800GTX 512 prior to that, but I don't like how Nvidia cards run so hot and I was having trouble with a new build and heat production, so I switched to ATI/AMD and never looked back.

I had my eye on the 5970 for some time, but now I'll either wait for the 6990 or 6950. My motherboard is an Intel P35 so it doesn't support multi-GPU setups. Sandy Bridge has got my interest, but will be horribly expensive I feel for some time. The 6990 will extend the life of my current system nicely since I've got a quad core CPU already, and it's just now really being used.

 

[jacktesterson]

I've got a 5970 2gb for sale on eBay and in fs forum!

 

[ChrisAttebery]

I quit gaming for a 7-8 years after I got married and had kids. My current card is a ATI 4350 that was the cheapest option for my HP i7 system. I finally played HL2 this year and it ran fine, but I got DiRT2 recently and I have to play at 1280x800 and lowest possible settings to get it to run decently.

I ordered an MSI GTX460 1GB for my Christmas present. That should hold me over for a couple years.

 

[mazeroth]

I bought my GTX 260 192sp around 4/09 so I had it about 18 months. I just now got a 6850 1GB and will try to hold out another 18 months.

 

[Dravic]

2 x 4890 crossfire @ 19x12 res

prob wait till the mid range 7xxx series, and crossfire them.

 

[Rifter]

Got a GTX 460, soon to be SLI. This will last me till something that is at least 50% faster and under $300 comes out whenever that happens to be.

 

[Pantlegz]

I've got 2 GTX460's and don't plan on upgrading till I get about 2x the performance out of a single card. Or is some game comes along that I really want to play and need a better card for.

 

[taltamir]

GTX260, and as soon as a game worth upgrading for comes out.

 

[Imp]

XFX 5770

Dumping it the second the next gen Nvidia cards that are actually as power efficient as ATI cards come out.

 

[tysjiang]

Current: Sapphire 5770 (mainly for Starcraft 2)

Upgrade: at least to Sapphire 6850 or 6870 once I can sell my current rig to a friend or if there's spare cash lying around

 

[masteryoda34]

GTX 260 for > 1.5years. Nothing since then has given me the itch to update.

 

[RussianSensation]

I've got a 4890 1GB. I've had it for a year or two. I had a 8800GTX 512 prior to that, but I don't like how Nvidia cards run so hot and I was having trouble with a new build and heat production, so I switched to ATI/AMD and never looked back.

Interestinly enough my GTX470 runs cooler and quieter than the MSI 4890 OC I had in the same system. The 4890 card would idle at 51-54*C at 32% fan speed, which is louder than the 38-42*C GTX470 at 40% fan speed. Similarly, at load at 40% fan speed the HD4890 would load at 80*C. In comparison, my GTX470 loads about 77-79*C, but at 66% fan speed it's also quieter. I haven't changed the TIM on the 470 which I plan to do soon.

Of course, that doesn't say much because HD4890 is arguably one of the loudest (at load) and hottest running (at idle) videocards ever made. So compared to a whisper quiet GTX460 for example, most NV/ATI cards are loud.

 

[Nintendesert]

I have a 5870 and am looking to upgrade my CPU/SSD/Mobo etc. here next. If I see a good deal on a 120hz monitor I am going to pick one of those up too.

Now if the 6970 is monster enough to drive down prices of it and the 580 I will pick up one of those too. But at the prices they are at now, it's better for me to upgrade other components before I upgrade my GPU.

CPU currently being an overclocked Phenom 2 X3 720 and 4 gigs of ram. I'm looking at SB come January.

 

[toyota]

As in my sig, a 8800GT 256MB. I'm planning to get a GTX 460 1GB but I'm gonna wait for a few weeks for GTX 560.

the 8800gt 256mb was probably one of the silliest cards ever produced. I just scratched my head when I saw people foolish enough to buy two of them for sli.

I hope you plan on ocing that E5200 if you have not already as even then a gtx560 will be held back in many games.

 

[MangoX]

Just put the msi gtx 480 I bought off another anandtech member in my machine last night. I forgot what it's like to own a high end card. Solid construction. Almost gives you the feeling it's a high quality industrial tool. Feels like a brick in my hand. And that's a good thing. Heavier means good solid parts. As far as heat goes it's no more hotter than my gtx 470 ran which surprises me. I'm keeping this thing for awhile. I really upgraded to the 480 for crysis 2 and in the meantime I have a kick ass card to chew up games.

I know the feelin'. This EVGA 460 is feeling full of cheap plastiky (made up that word) and generally cheep compared to my previous cards. The reference Cypress cards with the batmobile shroud and steel backplate is probably the most solid engineered piece of hardware I have ever owned. Also my GTX295 was another well built card, though not as solid as the 5870 IMO. Besides the 460, I will not buy another card that does not come with a backplate, which is why the 580 is off my list.

 

[tyl998]

I can run most games maxed out at 1920x1080 no problem with my SLI GTX460 1GB, and I'm always willing to turn off stuff like AA if I have to. Until I can't game on medium settings, AA off, on 1920x1080, I won't upgrade. Or until the next gen consoles come out. I'm expecting to upgrade in about 3 to 4 years.