XFX GTX 260 216 Black Edition - why upgrade?

[Deanodarlo]

I can't believe how long my XFX GTX 260 216 Black is lasting. Or my Core2Quad!!!

I'm still running all games fine at 1080p, but admit I don't bench just install and play - everything seems smooth, but I'm not a high AA user. DX11 hasn't hit me as essential yet when I look at what I'm missing.

Q9450 is happily pumping out the frames. When will I be forced to upgrade? Soon surely?

 

[Madcatatlas]

Not forced surely. Its a widely "known" that current hardware is a generation or two ahead of current software. Id take that to mean your good for 2011.

There is also this thing called options. If you dont enable new detail options where applicable in games etc, you dont need more "oomph". Dx11 bring more detail options so
If you were to upgrade now and you wanted to experiance Dx11 detail while keeping your resolution, you should aim for the upper middle "class" of cards, like the radeon 6850/70 and the gtx460/560.

So about your question: why ask such a question? Is it because your "pocket" is burning? are games lagging? are you interested in new detail options or just more flexibility?

 

[edplayer]

When will I be forced to upgrade? Soon surely?

in about 18 months when the Constitution is suspended and we are under martial law

 

[Deanodarlo]

Just a question to start a debate Madcatatlas - I think PC gaming hardware is lasting such a long time at the moment.

The last card that gave me a good run for the money was the 9700 Pro I believe. Not feeling the need to upgrade, but I feel like I should after dropping a couple of generations behind.

I guess I'm trying to convince myself to upgrade and have been for a while, but the money keeps finding itself in the beer fund instead.

 

[KingstonU]

I'm in almost the same boat as you. Going on 3 years since I put together this build in sig, still not feeling a need to upgrade, longest period I've gone without the itch ever. When i really needed an upgrade 5 years ago, I didn't have the money. Now it's the opposite, lol.

 

[x1222]

It depends on the person. For some people they have to graphics maxed out and you'll have to upgrade much sooner. It's good you can settle. I have a bit of problem with wanting to max out eye candy too.

 

[MangoX]

As long as you don't need to max out the graphics settings then you don't need to upgrade.

 

[Dark Shroud]

Just wait for 28nm cards if you're not dying or feeling the itch.

 

[Deanodarlo]

You are all right of course. I think waiting for the 28nm cards may well be the way forward. Then they may have a decent amount of tessellation power and games will start to filter through which really use it.

It's like when SM3 first appeared on the nvidia 6800 series - it was nice to have, but the first game to really use it full on, Oblivion, came out miles later and a 6800 proved too slow to run it. I was running a SM2 x800 XT at the time, and had no reason to upgrade to SM3 games until they caught on making it essential. Even then, we had to wait for these unified shader cards to emerge and mature before SM3 really took off at reasonable framerates.

Perhaps it's the same for DX11 and tessellation. Current cards may not be able to handle the big DX11 tessellation titles when they eventually arrive, crossfire/sli perhaps will, but the next generation built on a smaller process will force me to upgrade for decent DX11 framerates just like SM3 did.

Beer fund looking good then. Barmaid, a pint please!

 

[skipsneeky2]

It depends on the person. For some people they have to graphics maxed out and you'll have to upgrade much sooner. It's good you can settle. I have a bit of problem with wanting to max out eye candy too.

Yup friend of mine is using my old evga 8800 gts 512mb i bought brand new when they came out.

Matched it with a amd x2 555 to upgrade her pentium 4

She is able to play bc2 with decent settings
As happy as pig in shit now too

Heck shes been using this card since i upgraded to the gtx280 the week it came out :| Most people would have upgraded like 3 times

 

[viivo]

I'm the same - I've never been much on AA, but screen tearing is the bane of my existence. So when it gets to the point that I can't run a game without FPS bouncing everywhere, or where vsync drops me to below 40, I know it's time to upgrade.

I did do a little side-grade from a 5870(thanks bitcoiners!) to a 6950, so I'm hoping my aging i7 and 6 gigs of ram can keep up with the next generation or two of games at at least 1920x1080.

 

[brybir]

I'm still using my Phenom II X2 @3.1Ghz and a 4850 with a slight overclock and I am doing fine. I used to upgrade almost yearly and then sell whatever I had at the time on craigslist, but I am thinking I could probably go another year before I "need" to upgrade.

I still have a half dozen Steam games from 2010 I have not played but cant resist the good deals they have from time to time.

 

[kmmatney]

My rule is upgrade when you can double your performance for the same or less money as your previous card. I don't think I can do that yet with my HD4890, which I bought for $180.

 

[ShadowVVL]

yup Im sticking with my q9550,evga gtx 260 till mid to late 2012 when 22nm IB and 28nm gpus are out.

 

[skipsneeky2]

I'm the same - I've never been much on AA, but screen tearing is the bane of my existence. So when it gets to the point that I can't run a game without FPS bouncing everywhere, or where vsync drops me to below 40, I know it's time to upgrade.

I did do a little side-grade from a 5870(thanks bitcoiners!) to a 6950, so I'm hoping my aging i7 and 6 gigs of ram can keep up with the next generation or two of games at at least 1920x1080.

No pune intended but aging i7?

Still the best gaming cpu bar none.

Even if its a socket 1366

Think you will be rocking this for the next 2 years no problem :thumbsup:

 

[crisium]

My 3 generations old CPU and Radeon 4850, both at stock, are fine for me. I can play Bad Company 2 at the highest settings at 1920x1080 with 16AF. Where's the need to upgrade?

I am also still a CRT user, which benefits older hardware. I'll play a game at 1360x768 if it is needed. Or if I like 16:10 I'll play at 1280x800 if 1680x1050 is a bit too much. Lowering your resolution can give you massive performance boosts, and they are all native on my CRT.

The only game that really hates my 4850 is StarCraft 2. But really, I prefer the game on lowest settings for the clarity anyway.

 

[viivo]

No pune intended but aging i7?

Still the best gaming cpu bar none.

Even if its a socket 1366

Think you will be rocking this for the next 2 years no problem :thumbsup:

Aren't the new i5s the kings of gaming now?

RIP 1366

 

[skipsneeky2]

Aren't the new i5s the kings of gaming now?

RIP 1366

1366 still offers full 16x sli support which 1155 doesn't.

Single card config the 1155 is better i think but thats just me.

I'm making the move from 1366 to 1155 cause i want something to get me thru the next 3 years.

No more high end for me considering it seems the next mainstream always outperforms last generations high end.

Betting theres plenty of unhappy 1366 owners who wished intel would release some 32nm 1366 quads to balance the gaping hole of performance between such cpus as the i7 960 and the 2600k.

 

[Rifter]

I play PC games to get the best graphical experiance possible. So i upgrade alot. The way i look at it the only thing PC gaming has going for it nowdays is graphics, most games are crappy console ports with DRM that is more harmful to the people paying for playing the games as it is to people who pirate the games. The only reason to put up with that BS is to get better grapgics, if not for that why not just buy a console.

Also when you start getting into the serious GPU power it allows you to play games 5-10 years old with 32X-64X AA which makes them looks years newer graphically, which is always a bonus.

 

[Madcatatlas]

People who are "in for PC gaming just for the graphics" are the reason good PC games are so far in between.

Everything getting the "3D" treatment, and often a bad one, is just sad.

the entire Might and Magic franchise for example, man it got screwed when they went the 3D route.

On that note, wtb Might and Magic 10.

 

[edplayer]

I play PC games to get the best graphical experiance possible. So i upgrade alot. The way i look at it the only thing PC gaming has going for it nowdays is graphics, most games are crappy console ports with DRM that is more harmful to the people paying for playing the games as it is to people who pirate the games. The only reason to put up with that BS is to get better grapgics, if not for that why not just buy a console.

I play PC games for fun. I don't upgrade a lot. I don't buy games at launch but wait for reviews (mostly user) so I (usually) buy games that I really like and don't have to worry about people screaming "console port!" because I usually get games that are really fun.

Also when you start getting into the serious GPU power it allows you to play games 5-10 years old with 32X-64X AA which makes them looks years newer graphically, which is always a bonus.

Don't know a lot about AA but doesn't it just reduce jagged edges? Wouldn't the textures and basically everything else still look 5~10 years old?

 

[TakeNoPrisoners]

I play PC games for fun. I don't upgrade a lot. I don't buy games at launch but wait for reviews (mostly user) so I (usually) buy games that I really like and don't have to worry about people screaming "console port!" because I usually get games that are really fun.






Don't know a lot about AA but doesn't it just reduce jagged edges? Wouldn't the textures and basically everything else still look 5~10 years old?

Yea the textures would still look old as ever. Jaggies however will almost dissapear.

 

[Rifter]

I play PC games for fun. I don't upgrade a lot. I don't buy games at launch but wait for reviews (mostly user) so I (usually) buy games that I really like and don't have to worry about people screaming "console port!" because I usually get games that are really fun.

Don't know a lot about AA but doesn't it just reduce jagged edges? Wouldn't the textures and basically everything else still look 5~10 years old?

yeah the textures still look old but there is always texture packs to fix that, and the jaggies make things look more dated than textures IMO.

 

[Rifter]

People who are "in for PC gaming just for the graphics" are the reason good PC games are so far in between.

Everything getting the "3D" treatment, and often a bad one, is just sad.

the entire Might and Magic franchise for example, man it got screwed when they went the 3D route.

On that note, wtb Might and Magic 10.

Just because the developer for M&M cant take there game from 2d to 3d doesnt make 3d a bad thing.

Obviously a game needs gameplay as well, its not all about graphics, but if a game has crap graphics and great gameplay its better off to play it on a console as at least then you can resell it when you are done.

 

[shady28]

I can't believe how long my XFX GTX 260 216 Black is lasting. Or my Core2Quad!!!

I'm still running all games fine at 1080p, but admit I don't bench just install and play - everything seems smooth, but I'm not a high AA user. DX11 hasn't hit me as essential yet when I look at what I'm missing.

Q9450 is happily pumping out the frames. When will I be forced to upgrade? Soon surely?

Been a trend for quite a while. Really, there isn't much that takes more than a middle of the road c2d and an 8800gt class GPU. In fact, the majority of games will do fine on an old p4 dual core given something like an 1900xt agp card. That's like a 5 or 6 yr old rig.




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