• Looking to upgrade GPU. Suggestions appreciated
    7 replies, posted
As the title says, I'm looking to upgrade from my current 5850 to something a little more up to date. Here's some info. Current cpu is 2500k @ 4.5Ghz PSU is 650W 8Gigs of ram My budget is roughly 250$, though if there's a huge difference between a 240$ and a 260$ card, it can be stretched a little. I've been looking at the 7870, the 7950 and the 660ti but I haven't done much research so I'm not locked into these options. I'm more than open to suggestions. Also, any info on which manufacturer to get for a specific card would be nice as well. Thanks in advance.
I'd suggest buying a GTX 760. It's as powerful as 670 and it costs about 250-260$, so it fits your budget.
If you are on a tight budget don't buy a nvidia card, you will lose a lot of performance. 7870XT is a very good card for around that range, costs around $220 and will run everything at 1080p at maximum for a good time, it is within 5% speed of a 7950. A 7950 is also a very good card. If you can stretch to a 7970 I would recommend it however, as driver updates will optimise for that card for much longer do to the fact that the new R9-280X is essentially the same card. A 7970 is just as fast as a 770 for around $100 less. Will run everything at 1080p, or even 1440p at maximum with ease.
If you can make a stretch: [url]http://pcpartpicker.com/part/msi-video-card-r9280xgaming3g[/url] otherwise [url]http://pcpartpicker.com/part/xfx-video-card-fx795atdkc[/url] The 7970 isn't worth it since the R9 280X is at the same price for better performance.
[QUOTE=flayne;42661975]If you can make a stretch: [url]http://pcpartpicker.com/part/msi-video-card-r9280xgaming3g[/url] otherwise [url]http://pcpartpicker.com/part/xfx-video-card-fx795atdkc[/url] The 7970 isn't worth it since the R9 280X is at the same price for better performance.[/QUOTE] You do know that the R9-280X is the exact same card as the 7970 right? If you can get a 7970 for cheaper then get the 7970, if you can get an R9-280X for cheaper then get that.
You can't get the 7970 for cheaper, that's what I said in my post. They are not the exact same thing, there's just not an improvement worth more than a dollar or two. The R9 280X gets about 5 FPS more, but they are the same price so their is no reason to go with a 7970. The only exception is this card: [url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131468&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-na-_-na-_-na&cm_sp=&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID=[/url] which got rather mixed reviews. I wouldn't advise getting it, since I think it's worth the extra $30 to get a reputable brand with much better cooling.
Thanks for the replies, I'm currently thinking of just pushing the budget a little and grabbing the R9 280x [URL]http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=8573836&SRCCODE=LINKSHARE&cm_mmc_o=-ddCjC1bELltzywCjC-d2CjCdwwp&utm_source=Linkshare&utm_medium=Affiliate&utm_campaign=8BacdVP0GFs&AffiliateID=8BacdVP0GFs-QUOcNxU_7Tj2cyhfvDX05Q[/URL] I was already looking at upwards of 280$ with the msi 7950 but only being roughly 20 bucks more I figured I might as well go with the 280x One main question before I jump for it. Compared to the 7870 which more than 100$ cheaper, would you guys consider it a worthwhile boost in performance/longevity of the card to go for the 280x? Edit: I did a little bit of reading around and just decided to go with the 280x. I figured I might as well splurge and get a decent GPU for once. Thanks for the suggestions.
Heh we have pretty much the exact same system, only I'm coming from a 6850. made the same decision as you to go with the r9 280x. Hope we did good!
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