Looking to upgrade my video card and was looking for some advice.

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RobotHamster

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#1  Edited By RobotHamster

Hey everyone, so I'm looking to upgrade my GPU for the first time and need some advice before I go through with it. First of all I want to make sure there isn't anything else I need to upgrade with my GPU. Currently my build is:

CPU: i5-2500K

Mobo: Gigabyte GA-Z68MA

Memory: 8 GB DDR3

GPU: Radeon HD 6870

PSU: 650W

As for the video cards I've ended up finding these three, a Sapphire Radeon HD 7870[1] , a Sapphire Radeon HD 7950 for slightly more but I'm guessing that it would be better for future games that'll come out. Also found another 7850 for much less but even though it has good reviews I'm not sure if it'll perform significantly less. Or should I go with Gigabyte GeForce GTX 660[2] or a GeForce GTX 660 Ti[3] .

They all seem to run pretty similar to me and could run most games pretty nicely. Not sure how much better the 660 Ti is than the 660 but the 660 is cheaper. Or should I go with the 78XX/79XX cards that also look good and include Bioshock Infinite, Tomb Raider for the 78XX's and Crysis 3 for the 795s which is nice(but if the other cards are better then I can definitely look past the free games). I'm in no rush but don't know how long the deals will last, thanks!

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Justin258

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#2  Edited By Justin258

I would go for either the GTX 660 ti or the HD 7950, but to be honest I think it would actually be a better idea to keep using that 6870 until you know if, and how, the next generation of consoles is going to affect PC requirements. I don't think they'll shoot up to astronomical, $500 card-to-play-on-medium heights, but I'm pretty sure they'll go up some.

So... yeah. Wait until later this year. That 6870 should still be doing fairly well.

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metalmoog

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#3  Edited By metalmoog

I just popped a HIS Radeon 7970 into my rig and it runs everything really well on ultra settings. The only issue I've come across so far is a strange grid looking rendering while inside caves in Guild Wars 2, I guess it's a pretty common driver issue. It was a quick and painless install and runs fairly quiet and not too hot for the horsepower it has. I'm happy with it. I have almost the exact same rig as the one you mentioned above. Gigabyte MB, 8GB Ram, i-5 CPU, 600W PSU.

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RobotHamster

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#4  Edited By RobotHamster

@believer258: Yea I was thinking if I should wait and see, I was wondering if something like a 7950 would perform well in a year or so which is hard to say. I really want to get something that could run everything I own really well but yea it's smarter to wait even if the free games are tempting. I'm sure it won't be that great of an increase but with my luck if I do get one now it would be poop in a year.

@MetalMoog: The 7970 did look nice but it's slightly out of my current price range. If I do wait though it would hopefully drop and price and I might get it then.

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Icemo

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#5  Edited By Icemo

I would recommend waiting too since you won't get a huge bump in performance with those cards compared to your old card. And in a year or two when you finally decide to buy a new GPU, you will feel great since it will run games like a boss compared to your current card.

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hiono

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#6  Edited By hiono

i would go with what @believer258 said and wait it out until at least when they said what the ps4 is gonna have. I would say if you planned to overclock the 7950 can be just as good as a gtx 670 but if you want adaptive v-sync and fxaa stuff like that also should note that the 660 ti is quieter

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colourful_hippie

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#7  Edited By colourful_hippie

If you really wanted to go with Nvidia I suggest you go for the 660 ti over the plain 660. The ti is not that much more than the 660 and the performance increase is worth it.

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RobotHamster

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#8  Edited By RobotHamster

Alright guess I'll wait then, upgrading in a year or so would be a better and much more significant leap especially for the next gen games. Plus the amount of ducks I'd be able to render would be unimaginably awesome.