Weekend Open Forum: Time for a graphics card upgrade?

[Julio Franco]

With the arrival of Fermi-based graphics cards later this month we have run out of major GPU launches for the months to come, at least that we are aware of. The most important part is that we now know how Nvidia's last generation products will perform, and based on that you can make an informed decision on your next graphics card upgrade.

On the budget and mid-range levels things were dictated a bit earlier. ATI bombarded the market with new releases in the sub-$200 segment that not always lived up to expectations. Nvidia had nothing new to show here and instead relied on product refreshes and a price cutting strategy that nonetheless has served the gamer on a budget really well so far. On a recent tech tip we summarized what's hot in the market of budget graphics cards.

The upper mainstream and high-end segments could be considered complete with the new GeForce GTX 480 and 470. Unfortunately these cards have not challenged any positions held by competing Radeon HD 5000 products and instead have slotted in-between ATI products both in terms of performance and price. ATI still has the availability upper hand and from what we recently saw while testing a Fermi board, the Radeons are also more efficient.

With all this in mind - not to mention that Crysis 2 is on its way - are you considering a graphics card upgrade in the near future? Or perhaps you didn't wait around for Nvidia and have already grabbed an existing Radeon offering? Tell us about your GPU pick, and what graphics card you are upgrading from. Moreover, was there a gaming title in particular that inspired the upgrade? Discuss.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/38462-weekend-open-forum-time-for-a-graphics-card-upgrade.html

 

[tragicallyhip]

I have recently upgraded to a Radeon 4870 512.MB , I suppose if I had chosen to could have hung on a little longer and gotten a GTX480. My rational for not doing so relates to my belief in the law of diminishing return vs perceived value for the dollar and just how much real improvement these eyes of mine can notice anyway.I feel the GTX480 is complete overkill; and on Nvidias part nothing more than an exercise in digital masturbation.Having said that I'm sure there are those who will look at the benchmarking and insist that a game running at 120fps must surely be more enjoyable than one at 95fps even when the human eye cannot distinguish the difference between the two.

 

[Tizzlejack]

After seeing the reviews for Fermi last week, I sided with ATI. I need low temp hardware for my setup so I went with the 5850. Huge upgrade from my 8800gts O_o.
The first three games I tested were Crysis, Borderlands, and Bioshock 2 in that order.
I am pleased.

 

[Captain828]

I'm long due a GPU upgrade since my GTX 285 broke down and couldn't be replaced back in October last year. With that said, I plan on getting a GTX 480.

Why this choice? well even though it is considerably hotter and more power-hungry than the 5870, it is also much faster in most games. The next logical choice would be the 5970, however that is also more expensive and at least where I live the premium is some $130 over the GTX 480.

Also, for 1920x1200 gaming I see no need for a 5970, but I would have to agree it makes more sense to get it over the 480 if you need more raw power.
Another curious mention would be that it starts to pay off in the long term to get a 5970 since it uses less juice than the 480, yet you get no CUDA and no PhysX support (if you care for them).

In the end I think it all bodes down to personal tastes.

 

[flukeh]

I would consider an upgrade to something that would be able to handle Battlefield: Bad Company 2 easier then my 9600GT, but the prices on cards these days are just going up and up. I felt i got a good bang for my buck when i bought the 9600 for $120, but nowadays if i want a card that will run the latest games well, ill have to splurge more then $350. (I should probably mentions i live in Australia)

 

[kpo6969]

5850 if I went with a bigger display. Happy with 5770 @ 1680x1050.

 

[Guest]

Lemme be honest with yall. I've Radeon 4770. Great card. Next upgrade is obvious. ATI 5870. Efficiency, reasonable price, decent power consumption and thermal. Nvidia GTX 480 100Watt more power draw, 100$ more pricy and get only 6-10% difference. I personally think that AMD's latest cards are very good-looking. I go Green.

 

[Guest]

I bought 2 5770s and put them in crossfire and this was a huge performance upgrade over my old 9800GT. I got these from Hong Kong and the price is equivalent to around $320. Plays Crysis Warhead no problems on max settings and it looks amazing. Can't wait for Crysis 2

 

[Didou]

Just received a Sapphire ATI Radeon 5850 Toxic edition yesterday. Can't wait to put it through its paces.

 

[mailpup]

The Radeon 5870 I just purchased was delivered this week so I'm really not in the market for another card. It is intended for a new PC which I haven't had a chance to build yet but I will in a couple of days. Even if I was buying another graphics card, considering the cost, power consumption and heat of the new Nvidia cards, I would not purchase any of the latest Nvidia cards.

I generally favor ATI graphics but in the past that hasn't stopped me from buying an PNY Nvidia 8800 Ultra and later a PNY GeForce GTX 295. My 8800 Ultra died but was replaced by a GTX 260 under warranty. PNY honored the warranty quickly and hassle free. I will stick with them for Nvidia products.

So I will buy either GPU brand as long as it makes some sense to me. In this case the latest offerings from Nvidia do not appeal to me.

 

[Chazz]

I'll be building a rig in 2011. The graphics market and products will definitely be different by then but I don't anticipate anything groundbreaking. So I'll be going with crossfire 5870. I have a Dell 3007wfp so I need a bit more juice than I currently have. 9800GT is pulling it's weight..but it's showing it's age.

If the next-gen cards are very amazing then I will have to reevaluate my choice.

 

[kakarot27]

I'm really mad at nvidia... when the 5000 series came out i waited for nvidia to fight back......now im stuck getting 6 month old gpus

 

[HaMsTeYr]

My 8800 GT seems to be close to kicking the bucket, so i'm probably in the market to getting a 5850 as a replacement card.

Surely i trade off things like PhysX and Cuda, but to me all those now seem so minor as opposed to the peace of mind an ATi card would give me now, not having to worry if my nVidia card would be running high temps, or whether my PSU can keep up, that sort of jazz.

That said, the 5850's aren't cheap here in australia... at least 350 AUD.

 

[JMMD]

I still have my 8800GTS (G92) and it works fine for what I play. Next GPU upgrade for me is when I go i5 or i7.

 

[lmanlo]

I first didn't have any graphics except the built in but that's the low ones. Then a friend gave e the quadro fx 3400 but got to play some games but not in good settings. after a month with that card I went with the ATI 5770 so now I am playing games with high settings. I would have gone with the 5800 series but was low in price.

 

[Renrew]

I'd love to buy a new graphics card if I weren't so confused about the specs and numbering sytems and prices and what will improve my system.

 

[Guest]

i've waited long for the FERMI and will grab one eyes closed as soon as they pop up in stores in my country [hope for a watercooled one though]

 

[Guest]

I upgraded to a Nvidia GTX 295. The main reason behind that choice was NO WAITING for a new toy! I figured, if the fermi based cards blow my dual GPU card away there was always room to get 2 of them and try out "OUAD SLI" (with hopes that the price tag will drop since its not the latest and greatest anymore). Speaking of that I have the original 295 GTX with 2 seperate boards and GPU's in it, the new ones called "co-op" I believe have one board and 2 gpus mounted on it. Are they still compatible to hook-up in SLI mode? All in all Im happy with the 295 seeing that its on par with the new 470, in some cases it even out performs the 470.

 

[Ritwik7]

Bought myself a Radeon HD 4890 about 4 months back. Not yet found a buyer for my older 9800GT. So I guess I should wait out 2010 on the 4890. Maybe 2011 (or even the next few quarters of 2010) will see newer and better cards and slightly lower prices.

 

[Guest]

I'm also still running my 8800 GTS.. The new NVIDIA cards are a joke. If ATI hadn't dissapointed me so many times in the past I would totally go for ATI now... but this way... I'm totally not sure ... maybe I'll go for the 285 - direct x 11 won't be a big deal for quite a while anyhow.

 

[9Nails]

I'm still very happy with my 8800GTS OC. I just don't see enough reason to upgrade to new hardware. Which honestly makes me jaded to the GPU market. The current hardware generations since my 8800 just haven't been groundbreaking. I'm still waiting for a single power efficient card that can run Crysis at 60 FPS in my native resolution. I'm starting to think that there will never be one.

 

[Guest]

I'm still using my 8800GT, I guess I'll upgrade to either a 4890 or a 5850 in the next few months depending on availability and pricing.

 

[gwailo247]

I have a pair of 1 GB 4870s running in Xfire, and my gaming experience is pretty good, unless I turn up all the settings to maximum.

I'm probably looking at a 5870 with 2 more monitors, but I'll wait for the prices to drop a bit, or if some killer game comes out that I need to play. =)

 

[ET3D]

I bought a 5750, then won a 5850 here, so I think I'm covered. As I said on the last open forum, I think the CPU is the limiting component in my PC. I figure the 5850 will last me for a while.

 

[Seraphim401]

I recently upgraded from a Geforce 210 to a HD 5770.Can't wait to start folding!