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£450 to spend

Secret_Window

Secret_Window

Secret_Window

Soldato
Joined
10 Aug 2006
Posts
5,207
First of all I am not interested in kepler. If I was using a different monitor then yeah I'd probably jump on the Nvidia band wagon again but as my future gpu choice is now determined by my new monitor it looks as though I'm gonna be with the AMD tribe for a while.

I've got a budget of £450 to spend purely for AMD hardware for gaming at 1080p 120hz and 3d gaming on a Samsung 27A950D (which is why I am replacing my 570 - the monitor favours AMD).

I am torn between two cards for my needs and undecided which will last me longer without feeling the need to upgrade for another year maybe more.

The 7950 gigabyte oc is so close to the performance of a 7970 which I am particular keen on as well as its quietness, speed and cooling for under £400. The 7970 gigabyte oc on the other hand is around £450 but is overclocked as well and thus faster than default 7970 speeds (which the 7950 gigabyte only reaches overclocked). Either seems to be a great choice but for future's sake is it worth splashing the extra on the 7970 gigabyte oc?

Don't forget that while I am gaming in 1080p res I will also be gaming in 120hz and possibly 3d in some games as well.

The main games I play and would like to crank the detail/play smoother in 120hz/play in 3d are:

Battlefied 3
Crysis 2
Skyrim
Left 4 dead 2 (although should be easy to achieve)
witcher 2 (when I get around to playing it)
Deus Ex:HR (mainly 3d)
TF2 and CSS (full detail and smooth at 120hz)

Is this all possible with my budget or would I need to go for something different or pay more on doing something more extreme?

I'm not really sure which fits the bill really and don't really want to upgrade again this year.


Thanks
 
Hey.

Whether or not Kepler interests you it is very important and will play a role in your purchase whether you like it or not.

If you are happy to lay out £XXX now and then it be worth £YYY in two week's time? that's your call to make.

Sorry to sound so forceful but you absolutely must wait for Nvidia to launch Kepler. More importantly to you it will most certainly shape the price of YOUR purchase.
 
Ok fair point but when is the first kepler card due to be released? I am desperate to get on and game with my new monitor after trying it with my 570 and it performing underpar in quite a few things as well as being incompatiable regarding 3d side of things.
 
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Paper launch is tomorrow? with the cards apparently being available on the 23rd.

Otherwise I would say go for it now, but the thing is the cards that will most certainly be affected by its launch will be the ones you are looking to buy.

About the only safe card to buy right now is the GTX 480 on offer, as that is quite a cheap way to get some good raw power. Everything else though will be hit in the next month.

6950 and 6970 will get a nice slap from the 7850 and 7870
7950 and 7970 will be affected by Kepler IMO

Those are the cards I would avoid until we finally know the magnitude of the Nvidia launch.
 
ALXAndy said:
Paper launch is tomorrow? with the cards apparently being available on the 23rd.

Otherwise I would say go for it now, but the thing is the cards that will most certainly be affected by its launch will be the ones you are looking to buy.

About the only safe card to buy right now is the GTX 480 on offer, as that is quite a cheap way to get some good raw power. Everything else though will be hit in the next month.

6950 and 6970 will get a nice slap from the 7850 and 7870
7950 and 7970 will be affected by Kepler IMO

Those are the cards I would avoid until we finally know the magnitude of the Nvidia launch.
Click to expand...

Right ok. I haven't been following kepler news lately so was not aware at all lol.

The 480 is a definite no, not just because of incompatiability in what I want to do with my screen (AMD 3d) but also because they are extremely noisy and hot and old. They may be great performers but I don't think I'd be happy with them.
 
I agree with ALXAndy , even if you are only considering an AMD card , unless you have the cash spare to not worry about price , i would wait until the new nvidia cards are out to see if it forces the respective cards from AMD down in price.

Patience is a virtue as they say although i know what im like sometimes and if i decide i must have something "now" then i just do it . It comes down to you i guess, either buy now knowing they may drop , or wait and potentially save a bit !

Good luck whichever you choose.
 
:)

From a hint dropped earlier Kepler is going to cost $499 and offer equal to 7970 performance.

Currently the 7950 costs more than that in the US IIRC, so Kepler is definitely going to offer AMD a lovely, hand print leaving, concussive reality slap.

I can't wait.
 
I might up the budget to £700 for two cards but will wait to see what kepler does to prices first.

How loud are the reference coolers on the 7950 and 7970 - are they quieter than the 6xxx series like for example the 6870? If they are I may as well just opt for a reference design and save even more cash.

The reason I am curious about noise levels is because I may get two cards for crossfire to get the full benefit of my screen in 120hz and in 3d. Normally put off by crossfire but this generation is more promising in temps and noise levels (which always put me off 6xxx crossfire).

Some of you will be thinking this overkill but I want my fps to be on par or as close to the 120hz refresh rate as possible to achieve full smooth gaming. I also want a more acceptable frame rate in 3d too as I know in 3d the frame rates can half (my 570 struggled like hell in deus ex: hr in 3d).

thanks
 
Secret_Window said:
I might up the budget to £700 for two cards but will wait to see what kepler does to prices first.

How loud are the reference coolers on the 7950 and 7970 - are they quieter than the 6xxx series like for example the 6870? If they are I may as well just opt for a reference design and save even more cash.
Click to expand...

They share the same fan. It all depends on how fast it has to spin to keep the card cool. Temps? 79xx are way cooler than the 69xx and so the fan doesn't need to work as hard.

Set it to 100% in Afterburner? yeah it's a very noisy so and so.
 
Well now Kepler is here, I've noticed the prices have increased on both the 7950 and 7970. :(

What should I do now? I think a 7950 would be enough for my needs, but I think the slight edge in performance with the 7970 will last me longer - or is this irrelevant with a overclocked 7950? I wouldn't buy a reference 7950 or 7970 anyway. I have this feeling the minimum FPS with the 7970 will serve me better in games.

If I didn't want to use 3D I would opt straight to an Nvidia 680 but unfortunately the colour profile is better suited for an AMD card with my screen, as is the 3D technology in both games and movies. Although I will admit Kepler is awfully temping. I almost considered dropping the whole 3D business with wanting to game in 3D and watching movies just to get the best possible performance in 2D. Given both the 7970 and Kepler are priced so close, it would seem silly not to go for the 'right' card for my screen.

Am I making the right decision or am I better off doing something completely the opposite?
 
For money sake, I would prefer a 7950 as I honestly do not agree with the 7970 prices at all, even if I can afford to have two (yeah it would be nice to have, but worth the money? Absolutely not!). The 7950 pricing is better but the one I want (either Sapphire or Gigabyte) are priced very close to the 7970. If I wasn't so fussy about noise and temps I would buy either a reference 7950 or 7970 but whatever I do I am going to be spending extra - it's whether I just go further and spend more to avoid potential disappointment with performance and wanting to change again because the performance wasn't quite good enough to last for future titles.

I may be rambling on here, but it's important to me that I don't rush in and make the mistake I've done before with graphics cards (6870). I was so desperate to move from my 8800 GTX that I opted for what I deemed best value for money because I didn't want to spend a large amount on a card again, and I ended up disappointed with the 6870 because my expectations were high. My 570 was far more in line what I was looking for coming from a 8800 GTX (and has held up really well) but unfortunately it won't do the job for my current screen in giving me that little bit extra that I need for compatibility in 3D and also performance when playing in 3D or 120Hz. I really wish I didn't want to use 3D as I'd just SLI another 570, but for certain games I really, really want to game in 3D.
 
The problem now is that 680s are all sold out. So, right at this minute AMD don't need to drop prices as they could be the only choice. Nvidia are having shortage problems as they have said so themselves.

If anything mate the 7950 looks like the best card even more now. Overclocked it will trade blows with a 680 and a stock 7970 and costs far less.

You can game in 3D on an AMD card. I do so myself. It's also very cheap. Look around for the LG D2342 monitor. It costs around £150 and comes with two pairs of glasses. You may need to replace them as it seems LG made a mistake and put the wrong glasses in some (ghosting) but Zalman do a nice pair for just over a tenner :)
 
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