6970 to 7950 upgrade?

[DaveGTY]

Hi,

First off, i'm no expert but I have an ok system that i've built myself. It runs fine for what I need and importantly i'm happy with what i have at the moment.

I'm just looking for opinions from people in the know because I don't know if there is a way for me to save money in the long run, I'm not sure what to do....?

I was wondering that with the new deal where you get the free games with certain AMD cards, is it a good time to upgrade my card?

I mean, I don't have any issues with the card I have at the moment. It's an XFX 6970 on stock settings, not overclocked. It's played and is playing everything i choose to play. Fallout 3, Arma 2, Fallout: New Vegas, FM2012, F1 2012, BF3, COD3, Dishonored, on full graphics settings, or so close that I dont notice.

I'll also be playing the A list games that come out in the future. Arma3, Assassin's Creed III, Hitman: Absolution and others I don't know about yet.

IMO games aren't progressing at the same pace that graphics cards are so I have to say i've been very pleased with the xfx 6970 and i've held out on upgrading to the new cards on the market as I have a single monitor setup.

I'll definitely get Hitman: Absolution and more than likely Farcry 3 so i'm thinking is the new deal really a way to save money?

My system specs are: 1090T@4ghz, Corsair H100, Crosshair iv formula, 16Gb Kingston Hyper X grey, xfx 6970, OCZ 1000w gold, OCZ 128gb 2E Vertex, 128gb Samsung 830 (on order, and will be used for extra game, file storage), WD caviar black 1TB (for pictures and music storage), single LG 27" 1920x 1080 monitor.

I do look after my system and everything is running fine and stable.

My questions are.

Do I update now and save money on the new card from the games i'll likely buy anyway, futureproofing my graphics card at the same time?

Will there be a noticable improvement between the two cards, now or in the near future?

Is it, in fact, a false economy?

Are there any games around the corner that will require more graphical grunt that my 6970 can't provide, meaning the upgrade will pay off?

As you can see i'm confused.... Can you offer an opinion?

 

[subbytna]

get another 6970 for xfire?

I can't see how much benefit you'd get apart from letting OCUK take your money for little improvement...roughly 10% improvement...is that worth the outlay?

 

[kissenger]

Well your monitor is 1080p so I would say an upgrade to a 7950 at the moment would be fairly pointless. Your 6970 should still be able to handle any game at that resolution (within reasonable limits - looking at you Metro/Crysis 1 ) so if I was you I would wait until the summer and get an 8-series card.

 

[tommybhoy]

Go for it.

Sell your 6970 for £100(or more, depends how fast you want to get rid), add the £60 you would pay for the games=£160 towards a 7950.

A reference one(provided you definitely would buy FC2 and Hitman) would then only set you back £62.

But I'd push the boat out for a custom cooled one like the His Ice-Q for £20 more.

Don't forget, you also get Sleeping Dogs too.

As kissenger said, it's not necessary@1080p as you are happy with performance as it is, but it could be helpful with those titles if Gaming Evolved means heavy direct compute usage in those titles, and it's not a lot of outlay really for a decent boost all round.

 

[olivier renault]

I mean, I don't have any issues with the card I have at the moment. It's an XFX 6970 on stock settings, not overclocked. It's played and is playing everything i choose to play. Fallout 3, Arma 2, Fallout: New Vegas, FM2012, F1 2012, BF3, COD3, Dishonored, on full graphics settings, or so close that I dont notice.

Don't fix something that isn't broken, that would be my choice. If it struggles with new games and you want all the eye candy and everything, then why not. Also make sure it's not your CPU.

I'm still on my 6950 and see no reason to upgrade. I actually sold one of my 6950 as I found crossfire was pointless. Hitman shouldn't cause any trouble.

 

[malachi]

get another 6970 for xfire?

I can't see how much benefit you'd get apart from letting OCUK take your money for little improvement...roughly 10% improvement...is that worth the outlay?

This, i went xfire with my 6970. Cheaper and better option.

 

[DaveGTY]

Hi,

Thanks for your opinions.

I guess the upgrade isn't worth it for the increase I'd get at the moment. I'm terrible at selling things once i upgrade, i always mean to do it but end up with old bits in cupboards.

I don't think crossfire is for me either to be honest. Aren't there issues with micro stutter? Also the power consumption and heat, I think I'd rather have the one card. It looks like I'm waiting for the next gen cards unless i feel it's just not cutting it in the mean time.

Thanks for the input, looks like you've saved me some money.