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Can't wait any longer 7970 ordered!

dave_beast said:
He doesn't want to spend £600 though :D
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seriously if they have the balls to release a 680gtx at £600 in this economy I think the pricing guys need to put down the crack pipe or be fired

@ OP was it a 4070X2 single card + 4870 or did you run 3x4870? just wondering since i have a 4870X2 single card and about to upgrade to 7 series or kepler. wondering what kind of perf boost i could expect at 1900x1200 with all the eye candy using a 7 series
 
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Mookzen said:
Considering Intel's top-of-the-line goes for 800+ quid and I got my 2600k for 215, yes, absolutely.
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Those are server processors. Does that mean every one should consider Tesla cards for three grand when buying a GPU?

Your I7 in gaming does absolutely nothing the I5 can't. Thus, you bought the best mainstream desktop CPU available which debunks your "buy cheaper parts more often" reasoning.
 
ALXAndy said:
Those are server processors. Does that mean every one should consider Tesla cards for three grand when buying a GPU?

Your I7 in gaming does absolutely nothing the I5 can't. Thus, you bought the best mainstream desktop CPU available which debunks your "buy cheaper parts more often" reasoning.
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Where did I mention that gaming is all I do ? Besides, clearly even in gaming the 2011 socket can't just be disregarded, it does perform a bit better for the extra cost. (diminishing returns and all)

I spent extra on this rig because apart from getting a 5770 some time ago it was my only upgrade since the Athlon 64x2. (damn the real estate market) That and CPUs clearly age better than GPUs, so it stands to reason that the least future proof component is most relevant when 'buying cheaper to upgrade more often'. Indeed, right now I am considering what GPU to buy and it is certainly not going to be a 400+ quid one.

I have made compromises with most of my components for this build based around the 'buy cheaper, upgrade more often' mentality income, need and/or desire permitting. From my perspective, buying into the 2011 socket for gaming is not -that- much more unreasonable than spending upwards of 400 quid on a GPU considering how they tend to compare and age. As far as the processor goes I merely saw the opportunity to get a CPU to last, are you implying that the 7970, a GPU, presents that same opportunity at current prices ? History disagrees.


Finally, even if somehow within our evident misunderstanding of what constitutes 'cheap', 'mid-range' and 'best' I am proven a hypocrite, how exactly does that invalidate my opinions/advice ? Would you take the advice to not smoke from a smoker less seriously ? What about people advising against some unwise purchase precisely because they made it themselves ?


Let's stop this nonsense, perhaps I worded my previous posts poorly and conveyed a rather more extreme tone than I intended to. Then again it clearly is my opinion and obviously the approach is slightly more involved than '1. look up most expensive product 2. cut price in half 3. buy 4. upgrade sooner.'
 
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lunarwolf said:
seriously if they have the balls to release a 680gtx at £600 in this economy I think the pricing guys need to put down the crack pipe or be fired

@ OP was it a 4070X2 single card + 4870 or did you run 3x4870? just wondering since i have a 4870X2 single card and about to upgrade to 7 series or kepler. wondering what kind of perf boost i could expect at 1900x1200 with all the eye candy using a 7 series
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Yeah 4870x2 + 4870. Put it this way ultra with 7970 is the same as 3x4870 on high.

Here's a pic of it anyway, excuse the untidy wiring, i'd literally just stuck it in and took a pic, wires are hidden away now!

 
Can't wait any longer 7970 ordered!
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You won't be disappointed,with a little overclocking mine performs as well as my old HD 6990 but much much much quieter. If Nvidia do bring out something better in 6 months or whatever it will be a nice upgrade, at least you had the top card for all that time rather than waiting the whole time...
 
Mookzen said:
stuff
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I don't disagree with most of what you said there. However, having worked running a computer store for four years I came to the conclusions that based my opinions.

Firstly, a top end GPU (mainstream) is more often than not capable of things that lower models can't achieve. IE - the 7970 is the first single GPU card that can go anywhere near reasonable framerates @ 1440p.

I form my opinions based on the fact that a single expensive GPU (like a 7970, say) will offer more value in the long term than buying say, three 560ti sort of products to keep up with high end gaming (IE - to max everything out).

That is the 'league' per se I was basing my opinions on. Some one who likes to put everything on full and enjoy everything current technology has to offer without compromise.

The same can be applied to mid range gaming, heck, even entry level gaming. Spend as much as you can initially and it will save you money in the future. If you constantly buy cards like say a GTX 460 you will be replacing them far more often just to game at the settings you game at with that product when you get it.

It only takes one new game release to render a card like that useless. For example unless you like everything on low the 460 can't go near BF3. Yet, when the 460 launched it could pretty much run everything on medium to high at 1080p. So now that owner, for example, needs to get something faster. A 6870 perhaps for £130 or so? that means he has now spent £270 odd. Meaning had he spent £270 odd initially he could have gotten something like a 5870 that would have lasted far longer.
 
ALXAndy said:
It only takes one new game release to render a card like that useless. For example unless you like everything on low the 460 can't go near BF3. Yet, when the 460 launched it could pretty much run everything on medium to high at 1080p. So now that owner, for example, needs to get something faster. A 6870 perhaps for £130 or so? that means he has now spent £270 odd. Meaning had he spent £270 odd initially he could have gotten something like a 5870 that would have lasted far longer.
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But you sell your old card to recoup some $$$.
 
I'd agree spending money on a 7970 isnt worth it if you already have something similar or not too far off performance wise, but for someone like me who likes to leave a decent gap between upgrades its ideal. My friends had about 3 graphics cards since I bought my 4870's and even with me spending £420 on this 7970 i'm down less money than he is.
 
realscot said:
I'd agree spending money on a 7970 isnt worth it if you already have something similar or not too far off performance wise, but for someone like me who likes to leave a decent gap between upgrades its ideal. My friends had about 3 graphics cards since I bought my 4870's and even with me spending £420 on this 7970 i'm down less money than he is.
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I honestly think you have made a good buy. You sold bits and added a lil of your own cash. Good on ya bud and the only person you need to justify yourself to is yourself (or the Mrs of course)
 
Fair enough. If the person in question wants to game at the absolute max settings on a >1080p screen yes, there is no other way than to buy high end because of the pace of the industry alone. However, for me it comes down to considering the diminishing returns involved. Just like the 2011 socket offers minuscule gaming improvements for the much higher cost, same can be said for running a game at x16 AF instead of x8 and x8 AA instead of x4. I speak from a position of compromise, I choose to limit myself to a 24" screen and am quite satisfied with maxing everything except AA/AF in games, in addition to not getting a torrent of extra frames I can't even perceive.

Considering the above, I can and do make upper mid-range (whatever that is) cards last, then I move on sooner than I would otherwise, all the while truly believing that the minor compromises in gaming quality are worth the savings. These self imposed restrictions make it wasteful for me to buy into the highest tier of cards from the generation I happen to upgrade at. Above all I must stress how the diminishing returns of almost highest to absolute highest game settings mean spending less in the long run for -almost- the best possible experience, the smoother performance-to-upgrade curve due to said compromises solves the 'you have to keep buying to keep up and it adds up' issue. Also selling 'old' parts when possible helps.
 
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niggyg said:
But you sell your old card to recoup some $$$.
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Yes but you always lose loads. Always. I lost £50 in two weeks with my 6970L.

When I sold my 9800GT I got £70 for it with the £30 cooler on. Total loss around £110.

No one was ever going to get rich selling their old bits tbh. That's pretty much why I don't sell much any more.

Take last week for example. I needed a media PC. Bought a case for a tenner (I'll put up the project later) and ended up buying a Celeron G530 (dual core with HT Sandybridge) a Asrock 1155 micro and 4gb Vengeance blue for £94 delivered.

I did consider buying second hand, but considering the G530 is faster and cooler than a E8400 and those sell for £45 or so.. Wasn't worth it tbh.

£94 is disposable money, yet that little Celeron is incredible for the £30 I paid for it WITH a cooler lmao.
 
Didn't like spending so much on a card but I upgraded to 7970 from a 460 and couldn't be happier, enjoy!
 
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