Dying 7970 to what?

[DiscoDave]

Hi all,

I have a rather aging system:

Xeon X5650 @ 4.0Ghz
12GB RAM
7970 OC Ghz Edition.

Recently my system has been developing faults - graphical glitches in all games that i play (artifact, black screen, driver failures, etc). I've done the usual driver check, re-install, etc but no go at the moment.

The motherboard and half of the ram have been with me since 2008.. plus the Xeon replaced a 1st gen i7 920 so it has served me well.

I'm trying to decide at the moment to either:

• Buy a new 1070 based build
• Hold out for AMD (490?)

Mainly because Freesync monitors are so cheaper than g-sync.

Do you think it's worth trying to wait until AMD come out with some 490 news or just go straight in with a 1070? Would a modern i5/i7 and a 1070 present a significant upgrade from my 7970?

Thanks,

 

[Griffildur]

I would consider multiple factors :

what kind of games are you playing?
How much memory will you need?
What kind of settings and resolution you want to play at?

There are lots of benchmarks, videos and discussions around various cards.
if you only game at 1080 then you can happily go for an AMD build with Freesync. Any more than that I'd go Nvidia and Gsync.

 

[DiscoDave]

I would consider multiple factors :

what kind of games are you playing?
How much memory will you need?
What kind of settings and resolution you want to play at?

There are lots of benchmarks, videos and discussions around various cards.
if you only game at 1080 then you can happily go for an AMD build with Freesync. Any more than that I'd go Nvidia and Gsync.

- Currently playing some casual games but would like to play games like Doom/Witcher/Star Citizen in the future.

- If I am going a new build I'll go 16GB most likely

- If I'm going to a new system I'll be going 1440.

 

[Sparkman]

I would consider 1060 or rx480, within the next 6 months we are going to see a huge leap in performance with High Bandwidth Memory 2 (HBM2) from both nvidia and amd, making the current high end not worth the current value.

 

[Griffildur]

ok, for 1440 look at monitors and decide between GSync and Freesync.

A 1440 capable 24 inch freesync monitor is about £200
Gsync one would be £260 - 290 so a bit more expensive. his is based on OC looking at cheapest options at the moment.

Witcher doesn't feel that demanding. I was playing it on my previous GTX 970 quite nicely.

I would look at an 6 - 8 gb card, if you want AMD, I'd wait a little, see what the next cards are like. Nvidia, a 980 TI, 1060 ( although this one isn't out yet but will be shortly)
, or 1070 would do the job nicely.

What I am getting at, I am trying not to influence you way one way or another , just consider the options and make a decision for yourself, but do look at benchmarks and how your games fare on each card, before you make any decisions.

 

[Amatsubu]

I would consider 1060 or rx480, within the next 6 months we are going to see a huge leap in performance with High Bandwidth Memory 2 (HBM2) from both nvidia and amd, making the current high end not worth the current value.

Will HBM2 really have such an impact on anything other than maximum memory bandwidth and capacity? If not, then playing the waiting game for, at the very least, six months might be a wasted exercise.

 

[SiDeards73]

- Currently playing some casual games but would like to play games like Doom/Witcher/Star Citizen in the future.

- If I am going a new build I'll go 16GB most likely

- If I'm going to a new system I'll be going 1440.

If your planning potentially a new build, wait for Zen, if its a wet kipper then look at the intel options, Zen could turn out to be pretty decent and could also be cheaper than the equivalent intel chip.

Id look at budget first, and plan a current build around it, set a top amount to spend and what you want in that money (monitor, gpu, mobo, ram, cpu, psu etc) and what your likely to salvage from your current build.

Then what i normally do is add the parts to my basket so i have a rough idea of what im going to upgrade to, id then wait for Zen and make a decision then, if it turns out decent and maybe even cheaper than the equivalent intel, you get an idea how it affects your budget, you may have extra cash spare to upgrade something else within your budget.

Think carefully about your monitor choice, G-Sync will kind of lock you to Nvidia cards, and Freesync likewise to AMD cards, Freesync is cheaper but the ranges on freesync can often be smaller than G-sync so plan accordingly.

I wouldnt bother with an AMD card right now unless you absolutely need one and then i would buy the 480 (no reference) to tide me over til Vega.

If going Nvidia, place the card and a G-Sync screen in a basket first then that leaves you with the remainder of your budget to figure out what system your going to buy.

 

[JTrickle]

ok, for 1440 look at monitors and decide between GSync and Freesync.
.....
Gsync one would be £260 - 290 so a bit more expensive.

£400.

Freesync 1440p are about £150 cheaper.

 

[Griffildur]

£400.

Freesync 1440p are about £150 cheaper.

right, my mistake, £389

 

[AlamoX]

my guess take a nitro 480 for 250£, that is still 40% faster than 7970, pick a freesync monitor, and when 490 comes sell the 480 and pick a 490.
the 480 should hold it's price pretty well you wont lose much maybe around 50£.