Hi, I'm trying to decide what to do about upgrading my current 6950 xfire setup but as soon as I think I've decided I see something that makes me uncertain.
My current system is in my sig and is running ok at the moment but the 2gig vram on the 6950 is becoming a real limiting factor now along with the general lack of raw power in modern games. I've done a load of overtime this month and on friday will have £350 available to spend on upgrades. Now the reasons for my indecision are more mid/long term plans, I currently just have a basic 1080p60 monitor but I'm aiming to upgrade that in the new year to either a 1440p60, a 1080p144 (maybe both combined if something cheaper than the ROG Swift comes out) or possibly even the Acer 4K GSync monitor. Now I'd like this system to last me a good couple of years before I have to start upgrading again so I want to make sure I don't cut any corners that will limit me too much down the line.
So far these are the options I've considered.
1) Buy an MSI Gaming 970 for £290 straight away.
This was my original plan with the idea of getting a second 970 in a few months. This is the probably the best value for money option and my case has plenty of airflow (Enthoo Pro, all drive cages removed, 3x140mm intake fans, 2x140mm exhaust, H75 in push/pull exhausting) so I think the MSI cards should be ok in SLI. My concern here is if in the longer term the 970s wont be up to running the 4K monitor. Now I'm not expecting to be able to run everything at absolute max settings at a locked 60fps and am quite happy to have to reduce a few settings so will 970s be ok for that? If I do go 4K I could be tempted by the GSync one so presumably that would also help compensate for slightly lower frame rates?
2) Wait until next month for more cash and buy a 980.
Now this is something I've been looking at more recently when I started to wonder if the 970s would be powerfull enough. Obviously quite a bit more expensive in the short term and even more so if I get a second one. Looking at the prices I think I could only justify getting the cheapest reference cooler designs, the custom designs are just too expensive. Now if the plan is to go SLI then the ref cooler is probably best anyway due to exhausting the air out of the back of the case but as the ref cards are apparently EOL already will I struggle to get a second card in a few months time at a sensible price? And taking the price into account will the extra performance of the 980s be that noticable in real world gaming if I do end up going 4K or even 1440p144?
3) Save the money for the moment and stick with the xfire 6950s
Now as I said, the xfire 6950s are doing ok at the moment but are starting to struggle but I could probably put up with them for a bit longer and see what happens to prices and what new cards are released by NVidia and AMD. Now we suspect the Titan II and/or 980Ti will be coming from NVidia but given previous history I suspect they will be way out of my justifiable price range, even £430 is a lot to spend on a single card let alone the £500-£600+ those cards are likely to be. I presume equally because of the price of those cards it wont mean price drops on the 970/980 when they come out so that leaves the next AMD cards but they aren't expected until a fair way into next year and I doubt I can wait that long with money burning a hole in my pocket
So what do we think is my best option? Any thoughts gratefully received
My current system is in my sig and is running ok at the moment but the 2gig vram on the 6950 is becoming a real limiting factor now along with the general lack of raw power in modern games. I've done a load of overtime this month and on friday will have £350 available to spend on upgrades. Now the reasons for my indecision are more mid/long term plans, I currently just have a basic 1080p60 monitor but I'm aiming to upgrade that in the new year to either a 1440p60, a 1080p144 (maybe both combined if something cheaper than the ROG Swift comes out) or possibly even the Acer 4K GSync monitor. Now I'd like this system to last me a good couple of years before I have to start upgrading again so I want to make sure I don't cut any corners that will limit me too much down the line.
So far these are the options I've considered.
1) Buy an MSI Gaming 970 for £290 straight away.
This was my original plan with the idea of getting a second 970 in a few months. This is the probably the best value for money option and my case has plenty of airflow (Enthoo Pro, all drive cages removed, 3x140mm intake fans, 2x140mm exhaust, H75 in push/pull exhausting) so I think the MSI cards should be ok in SLI. My concern here is if in the longer term the 970s wont be up to running the 4K monitor. Now I'm not expecting to be able to run everything at absolute max settings at a locked 60fps and am quite happy to have to reduce a few settings so will 970s be ok for that? If I do go 4K I could be tempted by the GSync one so presumably that would also help compensate for slightly lower frame rates?
2) Wait until next month for more cash and buy a 980.
Now this is something I've been looking at more recently when I started to wonder if the 970s would be powerfull enough. Obviously quite a bit more expensive in the short term and even more so if I get a second one. Looking at the prices I think I could only justify getting the cheapest reference cooler designs, the custom designs are just too expensive. Now if the plan is to go SLI then the ref cooler is probably best anyway due to exhausting the air out of the back of the case but as the ref cards are apparently EOL already will I struggle to get a second card in a few months time at a sensible price? And taking the price into account will the extra performance of the 980s be that noticable in real world gaming if I do end up going 4K or even 1440p144?
3) Save the money for the moment and stick with the xfire 6950s
Now as I said, the xfire 6950s are doing ok at the moment but are starting to struggle but I could probably put up with them for a bit longer and see what happens to prices and what new cards are released by NVidia and AMD. Now we suspect the Titan II and/or 980Ti will be coming from NVidia but given previous history I suspect they will be way out of my justifiable price range, even £430 is a lot to spend on a single card let alone the £500-£600+ those cards are likely to be. I presume equally because of the price of those cards it wont mean price drops on the 970/980 when they come out so that leaves the next AMD cards but they aren't expected until a fair way into next year and I doubt I can wait that long with money burning a hole in my pocket
So what do we think is my best option? Any thoughts gratefully received
