GPU snobbery?

Not onyl will the new GPU and Ram vastly improve performance but they will enable you to get more out of the GPU also, which will buy you more time. You'll probably be surprised with how capable the machine is after the upgrade.

Thanks for the responses, although one or two seem to have misunderstood my point. This was never a thread discussing the virtues of a specific piece of hardware such as a 5770, that is just coincidental- it is the wider issue of us needing a lot less GPU power than many make out.
 
I tend not to over analyse. I buy the best bang per buck at the time I can afford. Last time for me this was a 5770 second hand. It was already "past it" but was an upgrade for me. Done. It's OCUK, people will have good hardware.
 
I have a 5830 similar to the 5770 in many ways, I upgraded sort of sideways from a 4890 and it was more to do with noise and heat than anything else. It also gave me DX11 but I agree it does most things at 1920 x 1200 rather well and I am not tempted to spend another £150 to £200 on a faster card.
 
I run 6950 xfire on a 1080p gaming res and that's because I wish to have 60fps with all the eye candy settings turned on.

End of the day it's what people can justify in their own budget. It's not really a question why people do it.

Human nature is to always want more :P
 
All depends on what settings u like to use, what resolution and what fps u class as playable, 20-25 fps is just not good enough for some ppl and it is noticably choppier than say a steady 60 fps, other ppl hate jaggies and while at higher resolutions these are less of an issue they can still be seen so a decent abount of AA is required and then it's down to budget and what that particular person classes as too much to spend on a pc.
 
olivier renault said:
Not anything, most things. Some games require horsepower to get the best out of them. At the moment, games don't really stretch PC hardware, the vast majority of them are console ports. But I'd agree to some extent. I'd get a 6950 2GB at the moment (although I have a 560ti). I've always aimed at the high-mid range market, used to be £150, now it's more like £200. Inflation and all that.
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This tends to be about my breaking point too. When the card reaches sub £200 and it's a significant upgrade (25-33%) THEN I tend to take a look at picking one up. Often second hand cards too from someone who MUST have the latest and greatest. It's all good :)

Hence at the moment the 6950 is rapidly approaching my price point and improvement requirements. Assuming i'd get a hassle free 6970 mod out of it, it's a done deal :)
 
ojgbrown said:
Absolutely, but I think it goes further than that- I think that enthusiast generally hype up products to such an extent that people think you need a lot more GPU power than you actually do to run everything on max.

Think about it, look at the tech thats in a 360 or PS3- it is dated, ageing technology. Something like a 5770 or 460 is an absolute monster in terms of gaming grunt in comparison but you still get people insistant you need 570's and 6950's to max games that they have running (albeit in lesser quality) on consoles.
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i completely agree, there are a lot of people who think of anything less than the latest and greatest as not good enough, personally i think that is silly as the first people to adopt a new technology are the biggest losers (depreciation)

i am VERY happy with the 5850 i got for £95, it runs everything i want at the max res and AA and i dont have any regrets with it :)
 
Its like these ppl that upgrade every few months, now whats that all about? but I guess if you've got the money, why not. I keep all my hardware untill the bitter end, Like Ive had my current build for over 3yrs now and just now thinking of upgrading as the dual core cpu is letting the side down now for gaming. But saying that all games are still running nice and smooth with the gpu upgrade.
 
Again, I must stress that I am not criticising anybody. People are entitled to buy whatever they want and whatever makes them happy.

I still feel one or two are missing my wider point slightly. One person said Witcher 2 at 20-25 fps maxed would not be enough and they like 60fps- perfectly understandable, but my point is this is running with the CPU at stock and an ageing 5770. People insist on crossfiring 6970's and 580's and spending half a grand or more when, for example, you can get a 6870 new for £125 and that is a HUGE step up in performance from my 5770. overclock it and the CPU as well and it would probably be at 60fps or if not bloody close since I am getting 25 now with the CPU at stock and a 5770. Assuming you sell the 5770 for £50/£60 then your only paying 70 quid net.

top of the line graphics cards on single monitor setups are at the moment massive overkill therefore in my opinion.
 
ojgbrown said:
My point is that I constantly see people commenting on how much GPU horsepower you need to run the latest games on max settings and whilst I accept 'run' is a vague term (can mean anything from booting up, to playable to consistent 60fps gaming depending on who you are asking). I see all kinds of posts that just confuse me- one I read recently said you would need two 460's in SLI to run Crysis on max at 1080p. TWO. From my experience as long as the rest of your components are good quality one will more than do the job (460 is notably faster than my 5770).

Why pump hundreds into 6970's and 580's when from what I am seeing a 2500k/8gb ram/6870 or equivalent combo would blitz anything available at the moment.
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A single GTX 460 will not run Crysis at maximum settings @ 60fps & 1080p, even if overclocked.

For most gaming enthusiasts, "run" means "run on the highest settings at a steady 60fps" imo.

i5 2500K is a sick gaming CPU at the moment. Spend £200 on a graphics card. Any more and you will be paying double the price for a tiny % performance increase. But if you have the money, then who cares ^_^
 
Phil2008 said:
Its like these ppl that upgrade every few months, now whats that all about? but I guess if you've got the money, why not. I keep all my hardware untill the bitter end, Like Ive had my current build for over 3yrs now and just now thinking of upgrading as the dual core cpu is letting the side down now for gaming. But saying that all games are still running nice and smooth with the gpu upgrade.
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actually i do it differently, i like new shiny things so what i do is to sell it after 6-12 months while it still has a resale value and then i can just add to it to buy the next one :)
 
ShakeNBake said:
A single GTX 460 will not run Crysis at maximum settings @ 60fps & 1080p, even if overclocked.

For most gaming enthusiasts, "run" means "run on the highest settings at a steady 60fps" imo.
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I know its nice to run games maxed out but thats another way of increasing the life of your gpu and system.. Just as long as I can ran games smoothly at mid-high detail, Im happy and thats how Ive made my 3870 last over 3yrs.
 
I'm running a 5 year old 8800GT right now, it does BC2 @ 1080p on medium, since BF3 will have lower requirements I have no worries about keeping it.

Though I wouldn't mind a 4870 or 5770 or similar... :D
 
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