Hardest decision ever! Need pro tips!

[Swordchan]

Hello members of Overclockers.co.uk or whatever. D
Anyway, i've been thinking of buying a new graphic card(s).
Even since the release of GTX 970/98 0.
I'am atm sitting on a I5 3570k overclocked to 4.5 GHZ, and 16gb of ram.
And on a 750W from Chieftec. And my current Graphic card is 6870, Sold my 770 2gb to my sister.

Anyway, i'm having a really hard time deciding if i shall buy TWO 970's one 970, one 980, two 980, 295x (Dual 290) Or if i shall wait for the next cards? Coming in 1-4 months??? I also read about the 8gb versions coming for 980 and MAYBE 970? But is 8Gb vram really needed? I'am atm playing on a 1080p 144hz screen, And i will PROB go for 4k in the future. Maybe in a year or half a year. Help needed I feel like i can't make a good decision on my own

 

[Swordchan]

90% of replies will be, one 970 will be enough.

No doubt it will, my two 7950s destroy one 970 for half the price (2nd hand)...

Which is why I say hold off till the next generation of cards. we have been stuck at 28nm for how many years now, it is old tech, yeah its got faster over the years, but its old, we have had new cards on the same tech, but we haven't had anything "new new.." if that makes sence, and we are right on the boarder of getting something new in the next few months.

Anyone who has bought a 980 etc, they are enthusiasts who have the money to throw at the game and don't cry when a month later a new thing comes out and demolishes there shiney new card.

For someone like me (where every pound is a prisoner), Wait until something comes out that actually makes sense, rather than spending a lot of money on a core size that's been around for generations.

And if you have a wife, theres the electricity bill coming through, she wouldn't be happy with the bill of two 970 cards before the electricity bill, where as a single new generation card in next few months might be close to the same speed as two 970s, but for the price of a top notch 980, which is cheaper than two 970s and uses about half the power.

Gotta keep em sweet dude, good luck

Waiting is painful, but maybe it's the best choice. Nah, electricity bill is not a problem yet since i still live home And yupp, i think i would get very emotional if i bought a 980 and a new supercard gets released 1 month after that is 40% better and costs 50% less! or a card that is 30% better and costs the same etc etc. Can't they just give us some eta dates or something so we atleast know something :d why is everything a secret

 

[Swordchan]

Probably better sticking to a single card if you're on a 3570k like me. I'm also on 4.5Ghz and wouldn't go XF. I think you'd need an i7 to properly let two big uns flex their guns fully.

Remember seeing people here saying that they noticed XF/SLI on less than 99% usage in Bf4, more like 60% both cards with an i5. Maybe their i5s weren'tt overclocked, I'm not sure. Just something to consider.

If you're just on 1080p stick with a single card.

With regard to 4k and I still don't think 2 cards will cut it. Remember not all games make use of XF/SLI.

I read some about it and, only CPU Heavy games like bf4 is having problem with SLI 970 for example not fully utilizing the cards.
But ofc, maybe a single 970 is enough, since it can run all current games released on max settings 1080p.

Sorry for misspelling a little there and here, english is my 2nd language.

 

[Swordchan]

For the person who asked if i wrote this on my phone, yeah i did )

Chieftec should be reliable enough, even if not perfect, but that can wait for another day.

As he is willing to wait, and is talking about 4K in a year or so, it would be a better idea for him to wait, as newer cards in his time frame are likely to be substantially faster in the 4k space and just get a temporary, cheap, faster card to make his 1080p 144Hz experience more pleasant if he really has the itch now. Neither the 970 or 980 are that great at 4k really.

He has a 6870, so he can get a substantially faster card for under £100, and the £150-200 saved can go to much better use once newer cards are out/the current gen have reduced with age.
Bear in mind what he is coming from!

@OP
The 7950 Boost (the 7950 is slightly slower, the 7970 and 7970 GHz edition are faster) is not far off your old 770
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/1033?vs=1037

If you are happy with that level of performance to hold you by, given the price of the 79**, this would be the economic way, and then come 4k, you can re-evaluate all the cards and spend the money saved on the best 4k card you can get at the time, which may well be better than the 970s.

Is getting the best you can NOW more important to you; or simply getting something decent that will improve your 1080p experience, and then getting something suitable later and trying to make use of your money effectively?

With your CPU you shouldn't really notice a major bottleneck on any of the options in most cases, just bear in mind your PSU may struggle with some dual card setups.

I might just wait.. I think its the best. I'm not playing that many games atm anyway so maybe waiting is the best.

 

[Swordchan]

It may well be, 4K is still very new.

If you want a cheap upgrade for a little more oomph and don't want to go all the way up to £100/79**, see if you can find a cheap 7850, they can be had in the £50-60 region now, so probably about £30 after you sell your card, and are about half as fast again as the 6870:

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/1076?vs=1336

Many of them overclock nicely too

That's just a pure budget option though if you wanted a bit of a boost economically, as, as you put it you are not gaming much
I was using a solo 7850 with a medium overclock for about half a year after having to sell my GTX670, and it does surprisingly well in a lot of games at 1080p. I'm currently running crossfire after my Mrs got an upgrade for her machine

I will have a look on that card!
I think my mate got two of those.. And i think he is willing to sell me one cheap

 

[Swordchan]

Even better then whilst no longer cutting edge, the 7850's are still very capable, especially on later drivers and if you get one that clocks into the 1050-1100+ range, which bumps them up towards 7870 speed.

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/1034?vs=1336
http://www.hardocp.com/article/2013..._directcu_ii_video_card_review/6#.VLJ00fmsXA0

Nice little improvement over the venerable 6870 without breaking your wallet and helping you last a bit longer

Take this review as an example which puts the cards side by side, and also shows a 7850 @1050 core.
http://www.guru3d.com/articles-pages/amd-radeon-hd-7850-and-7870-review,23.html

Looks sweet!

 

[Swordchan]

Anyway, What good psu's are there? I'm looking for a 850-950W That can do SLI, and dosen't sound like a jetplan like mine does.
I got zero knowledge about psu's ;d
Since some wrote that my 5 year old Chieftec isn't that "OK"

Anyway here is a picture of its specs :

 

[Swordchan]

To be honest those specs printed on the side are slightly better than the ones found earlier, if they accurate.

Regarding recommended brands, then the higher end EVGA, Superflower, Enermax and Antec would be my go to.
Gibbo did a good thread on this about a month ago.

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18641888

Yepp, they are legit i think. Took the picture myself, but who knows might not be 100% legit
But do you really need a high end psu nowdays? GPUS are demanding less power nowdays it seems so is a super highend PSU of doom really necesarry?

 

[Swordchan]

The amount of vendors which put fake or peak rather than sustained figures on the PSUs is quite scary, which is part of why people recommend a reliable brand with trustable figures.

If the figures are correct, your PSU should be able to handle any single GPU reasonably well, but it would potentially struggle with a high end SLI/Crossfire setup. The R290 series are very power hungry, and even Nvidia's 970/980 can draw quite some heavy load at peak.

For what it's worth, my setup is running on a Antec 750W PSU.

In example of the above point


People also recommend higher wattage than absolutely necessary as this allows the PSU to run at lower stress (resulting in higher efficiency) and greater stability, lower temperatures/potentially lower noise and also allows for overhead to allow for manufacturing deviations and aging over the lifespan of the PSU.

Think of it like the system's heart. You don't want it to fail!

Guess i will have to spend some money on a good PSU, Its something you won't need to change for some years so i guess i can spend some money on it ;d Thank you for the help, ur very helpful