I'm thinking of dropping my budget?

[Relentless81]

Hi chaps

So i'm in the market for a new card and i'm waiting for the 69's to come out and my budget is £250 - £300 MAX, I also want a new monitor as my current one only does 1680x1050

The requirements are to game in 1080P with at least 60FPS, I have an AMD 965 BE 3.4GHZ processor and a Gigabyte 870 (single GPU) motherboard so no SLI or Cross Fire

I like to crank up the eye candy and i'm currently running an aging 8800GTS 640MB which seems to be holding its own in current titles in 1680x1050, that plus the fact that the consoles are still going to hold PC tech back in most main stream titles has got me wondering if I really need a super fast GPU or if I can get away with spending between £200 and £250

I'm not particulary interested in overclocking either, I usually just get the factory OC'd cards and pay a little more for them. I must admit the Gigabyte 470 OC'd cards have had me itching to part with my money and I dont know if I want to wait for a 6950 only to find that they are £300+ as I am really not sure if I need to spend that kind of money for what I ultimately want to achieve

Thoughts please?

Thanks

 

[crackerbear]

I would've thought the 6950 should fall into the £250 range and would be substantially faster than a 470, probably less power hungry, quieter and cooler too.

In my eyes, £250 = super fast graphics card. So yes, it should do everything you wanted and more.

I'd say wait as then you'll know how the 69xx cards perform and more importantly, cost. I can't see the prices of the 470 rising that much in the release of the 69xx cards, even if it does, you could always look to a 6870.

 

[RavenXXX2]

Yeah wait for some 6950/70 performance figures and prices before making a decision, one more month won't kill you ;]

 

[TheRealDeal]

If you are not overclocking i would go for a 6870. I had a look at the gtx470 cards on here and none of them offer much of an oc. the reason i would go for a 6870 is the obvious lower power, heat and noise.The 6870 may also have some performance unlocks in drivers to come as its a new card.

On the other hand i still think waiting for the 69xx series is a good idea. If you can't then i think the 6870 is the best card for somebody not overclocking.

 

[Relentless81]

one more month won't kill you ;]

You sure? I think i'm dying with all this waiting!

Thanks for the info but I dont think i've explianed properly. For what I want IE 1080P @ 60hz / FPS with some AA and high detail, can I get away with spending less?

The way I see it the monitor is a bottle neck anyway, if it cant do anymore than 60/70hz then whats the point in spending more on a superfast card if you're just going to enable VSYNC, seems a bit of a waste of money or do I have that totally wrong? I'm so used to gaming at 40/50FPS I have never bothered with VSYNC Before

 

[RavenXXX2]

You can't even max games like crysis, GTA 4, ARMA, just cause 2 and BC2 on an overclocked 480 at 1680x1050 and get 60 FPS average " I know
" What I'm saying is that if the 6950 is like £250 and it is really fast, it's worth waiting.

 

[crackerbear]

The way I see it the monitor is a bottle neck anyway, if it cant do anymore than 60/70hz then whats the point in spending more on a superfast card if you're just going to enable VSYNC, seems a bit of a waste of money or do I have that totally wrong? I'm so used to gaming at 40/50FPS I have never bothered with VSYNC Before

It's so that you can play newer and therefore usually more demanding games at a comfortable frame rate, especially at your resolution. More expensive cards just give you the ability to turn up or on more eye candy in games and still play smoothly.

If you're on a tight budget, then look to a 470 or 6870. If you want a very good card that will let you play at fast frame rates with all effects turned on, look to a 6950 or similar. If I were you, I'd wait as the 6950 would be a wiser purchase if you've already got £250 odd to spend (assuming it's going to be that price).

 

[Relentless81]

Ok you're all correct I just need to be more patient. I hope its around £250 after all this waiting or i'm blaming you lot, I hope there is no supply and demand issues either. Bah.

 

[crackerbear]

Ok you're all correct I just need to be more patient. I hope its around £250 after all this waiting or i'm blaming you lot, I hope there is no supply and demand issues either. Bah.

Hah. If ATI or specific retailers do the same thing as they did for the release of the 68xx cards and have a special launch day pre-order price, but then raise the prices up a few days later, then it may be wise to buy on the day of release.

I'm a little gutted I didn't buy the Sapphire 6870 when it was on pre-order for £176.

 

[JTrickle]

I vote for buying a better monitor.

My 1050p is still used with my old 4850 in my backup gaming living room PC. 1050p is not as good a res for gaming as 1080p.

£160gfx and a £150+ monitor - sale price of your existing card plus monitor (or use them as a backup) > £300 on a high end card for an old monitor. If you say your 8800gts is still gaming ok, keep it until you see a sweet spot in the gfx card market. You just missed the £177 6970s, sorry.

 

[Relentless81]

I vote for buying a better monitor.

My 1050p is still used with my old 4850 in my backup gaming living room PC. 1050p is not as good a res for gaming as 1080p.

£160gfx and a £150+ monitor - sale price of your existing card plus monitor (or use them as a backup) > £300 on a high end card for an old monitor.

New monitor goes without saying and will purchased after Christmas by the looks of things now. Priority is the GPU