Is this gen worth the cost?

[Defy Belief]

I know we are in the recession etc etc.

Just that 250 doesn't seem to go very far, at all, council tax and a weeks shopping.

Bring back 5p freddos!

You can't take it with you so buy the best card that's available to you.

 

[Columbo]

I guess I'm in a similar position.

I'm still running 2x 5850's in CF and just cant bring myself to part with the cash to change them as the increase in performance just doesn't seem to warrant the cost.

 

[Marine-RX179]

I guess I'm in a similar position.

I'm still running 2x 5850's in CF and just cant bring myself to part with the cash to change them as the increase in performance just doesn't seem to warrant the cost.

Yea...performance increase per gen all went downhill after the HD5000 series. Two gens has passed, and there's still no sub-£200 cards that offer double the speed of 5850 in sight. Before the HD6000 series, it was pretty close to 80-100% increase for cards at around £200 mark, and that was moving one gen not two!

With overclocking already taken into accounts:
6950 was about 15% increase over the 5850.
7850 is about 50-55% faster.
7870 (which was launch at £270 and only drop to sub £200 recently) is only around 50%-60% increase (and considering the price only became sub-£200 recently, it is more like 2.75 gens later).

The 7850 2GB at around £140 is good now (comparing to the launch price of £180-£220), but the price drop is a little too late, and we are getting too close to the next gen launch.

So overall the pricing of this gen's card (and even previous gen) is ridiculous, for people that already got HD5000 and GTX4xx cards who are looking at it purely from price to performance return ratio.

 

[Arthur Hucksake]

I recently spent £200 to sidegrade to a 680, to save faff on time with SLI.

The impulse in me was to buy two 680s but honestly, I am done with multi GPU gaming. I just don't have the time to mess about with SLI profiles.

The sensible purchase would have been the 7970 which to me is easily the best value of the bunch, but then I remembered my last outing with AMD drivers.

 

[Marine-RX179]

The sensible purchase would have been the 7970 which to me is easily the best value of the bunch, but then I remembered my last outing with AMD drivers.

Sensible at the current pricing may be, but you are forgetting the 7950 was at £330 and the 7970 was at £430-£450 before the price drop in the more recent months.

 

[FoxEye]

Well, since it kind of appears I have no choice, I'll wait for the next 7950 promotion then snap one up, and try to ignore the buyer's remorse The XFX DD ones seem to be a bit cheaper than the others, but I'll wait to see what offers OcUK can come up with.

The next gen is probably going to start out overpriced for the first few months. I can't see an 8850 retailing for less than £200 to start with.

 

[Marine-RX179]

The next gen is probably going to start out overpriced for the first few months. I can't see an 8850 retailing for less than £200 to start with.

Yea, but would finger-cross for 7950 deal at £150-£180 price range

 

[Defy Belief]

Don't get XFX unless it's from here so OCUK deal with the warranty.

 

[Gregster]

I have just looked at a couple of your threads OP and man you moan about prices...Buy or don't buy but get over it.

 

[FoxEye]

Yea, but would finger-cross for 7950 deal at £150-£180 price range

Honestly, what do you think the chances of that are?

 

[Rusty0611]

I have just looked at a couple of your threads OP and man you moan about prices...Buy or don't buy but get over it.

+1

 

[Cleeecooo]

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/542?vs=549

Those graphs don't look very impressive tho, for an investment of £160 Especially the BF3 ones, where somehow the 7850 is only 10FPS higher than the 460. Shame the 2nd hand price for 460s has dropped to like £40 or something daft. Means that 33% increase is going to cost me £120.

How do you come to the conclusion that its one of the best value cards, ever?

It gives great performance compared to the rest of the gen. The problem you have is that you already own one of the best value cards ever

Unless you upgrade to something high end, you won't really be getting value for money this gen. If you were still on your 8800, then the 7850 would've been the way to go

 

[FoxEye]

I have just looked at a couple of your threads OP and man you moan about prices...Buy or don't buy but get over it.

I'm not moaning per se in this thread, more asking what the general opinion is.

And your opinion is that we should just suck it up. Duly noted.

But then if your sig is right, you have SLI 680s A man with SLI 680s is not concerned with value for money

 

[tommybhoy]

A man with SLI 680s is not concerned with value for money

Of course he is, that's why he got them, greggs setup(you bitch) is probably worth 10 times what he paid for it when he fires it up and shoots down some AMD users in BF3.

 

[Kaapstad]

I have just looked at a couple of your threads OP and man you moan about prices...Buy or don't buy but get over it.

+1

I'm not moaning per se in this thread, more asking what the general opinion is.

And your opinion is that we should just suck it up. Duly noted.

But then if your sig is right, you have SLI 680s A man with SLI 680s is not concerned with value for money

Value for money does not mean cheapest

Poor drivers
Poor 3D
Lack of Physics
Would be considered by some as reasons to make a GPU poor value for money at any price.

Having said that I would be quite happy to buy a HD 7970 instead of any of the cards listed in the OP. I like to get the maximum performance without having to OC, that for me is value for money.

 

[flopper]

Went from 6850/6870 crossfire to single 7970 when the price was right.(half vs release)
better overall performance in all games as far at my resolution, 5040x1050.
if one games at 1920x1080 its though to justify an upgrade.

 

[Rusty0611]

But then if your sig is right, you have SLI 680s A man with SLI 680s is not concerned with value for money

You mean when the 680's were cheaper and faster than the 7970's?

That sounds like value for money to me!

 

[Gregster]

Of course he is, that's why he got them, gregs setup(you bitch) is probably worth 10 times what he paid for it when he fires it up and shoots down some AMD users in BF3.

Shame I suck at BF3 but at least it looks good.

Value for money does not mean cheapest

Poor drivers
Poor 3D
Lack of Physics
Would be considered by some as reasons to make a GPU poor value for money at any price.

Having said that I would be quite happy to buy a HD 7970 instead of any of the cards listed in the OP. I like to get the maximum performance without having to OC, that for me is value for money.

When the 680's were released, they beat the 7970 and it is only now that AMD have sorted "proper" drivers and giving the 7970 early adopters the performance they deserve. Not a dig except at AMD themselves for taking so long.

You mean when the 680's were cheaper and faster than the 7970's?

That sounds like value for money to me!

Absoloutley. On release day, the 7970 was dearer than the 680. I needed a new card and had a 3Dvision 2 monitor...My hands were tied (and I am happy for them to be).

 

[ShakeNBake]

there's quite a good power leap from a GTX 460 to a GTX 660
http://images.anandtech.com/doci/6276/NVSlide1_575px.jpg

no hotlinking!

660's are around £180 at the moment.
I reckon they will be well worth a look, and if you were to catch one for £150 on a daily sale or something, that's gonna be a nice upgrade for the same price as a 460 shortly after release.

 

[FoxEye]

You mean when the 680's were cheaper and faster than the 7970's?

That sounds like value for money to me!

There are (at least) two ways to measure value for money tho.

Compared to the competition (as you are doing), or compared to last generations price and performance.

Just because the 7970 is better value for money than the 680 (or vice versa) doesn't mean they're good value for money in and of themselves.

As for the 660, yeah I'd buy one if it was £150. No doubt.