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Low end isn't improving...

Radiation

Radiation

Radiation

Soldato
Joined
12 Oct 2003
Posts
4,027
I think nvidia is mainly to blame but the graphics situation has become an expensive joke, i've noticed for years now that the low end isn't making much progress while the high is but at a higher cost each year, it's gotten to the point where i don't see the point in upgrading and im still using a 260 gtx, consoles have held progess back somewhat so i can still play most stuff with reasonable settings.

If you don't believe me have a look at anandtech gpu benchmark 2012 and compare a 260 gtx to a 450, 550 and 650, or even the 60 versions and see things only slightly improve but the thing is youd expect a £100 card (650) to beat something mid/high end from a few generations ago, things have gotten pathetic.

We're in a weird situation, on the one hand we have consoles holding us back so we can keep using current tech longer but on the other not enough progress is being made on the low end and anything considered even reasonably good is now very expensive.

I've always believed that the low end of the next generation should always be above that of the previous one, except for super budget cards of course.
 
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Youre totally righy about the newer low end cards being poor. The 640,650 and indeed the 7750 and 7770 are poor value. IMO if you are at the low end of the scale you are far better off looking for older generation cards second hand. A second hand 6850 or equivalent would be a good upgrade for you.
 
I hear what you are saying and agree to an extent but then it comes down to budget justification and what you are after. I love PC gaming far more than I do PS3 or Xbox gaming (I have both). I see my PC as a hobby now more than 2 years ago, where I was very much like your self. I went from a 8800GT to a 260 and very happy with both cards. They played games fine and I still have the 8800GT in my wifes computer and it still plays modern games without the pretties.

I see the lower end creeping up and up in price but then again, from Nvidia, I see the top end creeping up and up in price. I still remember the 8800 Ultra though at £400+ and thought at the time....What idiot would pay for that? I guess I am now that idiot.
 
A friend of mine has had a XFX GTX275 for atleast three years now and although he doesn't play the most demanding games (BF3, Metro ETC..) he can still play most games at decent frame rates and so doesn't see the need to upgrade.
Quite a lot of the time low end cards just get re-branded and sold as a new generation card
 
Id say lowend is fine, the 7850 and 7870 are low end, £150 for a card with that performance is cheap?

Nvidia however is £200 minimum

Maybe this is Medium range not low but lowend is not for gaming imo.
 
Radiation said:
If you don't believe me have a look at anandtech gpu benchmark 2012 and compare a 260 gtx to a 450, 550 and 650, or even the 60 versions and see things only slightly improve but the thing is youd expect a £100 card (650) to beat something mid/high end from a few generations ago, things have gotten pathetic.
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it cos the new versions are just rebadged older generation cards ! ;)
 
I agree, there should be more performance progression in the entry level cards.

Over recent years the low and mid range have on occasion shown no improvement, minimal improvement or in some instances less performance than the previous generation all at the same price point. Regardless of smaller die sizes etc. They have of course increased the features but these cards are generally unable to perform at a level where a user would be able to enjoy any of these new features.

weehamish said:
Id say lowend is fine, the 7850 and 7870 are low end, £150 for a card with that performance is cheap?

Nvidia however is £200 minimum

Maybe this is Medium range not low but lowend is not for gaming imo.
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Those are not low end cards, they are mid/high-mid cards
 
£150 is a lot of money when you can essentially buy a whole computer for that amount (not necessarily new but even new motherboard/CPU/RAM cost less than that).

Still, expect the price of the 7850s to drop further. I paid £100 for my 4850 and £100 for my 6850, you just have to wait a little while.
 
Well £150 with 3x games and 3 year warranty is ok i should be to flog it for around £50-80 and if i sell the games for even £10 its nearly paid for itself lol.

Id class £150 cheap for a gamer, this is the cheapest card i have ever bought. £150 for mb/cpu/ram will not be good at all for gaming.

BTW OP i have a GTX 260 in a dualcore rig at my mothers and it cant even play The Witcher 2 properly even on low settings and low res, maybe the rig is broken i dont know but that card is not doing good.
 
weehamish said:
Well £150 with 3x games and 3 year warranty is ok i should be to flog it for around £50-80 and if i sell the games for even £10 its nearly paid for itself lol.

Id class £150 cheap for a gamer, this is the cheapest card i have ever bought. £150 for mb/cpu/ram will not be good at all for gaming.
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It's true though - £150 is not low end.
 
The xbox uses the exact same chip too?

So when the new consoles are released it will be more like a 660ti? Well lets hope so it has to move on theres hardly any decent games for pcs these days.
 
I have no idea but I do know that it out puts at 720P and stretches the image to 1080 . If you ever sit close to a screen on an xbox, it looks awful.
 
Rusty0611 said:
No way.

More like 6670 :D.
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I know you're just joking but i hope not lol. Have my fingers crossed for the next consoles for PC gaming's sake, if i didn't need the oomph from the build i have now outside of gaming i'd have probably not built it tbh. Not much is really pushing the envelope these days.

Used to love upgrading but with single 1080p and below it's more and more just for the sake of it these days for gaming PC's.
 
NZB said:
I know you're just joking but i hope not lol. Have my fingers crossed for the next consoles for PC gaming's sake, if i didn't need the oomph from the build i have now outside of gaming i'd have probably not built it tbh. Not much is really pushing the envelope these days.

Used to love upgrading but with single 1080p and below it's more and more just for the sake of it these days for gaming PC's.
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Yeah i know what you mean, even the 480 still maxs most games. Only reason for more cards is bigger screens and more of them.

The WIIU has a better GPU then the PS3 so the ps4 has to be better then the WIIU atleast.
 
NZB said:
I know you're just joking but i hope not lol. Have my fingers crossed for the next consoles for PC gaming's sake, if i didn't need the oomph from the build i have now outside of gaming i'd have probably not built it tbh. Not much is really pushing the envelope these days.

Used to love upgrading but with single 1080p and below it's more and more just for the sake of it these days for gaming PC's.
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I'm not joking... it's heavily rumoured to be this chip.

http://www.officialplaystationmagaz...e-build-a-ps4-what-can-the-rumoured-specs-do/
 
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