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Please spec me a graphics card

OpenToSuggestions

OpenToSuggestions

OpenToSuggestions

Soldato
Joined
5 Aug 2006
Posts
11,477
Location
Derbyshire
Hi all,
In late 2010 I bought a 6950 2GB and was the first OCUKer to unlock it, but now my card isn't the beast it once was and I need a new one.

My spec is:
i5 750 @ 4Ghz
16GB 1600mhz ram (4x4GB)
Vertex 4 Hard drive
2 x Dell 1200P 2412M IPS screens (I only game on the one)
750W Corsair PSU

Now my funds are limited these days so £200+ cards are not a possibility, plus there is no point in one that is so good the rest of my PC cannot keep up.

On BF4 my CPU is circa 50-60% loaded according to the Windows 7 gadget on my desktop, so I do believe a new graphics card will keep this rig good for another 2 years yet.

This perhaps?
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-339-SP&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1982
 
Don't bother with the 270 - the 270X is fractionally more expensive and has far more overclock headroom.

But if you need to keep well under £200, there's no better card than the 270X.
 
I would say the 7950 would be the better choice. It overclocks really well too if you get the His IceQ Turbo or even the Gigabyte windforce 3x slightly over £200 but deffo worth the money.
 
It's a shame the 7950 is going end of life because it's a better card overall than the 270X. I guess the 270X is a nice money saver for AMD to give it 2GB Vram although NVIDIA do that to all of their mid range cards.

I wouldn't advise you get a 2GB card to last you a couple of years but it's hard to find a new 7950 for under £170. Have you considered getting a used card with a warranty?
 
760 would be a bad choice for that price. Not enough of an improvement over a 6950 and is hampered by 2GB Vram and 256bit memory bus. Would struggle in a years time let alone two. You could get a new 7950 for less than £199.99.
 
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if you're gaming at 1080 and don't plan to go multiple monitors/sli then a 7870xt might not be a bad card to consider along side the 270x. its hotter and louder than the 270x but might be able to pick one up for cheap these days. used to sell at £150 might be down to £120-130 prices soon as people sell off the last of them.

however if you can you really should try to stretch the cash and get a 7950 over the 270x or 7870xt.
 
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^ The budget is less than £200 ideally according to the OP.

If you are not able to find a cheap 7950/70 somewhere there is the option of waiting until AMD and NVIDIA release their next range of GPUs. I would hope 3GB would be minimum by then with the next gen games pushing things a bit more. Could be quite a wait though but I really don't see the 270X lasting a couple years unless you buy one now then upgrade in a year or so.
 
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I'd like to say that I want the new 270X over a 7950 as it is the newest gen, but tbh unless I keep my eye on what-is-what I am soon out of touch. I remember the 6870 being worse than the 5870......confusing!
I realise the naming/branding of cards these days is all over the place and a bigger number does not always been better performance.

I am still leaning towards a 270X due to cost.
£200 is the limit but I am thinking if I go for <£150 then I can replace my keyboard too as the spacebar is quite dead. Just typing this I had to spend a few minutes editing just to ensure my words weren't all stuck together.
 
OpenToSuggestions said:
I'd like to say that I want the new 270X over a 7950 as it is the newest gen, but tbh unless I keep my eye on what-is-what I am soon out of touch. I remember the 6870 being worse than the 5870......confusing!
I realise the naming/branding of cards these days is all over the place and a bigger number does not always been better performance.

I am still leaning towards a 270X due to cost.
£200 is the limit but I am thinking if I go for <£150 then I can replace my keyboard too as the spacebar is quite dead. Just typing this I had to spend a few minutes editing just to ensure my words weren't all stuck together.
Click to expand...

Don't be fooled by "new gen" cards as 280X are just 7970 just rebranded. Their exactly the same cards just different bios. So just because it's new gen doesn't make it a better card. The 7950 without a doubt is a better card vs the 270X but obviously costs slightly more. Your really not going to see much of a performance increase with a 270X tbh so I wouldn't consider it worth the money.
 
Looking at reviews of the 7950 it is only 25% faster than my card.
I was unable to find a review of the 6950/6970 vs 2709 hence only now have I realised this.
Perhaps I need to find some more cash together for a better card or just leave it!
 
6950/70 is about equivalent to a 7850. a 270x is equivalent to a 7870/xt and isn't that much faster to be worthy of an upgrade tbh.

7970 second hand all the way for £200.

Nice car btw, I've got a 1990 silver mx-5.
 
if your mobo supports xfire, why not just get another 6950/70 on the cheap (from MM)?
xfire 6950/70 will get better performance than a 7950
 
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