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Stop gap needed

ManofHorse

ManofHorse

ManofHorse

Associate
Joined
21 Jan 2012
Posts
33
So,

As is always the way when I decide to buy new hardware, I'm trying to buy at the time when the next generation of whatever it is, is "only a few weeks away" (maybe)

Yesterday I ordered an MSI 2gb 560TI twin frozr as it seemed to be a good choice for price vs performance, in BF3 in particular. But then, within hours, I got buyers remorse and cancelled the order. I had been reading about Kepler being "just around the corner" and the GK104 or whatever it is being priced at €230 or so. This made me think i must be crazy for spending £200 on a 560TI now, hence i cancelled.

Now, i dont want to start a debate about whether or not kepler will be this price, or when it's coming out. It seems safe to say that no one really knows, we might not know for a while and there's a good chance the next gen will be a lot more than €230.


But, i can wait no longer, I am currently using onboard graphics and it has to stop.

If you would be so kind as to give me some recommendations for second hand cards to purchase for the old bay that will handle BF3 ok-ish and that i can sell in a couple of months for not much loss.

From looking, it seems like maybe a GTX8800 would be more than sufficient to play on medium settings (fine with me) and could be had for not much money at all. This should keep me sane until some more details emerge and I can make an informed decision regarding what card i should get for around the £200 mark, and when i should get it.

Thoughts?
 
It really depends on the resolution you plan to play at, but from personal experience the 9800GTX (which is only slightly faster than the 8800GTX) can play BF3 well enough on low settings at 1920x1200 resolution - but it isn't ideal. Therefore the 8800GTX would be pretty much the minimum card I would go for. Other cards on this level are the HD 4850, HD 5750, 8800GT, 8800GTS 512MB, 9800GT and GTS 250.

However, if possible I would spend a bit more (around £50) and get yourself a card which is a step up from these. The HD 5770 suggested by shadow box is a good bet. Other cards on this level are the HD 4870, HD 4890 and GTX 260.

Alternatively, you could buy a really good value card brand new and then sell it in few months time reclaiming a good deal of money while maintaining good gaming performance- something like the HD 6850 (£96) or GTX 460 1GB (£100) are very good options. As would a second hand HD 5850.
 
Thanks guys.

I hope to play at 1080p if that's possible.

I was hoping to stick to paying around £50, my thought is that in a couple of months i really cant lose much more than £20 on the card or so.

Good to hear you don't all think I'm crazy though.
 
ManofHorse said:
Just to follow up, from poking around and looking at bench marks etc, this is clearly the answer.

Perfect.

Thanks both for your help.
Click to expand...

Good little cards IMO. I should know, I had two. And for the most part I was only playing on one any way given the shoddiness of Crossfire.
 
upgrading GFX is one of them thing that as always made me cry, for the sort of games i play my old 8800gs(:p) was more then upto the job but sometime you have to stop messing about and just do it.

you dont alway need a £500+ card there just for ppl with a size complex :D, the GTX 460's are bringing around £80 used £100new with 5year warranty but if you could make your £50 budget grow a little that card would list you 12 months+, and will play all games
 
Hmm... very interesting.

They do seem like a good deal for £100 new,but then that is almost double what i was considering spending.

If I come to sell it again in three months, surely it wont still be worth £80 then?

To be honest, i am all about VFM, i want my games to look decent, but i dont have to play on ultra. My thinking behind getting the new entry level kepler was that maybe it would suit me for a good 2 years plus. But i dont know.

Its a mine field this gfx malarkey
 
i have just upgraded myself the card is still in the post to me :P

i was watching the gtx460's on that site that we cant mention the bay and there going for 75 to 85 depending on the model.

and i garatee you if a 9800 can pay the game in ok res then the gtx 460 will do the job more then fine.
 
but it is that much more money, i may lose 30 - 40 quid on a 460 in three months when i would have lost only 10 - 20 on a 5770. Granted, games wont look quite as good, but if my plan is upgrade in three months, then the 5770 is the better option perhaps?

I dont know lol.
 
You can um and arr about what to do forever when it comes to picking a gfx card.

The 1gb 460 is a awesome little card and you would be more then happy with it,and tbh you'd probably find that you'll stick with it a while.Kepler isnt really round the corner,i expect them to be released when ivybridge is and windows 8.
take the plunge buy the 460 and wait till you can see the bigger picture.

I only game on pc these days,i get by fine with my 4890 on high settings in skyrim and bf3,Most games are console ports anyway and we all know they use old tech.

things will change this year at e3 when the new xbox will be revealed and we kinda know what sort of horsepower we will need for the next gen ports lol
 
ManofHorse said:
but it is that much more money, i may lose 30 - 40 quid on a 460 in three months
Click to expand...

If you buy used you will lose £0-20 on a 460. Remember that there are LOTS of people with Cre2Duos that cant even max out 460 potential, so the market for it will not disappear with appearance of Kepler.
 
I think he meant the B-Grade or Clearance part of the OCUK shop - there is no post count required to access this (unlike the OCUK members market).

The card he was referring to was probably this one - a GTX 460 768MB for £80. Since you can get brand new and faster GTX 460 1GB cards for £20 then it isn't a massive bargain, but if you are mainly concerned with minimising your loss from selling it on later then it's not a bad deal.
 
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