Wait 6 months?

[weyland yutani]

My xbox 360 is looking very tired these days and I'm thinking of buying my first proper gaming pc. I'm not very knowladgeable so have been reading these forums a lot this past week trying to get up to speed.

With around £200 to spend it seems a single GTX480 or HD6950 would be a good purchase, with the option to xfire/sli in the future too.

Despite itching to get a new machine, the games I really want to play won't be out for 6 months or so (F1 2011, BF3 etc). I'd really like to play these at full resoulution with high settings. Is it worth waiting a while and could I potentially get a GTX570 or HD6970 for less? Im no sure about flashing a 6950 to 70 because I have no experience of overclocking or making BIOS changes.

Thanks.

edit: noob error sorry. I thought I was in the GPU forum. Can a mod move it there?

 

[tummelv]

How big is your monitor? If it's less than 1920*1080 or less resolution then the cards you listed could max those games or be close to maxing them anyway.

 

[weyland yutani]

My current one is less but I do intend to buy a 1920*1080 monitor.

 

[tummelv]

Well in that case a 6950 or 480 would suit you well, providing the rest of your computer is up to scratch. The 480 in particular is quite hot running so you need a roomy case and good airflow to keep it cool, although this is less of a concern on the newer ones when compared to the release ones.

Flashing the 6950 to the 6970 speeds is easily done and there is a few threads on the forum advising you how to do it. the 570 right now is a bit more than £200 but I can imagine in the next 6 months or so there will be deals with a fairly lower price. Also in 6 months they might be looking to offload some stock in preparation of the release of newer cards at the end of the year so you might get a good deal.

What is your current specs? If you're happy with it then I would recommend waiting for a few months before buying but if the pc is slow now then you could buy a 6950 now and it will still run the newer games in a few months time, especially if you don't buy a new monitor immediately.

 

[weyland yutani]

The card would go with an entirely new build. The spec isn't finalised but more or less the following:

Windows 7
i5 sandybridge OC to 4.6Ghz
Asus P67 Mobo
Corsair A50 cpu cooler
Corsair 4GB RAM 16000Mhz
WD 1TB HDD
Corsair 650 or 750w PSU
HAF 912 case

Is a single GTX570 worth getting if prices come down over thge next few months?

Thanks.

 

[~Mike~]

As you are not sure about flashing the bios and overclocking how about looking at the factory overclocked cards that are available?

The HD 6870 cards are good and are under your budget.

An example is the Asus ATI Radeon HD 6870 OC 1024MB £174.98. Its pre overclocked to 913Mhz Core Clock Speed

 

[tummelv]

Well performance wise the 570 and 480 are basically the same. It's just the 570 is cooler, quieter and uses less power than the 480.

If you're coming for nothing to a gamebuild then I would recommend just buying it now. If you wait a few months for price drops you will most likely see newer hardware and then you'll wait a few months for that and so on. You'd never actually buy anything! Like my 5770 cost £150 9 months ago, now they're like £90. If I waited until now to buy the 5770 I'd see that the 480 for example is only £200 and I'd think "hmm if i wait a bit maybe I can get a 480 for the same price!".

You just have to bite the bullet.

 

[Omega]

I would personally wait closer to the time. Unless your really desperate for the new machine now

 

[weyland yutani]

Thanks for your input, much appreciated.

Yeah I hear what you're saying mate and that's pretty much how it would go I think it's a fear I have of spending the £££ then worrying it will be obselete when I get up the next day lol Surely my spec wouldn't have any problems with BF3 or the like would it?

I have to say the idea of the 570 being cooler and less power hungry is appealing because I want to avoid watercooling or buying a massive PSU.

 

[tummelv]

Don't get me wrong a 650W PSU could run a 480 easily, especially a Corsair. But if you were looking to SLI in future a 750W might not be enough for 2 480s. It would definitely be enough for 2 6950 though.

 

[arc@css]

Buy now. Don't play the waiting game, at least not a long term one this this.

 

[weyland yutani]

I'm tempted to go with the 6950. Not wanting to upset nvidia users but is it true that Crossfire tends to be more stable than SLI?

Can anyone recommend a specific 6950 model? Thanks again.

 

[postmanfw]

Make sure it a rev 1 model so that it can be flashed.
Easy to do.

Got the msi one myself as it was on special last week.

Run cool and quiet and overclocks quite well

Will be getting another one for sb rig due to be built soon.

 

[panyan]

personally, i;d wait until the games you want are about to be released becuase they will be more information about system requirements, the components will go down in price and there might even be some new good stuff coming on the market and you never know, overclockers might make specific overclocked bundles or builds for those games!

 

[Cleeecooo]

I'm tempted to go with the 6950. Not wanting to upset nvidia users but is it true that Crossfire tends to be more stable than SLI?

Can anyone recommend a specific 6950 model? Thanks again.

ATI scales better.
If you are going dual card then ATI is early always better.
FLASHABLE 6950

 

[weyland yutani]

How much do graphics cards depreciate in their first year? Hmmm . . . think I'l hold out untill September and see what's on offer then.