What card to upgrade from a 7950?

Absorbentsolid · 2 Apr 2015 at 05:34

Hey guys, It's my brothers birthday in less than 2 weeks and i know he wants to upgrade from his current 7950.

I was wondering what would be the best upgrade for a reasonable price.

I want something that will last him a nice amount of time, He only plays at 1080P and he won't be going any higher any time soon.

Budget is around the £300 range might be able to throw a bit more cash depending on the difference is price to performance.

As much as i wish i could wait for the new R9 3XX cards i just can't unless they bring them out in less than 2 weeks.

But it doesn't look like that's happening.

Appreciate any and all help.

Thanks!

Diddums x · 2 Apr 2015 at 05:55

I'd go for a 970. What res does he play at?

Absorbentsolid · 2 Apr 2015 at 05:56

1080P

Diddums x · 2 Apr 2015 at 06:06

Yep, 970 gets my vote then.

ginjaninja · 2 Apr 2015 at 06:26

970 if your only looking 1-2 year ahead and dont know how careful u need to be with power delivery..290x 8gb might well have more legs in long run re. Ram and dx12 feature level compatability...
both not really money well spent with the bump in performance in relation to requirement at 1080p....maybe put money towards monitor that will last 10+ years or another perpheral eg ssd..and revisit next year when 16nm gpu / dx 12 games are out...

mods1965 · 2 Apr 2015 at 06:53

For 1080P, a 290 or 290X is going to be fine and cheaper then the 970.

TNA · 2 Apr 2015 at 07:07

mods1965 said:
For 1080P, a 290 or 290X is going to be fine and cheaper then the 970.

Agreed. 290 or 290x will last a lot longer before needing upgrade.

Absorbentsolid · 2 Apr 2015 at 09:17

So the 290x is the more powerful card and cheaper?

joeyjojo · 2 Apr 2015 at 09:21

Absorbentsolid said:
So the 290x is the more powerful card and cheaper?

They're at the same "performance point". Some games prefer the 970, some the 290X. If you look at some 970 reviews you'll be able to compare performance in the right games.

Absorbentsolid · 2 Apr 2015 at 09:26

joeyjojo said:
They're at the same "performance point". Some games prefer the 970, some the 290X. If you look at some 970 reviews you'll be able to compare performance in the right games.

Ah right excellent, I'll go read up now.

djxput · 2 Apr 2015 at 09:45

Absorbentsolid said:
Hey guys, It's my brothers birthday in less than 2 weeks and i know he wants to upgrade from his current 7950.

I was wondering what would be the best upgrade for a reasonable price.

I want something that will last him a nice amount of time, He only plays at 1080P and he won't be going any higher any time soon.

Budget is around the £300 range might be able to throw a bit more cash depending on the difference is price to performance.

As much as i wish i could wait for the new R9 3XX cards i just can't unless they bring them out in less than 2 weeks.

But it doesn't look like that's happening.

Appreciate any and all help.

Thanks!

Id def go for a 970

I did and it (7950-970) was a worth while upgrade.
What I got was:

- a much quieter experience (have a asus strix and its really quiet - no coil whine that I can tell). silent below 60c and even while playing games its pretty quiet

- nvda drivers are better when bouncing back between my hdmi cable and monitor cable (AMDs would bug out and Id have to reboot at times to get it to work; been a bug for years).

- I never did tests to see my fps gain in my fav games dying light, rome total war, but you can see what fps you will gain by looking at the million reviews on this card compared to the 7950.

I know what you mean about your bday and wanting to upgrade ... you prob could get away with waiting ... but why not buy and have fun.

CAT-THE-FIFTH · 2 Apr 2015 at 09:50

An R9 290 and an SSD.

Absorbentsolid · 2 Apr 2015 at 09:57

CAT-THE-FIFTH said:
An R9 290 and an SSD.

He already has a SSD

Absorbentsolid · 2 Apr 2015 at 09:59

According to the benchmarks I'm seeing they are neck and neck with one another, The most of the time it seems the 970 has the edge over the 290x.

I just spoke to my brother and it seems he want's to lean towards nvidia due to shadowplay and stuff because fraps file size and Xsplit is to much.

So i think i'll get him a 970, Any specific 970 i should go for like MSI/KF2A/EVGA etc?

Diddums x · 2 Apr 2015 at 10:05

File size shouldn't matter, he can also use OBS as well as loads of others to negate that .

I only said 970 because it's newer and has better driver support, but the 290(x) is also a cracking deal (I run a 290 myself).

Plus with AMD you get RAPTR!!!!! (wooooo)

Geeman1979 · 2 Apr 2015 at 10:16

Absorbentsolid said:
According to the benchmarks I'm seeing they are neck and neck with one another, The most of the time it seems the 970 has the edge over the 290x.

I just spoke to my brother and it seems he want's to lean towards nvidia due to shadowplay and stuff because fraps file size and Xsplit is to much.

So i think i'll get him a 970, Any specific 970 i should go for like MSI/KF2A/EVGA etc?

The KFA2 as it's currently on offer and gets good reviews. Also come's with a backplate.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-010-GX&groupid=701&catid=1914&subcat=1010

Good write up on the 970, see link.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2015-nvidia-geforce-gtx-970-revisited

Hyzepher · 2 Apr 2015 at 14:20

The 970 would probably also save on electric bill over the 290

K1LaW8tt5 · 2 Apr 2015 at 14:26

Hyzepher said:
The 970 would probably also save on electric bill over the 290

OMG how much?

formby · 2 Apr 2015 at 14:36

25p per year maybe?

easyrider · 2 Apr 2015 at 14:55

I had a 970 sold it and bought a 290 tri x for 150... Bargain and full 4gb ram...same performance...