what would be a suitable card?

[cmndr_andi]

Top man, thanks Andi - that's a good start...anyone else?

Happy to help, but it would probably best to make a new thread if you want a wide range of opinions on your question, as this thread really should be about Abz Hussain's upgrade questions.

Ok so if i lower my expectation to say 3 years..what kind of cards should i be looking at. Bear in mind the last card i put in my last build was a geforce 4 mx440 lol...some way back.

Yes, I think lowering your expectations to a 3 year lifecycle is a much better idea. This means you can get a good quality card now and reasonably expect it to be able to run the future games.

As for which card to go for - it really depends on how much money you are willing to set asside for a graphics card that will last you 3 years. Personally I would suggest something with 2GB of Video RAM as games (even at 1080p) are tending to make good use of this resource. Therefore, I would look towards the HD 6950 2GB and GTX 560 Ti 2GB, if you can afford that.

 

[Gregster]

Guys, on a similiarly vein, what single card solution out there would give me around twice the performance of my current GTX280, anything less than double the performance would be a disappointment for me. Gaming at 1920 x 1080, and while the 280 serves me well in most things, it's starting to show it's age a bit. I'd want twice as good, so what's the cheapest solution that'll give me that, if i'm coughing up cash?

Depends on how much you want to spend being honest?

I couldn't find a direct comparison to the GTX 280, but comparing the GTX 285 with the GTX 570 - this newer card offers around twice the performance. Also, the HD 6970 2GB is available for the same price and offers around the same level of performance, as well as more VRAM.

Yep anandTech results show them cards to be ideal for double the performance of the 285. Also as I said budget is a factor also as if you have vast sums of spare cash go the 7950/7970 route.

 

[pjansell]

Yeah good call, i'll make a separate post. Thanks guys.

 

[cmndr_andi]

Yeah good call, i'll make a separate post. Thanks guys.

Sweet, I'll be sure to throw my two cents into it to get things going

As for your question:

actually looking at that link there, at 1680 x 1050 there seems to be about double the performance, but at 1920 looks more like 25-30% better in most things - maybe i've read that wrong.

Ah, you mean the crysis warhead minimums at 1920 and 1680? Yes, there is a difference but to gauge overall performance it is best to look at average framerates.

 

[sehcure]

The 460 is awesome and OCs really well. No idea about 6850 OC. Also check anandbench gpu for a comparison

My OCUk 6850 is OCd to 850Mhz clock and 1200mhz memory clock.
Done via catalyst so could go higher using msi ab or something.

 

[Borsch]

My 460gtx 768mb Asus direct CU is overclocked to 850Mhz clock , 2150 memory. (no voltage adjustment).

 

[Abz Hussain]

Yes, I think lowering your expectations to a 3 year lifecycle is a much better idea. This means you can get a good quality card now and reasonably expect it to be able to run the future games.

As for which card to go for - it really depends on how much money you are willing to set asside for a graphics card that will last you 3 years. Personally I would suggest something with 2GB of Video RAM as games (even at 1080p) are tending to make good use of this resource. Therefore, I would look towards the HD 6950 2GB and GTX 560 Ti 2GB, if you can afford that.

Thank you cmndr_andi.
Budget wise i think i could stump up about £250 but no more than £300. And TBH for £300 im hoping there could be a crossfire or SLI solution out there. I would then like to watercool these card or cards but the budget for that will be seperate.
I have looked at the 560ti and the GTX 460, both being nvidia but i wasnt sure if they would be suitable.

edit:I have decided on a GTX460 SLI setup, to hopefully see me through 3 years at a minimum. What do you think?