When to upgrade your GPU?

[Darth Bane]

Hey guys,

Just looking for some advice please, so last year i built my first gaming PC (Specs Below) and i would just like to ask a question to all you PC gaming vets.

How often should/do you upgrade your GPU?

I know you could say "When your current one is not performing as you want" but i just want to know if there is a general rule to upgrading?.

Reason i ask guys is i have been told that you could put a new GPU in you PC but it could get bottlenecked if you old CPU is not up to par.

I might upgrade my GPU next year when the new GTX 7000 series come out but i don't want to pay money for a new GPU for it not to perform well in my 2-3 year old PC.

Or would it better to just wait another year or more and go for a complete new build?

Thanks guys


i5 2500k @ 4.2 Ghz
MSI P67A-GD65
8GB DDR3 Ripjaw 1600 Mhz
EVGA GTX 570

 

[sockky]

Your CPU will suffice for a long while yet. There isn't a rule really, it is as you put it ""When your current one is not performing as you want".

But it is always nice to have the shiney latest and greatest hardware

 

[Orcvader]

GTX 7000 and not 700? That's going to be a long wait!

I would say 3-4 years is when you start to see your card struggling. Depends on how well games progress though.

 

[andybird123]

it's different for everyone, some people run theirs in to the ground and only upgrade when they aren't happy with new games and what settings need turning down to

other people upgrade every generation

I used to be the former, but when BF3 came out I found myself wanting to upgrade (from 560ti)... I tried a 580 for a bit and thought that with 6xx coming out I'd wait for price drops and then nab a 2nd 580... as it turned out, 580's pricing stayed high so I sold mine and for hardly any money at all ended up with a 670

so my experience is that selling while prices are still good and getting the new gen (it helps if you hunt about for a good deal), you actually end up paying less per year, than if you wait too long and get next to no money for your old card and face buying new with nothing in pocket

depends on what you can afford really and whether or not you're a "max settings" kind of person or happy to run games with settings turned down

 

[Yaayuh!]

I'm looking at upgrading my GTX580 soon as it's not performing as well as i want it too and i'm touching on the 1.5Gb limit.

So around November/December i'll replace with the best there is until i find myself back in the same situation.

 

[Broken Hope]

I tend to upgrade mine when I get close to a doubling of performance for around the same price, so I went from an ATI 5870 to a Nvidia 670.

 

[Darth Bane]

Ok thanks guys for the info, i am happy with my system at the moment but looking on the Overclockers Uk site makes me want to spend spend spend, lol.

Thanks again.

 

[Yaayuh!]

Ok thanks guys for the info, i am happy with my system at the moment but looking on the Overclockers Uk site makes me want to spend spend spend, lol.

Thanks again.

I know what you mean. I'm currently looking to see if i can order something sooner.
By something i mean 2x670 or 2x7970.....

 

[MissChief]

There are so many variables it's difficult to say for certain as it's very much a personal (and financial) thing. My 460 GTX is two years old but as I only game at 1680x1050 it's still doing the business, even in BF3 so the only real reason I'm upgrading is financial (getting £200 in vouchers for another site as a works incentive) and to try and future prrof myself should I change monitor in the next few months. I'm going for a 670 as other lower cards don't give me the boost I would like to see over my 460. A two year old card, bought for £189 and I'm paying over £100 MORE two years later and not even getting double the perofmance? Poor show in my book!

Anyway, if your card is doing the business now and everything you play still runs well without sacrificing detail or quality then to my mind the onnly reason to upgrade is a financial one. Do you have the money now that you wouldn't have in 6 months or 12 months time? If so, it may be a good idea to buy now.

Could you realistically afford a new card at any time without stuggling elsewhere? if so then theres no real reason to upgrade from your current card unless your games are struggling, but then I would say what is there that's new that struggles now that didn't 6 months ago? Nothing would be my answer. Even Frostbite 2 is more than 6 months old now and there's nothing new graphically that surpasses it. Thing will change once developers get hold of Dev kits for PS4/Xbox720 (although some will already have similar performance PC rigs to do basic coding on) and then they can really stretch the legs of the PC again but that won't be until the end of NEXT year.