Worth upgrading from my 7950?

[broona]

I've got the following gaming/HTPC :-

Windows 8.1 64bit
Gigabyte GA-Z68XP-UD3
Intel i5-3570k (not overclocked)
16gb Corsair DDR3
MSI HD 7950 Twin Frozr III
Corsair HX520 (my slight worry!)
60gb OCZ Vertex 2E
5x 2tb HDD's

The PC's mainly used as a HTPC, so the Twin Frozr's ideal for that purpose as it's very quiet, but I also game on my plasma at 1080P, mainly FPS and driving games.

I'm tempted to upgrade the GPU in the first half of the year and the SSD in the second half, but I don't really want to change the PSU if possible as it's been an absolute rock!

Don't really want to spend any more than £200, happy to go second hand as that's how I buy most of my components, any recommendations for a new card that will play nicely with a 520W PSU? Thanks.

 

[IceShock]

Ah limited by a 520W psu so crossfire is out of the window there because I got a cheap 7950 as a second card to match my first 7950 and jesus the boost was good, they out perform a 290x and a 980 easily, well especially in benchmarks they do, the game depends on the crossfire scaling.

But id definitely wait with a single 7950 right now, definitely get a SSD now then upgrade your gpu later, when the new cards are out you will be able to get a 290x for a good price which will be about almost double the performance of a single 7950.

 

[P4Clock]

What motherboard do you have?
if you can go CF, £90 on a new card and £70 on a psu.
or get a r9 290.

 

[broona]

It's not an Asus, it's a Gigabyte GA-Z68XP-UD3 that supports Crossfire ans SLI, doh!

Would much prefer 1 card from a noise point of view but I suppose CF could be an option, quickly inputting specs into a PSU calculator seems to suggest that 2 x 7950's need less power than 1 x 290!

Thanks for the replies.

 

[IceShock]

hmm, a 7950 has a TDP of 200-220W, or when overclocking has a tdp of 250W, both my cards under load from 3dmark at the wall draw 470W combined overclocked though the tdp is set at 250W.

Im not sure what a 290's wattage is, im guessing around 250W though, but two 7950s will use etleast 420W non overclocked when under heavy load.

 

[Devrij]

Really the only option is to stretch your budget to an visits card or to upgrade the PSU and go for a 290. Tbh a 7950 is a pretty decent htpc card.

 

[~>Dg<~]

many dont realize what a good card a 7950 is. ocd its still a 200 quid card and plays most things maxxed at 1080.

 

[broona]

I might just overclock the GPU and possibly the CPU for now then look into upgrading the GPU next year, hopefully there'll be some higher performing cards with lower power draw by then!

 

[Jamielicious]

I'd say wait as for £200 you won't get a massive jump. Really id wait until 970/290X performance can be had for £200. Maybe the R9 380 will deliver that or this rumoured 965Ti.

 

[Darujhistan]

It's worth waiting until the 22nd to have a look i'd say.

 

[broona]

I might be waiting a little longer, my car needs a new window regulator, new front discs and pads, and rear pads...

 

[Prophet]

I've just upgraded to a 7950 and love it so see no reason for an upgrade just now if gaming at 1080p.