6870 CF Upgrade

[mda]

Hello all,

It seems that the time has come for me to upgrade my 6870 CF setup in my secondary machine.

TBH, Im not terribly particular on ultra high IQ and all in games that I play, but it seems that this setup is struggling to play games on medium.

Games I play:
I've found Rome2 to lag even in the interface even on medium settings, no AA or AF.

Men of War Assault Squad 2 seems to have teething issues with CrossFire.

StarCraft2, Civ5 every now and then but these are mostly CPU limited.

I game at 1920x1080 and dont intend to upgrade displays.

I generally have a few options

Palit Jetstream GTX 960 $225
Sapphire DualX R9 285 $275
Palit Jetstream GTX 970 $355 (might as well stick this in my main and move the 780 to the secondary).
These are the only models I am considering at this point due to local distributor support and pricing.

Im tempted to save a little cash and go for the 960 but Im not sure what kind of performance gain ill actually be seeing. Of course, with an upgrade I'd like to be able to crank up some details.

Is the GTX960 worth it or should I wait? It seems that 20nm is a far way off...

Thank you!

 

[jedimasterben]

Since Crossfire wasn't all that great in the 6000 series, going to any of those three will give you a pretty significant step up.

For the 285 vs 960, [H] did a comparison with overclocking here: http://www.hardocp.com/article/2015...960_gaming_overclocking_review/1#.VPHfI1XF_5k

Essentially, the two trade blows both at stock and overclocked. The 960 you chose is cheaper and will use ~100w less power, so you'll have less total heat to worry about, which is always a plus.

Going to the 970 will be a pretty significant step up from the 960/285, so if you can swing that extra cost, then absolutely go for it.

Also keep in mind that the 290X is now starting around $330 (around $300 after rebates), which will give you similar results as the 970, but keep in mind that power usage is significantly more.

 

[Dayaks]

I would vote for 290/290x (like previously mentioned high power usage, get one with a nice custom cooler) or 970 (gimped last half GB but doesn't really seem to affect single cards).

 

[eclypse]

If that's all u want the 970 is the card u should be looking at.

 

[mda]

290s are no longer in stock from where I'm from, and 290Xs at retail still go at above 970 cost, which is why I didn't include them in my choices.

I guess at this point, it's down to the 960 vs the 970 for about 50% more cost.

Still undecided at this point, but I've scratched the 285 off my list.

Thanks for all the input though.

 

[Dayaks]

50% more cost for 50% more performance... I guess it depends if you have the cash! The value is the same.

 

[cyclone3d]

I would go with a 7970 to start out with. And then if you want more speed add another. You will end up with a setup that is faster than a 290x.

They are going for around $150 shipped on Ebay.

A single 7970 is going to be a bit faster than CF 6870s in games that don't need more than 1GB of VRAM and use CF really well. For games that need more VRAM or don't use CF on the 6870s really well it is going to be a huge difference.

I came from CF 6870s to a single 7970 and then added another 7970 a little while later once the prices dropped.

 

[raghu78]

Since your options are limited get a GTX 970. definitely worth getting over GTX 960. the 2GB on GTX 960 is a huge deterrent for modern games even at 1080p. The GTX 970 is ideal for 1080p gaming and the perf is fantastic.

 

[Yakk]

I would also suggest the 7970 / 280x. These are the best bang for the buck cards at 1080 currently. I run 2x 280x without issue.

 

[mda]

Thanks for the inputs thus far.

Yes, 50% perf for 50% more cost means that the 960/970 are about equal value.

Not considering the AMD cards right now due to bad value on local prices/used.

 

[{NG}Fidel]

970 is my vote since the 290x is to expensive in your area.