Classic "Time to upgrade" thread with some stupid questions...

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MrPatate

Gawd
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Jan 4, 2007
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1,021
Well it's time to upgrade my 8 years old, 8600 GTS. Yes I'm wayyyyy overdue!

As you can tell, I don't upgrade often and need a GPU that will last. Fallout 4 is coming and I have to play it! I don't know jack about GPUs (compared to other parts) so there might some stupid questions...

I'll play at 1080p (won't upgrade to a higher resolution anytime soon) and want to choose something "future proof" (stupid question, I know) to play at Ultra/High for a couple of years and will use it for about 5 years. No SLI/Crossfire.

At first I thought about the GTX 970 (which is recommended everywhere as the best bang for the buck) at 450$CAD or the GTX 980 at 650$CAD but it doesn't seem to be worth it (or it might be for the long run?).

But I've seen that we are on the verge of DX12 and Nvidia's Maxwell isn't really well equipped for it (from some of the very few benchmark available). Sadly Pascal isn't coming out very soon. As of AMD, I've been burned a couple of time in the past by them. So I'm a bit hesitant to buy their products but not against it totally.

So what do you suggest?
- Buy a "cheap old GPU" that could do the job at 1080p for Fallout 4 right now and wait for the new Pascal or AMD (could be worth it since I don't upgrade often and money is tight). If so, which GPU would do the best job and still be cheap so I can keep as much as I can for the real upgrade in 2016?
- Get a current Nvidia, which one?
- Get a current AMD, which one?

Ideally I'd like not to exceed 500$CAD but if the price difference would make a lot of difference in 3, 4 and 5 years I might got to 650$CAD. The exchange rate is really high sadly, so prices are a lot higher than in the states.

Thanks!
 
Get a R9 290 or 290X used and wait for the new cards to come out in 2016. Make sure you test the card as some were used for bitcoin mining. To me it's a little to close to 2016 to not wait, and an used, cheap Radeon is too good to pass up.
 
generally the statement "future proof" come together with the action "buy the best highest end single card money can afford".. you have to options actually for 1080P in the green side go straight with the GTX 980, in the red side (and this probably would be my option) go with the R9 390X, you can even go a bit cheaper with any good deal with a R9 290X but I have to ask.. what system are you planing to pair with any of those cards?..
 
cageymaru said:
Get a R9 290 or 290X used and wait for the new cards to come out in 2016. Make sure you test the card as some were used for bitcoin mining. To me it's a little to close to 2016 to not wait, and an used, cheap Radeon is too good to pass up.
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How to test them? I guess you mean more than just putting them in a computer and running windows or some game.

Araxie said:
generally the statement "future proof" come together with the action "buy the best highest end single card money can afford".. you have to options actually for 1080P in the green side go straight with the GTX 980, in the red side (and this probably would be my option) go with the R9 390X, you can even go a bit cheaper with any good deal with a R9 290X but I have to ask.. what system are you planing to pair with any of those cards?..
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i5-4590 @3.30GHz
8GB Ram (might upgrade to 16 with the price drop, but I don't see a real reason to right now)
SSD Crucial M500
You'd go with AMD because of brand loyalty(nothing wrong with that) or because the 390X/290X would be really better than a GTX 980. For DX12 I guess, cause in DX11 they aren't (correct me if I'm wrong).


So 1 vote for cheap and wait and 1 vote for best current card available. Will wait for more replies to make a decision. Thanks for you input it's very appreciated!
 
MrPatate said:
How to test them? I guess you mean more than just putting them in a computer and running windows or some game.


i5-4590 @3.30GHz
8GB Ram (might upgrade to 16 with the price drop, but I don't see a real reason to right now)
SSD Crucial M500
You'd go with AMD because of brand loyalty(nothing wrong with that) or because the 390X/290X would be really better than a GTX 980. For DX12 I guess, cause in DX11 they aren't (correct me if I'm wrong).


So 1 vote for cheap and wait and 1 vote for best current card available. Will wait for more replies to make a decision. Thanks for you input it's very appreciated!
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If you look at my sig I have both camp cards, i'm owner of both GTX 980 and 390X cards, the 390X trade blows with the GTX 980 but being cheaper, you need a really high OC'd GTX 980 to make a perceptible difference versus the R9 390X.. Yes, the 390X don't have a high OC headroom, its power hungry and AMD drivers are always late to the party but its a pretty solid card..

As a side note regarding your CPU at that frequency it will hold back in some games at 1080P, so anything higher than those cards will be really a waste of power and money in some games, but in general you will be fine..
 
I think you should aim to get the R9 290 / R9 390 if you want more VRAM. You will easily be able to crush games at 1080p with those cards, alternatively a 970 should be more than enough for 1080p as well.
 
MrPatate said:
How to test them? I guess you mean more than just putting them in a computer and running windows or some game.


i5-4590 @3.30GHz
8GB Ram (might upgrade to 16 with the price drop, but I don't see a real reason to right now)
SSD Crucial M500
You'd go with AMD because of brand loyalty(nothing wrong with that) or because the 390X/290X would be really better than a GTX 980. For DX12 I guess, cause in DX11 they aren't (correct me if I'm wrong).


So 1 vote for cheap and wait and 1 vote for best current card available. Will wait for more replies to make a decision. Thanks for you input it's very appreciated!
Click to expand...

Just run some benchmarks like 3DMark and Valley to make sure it is working properly. If it can run those a few times then it is good to go.
 
Thanks guys. I'm still hesitating and I currently hate DX12 :(

I don't want to wait, but that DX12 crap is annoying me...

Nvidia: Best support across games, best drivers, fast update. Possibly not great DX12 results.
AMD: Promising DX12 results, powerful cards but poor drivers, lower support of games.
 
MrPatate said:
Thanks guys. I'm still hesitating and I currently hate DX12 :(

I don't want to wait, but that DX12 crap is annoying me...

Nvidia: Best support across games, best drivers, fast update. Possibly not great DX12 results.
AMD: Promising DX12 results, powerful cards but poor drivers, lower support of games.
Click to expand...

I have yet to run across a game that didn't run perfectly fine on my R9 290 unless it was a GameWorks title. Even then you just wait a month for Nvidia, AMD, and the developer to get equal performance. There aren't that many GameWorks titles released per year. It's only an issue for those few gamers that absolutely must play GameWorks titles at 12:01am on launch day. Remember that developers make money by developing products that run across as many system configurations as possible.

Now CrossfireX and SLi? That shit is broken as hell. Sometimes it will get a patch that allows it to work flawlessly for a year. Then the next driver destroys it.
 
cageymaru said:
I have yet to run across a game that didn't run perfectly fine on my R9 290 unless it was a GameWorks title. Even then you just wait a month for Nvidia, AMD, and the developer to get equal performance. There aren't that many GameWorks titles released per year. It's only an issue for those few gamers that absolutely must play GameWorks titles at 12:01am on launch day. Remember that developers make money by developing products that run across as many system configurations as possible.

Now CrossfireX and SLi? That shit is broken as hell. Sometimes it will get a patch that allows it to work flawlessly for a year. Then the next driver destroys it.
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It's really more the DX12 performance that bugs me right now, since I don't upgrade often it feels like "choose the right side or regret it for 5 years"... I normally would choose Nvidia (because of the better support), but those DX12 benchmark (even if I know they aren't that reliable) bugs me...
As for Crossfire or SLI, I want a single GPU so it isn't an issue.
 
MrPatate said:
It's really more the DX12 performance that bugs me right now, since I don't upgrade often it feels like "choose the right side or regret it for 5 years"... I normally would choose Nvidia (because of the better support), but those DX12 benchmark (even if I know they aren't that reliable) bugs me...
As for Crossfire or SLI, I want a single GPU so it isn't an issue.
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So why not upgrade more often and sell your used card making it a smaller incremental investment as you go? For example, buy a 450 CAD card this year, sell it for 300 CAD next year and upgrade to that years 450 CAD card?

The problem with all the things you want to make a decision on is that nobody really knows how it will pan out. Fallout 4 will be out in a month, and I'm sure Brent will be doing a gameplay evaluation for it, so at that point, we'll know how the presently available cards perform in it, which would be a good data point for you.

As far as DX12 goes, there are currently no games available for it and there may not be major games for it anytime in the next year or two, depending on development schedules. So, until then, people can play benchmark apps and compare numbers, but it sure isn't fun to play benchmarks....

So, down to cards in current titles -

970 GTX - Decent 1080p card and not a good 1440p card.
980 GTX - Great 1080p card and good 1440p card
390X - Great 1080p card and decent 1440p card
390 - Great 1080p card and not so good 1440p card
 
David_Schroth said:
So why not upgrade more often and sell your used card making it a smaller incremental investment as you go?
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You are right and I'm over thinking this. I was thinking DX12 games would come much sooner than this.

It will be between the 970/980/390X. Depending on funds after the first reviews of F4.
 
Five years of use with the current Canadian dollar? Ouch.

Does Canada get Assassin's Creed bundled with a new 970? Or Rainbow Six

Edit: Yes on NCIX, the EVGA SSC ACX 2.0+ 970 $410 C, mail-in rebate,Savings Code 104474-1306 Part #: 04G-P4-3975-KR . Then sell the code etc.
 
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If you have the money, then grab a 980 and keep saving until true specs and preview articles of Pascal and Arctic Islands emerge. If you feel that you want to transition to one of those newer GPUs, then wait until we get confirmation of their release dates and sell the 980 about 3-4 weeks prior to that in order to maximize your return.

The 290X/390X 8GB is a solid choice and there is no way to argue about their value for performance delivered, but there's too much risk for my comfort zone regarding AMD's lackluster speed of driver development/revisions...if something ends up broken for FO4 (or any other games that come out soon that you'll want to play), it may take AMD a great deal longer to address and correct those issues than it does NVidia right now.

...Of course, this is assuming you will be purchasing FO4 with the intent to play it right around release day. If you are planning to wait a while after it comes out, then you will be in a position to better gauge which brand and model GPU will offer the best bang for the buck after any possible initial issues get ironed out and maybe there will be some new sales/rebates/incentives on some of the various models at that time to help decide.
 
cageymaru said:
Get a R9 290 or 290X used and wait for the new cards to come out in 2016. Make sure you test the card as some were used for bitcoin mining. To me it's a little to close to 2016 to not wait, and an used, cheap Radeon is too good to pass up.
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This time next year:

"Get a Fury or Fury X used and wait for the new cards to come out in 2017. To me it's a little too close to 2017 to not wait, and an used, cheap Radeon is too good to pass up."

It's a vicious cycle :eek:.
 
8-year 8600 GTS owner that cares about gaming hasn't had a cycle. More like a vicious psycho budget. jk

Is that a BFG card? XFX Nvidia?

Hawaii XT cards with discounts/depreciation are appealing because they trounce the new 960s other than in acoustics. 960 Ti (with AC or Rainbow Six) absence leaves a vacuum. Used 970s are also discounted, sometimes 980 Ti buyers.
 
KickAssCop said:
Buy a used 980 ti. Someone was selling here for 550.
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I've looked, one is still up for sale. A bit hesitant on buying used.

DejaWiz said:
If you have the money, then grab a 980 and keep saving until true specs and preview articles of Pascal and Arctic Islands emerge. If you feel that you want to transition to one of those newer GPUs, then wait until we get confirmation of their release dates and sell the 980 about 3-4 weeks prior to that in order to maximize your return.

The 290X/390X 8GB is a solid choice and there is no way to argue about their value for performance delivered, but there's too much risk for my comfort zone regarding AMD's lackluster speed of driver development/revisions...if something ends up broken for FO4 (or any other games that come out soon that you'll want to play), it may take AMD a great deal longer to address and correct those issues than it does NVidia right now.
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Like David_Schroth and you suggested, yes it would be more logical to sell parts and buy newer ones more often. Glad to see I'm not the only one feeling that way about AMD, solid product but poor support.

singe_101 said:
8-year 8600 GTS owner that cares about gaming hasn't had a cycle. More like a vicious psycho budget. jk

Is that a BFG card? XFX Nvidia?

Hawaii XT cards with discounts/depreciation are appealing because they trounce the new 960s other than in acoustics. 960 Ti (with AC or Rainbow Six) absence leaves a vacuum. Used 970s are also discounted, sometimes 980 Ti buyers.
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Yes psycho budget lol
It was a BFG which doesn't exist anymore I believe, current good makers are probably EVGA and ASUS?
 
wait till after fallout benchmarks come out then buy the best card that fits your price range. Hard to say which card is going to run fallout 4 better since its not out yet.
 
Nauseous said:
wait till after fallout benchmarks come out then buy the best card that fits your price range. Hard to say which card is going to run fallout 4 better since its not out yet.
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Yes that's what I said I'd do in previous post. My dilemma was about DX12, but like someone mentioned actual DX12 games will come out in at least a year minimum. I have time to sell and upgrade till then if I want to.
 
Or buy a 960 2GB. Just get the cheapest one you can find and wait for Pascal.

If you are pretty sure that we are on the cusp of a big change, you'd want to spend less now and more next year.

$200 960 card, get $120-130 for it when you dump it next year sometime, buy Pascal.

You can't play on ultra settings with a 2GB 960 card on brand new games... but you can play on high or just under at 1080p no problem, especially if you are the type who can live without much AA.

Or gift it to a family member or another secondary gaming system.

It's still a MASSIVE leap from your 8600 for crying out loud. :)
 
MrPatate said:
Glad to see I'm not the only one feeling that way about AMD, solid product but poor support.
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For single card gaming, AMD has had a decent track record for driver stability. It's crossfire scenarios that can be hit or miss depending on how things go.

Of note, I've had a pair of 290X's in my main system for nearly 2 years now and they've behaved rather well for me.
 
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