get a 900 series now or wait for 1000 series next year?

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Redwinds

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Mar 29, 2012
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something i have been wondering for a while now. my card is dieing and i need to get a new card now.

my options:
1.) get a 980 ti and wait 3+ years with my system it should be good for at least that.(i can scale the card down as needed)

2.) get something cheap that runs todays games like a 700 series. and get something better next year.

the problem with 2 is my current setup is limiting and it seems like next generation of CPU's and GPU's are going through the tech level up bascailly.

my system:
i7 3770K @ 3.50GHz
Asus Maximus V Gene
16 gigs ram
750 watt psu
dual monitor (new cards should support this and movies and games on either screen)

my thought is that this system can withstand for a few more years till software catchs up with hardware, but it won't be able to support most of the new features of the 1000 series.

need feedback as to what option is a better idea at the moment but look at option 1.

my gaming so far:
League of legends,
Eve
Xrebirth.
Assassins creed series.
more stuff as i find it.

thansk for the feedback!
 
My philosophy is this: if you wait, there will always be something better. However, the reason to upgrade is to play games the way you want to play it. There are amazing games coming this fall, are you going to lose the opportunity to play them in its full glory just so you can wait for something better next year? It's about the games and not the hardware.

XCOM 2, Fallout 4, and MGS 5 are games coming out this year that will be too late for whatever that will be released next year.
 
very valid point,

with it though comes the question of a good card now or a decent one. both will be good,

so would still like some feedback on the options please :)
 
What card do you have now and what resolution do you play at?

If your resolution is 1440p or lower, get a 970 and wait.
 
I'd say just get a 9 series. Who knows how long Pascal will take. AMD has dibs on HBM2 so nvidia will have to wait, and if Hynix has half the yield issues they did with HBM1 it'll be a while.
 
You'll be asking the same question next year. There will always be news that the next gen card will have "incredible performance bumps" relative to current. Just buy what you can now, whether that be mid-tier or top-tier, and enjoy it knowing you have bought the best you can. When the opportunity comes to upgrade (money, sale, etc.) you can make your decision to do so then =]
 
not sure if im answering this correctly: currently its at 1920 x 1080

i have a geforce 560 ti 448 cores.

@Kaisei,
i hope not, i am trying to make this card last another 3 or so years. the provious one is dieing but has lasted me 3 years 5 months or so!

thinking of this as a long term investement. only issue i have is the huge tech change coming with 1000

@Levelog:
good point there, seems all things are pointing to option 1
 
Redwinds said:
not sure if im answering this correctly: currently its at 1920 x 1080

i have a geforce 560 ti 448 cores.

@Kaisei,
i hope not, i am trying to make this card last another 3 or so years. the provious one is dieing but has lasted me 3 years 5 months or so!

thinking of this as a long term investement. only issue i have is the huge tech change coming with 1000

@Levelog:
good point there, seems all things are pointing to option 1
Click to expand...

then just pick the highest end card you can afford now.. GTX 980 and above..
 
In this hobby, if you always wait for the latest and greatest, you will always have nothing.....
 
I'm in the same boat as you are, but I'm waiting for 1000's

My entire system is going on 4 years old (2700k cpu, 7870 video card) and is clearly showing it's age, i'm holding out for the DX12 cards and PCIE3/DDR4 mainstream boards / cpu's to do an overall tech upgrade.

Waiting for the DX12 cards I feel will give more chance of the card being viable for 3-4 years again.
 
LordCalin said:
I'm in the same boat as you are, but I'm waiting for 1000's

My entire system is going on 4 years old (2700k cpu, 7870 video card) and is clearly showing it's age, i'm holding out for the DX12 cards and PCIE3/DDR4 mainstream boards / cpu's to do an overall tech upgrade.

Waiting for the DX12 cards I feel will give more chance of the card being viable for 3-4 years again.
Click to expand...

do you think your system can hold out for another 2 years?

my thoughts on this and the more i read is get an 980 ti and be happy till you have to build a new comp, with the specs i have so far, i can OC it enough to last another 3 years.

as for the full rebuild. next year the tech will be newish. CPU/GPU integration will require new motherboard, cpu, GPU combo and that's a new computer.

That tech won't prove out for another year at least. (new tech shakedown period for hardware).

also i am reading the 980 ti will be more then enough for dx12.

my thoughts on it.

small edit: from what im reading about the 1000 series, most of the features new features will not be usable on old comps, and thus the improvement from getting a 1k card over a 900 card aren't as worth it for the prices they will be providing. granted if you can wait for the 1000 series, and get a 9xx then, it will be worth since the price drops. (this is all based on what im reading so far so take with a grain of salt please!)
 
Either keep chugging along with the 560 or buy the best card you can afford now. Buying an interim 7 series is silly. Remember the folks who waited last year for Pascal in 2015? It could be delayed again or yields will be so bad that you'll get a 16nm card with deactivated cores.

For 1080P, why not just get a 970?
 
if you don't plan on buying any new titles in the next 6-8 months then wait for the 1000 series...I upgraded from my GTX 580 to a 970 because I knew there were games coming out that I wanted to play that I knew my 580 wouldn't be able to handle with all the candy enabled (Witcher 3, Arkham Knight, SW: Battlefront, Phantom Pain etc)
 
I think the "If you wait blah blah" arguement is dumb. There's definitely more strategic times to jump to tech than others. That said. No chance in hell Pascal comes out before October 2016, so if you can wait that long then go ahead. Otherwise get a 970 or 980ti, those will probably retain their value the longest, and then sell them for 50% of what you paid.

Also keep in mind that even if Pascal does come out it's going to be the first generation of it. First gen stuff is usually not the best to own. This is part of that strategic times to jump to tech thing. I wouldn't be surprised if the 900 series cards retain value while people hold out for more tried and true Pascals.
 
Redwinds said:
not sure if im answering this correctly: currently its at 1920 x 1080
Click to expand...

I think a 970 is going to more than enough to sustain that resolution for quite some time. Who knows how long it's going to really be before the 1XXX series is mainstream. A 970 is going to give you a real nice boost in performance and not set you back $600+ dollars. 980 ti at the resolution is just overkill, especially if you are looking forward to what future generations have to offer, if you are like me you will upgrade before you told yourself you would....
 
Redwinds said:
[clip]

my system:
i7 3770K @ 3.50GHz
Asus Maximus V Gene
16 gigs ram
750 watt psu
Click to expand...

And why didn't you overclock your 3770K to at least 4.4Ghz?!?!?!?

At your current resolution a 980 would be overkill even with all the eye candy on.

I have a 7970 OC to 1200MHz and I can't find a game at 1920x1200 that will drop it < 30fps with all eye candy. (Unless you count that crap Assassins Creed)
 
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DigitalGriffin said:
And why didn't you overclock your 3770K to at least 4.4Ghz?!?!?!?

At your current resolution a 980 would be overkill even with all the eye candy on.

I have a 7970 OC to 1200MHz and I can't find a game at 1920x1200 that will drop it < 30fps with all eye candy. (Unless you count that crap Assassins Creed)
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Sorry but that is flat out nonsense. A 980 is far from overkill in some games "with all the eye candy on" even at 1080 to those with high standards. And with DSR he is not locked to 1080 anyway.

I would just get a 970 though if looking for value. And of course OC that cpu...
 
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Get a 980ti, sit on the system for a couple/few more years, ,start a pc fund,and rebuild your whole system with new tech in 2018/2019. :D
 
I think GTX 980 Ti is the way to go or getting a R9 Fury is not bad either
 
Difficult question to answer. Budget, games that are coming out that you want to play, your "GAME QUE" of games you haven't played yet or old games you want to play again.

I got my second GTX 680 for SLI specifically for Skyrim....but guess what sucked my time away that made my purchase useless? World of Tanks and Minecraft. I still haven't played more than 3 hours of Skyrim. That'll wait until Pascal and Skylake-E in late 2016.

Figure out your games "QUE" list. If there's an ultra-high end game that's on there, or will be there in the next 6 months, consider putting it on HOLD until you can get a better setup to fully enjoy the game. Like many here, I'm sure you have a STEAM backlog of games you haven't gotten to play that would be just fine with your current setup, or a cheap upgrade like the 700 series.

If you don't want to wait to play the high-end games, then by all means get the latest and greatest GTX 980 TI.
 
Honestly a 3770K or a 2700/2600K will be enough to game on for the next few years, UNLESS there will be some ridiculous breakthrough that will change the motherboards and CPUs. With all the marginal improvement releases that we have been getting from Intel, upgrading those CPUs is pointless.

Video card wise, get the latest and greatest. Not only will you be able to resell for a higher price, you will also be able to SLI in the future if you move to an ATX system.
 
I just paired a 980Ti with my 3770 (see sig) and I don't feel like its limiting me. At your resolution even a 970 will do you good for a few years. A 980Ti even more so.

For comparison, my 3770k + 980Ti (neither overclocked beyond factory settings) puts out a minimum of 60 FPS on ultra settings at 2560x1600 in every game benchmark I've throw at it (Tomb Raider being the lowest, right at 60 average, 58 min)
 
One option would be to buy a B-stock 970 from EVGA for $250 whenever they come in stock, which seems like fairly often. Use it and enjoy it for as long as it lasts for you, and then sell it off for the going price once something new comes out that you just have to have.
 
Used to upgrade every year. Now I've had an i7 2600k and a 560ti for... a while.
Still play the same-ish games I find--SMITE, FFXIV, TF2..

Maybe it's time to upgrade again
 
Waiting only makes sense when the next big thing is coming out in a few months. I waited for a year for Fury only for it to flop!
 
Drakensoul said:
Used to upgrade every year. Now I've had an i7 2600k and a 560ti for... a while.
Still play the same-ish games I find--SMITE, FFXIV, TF2..

Maybe it's time to upgrade again
Click to expand...

I had to get rid of my 560ti's (which were two of my favorite cards) during the BF3 era. My game was stuttering so hard and was forced to turn my settings down. :p
 
Buy a cheap used card and wait for the next generation of cards.

They are completely different architecture(hbm) so you can expect nvidia to drop optimization of anything gddr5 like a bad habit. Generally if you are planning to keep card for a few generations go AMD they tend to have better support past the current gen of cards.
 
I would get a 970 which is very adequate at 1080p.
Buy it used if you can and sell it back (at a small loss) when Pascal is out.
 
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