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Help with Upgrade

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Dominus_Anulorum

n00b
Joined
Sep 16, 2013
Messages
7
I am a poor college student who built a rig two years ago, right before college started for me. Christmas is the only time I can upgrade (go presents) and so this year I have decided to upgrade my video card. Right now I have a Sapphire 6950. I have a couple options. I was thinking I would try Nvidia this time around, so would it be better to get a 760 or 670 (performance-wise, not price). Or should I just get a second 6950? I am hesitant to try crossfire due to the things I have heard, but I will give it a shot if y'all think it is the best option. My resolution is 1920X1080.

Side Note: Also, I am running an i5-2500k cpu. Will this last me for another couple years? Wrong forum, I know, but I figured I would just ask here instead of starting two threads.
 
What PSU do you have?
What's the max resolution of your monitor?
What games are you playing?
What case do you have?
 
Sorry, I typed that first post in a hurry and did not put everything in.. I have 750w psu, a cooler master HAF 922, and I already put the resolution in my first post. I am planning on buying and playing Witcher 3, Rome Total War 2, and maybe ARMA 3 , and I would like to run these at pretty high, if not max, settings. My budget is about $300, give or take $25.

Edit: If it matters, my motherboard is a Z68-v/Gen 3 motherboard with 8gb of RAM.
 
Which 750W PSU do you have?

Oh and sorry for missing the resolution bit. Kind of speed read that myself :eek:.

As for your CPU, your CPU will definitely last you for a few years. Overclock it and you can extend that lifetime by another year or two. Or at least make the next few years a bit more fun due to the better performance.
 
I have already overclocked it to 4.3ghz, so I am good there. And here is my PSU name: CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX750 V2 750W ATX12V v2.31/ EPS12V v2.92 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC High Performance Power Supply.
 
Dominus_Anulorum said:
What about a 670? Doesn't that have better performance (I really don;t know, which is why I am asking).
Click to expand...
The GTX 670 does edge out the GTX 760. However, that edge does not justify the easily $40 to $50 price difference between the GTX 760 and GTX 670. So the GTX 760 is the better bang for the buck card.

Oh and since you've overclocked your CPU, you're basically set for the next 3, maybe 4, years. Look how long people's Core i7 920 or Core i5 750 systems have lasted.
 
Dominus_Anulorum said:
What about crossfire? I know it is pretty buggy but I want a firm ruling on it before I rule it out as an option.
Click to expand...
If you can get that second HD 6950 for a low price of $100 or less, then it might be worth it. Otherwise, I'd just look at a new card. AMD's Crossfire drivers have dramatically improved in the past few years. With that said, there's still an occasional hit or miss with them and it's just simpler overall with a single GPU.

However, we are close to October and therefore closer to the rumored new AMD GPU October release. So I would hold off on a GPU upgrade until those new GPUs hit the streets.
 
HOODedDutchman said:
I'd go twin frozr 7950 n oc the shit out of it. 760 will never touch a moderately over clocked 7950.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I was wondering a bit about the AMD cards. I wanted to give Nvidia a go to compare the difference between the two companies, but a 7950 is cheaper. Is it actually better?
 
Dominus_Anulorum said:
Yeah, I was wondering a bit about the AMD cards. I wanted to give Nvidia a go to compare the difference between the two companies, but a 7950 is cheaper. Is it actually better?
Click to expand...

HD 7950 is a GTX 670 equal. an average overclocked HD 7950(1.15 ghz) is faster than a golden GTX 760(1.3 Ghz)

http://www.hardocp.com/article/2013/07/02/msi_n760_tf_2gd5oc_gtx_760_overclocking_review/5

HD 7950 costs less than GTX 760, is faster and has 1GB more VRAM. its a no-brainer. moreover AMD has the some of the best games in the Never Settle Forever game bundle. recently saints row iv was added. very popular and selling very well.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/7297/saints-row-iv-added-to-amds-never-settle-forever-gold-tier
http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/09/12/madden-nfl-25-saints-row-iv-top-us-sales-in-august
http://www.computerandvideogames.com/426863/saints-row-4-exceeds-1-million-sales-in-first-week/

there is an expectation that BF4 could also be added to the GOLD rewards program. the sapphire HD 7950 and PCS+ HD 7950 are good options for USD 220.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131499
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202026
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131458
 
Look how long people's Core i7 920 or Core i5 750 systems have lasted.
Click to expand...
Ive had my i5 750 system so long... Im itching to upgrade lol. I thought about just getting one of the bargain water coolers on sale and getting it up to 4ghz to hold me over a bit more.
 
Well I came into this focused on nvidia, but the 7950 does seem so be a winner when it comes to price (at least for the sapphire version). Let me make sure i have the performance levels correct: 670 beats 7950 beats 760.
 
I actually just swapped my 6950 for Gigabyte 760 and I am happy with it. I pretty much don't hear it, whereas the 6950 was very noticeable at full load. I had a 3D Vision monitor so I wanted an nVidia card to try 3D and couldn't be happier about it. If you won't be running 3D then it's even better for you because your framerates won't be cut in half. Remember that nVidia also has PhysX, which I know is not a game-changer but it does add a few gimmicks, I think fog being the most obvious one.

Like others said, if you can get a cheap 6950 for XFire then you can go for it. For me, these dual-card setups never worked out cause by the time I wanted to upgrade, the same cards weren't available anymore and I didn't want to buy used so I just ended up replacing the card anyway.
 
Dominus_Anulorum said:
Well I came into this focused on nvidia, but the 7950 does seem so be a winner when it comes to price (at least for the sapphire version). Let me make sure i have the performance levels correct: 670 beats 7950 beats 760.
Click to expand...

avg overclocking HD 7950 at 1.15 ghz = avg overclocking GTX 670 at 1.25 ghz. a golden HD 7950 at 1.3 ghz is on par or slighlty faster than a golden GTX 770 at 1.3 ghz.

remember clock for clock HD 7970 > HD 7950 >= GTX 770 when compared across a wide range of games.
 
Your PSU is powerful enough for crossfire. Most of the kinks in crossfire have been worked out in the new drivers. At this point performance-wise the cheapest best performing option for you would be to buy another 6950. The performance on the new beta drivers looks to be pretty solid and they have solved most of the issues. They are not out yet, but expect them be released by the end of this year probably. You could easily get a used 6950 for ~100 dollars and for how much performance you'll get out of that you really can't beat it with any of the options you've listed.
 
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