Recommend a card

[htpc_user]

I have a Radeon 4890, and I was thinking of upgrading before Battlefront comes out. The 4890 has outlived it's usefulness...or driver updates at least. I had decided on just getting a 380 for around $200 but now I keep reading posts telling other people not to upgrade now, and how the next cards will add "this and that", and so on.

Does any one have a recommendation on a card that is cheaper and can get me by for a few months longer? I play BF4 and TF2 and soon, Battlefront. I use 1 monitor at 1080p. High settings are fine with me. I'm just wondering if there's something cheaper than a 380 but can still beat a 4890 and 6790 (my son's card)? Then when the new cards come out I can pass whatever I get now on to my son's PC.

 

[TaintedSquirrel]

If you want good performance while also saving as much money as possible... Buy used.
Start with the 7950 / 7970 / 280 / 280X / 290, any of them should be fine at 1080p.

 

[KickAssCop]

Buy a 290 or 290x used with custom fans. Should run you about 200-230. You can also buy a new 290x for 250 on some deals or with MIR.

 

[atp1916]

If you're willing to go used, I'd grab a Gigabyte-branded 7950 from Ebay for right around $110-$130 or so. I say Gigabyte because they honor third-party transfers warranty-wise. The 7950 (R9 280 rebadge) will totally annihilate anything short of a 280x or Nvidia GTX670/760. If you are willing to go up to the top of your budget for ~$200 or a tad bit over, as mentioned already, the 290 is a no-brainer. As you probably know, a 290 is still considered a top-tier card.

If you're BNIB - here's a XFX R9 270x for $139.99 also on Ebay. The R9 270/270x are effectively R9 370s, and the R9 370s are at the $200 range, along with the Nvidia option of a GTX950/960.

Unfortunately, there's not a whole lot of BNIB options in the $100-$200 range that compel over a used 7950/280/290. The performance of these 'base class' cards is still 100% competitive with all of the rebadged variants floating around.

When it comes down to it though, anything you get will be a serious upgrade over a 4890/6790.

For the laughs, here's a 7950 vs. a 4870. Believe it or not, the 4870 consumes very close to the same amount of power as the 7950 while being ~3x slower!

 

[Quartz-1]

I have a Radeon 4890, and I was thinking of upgrading before Battlefront comes out.

If you're getting it for Battlefront, then wait until the game actually appears. Not only will you then be able to best determine which card gives you the right price/performance ratio, but you may find that the game is bundled with some cards.

 

[N1GHTRA1N]

You can always wait for the next cards because they will always add new stuff so you'll never upgrade.

Determine what your budget is and what you will get the most use from in the games you play.

I was originally set on getting a 980 Ti but the CAD drove the price through the roof here in Canada. Then I saw a killer deal on GTX 970's and have been enjoying them for the past month. I upgraded from two 6970's which were upgrades to two 4870's.

Honestly any current or last gen card is going to be a major upgrade,

This is a pretty good deal right now if you really want a 380

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...4121963&cm_re=asus_380-_-14-121-963-_-Product

If you want a 4GB version look at this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127879&cm_re=r9_380-_-14-127-879-_-Product

What CPU are you running?