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Should I Upgrade

P

PolygonGTC

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Jan 6, 2006
Messages
1,791
I've not been huge on PC gaming in a long time. The newest game I have is Portal 2. Currently I have a Radeon HD6850 that's slightly overclocked from the factory. I just watched some videos on Bioshock Infinite and I'm really wanting to pick it up. Recommended spces have the 6950 listed, which on some games is substantially faster than the 6850. The rest of the specs of my systems are more than enough.

Do you think I should upgrade, if so, to what?
 
do you have a budget. right now the best cards to get are HD 7950 boost or HD 7870 Tahiti LE .
 
I would think that Infinite would be more than playable with what you've got. Personally, I would try it out and see. And if you're not really a gamer than it really isn't necessary to upgrade. Try it and see.
 
personally.. i think you should wait but.....

remember this.. the 78xx cards currently comes with bioshock/tomb raider and 79xx cards currently comes wiith bioshock/crysis 3. If you decide to buy bioshock, that is 60 dollars. Even if you get a 7850 which is about 150, you still get the 2 games with it.
 
If you don't play many new games and you are thinking about getting Bioshock anyways you can get a 7850 and get bioshock free. Sell your 6850 off and get a slight upgrade for not a lot out of pocket.

Otherwise, just buy Bioshock Infinite and your 6850 will play it just fine. Not max settings, but good ones.
 
hesho said:
personally.. i think you should wait but.....

remember this.. the 78xx cards currently comes with bioshock/tomb raider and 79xx cards currently comes wiith bioshock/crysis 3. If you decide to buy bioshock, that is 60 dollars. Even if you get a 7850 which is about 150, you still get the 2 games with it.
Click to expand...

Nobody pays $60 for bioshock when you can get it for $25 to $30 all over the place.
 
raghu78 said:
do you have a budget. right now the best cards to get are HD 7950 boost or HD 7870 Tahiti LE .
Click to expand...

I've been a little out of the video card scene lately... What is the difference between a "7870 Tahiti LE" and a "7870 GHz Edition?" I ask that because Newegg doesn't have a specific "7870 Tahiti LE" category to drill the choices down. Sorry if that's a dumb question, really don't know if there is a difference LOL. I'm looking at moving up from a 5870 myself.
 
the tahiti le cards are basically 7950s with some stuff turned off, the 7870s(non tahiti) are a different gpu type(pitcairn) and offer less performance per clock.
 
ir0nw0lf said:
I've been a little out of the video card scene lately... What is the difference between a "7870 Tahiti LE" and a "7870 GHz Edition?" I ask that because Newegg doesn't have a specific "7870 Tahiti LE" category to drill the choices down. Sorry if that's a dumb question, really don't know if there is a difference LOL. I'm looking at moving up from a 5870 myself.
Click to expand...

Sapphire 7870XT and Powercolor Myst are the most common ones. The Myst is cheaper but the cooler is not as good (it's fine in a case with good airflow).

The Powercolor is a Myst with a different fan shroud. The Myst is out of stock.
 
ir0nw0lf said:
I've been a little out of the video card scene lately... What is the difference between a "7870 Tahiti LE" and a "7870 GHz Edition?" I ask that because Newegg doesn't have a specific "7870 Tahiti LE" category to drill the choices down. Sorry if that's a dumb question, really don't know if there is a difference LOL. I'm looking at moving up from a 5870 myself.
Click to expand...

as said above the Tahiti LE is made from the same chip that powers HD 7950 and HD 7970. Tahiti LE has 1536 stream processors at 975 mhz compared to 1280 stream processors at 1000 mhz on HD 7870 Pitcairn GPU. Tahiti LE runs a 256 bit memory bus at speeds of 6 Ghz (192 Gb/s) vs 5 Ghz (160 Gb/s) on HD 7870 Pitcairn GPU.

http://www.overclock.net/t/1373543/official-7870-tahiti-le-owners-club

Sapphire HD 7870 XT has the best cooler of the Tahite LE options . grab it when its back in stock

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202024
 
as someone mentioned earlier it all depends on your budget. if you're looking for a good card and a good deal then I would just go with the previous suggestion which is to get a card that is bundled with those games.
 
True talked a friend into buying a 79xx series because of the game promotion. To some that's enough reason right there. On the other hand I'm sure your card with run the game, while not optimally it'll be alright.
 
Sorry for the late reply, I upgraded my laptop to an SSD and I was having some issues plus other crap going on.

Anyhow, thanks for all the replies everyone! I didn't know about the promotions with a lot of these cards. I've got my eye on the Sapphire and I'm thinking I'll grab that when it comes back in stock. That's a good deal just to get the game for free. Too bad I'll need to get the extra PCIe power cable out and sleeve it which it going to be a PITA.
 
PolygonGTC said:
I've not been huge on PC gaming in a long time. The newest game I have is Portal 2. Currently I have a Radeon HD6850 that's slightly overclocked from the factory. I just watched some videos on Bioshock Infinite and I'm really wanting to pick it up. Recommended spces have the 6950 listed, which on some games is substantially faster than the 6850. The rest of the specs of my systems are more than enough.

Do you think I should upgrade, if so, to what?
Click to expand...

I started playing Bioshock Infinite on my 6950 and really wasn't happy. I want a 100% smooth experience so the highest I could play the game on was medium to get 60 fps consistantly.

Then I bought a 7970.

Now I play on Ultra with 60fps (well... vsync is on so that is the max) and it doesn't even hiccup. I'd say the upgrade is worth it :)
 
I would say 660ti or depending on prices go with the 7870le.

And your card will play the game fine.
 
Sarian said:
I started playing Bioshock Infinite on my 6950 and really wasn't happy. I want a 100% smooth experience so the highest I could play the game on was medium to get 60 fps consistantly.

Then I bought a 7970.

Now I play on Ultra with 60fps (well... vsync is on so that is the max) and it doesn't even hiccup. I'd say the upgrade is worth it :)
Click to expand...

That's some great information right there, thank you! That's exactly what I wanted to know since I have an overclocked 6850. It's still not as fast as a 6950. In fact that still a decent step.

Even though I know it should run perfectly smooth at a lower resolution on high settings, I'm really wanting the same thing you are.

Trimlock said:
I would say 660ti or depending on prices go with the 7870le.

And your card will play the game fine.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the alternative view. I'll take a look at that. Also, I found that I had already sleeved two PCIe power cables, so I don't have the do that now. Bonus... I guess.
 
Hmm the included games are really tempting me, but it just seems like this gen is taking too long for prices to drop.
 
TisforTurbo said:
Hmm the included games are really tempting me, but it just seems like this gen is taking too long for prices to drop.
Click to expand...

It's always like that when you are looking longingly at a card that you really want. I'm ready to do an upgrade but cash is tight so I'm checking every single day going why won't these prices drop.

Inevitably when you do buy the next week prices will drop, tis the way of the world.
 
iRevert said:
It's always like that when you are looking longingly at a card that you really want. I'm ready to do an upgrade but cash is tight so I'm checking every single day going why won't these prices drop.

Inevitably when you do buy the next week prices will drop, tis the way of the world.
Click to expand...

Yep!

In all my years of building computers it's either this, or something new comes out which causes a drop in price as well. I stopped waiting on prices a long time ago. You could play that game forever and not get anything.

Speaking of which, I bought me a 7850 yesterday. I figure I should be able to get $120 or so for my R6850 which will take some of the sting out of the cost.
 
PolygonGTC said:
Speaking of which, I bought me a 7850 yesterday. I figure I should be able to get $120 or so for my R6850 which will take some of the sting out of the cost.
Click to expand...

That's exactly what I did. A noticeable boost in performance and two new games for free. Definitely worth the small outlay after I sold my 6850. :)
 
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