Struggling choosing a video card...

Protoform-X

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Jan 30, 2002
Messages
1,203
Resolution: 1920x1200 60Hz on an HP LP2465
CPU: Intel i5 3570K
PSU: BFG ES-800 (RIP BFG :()
RAM/Motherboard/ETC... Undecided, but who cares?
Games: Diablo 3, Skyrim, BF3

I'm building a z77/3570k rig and I'm having a terrible time picking out a video card. To be honest, I haven't built a rig since my old E6600/8800GTX, so I'm pretty rusty, and I have no clue what's out there anymore. I've been researching components for most of the day, and I think I'm looking for something in the GTX 560 - 570 speed range- nVidia or AMD doesn't matter to me, just good bang for the buck.

I see that the GTX 480 can be had for cheap, and is a great performer, but it's also somewhere near the level of a nuclear reactor on heat production. I simply can't have a computer producing that kind of heat where I live- Phoenix, AZ. The noise would surely piss me off as well. :rolleyes:

560 ti seems like a good compromise on the heat/performance, and the 570 is a cut above, but significantly more money. I haven't even begun to dive into the AMD models. I'm looking for the best experience on my monitor, but without breaking the bank. Any recommendations, or cards I should look into? I'm looking to make my purchase this Friday, May 11. Budget is tapped out at about $300 for the card.
 
With the gtx 670 being released very soon, I would wait to see where it comes in as far as pricing. It should also put downward pressure on the other gpus, as the 7870 is a great card if it drops below $300.
 
Is it typical to see the downward pressure on other cards so soon after release?
 
With the gtx 670 being released very soon, I would wait to see where it comes in as far as pricing. It should also put downward pressure on the other gpus, as the 7870 is a great card if it drops below $300.

Agreed. What's more, I'd at least until AMD's response to the GTX670 is clear. They have a couple of options:

Option 1 is simply to drop the prices on their existing 7900-series cards, which should also put downward pressure on the 7870 for sure, and possibly the 7850, too. We could be seeing sub-$350 pricing on the 7950, and sub-$300 pricing on the 7870 within weeks.

Option 2 is for AMD to release clock speed-boosted versions of some or all of their existing line-up. This is a very real option, as it is well-known that pretty well all their cards easily (read without even a voltage bump) overclock by a couple of hundred MHz on the core. If AMD goes this route, and I think they will, that could still mean existing stocks of the 7000-series could be reduced in price, but the revised, clockspeed versions might be able to hold closer to their existing pricing structure.

Personally, I'd like to see highly clocked (like 1300+MHz) custom-cooled versions of the 7870 with 4Gb of ram instead of 2Gb, but we'll have to see if that pans out. Highly clocked versions of the 7870 could really put the screws to nvidia if they were priced aggressively. Perhaps somebody from XFX, Sapphire, Asus, Powercolor or MSI is reading this?! (He wishes with boundless optimism). Such a card would be a niche product, much like the 6870 2Gb XFX card, but I'd seriously look at buying two if they were priced ~$325.

If I were looking to buy a card in the immediate future (and I am!) I'd wait for the AMD response to gauge whether the price/performance card I'm looking for falls in price, and grab one before stocks are cleaned out. If you decide to go nvidia, you will still be able to grab of those, too, so you're not going to be loosing anything but a couple of weeks of patience.

We should see AMD's response within days of first commercial availability of the GTX670.
 
Last edited:
I'm all for being patient, but the thing is, Diablo 3 comes out on the 15th, and my laptop can barely run it. Maybe I should pickup something nice like a 570 from Fry's Electronics and then return it after AMD's answer comes out? Maybe I can struggle along on the integrated graphics for a little while. I think it'll run the game @ medium settings.
 
I would get a 7850 or 7950 and overclock it. They're the best overclocking cards we've seen in a long time, easily looking at 30-40% performance gain over stock.
 
Get a 7850 for $250, most overclock fairly well. I would not get 570 old tech, less vram, less efficient.

A 7870 at $300 is not really worth waiting for, even if it drops to that price, because that is what it should have been priced at. Overclocked 7870 vs overclocked 7850 is not much different. I do see most likely price drops on 7870 happening soon.

I would wait only if buying something over $300, like a 670 or wait for possible further price drops on a 7950/7970
 
Who's the end-all in AMD video cards these days? Back in the day, the nVidia cards had BFG and EVGA, and ATi had Visiontek. All of them had great warranties and customer support. So who's king now?
 
I would get a 7850 or 7950 and overclock it. They're the best overclocking cards we've seen in a long time, easily looking at 30-40% performance gain over stock.

Agree with you. HD 7950 OC is the best card from a price performance angle. At stock voltage 1050 Mhz is easy. At those speeds it will get you close to GTX 680 perf . You can push the HD 7950 OC cards to 1200 Mhz with extra voltage.

http://www.hardocp.com/article/2012/04/10/sapphire_hd_7970_oc_edition_video_card_review/7

HD 7950 OC (1195 Mhz)
http://www.hardocp.com/article/2012/03/01/xfx_radeon_hd_7950_black_edition_video_card_review/7

BF3 2560 x 1600 Ultra 2X MSAA
HD 7950 (1195) - avg 54.2 fps

Other than HD 7970 voltage OC (1280 Mhz) the HD 7950 OC (1195 Mhz) clearly surpasses HD 7970 and GTX 680. That is amazing value at USD 400. :D
 
Who's the end-all in AMD video cards these days? Back in the day, the nVidia cards had BFG and EVGA, and ATi had Visiontek. All of them had great warranties and customer support. So who's king now?

Never had a sapphire before, but I recently ordered a sapphire 7850 despite a low 2 year warranty. Asus, MSI, Gigabyte offer 3 year I believe. XFX offers lifetime for certain models.
 
+1 for 7850 and OC. Just wait until the 10th dude. You still got five days after that till D3 drops.
 
Maybe I should pickup something nice like a 570 from Fry's Electronics and then return it after AMD's answer comes out?

Buying a product with the intention of returning at a later date is shady and raises prices for everybody. Makes return policies more strict too. This kind of crap really grinds my gears.
 
I would recommend a used with warranty 6950 2GB. I saw someone sell for $150 to upgrade to newer generation card and I got one for $175. So finding one for $200~ shouldn't be much of a problem since they are hitting that price range now with rebates.
 
So I was about to buy the 7850, but switched it out for the GTX 670 at the last second... Fuck, there goes my budget. :rolleyes: Why did it have to be so kickass? Damn you nVidia.

All for 90% Diablo 3... Haha. Such a sucker. I better get a bigger monitor. Imagine me trying to explain this one to my wife. :D
 
So I was about to buy the 7850, but switched it out for the GTX 670 at the last second... Fuck, there goes my budget. :rolleyes: Why did it have to be so kickass? Damn you nVidia.

All for 90% Diablo 3... Haha. Such a sucker. I better get a bigger monitor. Imagine me trying to explain this one to my wife. :D

lol. D3, one of the least intensive games being released. Ill be running D3 on my $60 5770. :p
 
So I was about to buy the 7850, but switched it out for the GTX 670 at the last second... Fuck, there goes my budget. :rolleyes: Why did it have to be so kickass? Damn you nVidia.

All for 90% Diablo 3... Haha. Such a sucker. I better get a bigger monitor. Imagine me trying to explain this one to my wife. :D

I know how you feel! When I buy anything computer related I have to buy her something too.

Example when I bought the GTX 680, I bought the Dell 27 inch for her, in the end my wallet cried. It has to be double the value of what I am buying. :D
 
Back
Top