• Some users have recently had their accounts hijacked. It seems that the now defunct EVGA forums might have compromised your password there and seems many are using the same PW here. We would suggest you UPDATE YOUR PASSWORD and TURN ON 2FA for your account here to further secure it. None of the compromised accounts had 2FA turned on.
    Once you have enabled 2FA, your account will be updated soon to show a badge, letting other members know that you use 2FA to protect your account. This should be beneficial for everyone that uses FSFT.

That time again. Possible upgrades?

P

Ph.D

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jul 9, 2010
Messages
190
I'd like some upgrade advice.


My current PC:
CPU:
Intel Core i7 2600K (Overclocked to 4.5GHz)

CPU cooler:
Cooler Master Hyper 212 plus

Motherboard:
Asus P8Z68-V PRO

RAM:
Corsair Vengeance 16GB DDR3

Sound:
Asus Xonar DX

PSU:
Seasonic X-760

GPU:
Asus Radeon 6950 2GB (unlocked to 6970 specs)

Storage:
OCZ Vertex 3 SSD 120GB
Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB
WD Caviar GreenPower WD20EARS 2TB

Enclosure:
Corsair Obsidian CC650DW-1

Monitor:
Dell U2311H
Click to expand...

Now, I'm currently thinking in the direction of GPU and possibly CPU cooler (to get a better clock on my 2600k). But other advice and suggestions are certainly welcome.
The reason for thinking about upgrading is not being able to hit 60fps in games anymore. Certainly not with the eye candy turned up at 1920x1080.

I live in Europe but I'm flexible when it comes to ordering.
I won't set a price limit at this point but I do like to have a good price/performance balance.
In fact, I'm at a loss why the current generation GPUs are so damn overpriced. That 6950 cost me 235 brand new and now I see comparable current generation cards like the 7950 and 660 go for 100 more and beyond. It's infuriating.

Anyway, enough ranting. Let's hear some suggestions!
 
Ph.D said:
I won't set a price limit at this point but I do like to have a good price/performance balance.
In fact, I'm at a loss why the current generation GPUs are so damn overpriced. That 6950 cost me 235 brand new and now I see comparable current generation cards like the 7950 and 660 go for 100 more and beyond. It's infuriating.
Click to expand...
I think it's probably due to the fact that you're in Europe and that you have some misconceptions. The fact that you're in Europe means that GPU prices take a lot longer to drop than here in the U.S. As for the misconception, the comparable generation card to that HD 6950 is the HD 7850, not the HD 7950. Also note that the HD 7950 offers high performance than the HD 6970. So the price for the HD 7950 is well justified.

Now, assuming that all you want to do is increase your gaming performance, you're basically looking at the GTX 670 or HD 7970 at a minimum to see an actual notice performance improvement over your HD 6970 level of performance. With that said, what game are you playing and are planning on playing?
 
Oh it has nothing to do with European vs US pricing.
As for the 7950 offering higher performance than the 6970, that's perfectly normal isn't it?
And compare something like the GTX560 ($199 at launch) to the GTX660 ($229 at launch) or the GTX560Ti ($249 at launch) to the GTX660Ti ($299 at launch) and you realise prices for comparative cards went up quite a bit.

Anyway, the prices are what they are, can't really change them at this point.

The games I want to play? Dark Souls at 60fps, Borderlands 2, The Witcher 2, Sleeping Dogs, Dishonored, Max Payne 3, XCOM, etc.
 
So... Does anyone have any specific recommendations for GPUs and CPU coolers?
 
Have you considered adding a second fan to the Hyper 212 Plus? Or adding more fans to your case?

Can you find a used HD 6970 (for dual-card CrossFire) at a reasonable price?
 
Adding a second 6950 in CF makes much more sense for the money than upgrading to a single 7000 series card. Also that is a solid cooler. But you could always go with something like an H80 or H100
 
jhwk6957 said:
Adding a second 6950 in CF makes much more sense for the money than upgrading to a single 7000 series card. Also that is a solid cooler. But you could always go with something like an H80 or H100
Click to expand...

I'm not brand loyal or anything, if there's something better from Nvidia that's fine too.
 
I've spotted an MSI R6970 Lightning for €195 and an XFX HD6950 for €178.
Are these decent prices? They seem a bit high. I bought my 6950 brand new for €235...
 
Ph.D said:
I've spotted an MSI R6970 Lightning for €195 and an XFX HD6950 for €178.
Are these decent prices? They seem a bit high. I bought my 6950 brand new for €235...
Click to expand...

Are they new or used prices?
 
Then not too bad considering that they're out of production.

Well as mentioned earlier, if you want to stick with a single new GPU, a GTX 670 or HD 7970 at a minimum are your best choice. GTX 680 or HD 7970. If you want to try Crossfire, a second HD 6970 or HD 6950 is a good idea.
 
What level of performance are we talking about with crossfire 6970s anyway?
How would that compare to the current generation of gpus?
 
HD 6970 Crossfire would outperform a single HD 7970 by about 10% to 25% depending on the game. A single HD 7970 outperforms your HD 6970 by about 30%.

One caveat I should mention though about HD 6970 Crossfire: AMD's Crossfire drivers aren't always that great. There have been situations when their Crossfire setups would only provide the performance of one single card. But given enough time, their Crossfire drivers do offer fantastic performance. So if you're the type that buys and plays new PC games at launch, HD 6970 Crossfire may not be a good idea considering that it can AMD anywhere from a week to two months for them to get solid Crossfire drivers out.
 
It seems the XFX HD6950 for €178 is no longer an option.
The new options are either an XFX HD6950 for €190 or an MSI 6970 Lightning for €200.

Should I just go with the MSI for €10 more?
How would it perform in crossfire with my unlocked 6950?
Any idea what the power draw on that would be? I'm using a 760W PSU after all...

As for the CPU cooler I am currently eyeing the Antec KÜHLER H2O 920 which costs €80.
 
Ph.D said:
Should I just go with the MSI for €10 more?
Click to expand...
Yes if the caveat I mentioned earlier doesn't bother you that much. Though to repeat: Even after a few months, sometimes the CFX drivers still aren't 100% great.
Ph.D said:
How would it perform in crossfire with my unlocked 6950?
Click to expand...
If all goes well, you should be getting HD 6970 Crossfire level of performance. If things go so-so, then you'll be getting HD 6950 Crossfire level of performance. If things went to shit, you'd be getting HD 6970 level of performance.
Ph.D said:
Any idea what the power draw on that would be? I'm using a 760W PSU after all...
Click to expand...
Your PSU will be enough for that kind of setup.
Ph.D said:
As for the CPU cooler I am currently eyeing the Antec KÜHLER H2O 920 which costs €80.
Click to expand...
Solid choice.
 
Yeah the lack of crossfire/SLI support and the microstutter issues are a bummer, but it does potentially make for current generation graphics solution + a good CPU cooler at a sub €300 price.
Cheaper than a GTX660 and HD7950.

I think I will take the chance, thank you for the advice.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top