Upgrade from HD4890 now or later?

nthexwn

Weaksauce
Joined
Feb 27, 2007
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I put together an awesome rig in 2009 that's still holding its own today:

CPU: Intel Core i7 920 @ 4.0
GPU: AMD Radeon HD4890
Motherboard: Asus P6T Deluxe V2
Memory: 6GB OCZ DDR3-1600 (9-9-9-24-1T)

I haven't tuned in to the hardware scene much since then, but my understanding is that my GPU is probably the current bottleneck. I've also been missing out on DX11, as the 4890 is only a DX10.1 part. As such, I've been thinking of upgrading soon so that I can continue to play games at maximum settings with 4x AA on my single 1920x1200 display for the next couple of years. In the immediate future, I've got my eye on Skyrim. I want adaptive AA on that grass! :)

My target price range is between $200-$300. After snooping around Newegg.com for a while, this seems to leave me looking at either the HD6950 or the GTX560. I've read some benchmark numbers, and both of these cards seem pretty solid, but hardly mind-blowing. In fact, now I'm wondering if either of them would really be much of an improvement over my "old" HD4890? Is it really the case that I'd have to shell out $300-$700 for better performance than what I'm already getting?

My biggest question though is: What's on the horizon? Is Nvidia working on a successor to the Fermi architecture yet? Does it have a name? Will it be here in time for the holidays? How about AMD? Are there expected price drops on existing parts from either company? Just figured I'd ask here, since HardOCP members usually have a pretty solid handle on the rumor mill. :)

Thanks for any tips,
-Alex
 
At 1920x1200 the HD6950 will be about a 60% increase on your HD4890. The GTX560 standard will be about 40%, and the GTX560Ti about 60% also. On the horizon:

HD7800 series (c. february) - similar performance to HD6900 cards, possibly cheaper, much less power hungry, quieter, smaller etc.
HD7900 series (c. april) - much higher performance (c. 120-180% gains over the HD4890 you have now)
Geforce GTX600(?) series (c. july) - slightly higher performance still, but a long wait.
 
So... I've been slowly converting a bunch of old 8mm/VHS tapes for my girlfriend's family this year. I thought I was just being nice, but after completing the project today her father gifted me a check for $2200!!!! (!!!!)

Hello mountaineering equipment and computer parts!!!!

Now I'm very tempted to splurge on twin GTX570s or GTX560s in SLI (I don't think I'd trust the 580s not to melt in my mid-tower chassis). However, signs are pointing to Kepler, since the die shrink should hopefully keep the power requirements and overheating to a minimum. I switched to AMD after my 8800GT overheated on me a few years ago. Now I'd like to switch back to NVidia since my HD4890 has had all sorts of stupid rendering issues that don't happen with NVidia cards. (Water transparency failing in Supreme Commander, shadows creating aliased lines all over everything in DX:HR, texture z-popping on distant models in EVE, disappearing terrain models in Civilization V, etc.) I'm thinking of buying a single GTX560TI right now, along with another 6 gigs of memory, and waiting until next year for a more serious upgrade. Sound like a reasonable plan? What do you guys think of this card:

GIGABYTE GV-N560UD-1G GeForce GTX 560 Ti

Also, any personal preferences on memory brands? There are so many to choose from! I looked up the OCZ variety that I'd ordered in 2009, but they no longer stock it, and I'd like all the DIMMs to be identical if possible. :-/
 
Oooh oooh, wait, now I'm second guessing myself. Why should I waste money on a card I'm only going to use for a few months? Why not spend a little more and be happy with it for a few more years? I mean seriously, when my 4890 is already stomping everything I play, am I really going to need any more horsepower than this? I mean, I've got a totally overkill 1KW SilverStone PSU, so the power isn't an issue, and with just one of them my system's not going to melt, right? I mean, I'm idling 30°C and hitting 50°C under load, so we're good to go eh?

EVGA SuperClocked 012-P3-1573-AR GeForce GTX 570 HD

And then I can get this memory kit, which will be more rad than DDR3-1600, because 2000 divides evenly from 4000, which is my CPU clockspeed, and even though that makes no real difference, it gives me a warm fuzzy feeling! (This is HardOCD.com right?)

CORSAIR Vengeance 12GB (3 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 2000
 
Roughly estimating, judging from benchmarks and games before and after, using the exact same settings going from my 4890 to an overclocked 6970 in my 3.6 ghz PII system, netted me about a 75% increase at 1920x1080 all across the board.

I picked it up at Xmas for 370 USD, it's dropped to about 330 by now, and maybe even lower with rebates. It was one hell of an upgrade and I've enjoyed it these past ten months... buying today I'd still recommend it. The 6950 is 20% cheaper and 20% slower but also has 2gb of vram which I consider to be a minimum for a single gaming gpu nowadays.

Go for it now, I say... 7xxx is coming, sure... but until it does, you'll have a much more enjoyable gaming experience, and also have the option to resell it as 6xxx will hold its value very well.
 
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Yeah, I say go for now too. No one knows how the 600/7000 cards will perform, their costs or even when they'll release.

As Jalidi said, you can always sell it later.
 
I just upgraded from my 4890 to a 6870 and I don't regret it one bit. Much smoother performance (I went from BF3 at low at around 20-60 fps to high (no AA) at 50-90 fps.)
 
Id say go for it now. The 6000 cards werent a huge upgrade over the 5000 cards. The 6970 is not a whole hell of a lot faster than the 5870. Right now a 6970 will play pretty much anything at 1920x1200 at max settings.

You listed $200 as your max budget but Ill throw this out there anyway. Here is a Sapphire 6970 for $320 shipped after a $30 mail in rebate. It would be a fairly huge upgrade from your 4890 and would certainly last you a few more years.
 
At 1920x1200 the HD6950 will be about a 60% increase on your HD4890. The GTX560 standard will be about 40%, and the GTX560Ti about 60% also. On the horizon:

HD7800 series (c. february) - similar performance to HD6900 cards, possibly cheaper, much less power hungry, quieter, smaller etc.
HD7900 series (c. april) - much higher performance (c. 120-180% gains over the HD4890 you have now)
Geforce GTX600(?) series (c. july) - slightly higher performance still, but a long wait.

oh you have hands on experience with those units?
 
Why would I need hands on experience to tell you how fast those cards are? That's what benchmark sites are for...
 
Yea, you're not really gonna find a lot of end users with hands on experience for unreleased models unfortunately. If you happen upon any that claim such experience, at least be a little skeptical and discerning of the info.
 
HD7900 series (c. april) - much higher performance (c. 120-180% gains over the HD4890 you have now)
Geforce GTX600(?) series (c. july) - slightly higher performance still, but a long wait.

April? Damn. I've also got a 4870 512 mb but I think I'll wait.
Where did you get that info from?
 
It's just speculative, but it derives from the specifications that have been leaked in several places. There's no proof that's how they'll turn out, but unless the product positions change, I doubt the real cards will be miles apart from those specs.
 
Oooh oooh, wait, now I'm second guessing myself. Why should I waste money on a card I'm only going to use for a few months? Why not spend a little more and be happy with it for a few more years? I mean seriously, when my 4890 is already stomping everything I play, am I really going to need any more horsepower than this? I mean, I've got a totally overkill 1KW SilverStone PSU, so the power isn't an issue, and with just one of them my system's not going to melt, right? I mean, I'm idling 30°C and hitting 50°C under load, so we're good to go eh?

EVGA SuperClocked 012-P3-1573-AR GeForce GTX 570 HD

And then I can get this memory kit, which will be more rad than DDR3-1600, because 2000 divides evenly from 4000, which is my CPU clockspeed, and even though that makes no real difference, it gives me a warm fuzzy feeling! (This is HardOCD.com right?)

CORSAIR Vengeance 12GB (3 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 2000

I think you answered your question there =)
 
The HD6950 would be a wise choice. I wouldn't mind waiting for the black friday deals.
 
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