nthexwn
Weaksauce
- Joined
- Feb 27, 2007
- Messages
- 113
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
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