Upgrade or not?

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rgriffin9219

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I've been out of the computer hardware "game" for awhile and in dire need of advice...

I have a i7-930 with a GTX 260 video card. I was thinking of upgrading to a GTX 560 Ti.

Unfortunately, where I live money doesn't grow on trees, therefore I need to keep this expenditure <250USD (closer to 200 the better). However I'm not sure if the upgrade it worth it. Any advice would be greatly appreciated... Thanks!

Oh, I almost forgot... The computer is running dual 24" monitors used mostly for productivity related stuff such as Autocad, MatLab, PSpice, Xilinx, Photoshop, and MS Office apps, BUT I do enjoy gaming when I get the chance (Arma2, DayZ, DeusEx, Skyrim, ect).
 
The GeForce GTX 560 Ti is a good card, but you can also go with a Radeon HD 7850. From my understanding it performs between the GTX 560 Ti 448-core and the GTX 570, while using half the power of those 2 cards mentioned. Since the GTX 560 Ti and the Radeon HD 7850 are about the same price on newegg, its just a matter of preference.
 
I'm selling my evga 560Ti 2GB in the FST section if you're interested.
 
Wait and see if the Nvidia GTX 660 (not Ti) releases soon and then check the performance/price of that. The 7850/560 Ti/660 would be a nice upgrade for you though.
 
OP which region are you from . For USD 200 the HD 7850 is the best option. you can wait and see at what price the GTX 660 launches and decide on whether to get GTX 660 or HD 7850.
 
If you are looking at that price range you should really be looking at a 7850. It's faster than a 560Ti and consumes less power.

Forceman said:
Wait and see if the Nvidia GTX 660 (not Ti) releases soon and then check the performance/price of that. The 7850/560 Ti/660 would be a nice upgrade for you though.
Click to expand...

I don't normally advocate waiting for new hardware, but the release of the GTX660 does seem imminent, and will probably be a great card for the price.
 
xorbe said:
I'm selling my evga 560Ti 2GB in the FST section if you're interested.
Click to expand...
you might want to adjust that price a little. a brand new 7850 can be had for around that price. a 7850 is slightly faster, uses less power, and has way more overclocking headroom. plus the 7850 will be brand new in the box with accessories and warranty. I would lower your price by 5-10 bucks as just that little difference would help psychologically. ;)

OP, just wait a couple more days for the gtx660 to launch.
 
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I went from a GTX 260, to a GTX 460, to a GTX 560Ti and I would recommend that card, especially if you find it for a good price. I could tell a bit of a difference from the 460, so I would say you'd definitely notice a difference from the 260. Are you actually having issues in games now, or just upgrading to future proof?
 
The 560Ti is very overpriced compared to the 7850, but as others have mentioned Nvidia are launching the 660 soon so you should wait and see where that turns out in terms of performance/price ratio.

Whatever you choose you'll see a massive improvement over your current GTX 260 though.
 
I have the opposite problem. My graphics cards are always pretty new and pretty awesome since I get them
for free from Nvidia, but the rest of my components are getting old.

I need to get the ads working correctly on my site so I can use the money to buy myself a new video card review rig.
 
I would just get a 460. Seen them on the FS/FT for 80 bucks which is insane for that much power. Heck, once that 660 non-ti gets released I'll probably put mine up for a bill shipped.
 
Thanks to everyone for the advice! I've decided to wait till the 660's are released then visit the issue again. Hopefully, I'll be able to have a larger budget. If not, the price will only be less. As I implied before... while I enjoy gaming immensely, I rarely get the opportunity to do so. Seeing as my current card is somewhat acceptable for the current games I play, waiting is perhaps my best option. Thanks once again!
 
While the 460 is a great card, vram limitations may hamper you playing newer games. If the 660 isn't released in the next week or so, I would suggest the 7850 or even hunting for a great deal on a 7870 if you can find one. Less power useage and better performance imo.
 
By the way OP, [H]'s 660 review was up for a few hours this morning (has been taken down now) but it put the 660 right in the middle of the 7850 and the 7870, while costing ~$230 MSRP. The AMD cards tested had good factory OC's though, so the cheaper models (like sub-$200 7850s) wouldn't match up quite as well without some manual overclocking. Basically, just about right on the value line (I'd say you pay a $5-10 premium for the NV branding, based on their review).

Oh yeah, and it crushed the similarly priced 560Ti and 570 while using less power etc.
 
Sn0_Man said:
[H]'s 660 review was up for a few hours this morning (has been taken down now) but it put the 660 right in the middle of the 7850 and the 7870, while costing ~$230 MSRP.
Click to expand...

So the previews were spot on a week ago.
 
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