Your video card time to upgrade criteria?

cyclone3d

[H]F Junkie
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The question is simple.

What are the deciding factors of upgrading your video card(s)?

Mine is:
A new single GPU card must be at least twice as fast as one of the cards I am currently running.

That and my system must be having problems maintaining good fps at fairly high settings.
 
As soon as I have problems running at max or near-to-max settings given my current resolution. So far so good. I went from some 680's to a 980's then a jump to 980Ti's (mainly for the 6GB Vram).

I'm sticking with my 2600K CPU though, unless there is a big jump in performance/temp/OC capability like there was with Sandy Bridge.

I'm looking forward to the promise of Pascal with HBM2. So far, the Fury X looks like a good introductory product for HBM1. Reviews reviews reviews!
 
I'm on a 670 right now waiting on Pascal. I don't require maxed settings and I'm only at 1920x1200 right now. The delay on new processes has boiled down to "you've waited this long, a few more months won't be a big deal".
 
My criteria used to be upgrade every other cycle, but that kinda got abandoned after I hit the GTX 9xx series. I went from 680 > 970 > 980 > 980 Ti in less than a year. Granted, 970 > 980 was a step up and I semi-rationalized 980 > Ti due to getting my Samsung 4K TV/monitor. :p
 
I usually buy two cards every time there is a new high end release.

I want to max everything out in every game at the highest possible settings without compromising frame rate.
 
when I start to drop settings to maintain my desired frame rates.. (which are just modestly >60FPS).. is the moment to buy new card.. the other criteria apply when I can't play a new game decently (as the Witcher 3 or GTA V)..
 
I'm a bit more frugal.

I like to think that all the real classic games have already been made. Console crap now mostly or FPS games with linear routes.

The most I ever spent on a graphic card would've been back in the early 2000's (Geforce 4600 TI) to play great games like RtCW/Enemy Territory, Mafia, H&D 2, GTA: Vice/SA, Deus Ex etc

I can still remember the massive leap to Hardware T&L & resolutions of 1024x768+, etc! May've picked up a Geforce 6800GT after that (memory is fuzzy)

I'm looking for at least double (+) performance in a new card
Bang for buck
Happily sacrifice eye gauging effects but avoid lowering texture detail
Has to be some games that are actually worth playing... (not sloppy console ports)
Satisfied with >30 - 60 fps or when card no longer meets minimum requirements


I just swapped out a HD 4770 for a R9 285 so I could play GTA 5 & Witcher 3. Working brilliantly at 1080p.

It should work happily alongside my Phenom x4 955 and long into the future when I replace the CPU with a newer Intel chip and thrice the RAM (16GB)

By the time I replace the card again - we'll likely see DX 12 games and/or 1440p / 4k will be the new standard - so add a new monitor in there too!
 
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I upgrade when a certain game that I really want to play with all the prettiest settings enabled is released and my build or upgrade is catered for that specific game. Notable games that I built a new rig or made upgrades for was AVP1999, HL2, Crysis, and BF4. On average the upgrade/build times can be anywhere between 2 to 4 years.
 
Right now I have moments with Witcher 3 that make me want to upgrade my 970 To a 980Ti Hybrid. But I kept my 670 till last September when the 970 came out. The 980Ti is probably not going to last all that long either probably only till pascal, but that is of course only if I upgrade to a 4K monitor sometime earlier than I expected. The 980Ti should be fine for me at 2560x1600 for a while if I don't upgrade my monitor.

So to answer the question, I upgrade when I feel the need to, but usually that comes around about every other card release. I went 480 -> 670 -> 970 -> probably a 980Ti which would be my fastest video card upgrade ever.
 
my last card was a ATi 4870, my current one is a AMD 280 clocked up as far as it will go. I have only 1 more game to get and that's the new Batman.
 
At least 50%. I try my damnest to wait for 100%.

Pascal Titan or cut down Titan depending on specs. Maybe AMD, perhaps they'll be using HDMI 2.0 and more than 4GB of VRAM by then.
 
Whenever my current card dies, or becomes woefully inadequate at medium settings. Given I dont play many modern games and I don't have the desire to run around and upgrade hardware & software because it has a shiny new version number. The most I've ever spent for a video card was for a Voodoo3 AGP (whopping 16MB vram) with the 6600GT coming a close second.

I'm now settled on more of the most bang for the buck cards and I do like to keep by budget tight. A $200+ card for me is a no-go. However, because I did have to "replace" my system (board & CPU) recently I have entertained the idea of updating my 6770 to an r9 270x. The 6770 did show a marginal benchmark improvement over the board/cpu change.

Guess I'm just not that [H] anymore...
 
Minimum requirement is a new architecture.

My previous card was first generation of Kepler, the GTX 680, then I skipped all the new and improved Kepler, and got the first high end iteration of Maxwell, GTX 970.

My next upgrade will be Pascal. Whether I'll be getting the first release of Pascal, or wait for some Ti revision, depends on several factors such as how badly I need a performance upgrade, and whether I have the money.
 
The question is simple.

What are the deciding factors of upgrading your video card(s)?

Mine is:
A new single GPU card must be at least twice as fast as one of the cards I am currently running.

That and my system must be having problems maintaining good fps at fairly high settings.

After my 670's I was on a Kepler binge from Enthusiast, to High end, back to Enthusiast. Since then Im going to sit on my cards till they can be outperformed by double via single card solution :D
 
When my card isn't giving me acceptable frame rates at high settings. Time scale is irrelevant. If a tool does the job you need effectively then you keep it. If not then you replace it. Simple.
 
When 1 card performs better than the 2 I am currently running.

Then I buy that card when I can find a good deal on it and a second when I can get a great deal new or used.
 
^ I have the same plan.

The 980ti and Fury look enticing but I gotta see reliable reviews on air cooled Fury first.
 
Used to be every other cycle, or when money allowed for it. Not as much need now, to be competitive you actually need run lower graphic settings, so upgrading was a waist of money. And so many games out, can't play them all so no point buying them on 0-day, might as well wait for sales, and get vid cards to match.
 
When i have to turn down settings too much and can't get over 30fps with decent settings. I had a 5770 for around 5 years
 
I'm constrainted by power budget. I upgraded from 2x 5770 to a 980 since the 980 only 2x 6pin.
(Using an old mac pro 2009).
 
A new game I'm excited for doesn't run at the settings I want to play at. In this case, Witcher 3 (and the acquisition of a Samsung S34E790C--a ~30% resolution upgrade) motivated me to upgrade my 7970 to a GTX 980 Ti.
 
I agree with what several other people mentioned and that is a notable increase in performance. I'm still rocking my gtx titan @ 1440p. I haven't been feeling the need to upgrade much since this card still performs well with what I play.
 
For my HTPC its when a $200 MSRP card is released that is 2x the perf of my current card.

My next desktop upgrade will be to a fully enabled version of whatever big chip is released on 16nm, after it hits $500. Probably won't be upgrading till late 2016 or early 2017.

I used to upgrade on every release cycle but got tired of being underwhelmed by 25-30% improvements. You can't really feel a difference until you're running at least 50% faster.
 
Since my 670 GTX depreciated in value from 400.00 to 100.00 in two years gives me a reason not to upgrade every time.....
 
I don't sell my cards, so value depreciation doesn't affect me as much.

Anyway, I upgrade when I feel it's time to, and/or if the new tech with the cards is something I wanted.

I was working on a GTX 570 at 1080p and most of the time I was able to run games without a hitch on that card (which I am quite impressed by), but when Maxwells came out, that coincided with the release of the first G-Sync monitor (Asus Swift, AOC's 1080p G-sync wasn't, and still isn't, available here), and the monitor impressed me enough to upgrade.

Ended up upgrading the entire system (my old system couldn't do SLI). My next upgrade would probably be Pascal Flagship, but more likely Volta flagship.
 
windows 10 and dx12
Minfps and smoothness of gameplay
New tech vs old tech (HBM)
Calculations what the new tech will hold for the future.

Fury only card that suits my criteria
 
Easy....when my urge to have THE NEW SHINY outweighs my sensibility....;)

Seriously though, here's mine:

1. Current game I want to thoroughly enjoy suffers from low frame rates/jitters
2. I can upgrade and get a 50-150% increase in performance.
3. Power/Heat savings, if really needed
4. I need more horsepower due to monitor change (going to 30" 2560x1600 was...well...expensive)

Here's been the past fiver of years or so...

-I had a GTX 480, then went SLI (about 50% increase).
-I sold that and got a GTX 680 (heat savings, since dual GTX 480's was insanely hot! Some performance improvement)
-Went SLI GTX 680 (50-75% increase)
-Contemplating GTX 980 Ti.....however, the only game I'm really playing is World of Tanks and its not THAT graphically challenging.

I'll be waiting for Pascal/AMD's Fury XXX (or whatever). Also, by then there might be some really good Freesync/Gsync implementations of IPS-quality monitors, large-screen 34" wide or so.

I want my upgrades to FEEL like upgrades. Some people go for high-end all the time...but you hardly ever feel the 15-20% increments. I want to drop a ton of cash and FEEL the power of the new system. That's why I haven't upgraded my 1366 hexacore yet.

I'm planning on a late 2016/early 2017 build of Skylake-E and Pascal/AMD-equiv. I'm hoping that that upgrade feel like a true upgrade...not just an incremental step-up. I miss the days of buying a new computer, and getting BLOWN AWAY by the performance.

Besides, I've been having a TON of fun with my retro systems. DOS gaming on 386/486/Pentium systems is an awesome reminder of how far we've come, but they are also a ton of fun. Retro for the win!
 
What are the deciding factors of upgrading your video card(s)?

My upgrade decision is purely game-driven. But I don't upgrade every time a new game hits the streets. 21:9 monitor and Elite Dangerous forced my hand last fall, and I upped to a a GTX 970. I was on the previous card for three years before that.
 
I want at least a 5 tier upgrade. Like some folks, I am frugal when it comes to computer upgrades, especially now that CPU upgrades are almost a side-grade, as GPU upgrades rarely bottleneck middle to upper end processors anymore.

The current card I have is the second highest amount I have ever spent on a card. The highest, was X800XL card I bought when it first came out from Newegg. Thankfully, I got my GTX 980 on a steal ($300), and with my system config, it should last me a looooong time.
 
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