[FrankJ.Cone]

I have an AMD 6950 that is starting to show its age. I was thinking of buying a 780 Ti but I just cannot spend that much $$$ on a video card. Every time I put one in the cart I stop myself and remove it

So I have been looking at the 780 GTX and right now I could grab one for under $500 and from what I have read I can expect a significant increase in quality from my existing card.


But is now a good time to buy a 700 series 3G card or should I be waiting for a 4G 800 series card shortly down the road?


I only play PC games on my 65: Plasma so my 6950 is certainly fine to last for a while as 1080P with most everything turned up is possible on most games I play.

 

[bd2003]



Quote:
Originally Posted by FrankJ.Cone  /t/1523595/video-card-advice-please/0_50#post_24511118


I have an AMD 6950 that is starting to show its age. I was thinking of buying a 780 Ti but I just cannot spend that much $$$ on a video card. Every time I put one in the cart I stop myself and remove it

So I have been looking at the 780 GTX and right now I could grab one for under $500 and from what I have read I can expect a significant increase in quality from my existing card.


But is now a good time to buy a 700 series 3G card or should I be waiting for a 4G 800 series card shortly down the road?


I only play PC games on my 65: Plasma so my 6950 is certainly fine to last for a while as 1080P with most everything turned up is possible on most games I play.

I would wait for an 800 series. It shouldn't be too long now.

 

[DaGamePimp]

I thought about waiting as well, my upgrade was less substantial than the jump from a 6950 (from a GTX 680 OC).


I figured a ~10% bump in performance for what is likely to be a 20% - 25% price increase did not make much difference to me so when I was able to grab a GTX 780 OC (GHz) for $480 I jumped.


No regrets here, the card is a beast (many games almost doubled frame rate from the 680 @ 1080p) and should last me a couple years.


Jason

 

[bd2003]

The main reason I'm waiting is how much less power maxwell uses...over a few years that definitely adds up.

 

[DaGamePimp]

My heating bill during the winter months blows away any conservation plans I might convince myself of.

This is likely the wrong hobby to be in if one is honestly trying to reduce their power consumption.


Jason

 

[bd2003]



Quote:
Originally Posted by DaGamePimp  /t/1523595/video-card-advice-please#post_24513138


My heating bill during the winter months blows away any conservation plans I might convince myself of.

This is likely the wrong hobby to be in if one is honestly trying to reduce their power consumption.


Jason

 

Less power means I can buy more card without replacing my power supply though.

 

[DaGamePimp]

True, I already had a solid PS so I did not have that concern.


The 780 was only 55w more than the 680 so not a huge leap regarding PS.


Now 780-SLI... a new PS will be required.

Jason

 

[blee0120]



Quote:
Originally Posted by bd2003  /t/1523595/video-card-advice-please/0_40#post_24511976


I would wait for an 800 series. It shouldn't be too long now.

They might be hdmi 2.0 also, at least I hope so

 

[LexInVA]



Quote:
Originally Posted by blee0120  /t/1523595/video-card-advice-please#post_24516844


They might be hdmi 2.0 also, at least I hope so

They most likely will be. HDMI 2.0 products hit the stores this month and those cards should pop around the holiday season or early next year.

 

[blee0120]



Quote:
Originally Posted by LexInVA  /t/1523595/video-card-advice-please/0_40#post_24518262


They most likely will be. HDMI 2.0 products hit the stores this month and those cards should pop around the holiday season or early next year.

If I wanted to pre build a 4k gaming pc, should I only be waiting to purchase a motherboard and a video card? The the AMD 9370 be enough power?

 

[LexInVA]



Quote:
Originally Posted by blee0120  /t/1523595/video-card-advice-please#post_24518373


If I wanted to pre build a 4k gaming pc, should I only be waiting to purchase a motherboard and a video card? The the AMD 9370 be enough power?

Don't even contemplate a 4K gaming PC right now. The landscape for 4K is like the cooling surface of the Earth after it formed into a planetary body. Most of it is pretty liquid and things are changing because GPU and monitor tech isn't where it needs to be for 4K gaming but it is getting there. It will be 2-3 years before the tech is stable and worth buying into. Things like Stacked DRAM for video card memory, high-density/low-latency DDR4, PCIe SATA, G-Sync, and whatever comes with the next version of DisplayPort are must-have items for a 4K gaming machine. If you want to go high-resolution, WQHD is the way to go right now and works perfectly with what's available.

 

[blee0120]



Quote:
Originally Posted by LexInVA  /t/1523595/video-card-advice-please/0_40#post_24518436


Don't even contemplate a 4K gaming PC right now. The landscape for 4K is like the cooling surface of the Earth after it formed into a planetary body. Most of it is pretty liquid and things are changing because GPU and monitor tech isn't where it needs to be for 4K gaming but it is getting there. It will be 2-3 years before the tech is stable and worth buying into. Things like Stacked DRAM for video card memory, high-density/low-latency DDR4, PCIe SATA, G-Sync, and whatever comes with the next version of DisplayPort are must-have items for a 4K gaming machine. If you want to go high-resolution, WQHD is the way to go right now and works perfectly with what's available.

Really? That is disappointing. I planned on building a 4k gaming pc and a 4k htpc. I guess, ill be sticking with the much cheaper 4k htpc. I have some parts that I can use from my original build like my memory, psu, ssd, and hdd. Should cost me less than $400 hopefully to at 4k. I plan on using another case, motherboard, and an amd cpu instead of the Intel i3 that I have now.

 

[LexInVA]

4K HTPC is also a no-go right now unless you want to build a machine for watching 4K porn downloads using h.264 and you'd need a DisplayPort setup which would be hellishly expensive right now given the cost of the latest high-end cards and 4K displays. The next generation of GPUs (Volta, Skylake, and whatever AMD is working on) are what is needed for 4K HTPC (VP9/h.264/h.265 hardware decoding) with services like Netflix along with new Blu-Ray drives for the new multi-layer disc format used for 4K media and the obvious cheaper 4K monitors with DisplayPort and HDMI 2.0. In 2-3 years, it will all be attainable with your money with none of the headache of today's options.

 

[bd2003]



Quote:
Originally Posted by blee0120  /t/1523595/video-card-advice-please/0_50#post_24518462


Really? That is disappointing. I planned on building a 4k gaming pc and a 4k htpc. I guess, ill be sticking with the much cheaper 4k htpc. I have some parts that I can use from my original build like my memory, psu, ssd, and hdd. Should cost me less than $400 hopefully to at 4k. I plan on using another case, motherboard, and an amd cpu instead of the Intel i3 that I have now.

It's doable if you're willing to spend several thousand dollars and putting up with some headaches.

 

[blee0120]



Quote:
Originally Posted by LexInVA  /t/1523595/video-card-advice-please/0_40#post_24518760


4K HTPC is also a no-go right now unless you want to build a machine for watching 4K porn downloads using h.264 and you'd need a DisplayPort setup which would be hellishly expensive right now given the cost of the latest high-end cards and 4K displays. The next generation of GPUs (Volta, Skylake, and whatever AMD is working on) are what is needed for 4K HTPC (VP9/h.264/h.265 hardware decoding) with services like Netflix along with new Blu-Ray drives for the new multi-layer disc format used for 4K media and the obvious cheaper 4K monitors with DisplayPort and HDMI 2.0. In 2-3 years, it will all be attainable with your money with none of the headache of today's options.

I know now its a waste. I'm going to be buying a 4k projector soon, most likely this fall. I guess my gaming pc will be put on hold for a couple of years

 

[LexInVA]



Quote:
Originally Posted by blee0120  /t/1523595/video-card-advice-please#post_24519259


I know now its a waste. I'm going to be buying a 4k projector soon, most likely this fall. I guess my gaming pc will be put on hold for a couple of years

I'd hold off on the projector too. In 2-3 years, we'll have 4K laser projectors in the home cinema market - they are on track to hit multiplex cinemas by the end of this year or early next year - as well as revisions of HDMI and DisplayPort that will make your 4K gaming dreams come true. Just save your money for the time being.

 

[blee0120]



Quote:
Originally Posted by LexInVA  /t/1523595/video-card-advice-please/0_40#post_24519630


I'd hold off on the projector too. In 2-3 years, we'll have 4K laser projectors in the home cinema market - they are on track to hit multiplex cinemas by the end of this year or early next year - as well as revisions of HDMI and DisplayPort that will make your 4K gaming dreams come true. Just save your money for the time being.

That will be years before those are under $10,000. Especially, the type of quality I'm use to. Sony has a short throw laser 4k projector that is coming out for $40,000. So, its going to be awhile and that's not worth missing out on excellent quality from Sony or JVC when 4k BD hit later this year or early next year. Thanks for the advice on 4K gaming

 

[rindoze]

FYI the AMD 9370 is not a good processor. Its simply a factory overclocked version of the old crappy AMD 8 core and is going to be slower than the new quad core Intel counterparts (both i5 and i7) not to mention it is going to be a miniature furnace sucking massive amounts of power.