graphics card

[MOST_WASTED]

hi all. need some advice. i own a radeon hd 6870 1gb, was about 160$, its a pretty decent card. now i have about 250 that i can spend for an upgrade, would you recommend i get another 6870 and do the SLI thing, or save some more money and get one of the new ones instead? but they are really expensive and i dont think i can wait that long but i would if it is way better than doing SLI with my old but decent card, i've never used DUAL cards before so i dont really know how that works. anyway any kind of help or info would be appreciated. thanks very much


to any admin: sorry if i posted this in the wrong section, i think it should be in overclocking and mod rigs. please move if necessary thanks

[nolife]

hi all. need some advice. i own a radeon hd 6870 1gb, was about 160$, its a pretty decent card. now i have about 250 that i can spend for an upgrade, would you recommend i get another 6870 and do the SLI thing, or should i wait a bit and save some more money and get one of the new ones? thats all. any kind of help or info would be appreciated. thanks very much.

hi I bought 2 680's back when they first came out. I wished that i would have waited and got the 2 780's now only if i new..lol
dont know if this helps u.

[IceBabee]

Ya know....it all depends on what you do graphic wise! I mean do you do alot of stuff that needs that kind of graphic card? Hell unless you really need it....my philosophy is "if it ain't broke, then don't fix it". Unless you really need that much more in graphics.....then wait and buy the new one! Hell mine is an old card but it does everything I need it to do and then some, and I even do photoshop, so.....it's really your choice! Just my advice :)

[MOST_WASTED]

hi I bought 2 680's back when they first came out. I wished that i would have waited and got the 2 780's now only if i new..lol
dont know if this helps u.

i know right? but the card is not really that bad it plays a lot of games on ultra settings and its enough to use photoshop with but it sometimes does not have enough juice for when i do animation that it will not save it or i have to close other applications. so thats pretty much the reason i want more ram graphics-wise that is.

[MOST_WASTED]

Ya know....it all depends on what you do graphic wise! I mean do you do alot of stuff that needs that kind of graphic card? Hell unless you really need it....my philosophy is "if it ain't broke, then don't fix it". Unless you really need that much more in graphics.....then wait and buy the new one! Hell mine is an old card but it does everything I need it to do and then some, and I even do photoshop, so.....it's really your choice! Just my advice :)

i hear ya. i dont know maybe i will try to look for a cheap 6870 on ebay and do SLI while i save for the good one. which by the time i can buy it will probably be considered an old model lol.
i appreciate the tip thanks IceBabee (http://virtualcustoms.net/member.php/152436-IceBabee) :)

[IceBabee]

No problem :tu:

[Azt3ck]

What resolution are you running at?
I you are running at/less then 1080P you could get a second card. But if your resolution is higher probably better off to get a newer card.
I run 2 6950 2gb cards in Eyefinity @ 5760x1080. The more demanding games likes Crysis2/3, BF3 I have to run at high instead of ultra.
What processor you have? A processor does make a difference also.
My old desktop had a Phenom II 920 2.89ghz w/ 1 6950 video card and I picked up a ASUS G73JH that had a I7 720Q 1.6ghz(Boost 2.8ghz)processor has a 5870 video card and it would stomp on my Desktop. Thats when I upgraded and went to a I7 2600K. My frame rate went up, less loading time.

[MOST_WASTED]

What resolution are you running at?
I you are running at/less then 1080P you could get a second card. But if your resolution is higher probably better off to get a newer card.
I run 2 6950 2gb cards in Eyefinity @ 5760x1080. The more demanding games likes Crysis2/3, BF3 I have to run at high instead of ultra.
What processor you have? A processor does make a difference also.
My old desktop had a Phenom II 920 2.89ghz w/ 1 6950 video card and I picked up a ASUS G73JH that had a I7 720Q 1.6ghz(Boost 2.8ghz)processor has a 5870 video card and it would stomp on my Desktop. Thats when I upgraded and went to a I7 2600K. My frame rate went up, less loading time.

1920x1080p is what i use. its the maximum resolution of the tv. i have a phenom II x4 970 3.5 ghz , mobo is an ASUS m5A97
what u think i should do? i dont think i can spend any higher than what i have now which is still 250$
i dont play much of the highend games only racing games mostly, sometimes i would play arkham city which is probably the most demanding of all my games but it lags after a while cause i always play everything on ultra, i feel im not getting what i want when its not on ultra :laughing: so freezing is a common occurrrence for me on that game lol

[Azt3ck]

Ok this is what I would do. I would get a Nvidia GTX 760. They go for around $250. The reason is cause if you get a second 6870 you will use more power to run 2 cards and the gtx 760 will use less power and will give you better performance.. 1) is cause it is a 2gb video card and on high demand games and a borderline of running 1080P 2gb will help out.
The only thing is later you couldnt run a second Nvidia card on that board in SLI cause it is for Crossfire board.
You could also go with a AMD 7950 3gb card, they around $250 price range also. recently both companies have been and still are dropping prices on there cards.
Here is a link for some cards http://www.microcenter.com/search/search_results.aspx?N=4294966937+40&cat=%24200-to-%24300-%3a-Video-Cards-%3a-Video-Cards%2c-TV-Tuners-%3a-Computer-Parts-%3a-Micro-Center

[2635599]

i'm with Azt3ck (http://virtualcustoms.net/member.php/164534-Azt3ck) i did some checking around and the two cards he suggest is what i came up with.

[MOST_WASTED]

Ok this is what I would do. I would get a Nvidia GTX 760. They go for around $250. The reason is cause if you get a second 6870 you will use more power to run 2 cards and the gtx 760 will use less power and will give you better performance.. 1) is cause it is a 2gb video card and on high demand games and a borderline of running 1080P 2gb will help out.
The only thing is later you couldnt run a second Nvidia card on that board in SLI cause it is for Crossfire board.
You could also go with a AMD 7950 3gb card, they around $250 price range also. recently both companies have been and still are dropping prices on there cards.
Here is a link for some cards http://www.microcenter.com/search/search_results.aspx?N=4294966937+40&cat=%24200-to-%24300-%3a-Video-Cards-%3a-Video-Cards%2c-TV-Tuners-%3a-Computer-Parts-%3a-Micro-Center

wow 250, really? i built my computer february of last year and the xfx 6870 1gb card i have was i think around 180, i shoulda just bought a 2gb. was my first build though so these cards are very new to me so i thought i was already getting a nice deal with the one i got with the $$ i had. thanks for the link to the cards im gonna do some research on those cards for now, to see why their prices are dropping , also gonna see if they will last for the next 5 years or so lol i know i wont upgrade again til then, cause if these are 2-3gb cards im thinking i might also need a new PSU since mine is only a 650W, i sorta doubt it but hopefully it will be enough to juice up the whole rig. ok well thanks again for the info, advice, links and all it willl surely help, i really appreciate it Azt3ck (http://virtualcustoms.net/member.php/164534-Azt3ck) :)


i'm with Azt3ck (http://virtualcustoms.net/member.php/164534-Azt3ck) i did some checking around and the two cards he suggest is what i came up with.
thank you for the 2nd opinion ChuckysChild :)

[MOST_WASTED]

if switching from AMD to nvidia:
the AMD processor i have says that it gives added feature or performance or something if i also use an AMD card, i remember reading that somewhere in the brochures. thats the reason the card i have is what i bought. now i dont know if that was just "sales talk" from them but would it actually be better getting an AMD card? i mean would there really be lost features or a noticeable difference of performance if i get its nvidia counterpart instead?

[Azt3ck]

I believe what they are talking about is there AMD OverDrive program that lets you overclock your CPU, Ram, and Video card but really I find there software not that well. My old system would end up freezing when I would let it try to overclock itself.
Video cards are more less on how much money you got to spend for the performance you want.
As far as a PSU, I think your 650watt should be fine if it is a good brand and not a cheap one. I use a thermaltake 750 watt that runs my OC'ed 2600K 3.4ghz @4.7ghz, 16 gb ram, 2 x 6950 cards OC'ed, 2x SSD, a 1 1/2TB hard drive,water pump, 2 Optical drives, 9 fans, and some LED lights. So yes I think the 650 watt should be fine. Newer cards tend to use less power but run faster.

[MOST_WASTED]

I believe what they are talking about is there AMD OverDrive program that lets you overclock your CPU, Ram, and Video card but really I find there software not that well. My old system would end up freezing when I would let it try to overclock itself.
Video cards are more less on how much money you got to spend for the performance you want.
As far as a PSU, I think your 650watt should be fine if it is a good brand and not a cheap one. I use a thermaltake 750 watt that runs my OC'ed 2600K 3.4ghz @4.7ghz, 16 gb ram, 2 x 6950 cards OC'ed, 2x SSD, a 1 1/2TB hard drive,water pump, 2 Optical drives, 9 fans, and some LED lights. So yes I think the 650 watt should be fine. Newer cards tend to use less power but run faster.

i see. thats good to know. i was wrong though i looked to check the name and its a corsair CX600 so i guess 600W is what i have. i dont have much devices anyway that are hooked to the board just the regular stuff and a few fans so hoping it would be okay. thanks very much

thats a lotta stuff u have. sounds like a rave party going on in your rig ei lol

[2635599]

MOST_WASTED (http://virtualcustoms.net/member.php/216192-MOST_WASTED)

http://www.thermaltake.outervision.com/

http://www.extreme.outervision.com/psucalculatorlite.jsp

[MOST_WASTED]

MOST_WASTED (http://virtualcustoms.net/member.php/216192-MOST_WASTED)

http://www.thermaltake.outervision.com/

http://www.extreme.outervision.com/psucalculatorlite.jsp

wow thanks ChuckysChild (http://virtualcustoms.net/member.php/177825-ChuckysChild) i never new about this. it will help me out for sure. i appreciate it bro :Peace: