Personal computing discussed

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rewertz
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GPU upgrade?

Mon Feb 18, 2013 2:39 pm

I haven't been keeping up with GPU news for the past few years since I built my last machine in 2008. Do you think it would be that advantageous to upgrade my amd 4870 card for something newer? What advantages do the newer cards offer and are those advantages worth the upgrade. I haven't been gaming alot, but wanted to get skyrim for my desktop. My CPU is a phenom 940. What do you think--keep what i have or not?
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My Johnson
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Re: GPU upgrade?

Mon Feb 18, 2013 2:50 pm

Yeah, you'll want to upgrade. Even if you stick to something of equivalent performance, your power consumption will fall markedly. Also, there's better support for HD codecs in the newer cards and Windows 8 has support for some DirectX 11.1 features outside of games.

So, I highly recommend it. Anything in the $100 to $200 price range are really good values if it's a recent GPU.
 
mortifiedPenguin
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Re: GPU upgrade?

Mon Feb 18, 2013 2:54 pm

What resolution will you be gaming at?
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rewertz
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Re: GPU upgrade?

Mon Feb 18, 2013 3:00 pm

Thanks for the advice. I don't have specific resolution that I game in, but if my card would allow it, I'd like to game at 1920x1200. Any specific card(s) you'd recommend? I'm probably due to upgrade my whole system as well.
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puppetworx
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Re: GPU upgrade?

Mon Feb 18, 2013 3:01 pm

You'll certainly be able to play Skyrim with a 4870 on medium settings. The latest mid range cards (7850 or 7870/GTX660 or Ti) will let you play with nearly everything maxed out and a 2GB card will let you use the high resolution texture pack. Not necessary but definitely enjoyable.
 
My Johnson
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Re: GPU upgrade?

Mon Feb 18, 2013 3:59 pm

At that resolution you can get away with an HD7850. You'll do fine with a GTX 660/HD7870 ($200+.) For full blown eye candy at 1920x1200 you'll have to step up to the $300+ range which is the GTX 660Ti or HD7950.

Edit: I edited this so it looked a little more coherent.
 
rewertz
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Re: GPU upgrade?

Mon Feb 18, 2013 4:16 pm

Thanks for the kind advice, everyone!
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Chrispy_
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Re: GPU upgrade?

Mon Feb 18, 2013 5:36 pm

I am gaming mostly from the sofa on an HD7850 propped up by an ageing Core2 processor.

Full-blown 1080p is fine for almost everything. Sometimes I have to disable AA to stay at 60fps for stutter-free vsync but that's just me being picky I think.
I have also had the chance to test a 650Ti which feels remarkably close to the HD7850 at 1920 x 1080 given its price. Whilst you normally see HD7850's at $175 with $20 rebates and some free games, you can usually find a 650Ti down to $120.
It's priced closer to an HD7770 and whilst you don't get free games with it, it is much smaller which is good if you don't have a lot of space in your PC (My cramped HTPC was the reason I borrowed one from work. It's amazing what you can shoehorn into a case when you use enough cable ties though!)
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auxy
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Re: GPU upgrade?

Fri Feb 22, 2013 8:06 pm

puppetworx wrote:
You'll certainly be able to play Skyrim with a 4870 on medium settings. The latest mid range cards (7850 or 7870/GTX660 or Ti) will let you play with nearly everything maxed out and a 2GB card will let you use the high resolution texture pack. Not necessary but definitely enjoyable.
The high-res pack works fine on a 1GB card. (`・ω・´)

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