8 replies to this topic

[eror11]

Hi everyone, looking for some advice on gpu selection. The thing is, I'm from central/east europe, and over here, GPU's aren't priced as they are in USA or...well...elsewhere... so tom's hardware and comparisons like those don't really apply. So here's the thing, my computer atm is:

i5 2500k on an asus Z68 mobo I think
8gb of some higher end ddr3 RAM (forgot which brand exactly)
3 HDD's
a 650W high end psu
and a geforce 260

I'm on a 24" monitor with 1920x1200 resolution.

I want to play GW2 on highest possible settings and my budget is something like 400$ (however, like I said, the price of cards is silly here, so I'll list some in a minute). I was wondering if some of you guys could give me your opinions if those kinds of prices would be worth it for each of the gpu's.

Here goes:

Radeon 6850, 7770OC, GF 560SE (the weakest 560 version) and 550 GTX = 175$
Radeon 6870 = 215$
Geforce 460, 560 (regular gtx) 1gb = 235$ (another stupid thing about my country, when a product is replaced by a new model, the old one doesn't go on sale, they just keep it there at that price hoping it would sell... yeah lol).
Radeon 6950 1gb, 560Ti (cheapest one) = 270$
Radeon 7850 = 305$
Radeon 7870 2gb, 570 (1280, cheapest) = 380$
Radeon 7950 3gb = 419$

I have searched only the following brands: MSI, Asus, Gainward, Gigabyte, Sapphire and XFX so when I say cheapest versions, they aren't complete crap (cheapest are normally XFX of course, then MSI, gigabyte and sapphire). I was mainly looking at 7870, probably over the 570 (even though I prefer Geforce), but was wondering what do you think about the price jump from 7850 or even 560Ti and if it was worth it... I do plan on waiting for the 660 first, but if it turns out to be as expensive as they say it will, then I don't think it will be worth it. Also, it's questionable when the card will come to our market, what the price HERE will be and I kinda want to play with nice graphics as soon as august 22 hits...

Thanks everyone in advance.

P.S. if you have any other suggestions (i.e. get a cheaper card and an SSD instead of expensive card or something like that, feel free to post those too)!


edit: I should probably note that I can't SLI/CF and that the reason behind asking this whole question is having like 10-15 FPS at times and highest details, and even some trouble around medium, while not even being in huge wvw

[Beiufin]

out of those the strongest price points would be the 6870 and the 7850. Sorry for the short post, lack of time!

[Silentverdict]

So yeah it depends on what you want. If you're waiting for the 660 then that might be competitive. I don't see the 670 in there and the 570 isn't really worth getting at that price point at all. Like Beiufin said the 6870 and 7850 are the strong price points, the 7870 is a nice card, but $380 is a hefty price for it. All in all it depends on what you're looking for, but I think you'd be really well served with a 7850, it seems to hit a really nice price/performance point. The 6870isn't bad, but I think you'd find it a bit lacking at 1920x1200.

[eror11]

670 is even more expensive (516$ cheapest one) - yes you read that right lol.

I'm probably going to go for either 7850 and 7870. On one hand the 7870 is expensive, on the other, it's only like 70$ difference for about 20ish % better performance... I had the current card since...well...they came out (2008?) and the thing is - I know both cards will be awesome right now, but IF I have to have the card for another 4 years, the question is if the difference in performance there, down the line is worth it. I don't care about the difference between like 120 and 150 fps now, but I care about 30 vs 45 in 3 years... That's what's bothering me most now. I'm literally 50-50 between those two now...

Thank you both for your answers, I'd like to hear from more people if anyone has anything to add at all (and more from you of course)...

[Smarty]

Well if you do have 400$ to spend on a graphics card I don't see a reason for not getting a 7950. I'm getting the Gigabyte version of the 7950 because it has 3 fans so it's very OC friendly. I think that may help with your future proof problem too. Not only is it a better card out of the box but you can always OC it for a boost on performance further down the road (just check if your PSU can handle that first)

If you want a sweet performance/pricing spot then I agree with everything said above. Although I'll add this. Loading times on GW2 are frequent specially in the beggining of the game where you jump around all the time. If you can use the spare money for that SSD you mentioned it would be a good investment. Even though I think the better graphics card would still be better, mind you. Performance during game is more important than faster loading times.

My 2 cents

[eror11]

Thanks, but 7950 is really too much for me :-S The budget was 400, and the cheapest 7950 is 420$ if I give them straight up cash, more like 500 if I use a credit card... I know it's "only" 20$, but the budget is stretched to 400, I can't stretch it even more Thank you for the input in any case, I need to ponder on this more and hope the prices will at least drop a bit when 660 comes out...

[Smarty]

Trust me, I know that feeling. I'm building a new rig myself and it hasn't been easy hehe.

Anyway you seem to have a solid plan. Wait for the 660 and see what to do from there

[eror11]

In case anyone was wondering, went with 7870 'cos 660ti price > 450$ here... Perfectly satisfied with the new card

[Beiufin]

glad to hear it!