Find the bottleneck

[Besidilo]

Yep the 670 series is always the best value, if you can find one with 4gb VRAM you'll have a card that keeps your games running maxed out for as long as 4 years.

 

I'm pretty sure you'd have nothing to back that statement in a year or two. ;)

[frihyland]

unless directx12 comes out early next year I am quite confident in my prediction, even then it takes 2-3 years for the industry to adapt so meh , in any case paying $450 for a 4GB 670 is an insanely better value than $600 for a 4GB 680

[Besidilo]

unless directx12 comes out early next year I am quite confident in my prediction, even then it takes 2-3 years for the industry to adapt so meh , in any case paying $450 for a 4GB 670 is an insanely better value than $600 for a 4GB 680

 

4 years ago the mainstream card was a GTX 260. The first version with 196 shaders, from what I remember.

 

This card can barely handle the new games at medium settings, sometimes struggling to run them at all at high resolution. And the standards are going up with 3D gaming, Eyefinity or 2560x1440 monitors becoming more accessible.

 

It doesn't matter that the card had 896MB or 1.7GB VRAM, it just isn't up to scratch any more.

 

Not arguing that a GTX 670 is a better value than a GTX 680. But neither will be a top card in two years.

[frihyland]

With that kind of definition yes, but I'm not on that constant upgrade treadmill, I build a computer and keep it for 6-8 years putting in about $200 a year to keep it current. I've just hit the 8 year mark and am looking to build a new comp, what would you recommend that will last longer than the 670 4GB? I won't upgrade again until 4k monitors and Cards are available.

[Vond]

With that kind of definition yes, but I'm not on that constant upgrade treadmill, I build a computer and keep it for 6-8 years putting in about $200 a year to keep it current. I've just hit the 8 year mark and am looking to build a new comp, what would you recommend that will last longer than the 670 4GB? I won't upgrade again until 4k monitors and Cards are available.

 

 

Honestly I'd wait until the fall when NVIDIA releases their real "high-end" card that they decided to hold on to due to AMD failing to deliver proper competition for it.

[frihyland]

yeah but that gonna be $1k, I think thats just silly. Well the 670 4GB won't be available for a few months anyway so we'll see what else is available.

[stoppingby4now]

It needs to come sooner so I can get a 2nd 580/3GB card for a decent price.

[Vond]

It needs to come sooner so I can get a 2nd 580/3GB card for a decent price.

 

 

I'll do something similar aswell, I never buy the newest stuff, way too pricey. :) But IF I was, I'd wait for that one.

[Neovalen]

I always buy top end, but I only buy a video card once every 2 or 3 years. I've pondered waiting till August for Nvidia's new top end. I would just buy a ATI 7970 but... Nvidia seems to have better driver support, etc.

 

My last 4 computers have used ATI.

[frihyland]

Yeah the new autoconfigure game profiles and autoupdate drivers features could be really nice if they do it right.

[stoppingby4now]

I can't say for sure in regards to nVidia having better driver support, as both companies seem to have had their ups and downs, at least as far as Windows is concerned. Though, nVidia definitely has better driver support in Linux when it comes to multimedia.

[stoppingby4now]

Yeah the new autoconfigure game profiles and autoupdate drivers features could be really nice if they do it right.

 

I've seen autoupdate capability in the latter 200 series drivers, but I don't know if it works. I never install that feature.

[Neovalen]

I more meant you can configure more things in the driver such as SSAO, various types of AA, etc. For ATI its really basic.

[Vond]

I can't say for sure in regards to nVidia having better driver support, as both companies seem to have had their ups and downs, at least as far as Windows is concerned. Though, nVidia definitely has better driver support in Linux when it comes to multimedia.

 

 

Yeah both have their up & downs, but atleast lately nvidia have bad better driver support I feel. No doubt things will change around again though for some time etc

[frihyland]

 

Yeah the new autoconfigure game profiles and autoupdate drivers features could be really nice if they do it right.

 

I've seen autoupdate capability in the latter 200 series drivers, but I don't know if it works. I never install that feature.

 

This is new software that is gonna use a new nvidia cloud database to store all game info and all hardware info and autoconfigure your game profiles and drivers to get max quality from each game you have installed on your specific system according to your full hardware specs. Still pie in the sky, but at least they are trying something new.