Which video card would give my PC maximum performance?

[cam_wmh]

Hi All,

I have an older build, from 3 years ago, that's still running strong, except it won't play GTA5 at maximum, which I'd like.

X58-UD3R Board
12GB - DDR3 Memory (don't recall the speed)
AMD Radeon 6950 - 2GB
2 x ASUS 27" VE27Q LED's
120gb SSD Intel 510 (due to be replaced actually)
- 2 x WD Black 1.5TB
- 2 x WD Black 2.0TB

What would be the best way to go?


Thanks much
Cam

[Hemi-Cuda]

GeForce GTA 900 series is the performance king right now. GTX 980 if money isn't a concern, or GTX 970 if you want the best bang for the buck

[PsYcNeT]

^ What he said. Make sure your PSU can handle it, though the 970/980 use notably less power than the top-level cards from previous generations.

The GTX 980 Ti is on the horizon as well, so you can get that, or wait for the inevitable price drop.

[cam_wmh]

Thanks Fellas

Should note, the CPU is a 930/I7/2.8GHz

[PsYcNeT]

The CPU is getting a bit long in the tooth, but isn't useless yet.

Generally, there is about 7%-8% incremental increases in power with each new Intel generation, so if we use the first i7 series (your 930) as a baseline of 0, the 2600k is 7% better, the 3770k is 14.5% better, the 4790k is 22.5% better, and the Skylake chips coming out later this year would be ~31% better give or take.

EDIT: Note that is in realworld gaming.

For CPU-dependant tasks (renders, compiles, etc) the newest chips would be literally twice as fast.

[BlackArcher101]

Bah, I still run a i5 3570k and I can run games in full detail at 5760x1080 on my GTX 970.

[PsYcNeT]

Originally Posted by BlackArcher101

Bah, I still run a i5 3570k and I can run games in full detail at 5760x1080 on my GTX 970.

Ditto, but there are minor advantages to the newer chipsets. Skylake might be the point at which I upgrade, esp since I've been doing a lot more video rendering lately, and it can be time consuming.

[Hemi-Cuda]

Originally Posted by BlackArcher101

Bah, I still run a i5 3570k and I can run games in full detail at 5760x1080 on my GTX 970.

2700K i7 with a GTX 970 here, zero performance issues

[Cain]

Waiting til VR is released commercially for a bit til I upgrade everything...To me that is the next level of gaming (though not for all genres).

[Phaneufenstein]

Sorry to piggyback on your thread cam..

My rig is approaching 5 years, so I'm looking for upgrade input on the video card and really anything else.

i7 920 2.67GHz
Asus P6T SE board
12 GB DDR3
750W PS
Radeon HD 5770 1GB - Can I still keep this and just add another one?
1TB hard drive - I'm considering buying an SSD, but not sure how to go about transfering only my OS on it.

Thanks.

[PsYcNeT]

Originally Posted by Phaneufenstein

Sorry to piggyback on your thread cam..

My rig is approaching 5 years, so I'm looking for upgrade input on the video card and really anything else.

i7 920 2.67GHz
Asus P6T SE board
12 GB DDR3
750W PS
Radeon HD 5770 1GB - Can I still keep this and just add another one?
1TB hard drive - I'm considering buying an SSD, but not sure how to go about transfering only my OS on it.

Thanks.

If your PSU/Mobo support it, yeah you could Crossfire two 5570s. They're like 60$ on ebay.

That said, a modern day $200 card would be way way way better than 2x5770.

Get a 960 for $270 bucks and you'll be laughing. Would be more than 4x faster than your current card.

http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/MX55602

If you buy an SSD, I would just do a clean windows install. You won't need to wipe your storage drive, just install windows on the SSD (and make it your primary boot drive), and then delete the Windows folder on the HDD. I once cloned windows onto an SSD, it was not a fun experience.

[Phaneufenstein]

thank you

[Finner]

You may want to to wait a month for AMD's new HBM cards to come out. Most places are forecasting a significant performance boost over the current generation of cards.