Help Me Pick A New Video Card

mikeohara

mikeohara

Limp Gawd
Joined
Dec 24, 2002
Messages
368
I currently have a Zotac GeForce GTX 580 3gb card, and I'm looking to upgrade to current-gen graphics technology (i.e. 7970/680 cards). I have a budget of $600 to spend on the card according to my wife (note, I said single card) and have my eye currently on both the MSI Twin Frozr 680 (out of stock atm) and the Asus DirectCUII Radeon 7970 (in stock) as possible purchase options. They're both available at Newegg in the price range I mentioned above.

Highlights:
a.) I game at 1080p resolution. I want to experience high-quality graphics in games like Battlefield 3 with everything possible maxed out (AA and AF included to some extent).

b.) I'm looking at purchasing within the next 30 days, so I have a little bit of time to kill before making the purchase, and hopefully time for 680 stock to be received at Newegg again and not sell out as quickly :p

I currently use the system below in my signature, and could use some help picking out a new card. If you have a card other than those two that you want to suggest, go for it! I'll take all reasonable suggestions under advisement. Also of some note, I do have a red and black cover scheme in the inside of my case going on, so if you want to suggest something that adheres to that theme, that'd be awesome!

Thanks!
 
As far as playability goes, it does fine in BF3 (I don't experience any slowdowns or hiccups when I'm playing on my clan's server), but I always seem to want the latest and greatest thing. I had also considered buying a second 3gb 580 and SLI'ing them together, and I'm still considering that. Would that be a better option than upgrading to the Twin Frozr 680??

@Burnt: I checked that out, hopefully it's released soon. I really like that card.
 
A 2nd 3gig gtx580 would be nice and to have 6gig of vram but unless you got multiple monitors or running a higher res than what you currently are I wouldn't bother. Id just go with a 680
 
sameo88 said:
A 2nd 3gig gtx580 would be nice and to have 6gig of vram but unless you got multiple monitors or running a higher res than what you currently are I wouldn't bother. Id just go with a 680
Click to expand...
it would still be 3gb of usable vram with another gtx580 3gb in sli.
 
SLI 580s will be faster than a single 680 in BF3.

Want the best newest card, get the 680. Want more performance with the added heat and power requirements, get another 580.

IMO I'd get another 580.
 
Really you gotta just look at some benchmarks of those cards at your resolution and that'll be the deciding factor.
 
I would get the 680 and have you thought about just selling your 580 to offset the cost, heck maybe get some more/better visuals to actually use that gpu muscle? At 1080 and single screen, the 680 will be more than enough and it seems like you like to upgrade anyway.
 
I thought OP wanted a single card? If anything if he were to choose multi-card setup. He can sell his 580 gtx and crossfire 7970. That would be pretty awesome. He's only playing at 1080p though. I would just get a 680 GTX and call it a day.
 
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