The Waiting Game (Another "Help Me Buy" Thread)

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Deeky

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My specs: i7 920, P6X58D Premium, 6gb Dominator 1600 and a BFG (lol) GTX 285.

So many great games in the mix and a landslide of hawtness coming down the pipe, I'm having a hard time deciding: Should I pull the trigger on a new GPU or not? I could grab a pair of 6950s and be a happy man, or I could wait for the "next big thing" and maybe feel justified.

The 285 is really starting to show her age and the lack of DX11 is a bit of a drag. It's not super terrible, I still manage playable frames with half decent eye candy, but sacrifices are being made. I'm delaying the purchase of certain games if only because the 285 won't do them justice.

I've always been one to BUY NOW - I don't often sit on my hands and wait for the next wave while life passes me by - but I feel like I'm right on the fence. Buy now for immediate gratification or tough it out?

Thoughts? Thanks in advance.
 
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From what I have read around, 7k series won't be out for 6 months or more. 6950s are great cards, I think, and well worth the upgrade. Even better if you can find a reference model then flash to the 6970 bios.

If it was me, I would just wait till a hot deal shows up for a reference 6950 then get it and flash it to the 6970 bios.

Really personal preference and how much money you don't mind spending. Waiting usually lowers the price so can't go wrong there but at the same time, the 6950 is a great card.
 
I went from a XFX 5870 to a Zotac GTX 580 3gb card, I guess my first question would be do you wanna stick with nVidia or go with ATI? :)
 
Thanks for the responses.

6 months, huh? :eek: Not sure if I can hold out for that long!

The ATI 6900 series is just bananas with value. Hard to ignore. The new gen might be a huge leap forward but the cost will likely curl my toe nails. I'm looking to spend between $500 and $600 after all is said and done, either for a mid range dual card solution or a big, badass single GPU.

Gonna be honest, mikeohara: I'm an Nvidia fanboi. I've been on the Green Team since day 1, but I really do feel they've dropped the ball this time around with their price/performance "strategy" (or lack thereof). I'm actually seriously considering Red for the first time in a long time.

That said, the EVGA GTX 580 3GB is on my radar. :p
 
If you have to go green 560ti's seem to be in your ballpark but they don't really keep up with the 6950 though.. Keep in mind a $500 6950 2GB setup will roughly net you the same performance as a $650 GTX 570 sli setup.
 
Currently gaming at 1920x1200. I realize a 580 3GB is total overkill, though I plan on expanding my horizons to include either a big ol' 30 inch or an Eyefinity/Surround setup ... still have not decided which option I prefer. 3GB would likely still be overkill even on a 30".

Yeah, the 560s really don't float my boat, and the 2GB versions are really hard to find up here in Canada for some reason. The 570s are definitely more attractive, but as you mention the price gap is impossible to justify.

Wow. $170? Great deal, though I'm definitely in the market for 2GBs or higher.
 
a 580 3GB isnt overkill, it just depends on when you plan to upgrade next, i have a 285 as well and plan to build a 2500k, z68 with a 580 3GB in the next month or so, but currently my upgrades happen every 2 years now... so yes, overkill today, but will last at least 1.5 - 2 years before another upgrade is necessary... just my opinion

i run at a rez of 2048x1152 23" 16:9 samsung per sig
 
Deeky said:
Currently gaming at 1920x1200. I realize a 580 3GB is total overkill, though I plan on expanding my horizons to include either a big ol' 30 inch or an Eyefinity/Surround setup ... still have not decided which option I prefer. 3GB would likely still be overkill even on a 30".
Click to expand...

Because you already game at 1920x1200 and plan on either adding a 30" or multiple screens I think you're smart disregarding the 560 ti's. The best nvidia option for you would be a couple of 570's but like you said it'll cost you. A 3gb 580 will most definately get the job done for you... But at that price I think it's just to hard to pass up a couple of reference 6850's and try for an unlock (even if they don't unlock it's still a better bang for your buck), this is coming for an nvidia fanboy too....
 
Honestly, I've never been shy of a little overkill. I do own a 285 after all! It was considered OTT at the time of purchase and your upgrade methodology is very similar to my own. Buy a big card and ride it into the ground for 2+ years, until you can't stand it. I'm going on 2 1/2 years with the 285, bought back in February 2009 (if memory serves).

Fixall, you've pretty mch summed up my own thoughts on the subject. Even as a long time Nvidia fanboy, I'm hard pressed to ignore the crazy value proposition offered by ATI.

6 months until The Next Big Thing ... feels like an eternity.

Question: How can I tell if a 6950 is reference or not? I was looking at the XFX 6950 (double lifetime warranty ftw), but I've since stumbled across several user reviews claiming it's not reference, failed flash.
 
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I'm not so sure it's going to be 6 months...from the ati camp. Perhaps from nVidia though. There were rumors in Q1/Q2 of 2011 suggesting that ATI might be rolling out its first fabric as early as late June to early July and have some products on store shelves by August/September.

If you look at the 5 and 6 series launch days, they too were both towards September for the first cards and finishing out the whole-line up by november to december ish. Your looking at maybe 3 months until mid-September. There's no guarantee the cards would come out then but rumor/history would kind of support that.
 
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