To upgrade or not?

[BeastChan23]

Right now I have a Radeon HD 6850 from Gigabyte (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125353)

I've been thinking of an upgrade since I recently bought a whole new system except for my SSD, and GPU.

I just started playing PC games since I mostly play console games (I play Street Fighter competitively and there's just better competition on Xbox, but I have it for PC too)

As I've been playing Borderlands 2 lately I'm getting around 75FPS in most areas, but it goes just above 60FPS in busy areas maybe even lower for a few seconds.

I know it's not my 2500K since I can play the game and stream it and get the same performance, so being bottle necked by the CPU isn't possible so far.

For the game I have everything maxed out except for AA, AF, and Physx, they're all disabled complete, Physx is at the lowest setting: Low.

Seeing as gaming on PC is cheaper I'm thinking about upgrading from my 6850, but I don't know if I should stick with AMD, or try NVidia again.

I'm looking around the $170-$230 price range, looking at choosing the GTX 660. That would help me with maxing everything out I think, and be safe with future games.

It'll also help out with rendering video on Adobe Premiere which I use for video editing.

Question is, is the 660 my best bet for its performance at this price range, should I look at a different card, or should I just wait?

I'm planning on selling my current card to soften the price of the new card.

[Guest]

75 fps on average? Your monitor most likely refreshes at 60hz so nothing is gained by upgrading your card unless you're playing at lowered settings which you are. Personally I would wait as AMD are soon to launch their new cards as are NVidia later in the year.

It'll also allow you to save up a bit more money and go for a better card..

[BeastChan23]

The big open areas it goes 75fps with nothing really going on, explosions, gunshots etc

On busy areas it seems to chug a quite a bit which makes it pretty noticeable, but the game is totally playable,

I'd like to AA, AF, and maybe Physx enabled. with those on the game goes to about 30fps and lower at 1920x1080.

Waiting would be the best option, but I get pretty anxious when I get the idea of upgrading something on my system.

The other alternative would be buying another 6850, but I've never experienced a dual GPU setup, Or if my 750w PSU could handle it.

.

[Guest]

Your PSU will be absolutely fine - I personally haven't run the 6850 in Crossfire but i'm sure someone here has and can give you their opinions on it.

[Opsilon]

dude don't take another card on an old product

sell your card and buy a newer model, you will save money and multi gpu has it's downsides, like support in games, power and heat issues.

750w PSU from a good brand is ok for an sli/cfx, and as Linus said time and time again, buy 1 strong card, not 2 lower performing ones.

And if you want a multi gpu setup buy it in the same generation, after that it is pointless...

[Hexicate]

I'd recommend getting a good GTX 670 such as this one http://ncix.com/products/?sku=71107&vpn=GV-N670OC-2GD&manufacture=Gigabyte&promoid=1366

or wait for the new generation of GPUs.

If you go lower than that GPU you wont get much future proofing.

[BeastChan23]

670 is way too much for me since I casually play games on PC.

Most of my focus is playing Street Fighter and the like on consoles.

At any rate, seeing as Radeon HD 8000 series is a rebadged 7000 series I might just go with the 660.

I just need to sell my 6850 first, I think $100 is a fair price.

[Spite]

670 is way too much for me since I casually play games on PC. Most of my focus is playing Street Fighter and the like on consoles. At any rate' date=' seeing as Radeon HD 8000 series is a rebadged 7000 series I might just go with the 660. I just need to sell my 6850 first, I think $100 is a fair price. [/quote']

Recommend you go with a 7870 over the 660, has a wider memory bus which will help when running AA and higher resolutions and it also performs better with the Catalyst 12.11 drivers.

[killerx525]

For a maximum budget of $230, you could get the 7870 which is a bit faster then the 660.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150604

[Jrjy3]

Honestly, if you are getting just above 60 fps when there is lots of action in your scene, then you don't need to upgrade. You shouldn't notice any difference because your monitor will most likely refresh at 60 Hz, so you can't notice a difference unless it dips below 60 fps.

[BeastChan23]

The 7870 looks uber tempting. Unfortunately there isn't one at my local CompUSA/Tiger Direct Store.

BUT, there's an open box one from Gigabyte with three fans for $209 at a different store!

Have any of you guys messed with Hybrid PhysX?

That'd help with those games to get those fancy effects. But I'm not too too concerned with it at this moment.

[killerx525]

Pretty good price for that 7870!

[Angelus]

No, I don't think you should upgrade your current card is fine.

[JupiteL]

agree with killerx525 , get a 7870 good for the price

[MooseParade]

If you're consistently getting 60+ FPS why would you want to waste money? You won't notice any difference with a new video card. Save the cash and see what Nvidia has to offer this year. The Radeons are expected to offer ~10% increase model for model (8770 will be 10% faster than 7770 which is roughly equivalent to your 6850) so getting a new Radeon now wouldn't make sense.

Edit: Just noticed you're dropping down to 30FPS when the screen is populated. That's a massive framerate drop. There's more happening then you're telling us.

[BeastChan23]

I'll work on making a video soon so I can show you guys.

[BeastChan23]

http://youtu.be/ufz1V3ZL0eQ

It seems like I haven't been able to replicate that experience, I doubt playing online with a friend would have affected it that much.

At any rate I'm getting FPS well over 60 most of the time, and the lowest I noticed while recording for about an hour was about 50, and max around 90, 80 fps? Absolutely playable, but I do have AA, AF, and Physx disabled. I played a bit of Borderlands 1 afterwards and noticed lower FPS on average, going below 45fps during heavy gunfights

I think I'm trying to make excuses for myself to upgrade, but I do want to play the game with AF, and AA on at least to some degree.

Also that Club3d 7870 Joker is looking really really great.

My complete system specs are as follows:

Motherboard : MSI Z77A-G45

CPU : Intel Core i5 2500K (@ 4.2GHZ)

CPU Cooler : Corsair H60

Memory : Kingston HyperX DDR 3 8GBs (@ 1600MHZ)

Capture Card : Black Magic Intensity Pro

Storage : OCZ Vertex 3 60GB, Seagate 1.5TB, WD Green 1TB, 750GB

GPU : Gigabyte Radeon HD 6850 OC (Core - @895MHZ, Memory - @ 1085MHZ (4340MHZ))

PSU : Thermaltake TR2 RX 750W Bronze

Case : Cooler Master Storm Enforcer