New Graphics Card For My Once "Powerful" System

[HonestJohn]

Hi Guys, Nice new place you have here. haven't been around for a while, work, life, kids etc. So I have been out of the loop on GPU's for 2-3 years. So work has calmed down and have some extra time to play a few games again and wanted a few opinions on how to go. I've been trying to play some catch-up by reading about what's out there right now, but it's a lot of reading. Anyway I have $300 to $400 to spend. I posed this question on another website and the answer was the Radeon HD 7950 with one honorable mention of the GTX 660ti. My specs are in my Sig if it's working but ....

Play at 1680 x 1050 (may go HD res in future)

Core2Duo @ 3.4 Ghz.

8GB DDR2

I may also upgrade/rebuild system in future as well as I know it's a probably a bottleneck now ...

Playing catch-up on Games as well. Dead Island and Dead Space 2 at the moment with an eye on Far Cry 3.

Thanks for your input.

Edit: Just saw a PNY GTX 670 (Standard) card on Sale at NCIX for $319. Decent deal?

[Galaxytech]

If your system has SLI support, the best value at your budget would be a pair of the GTX 660 GCs that we've got on special right now at Newegg for $199 after rebate with free shipping:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814162122

I've personally run two of these in SLI, and not only were they about 25% faster than a single 680, they were the only cards I've ever SLI'ed with zero gap that did not have heat issues so they actually ran very quiet. I was really impressed to no end with this card, and at its current price it's the most bang for the buck.

[Activate: AMD]

the 7950 and 660Ti are good choices. They offer pretty similar performance. Considering your slightly older CPU and the lower gaming res, that might be the right place for you to be, and at $300 they offer good value. The 7970 is a pretty sweet value right now. Some can be had right around that $400 mark. You're more likely to be CPU limited, and some of that performance might be less useful at 1680x1050 than at 1440P or 1600P.

[HonestJohn]

Thanks for the input guys. Still mulling things over. I plan on having this card for a while and my upgrade path will be 32" Display, then a rebuilt rig. Hopefully within the next year for both.

[Will889]

with your current setup I would go no further than a single card HD7850/7870 or NV 650/660TI. You are not on an x4 so i would keep it from too much bottlenecking.

[HonestJohn]

with your current setup I would go no further than a single card HD7850/7870 or NV 650/660TI. You are not on an x4 so i would keep it from too much bottlenecking.

The GTX 670 temporary home will be current Rig. Then it will be going into an i7 based system sooner rather than later ...... one of the kids will get old Bessie ..

Thanks

[undersea]

670 is a really nice card. I might suggest you try micro center when you are ready for the i7, they beat the pants off newegg these days.

[you]

Isn't the 7950 at approx $280 the sweet point for price performnace ?

[Yeah]

I just dropped around 360. or so for the GTX 670 as well; I wanted a single card solution capable of good frame rates for far cry myself. I was going to go the ATI way as they had bioshock and assasins creed- but in the end I went with Nvidia. I am building a new system this weekend I 7 3770K and asrock extreme4 mobo. I think the 670 should be good enough to get you through to your next build too. I am upgradeing from a 550TI.

Oh and Welcome Back to the Forums

[H5N1]

650 Ti Boost or 670 oc'ed.

[Poci]

7950
NVidia 6 series seem to be voltage locked on the PCB the vcore doesn't allow to go very high