Graphics card upgrade, maybe more

Brawler

Brawler

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Hi.

Currently running AMD 965 quad @ 3.6, 4GB DDR3 1333, HD6850 1GB.

BF3 is out real soon so looking to upgrade as I want to play it on high @ 1680x1050.

I know my CPU isn't the most fantastic thing in the world these days compared to sandy bridge etc but I think it will be fine for now and a big new GPU will have a bigger influence. It seems like both current AMD & NV cards are well into their lifetime but there doesn't seem to be anything new until at least December/January.

What would be the best to go for?

I could pick up a another HD6850 for about R2000 but then will have crossfire issues, micro stutter etc.

Sapphire HD6950 @ R2650 or
Sapphire HD6970 @ R3700

Anything green I should be looking at?

Also, will BF3 make use of any more RAM than 4GB?
 
CPU is still plenty good while OC'ed.

HD6950 is better value/FPS. Depends how much you're willing to drop.

I don't know if BF3 itself will, but overall the more RAM the merrier, no question about it.
 
MSI GeForce GTX560Ti Twin Frozr II OC 1GB GDDR5 @ R2400.

Seems pretty decent to.
 
Ok noted.

So it looks like its the Sapphire HD 6950 then with another 4GB of RAM (8GB total).

The 6970 doesn't seem like its worth an extra R1100ish.
 
I'd just wait for bf3, see how your card handles it then decide if it's worth while to upgrade.
 
Or wait till late October or early November. Amd 7000 series expected then.

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Crossfire would give you quite decent FPS (20% more than any single GPU could)
 
Bad timing. Price are just going up because of the ****ty Rand/Dollar.
Click to expand...

Yeah. 6850s have gone up from R1600 to R1750/R1800 :/

Maybe if I wait for the 7XXX series to come out they'll drop in price again.
 
nakedpeanut said:
I'd just wait for bf3, see how your card handles it then decide if it's worth while to upgrade.
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If BC2 wasn't running to my satisfaction I doubt BF3 will.

sal12344 said:
Or wait till late October or early November. Amd 7000 series expected then.

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Click to expand...
From what I have seen it is more like December and who knows here :/ It is also not the high end cards but rather mid-range cards. The "HD7970" will only be out in Q1.


HavocXphere said:
Bad timing. Price are just going up because of the ****ty Rand/Dollar.
Click to expand...
R2600 is not a lot for a HD6950.

Archer said:
Crossfire would give you quite decent FPS (20% more than any single GPU could)
Click to expand...
Problem is the HD6850s are now around R2000, too much IMO and then I have the crossfire stress and micro stutter issues.
 
Dude remember bfbc2 didn't run well on my most rigs, i wouldn't gauge a console ports performance to a game developed for pc.

I think it was developed for pc. I am sure this game will run far better than bfbc2 which was shocking.
 
killadoob said:
Dude remember bfbc2 didn't run well on my most rigs, i wouldn't gauge a console ports performance to a game developed for pc.

I think it was developed for pc. I am sure this game will run far better than bfbc2 which was shocking.
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Easy to say that with 3x 6970's in tri-fire :P

ashfaak said:
This article says you'll need 2 x 580s in SLi. 6950 in CF should do the trick.
http://www.bit-tech.net/news/gaming/2011/09/23/battlefield-3-recommended-specs-only-good-f/1

Or maybe two of these:
http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/overclocking/vidcard/159 :)
Click to expand...

That is probably for Ultra with 8x aa etc @ 1080P
 
PostmanPot said:
HD6950 is at an all time low currently. :)
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Only because suppliers haven't updated their prices yet.

I hear TNT2 prices are at an all time low too. /runs

More seriously if OP intends to buy then he'd better do so within days.
 
Brawler said:
Problem is the HD6850s are now around R2000, too much IMO and then I have the crossfire stress and micro stutter issues.
Click to expand...

BF:BC saw almost 100% scaling in xfire, I'm sure BF3 will be the same. To each his own though
 
Brawler said:
Easy to say that with 3x 6970's in tri-fire :P



That is probably for Ultra with 8x aa etc @ 1080P
Click to expand...

I never played bfbc2 with tri 6970 though :D. I did play it with 2 5770's but it sucked ass so much so i got angry playing it.

I hope bf 3 is good for pc cause console ports don't like crossfire i reckon. Well some of them, it takes a few patches to get em working.
 
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killadoob said:
I never played bfbc2 with tri 6970 though :D. I did play it with 2 5770's but it sucked ass so much so i got angry playing it.

I hope bf 3 is good for pc cause console ports don't like crossfire i reckon. Well some of them, it takes a few patches to get em working.
Click to expand...

Ya that is what I am worried about. I don't want to spend another R2k to have to sit and struggle with crossfire profiles and patches like you did with your 5770s.

I can sell my 6850 for R1200 and just put R1400 in and have silky smooth BF3 :D
 
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