Recommend me a new graphics card?

[3s-gtech]

Agreed. If you can stretch to £230 or so, the 970 is the card to have. The 4GB/3.5GB controversy is a bit of a storm in a teacup, at least until the games you play routinely use 3.5GB+ at the resolution you use (which won't be many yet even at 4k).

[localzuk]

without knowing the spec of your PC it's hard to say, or if you have future plans to upgrade your mobo/cpu in the near future. The 960 has amazing benchmarks for the money although for the same money you could get a 760 which benches slightly slower but has massive specs they may pan out to a better overall average framerate. you could get a 770 for £216 (Scan) which is a mighty card. Having 4GB of RAM on the card is of little benefit right now but may prove it's self in a few years.

 

PC is an i5-2550k (not overclocked... yet) with SSD for C drive, SSHD hybrid for game storage and currently an AMD Radeon 6770 DirectCU GFX card at the moment. Also, I have a 650W be quiet! PSU, 80Plus Bronze rated.

[sonofsanta]

PC is an i5-2550k (not overclocked... yet) with SSD for C drive, SSHD hybrid for game storage and currently an AMD Radeon 6770 DirectCU GFX card at the moment. Also, I have a 650W be quiet! PSU, 80Plus Bronze rated.

 

More than enough CPU, PSU & storage speed, and from that GPU a 770/960 would about double your framerates (and a 970 even more so) based on what I gained going from a 5770 -> 680.

 

Get a 970 now and you're set for about another 4 years, I reckon. Intel CPUs have barely progressed since your i5, in performance terms anyway.

[rob101]

I wasn't suggesting you move to ATI just that you try and wait a little longer as you may save some money on the 970 once it has some competition. Might even work out that ATI release a beast and will cost you less, lot of if's i know but depends on how fast you want/need it.

[3s-gtech]

ATI<2010. AMD>2010.

[ZeroHour]

Personally I would wait till DX12 drops and the next gen comes out hopefully later this year. Windows 10 is rumoured for a Q3 release and although DX12 is backwards compatible but I suspect like every DX release, to get ALL the dx12 goodies you need a new card with X feature.

[ICTDirect_Dave]

ATI<2010. AMD>2010.

 

They'll always be ATI to me

[rob101]

ATI<2010. AMD>2010.

 

Yes sorry.

[rob101]

Personally I would wait till DX12 drops and the next gen comes out hopefully later this year. Windows 10 is rumoured for a Q3 release and although DX12 is backwards compatible but I suspect like every DX release, to get ALL the dx12 goodies you need a new card with X feature.

 

We’re more than ready. GPUs built on our Maxwell GPU architecture – such as our recently released GeForce GTX 970 and GeForce GTX 980 – fully support DX12 - See more at: Level Up: With Windows 10 – and DirectX 12 – PC Gaming Will Soon Be Better Than Ever | The Official NVIDIA Blog

[localzuk]

Well, gone and ordered the MSI GTX 970 mentioned in this thread. Thanks for the advice guys. Hopefully this card will last me the next 4 years just as well as my last one has.

 

Most I've ever spent on a graphics card! More than double the last one. But hey, I'll just put it down to inflation...

[sonofsanta]

Good to know I'm not the only weak-willed person on these forums, unable to resist the lure of the shiny shiny

[ZeroHour]

We’re more than ready. GPUs built on our Maxwell GPU architecture – such as our recently released GeForce GTX 970 and GeForce GTX 980 – fully support DX12 - See more at: Level Up: With Windows 10 – and DirectX 12 – PC Gaming Will Soon Be Better Than Ever | The Official NVIDIA Blog

 

Yeah but I read a piece that MS said themselves graphics card themselves will be base compatible with DX12 but not necessarily everything they add. Trying to find the link now but I am sure that was around Feb. Even Maxwell and DirectX 12 Delivered | The Official NVIDIA Blog doesnt spell out 100% feature compatibility, it just mentions some of the new dx12 stuff that will work on Maxwell, not everything dx12 can do.

I just dont want a repeat of DX10, where they limited DX10 a little and made 10.1 because I believe nvidia at the time couldnt support full DX10 so they just tweaked the features list.

Edited April 16, 2015 by ZeroHour

[abillybob]

I've had 2 ATI Cards (but this was back when they where ATI see above) and both had major driver issues. Since then I've never touched an ATI card. Not only this but I find many things AMD branded are more budget than anything Intel, for example AMD's processors are/can be just as fast but produce a lot more heat for the same speeds and consume more power. Same goes for AMD GPU's.

 

They just don't feel as refined and carefully made to me as Intel & Nvidia components, sometimes it's about quality not quantity. I feel like AMD is the thing you buy if you don't really have enough money to buy proper, it's like buying a Oil filter for your car, one is Bosch the other is some Chinese manufacturer, both will give you the same outcome but one of them you know will be better quality and ensures your car has a longer life because of it. But that my opinion bruh.

[w-clarke101]

Well, gone and ordered the MSI GTX 970 mentioned in this thread. Thanks for the advice guys. Hopefully this card will last me the next 4 years just as well as my last one has.

 

Most I've ever spent on a graphics card! More than double the last one. But hey, I'll just put it down to inflation...

 

Game on.

[mac_shinobi]

tagged you on facebook @localzuk - not sure if any of these GPU's interest you but scan are doing the below cards

 

Award winning supplier, performance hardware & systems - Scan.co.uk

[localzuk]

I just remembered another AMD graphics issue I've had - never been able to play Mafia II, which is apparently down to incompatibility.

[LeMarchand]

Most I've ever spent on a graphics card! More than double the last one. But hey, I'll just put it down to inflation...

 

Depending on where you bought it from, you may at least be due a free download of "Witcher 3", if so you can pretend it's £40 cheaper. That's how I justified my 960!

[Achandler]

Would you like me to list every issue I have had with nVidia cards too? Because frankly it is like fanboy central in here for nVidia. I know people who have moved nVidia to AMD and then people who have moved AMD to nVidia.

 

As for comments about the components feeling less well refined, it is a chip that is engineered to nm, less then probably any of us really understand. We put them all together and put the drivers in and off we go, it isn't driving a card that has slightly worse suspension etc. AMD chips run hotter, use more power but at virtually all price points are the superior card bang for buck. If you have your PC in a place where noise and heat aren't an issue, then AMD are better. If your PC is in a room shared with other people (most notably your other half) then get nVidia as you'll get less complaints!

 

Both make decent cards (with the odd duffer), you won't go wrong with either, as long as they are newish, you don't overlock them, you don't use Beta drivers and you don't use either Crossfire or SLI, both are not worth the effort and won't work properly for everything you try to do with it.

[ZeroHour]

Would you like me to list every issue I have had with nVidia cards too? Because frankly it is like fanboy central in here for nVidia. I know people who have moved nVidia to AMD and then people who have moved AMD to nVidia.

 

As for comments about the components feeling less well refined, it is a chip that is engineered to nm, less then probably any of us really understand. We put them all together and put the drivers in and off we go, it isn't driving a card that has slightly worse suspension etc. AMD chips run hotter, use more power but at virtually all price points are the superior card bang for buck. If you have your PC in a place where noise and heat aren't an issue, then AMD are better. If your PC is in a room shared with other people (most notably your other half) then get nVidia as you'll get less complaints!

 

Both make decent cards (with the odd duffer), you won't go wrong with either, as long as they are newish, you don't overlock them, you don't use Beta drivers and you don't use either Crossfire or SLI, both are not worth the effort and won't work properly for everything you try to do with it.

 

Both have issues all the time to be fair, nvidia lately released a *game ready* driver for Battlefield Hardline that would just crash for the majority of people.

I have personally seen issues with both cards/drivers failing but those were a while ago and at the time the attrition rate we had with ATI cards versus nvidia made me pretty loyal to nvidia but I know lots that have never had any major issues with AMD. Right now I buy nvidia because until they bork up for me or if AMD gets a large performance boost over the equiv nvidia I suspect I will keep buying Nvidia.

 

I actually thought AMD cards generally ran cooler/less power then the equiv nvidia but I have not had a look at many review lately to see if thats the case.

[sonofsanta]

I actually thought AMD cards generally ran cooler/less power then the equiv nvidia but I have not had a look at many review lately to see if thats the case.

 

That was true around the AMD 5000/6000 series and the nVidia 400/500 series that were their contemporaries (the Fermi chip), but nVidia's current Maxwell chip is an absolute stonker for power efficiency.

 

AMD's current problem is how long it's been since they last released an actual new chip, not just a refinement of existing & lots of rebrands; I think it was the 7000 series three years ago.

 

An interesting chart I saw this morning, showing how AMD's market share is tanking at the moment: https://forum.beyond3d.com/threads/nvidia-shows-signs-of-strain.43294/page-161#post-1828480

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]30181[/ATTACH]

(click for bigger)

[localzuk]

Would you like me to list every issue I have had with nVidia cards too? Because frankly it is like fanboy central in here for nVidia. I know people who have moved nVidia to AMD and then people who have moved AMD to nVidia.

 

Ah, so we should ignore our experiences and the opinion of most of the IT press because it makes us sound like fanboys. Got it.

 

As for comments about the components feeling less well refined, it is a chip that is engineered to nm, less then probably any of us really understand. We put them all together and put the drivers in and off we go, it isn't driving a card that has slightly worse suspension etc. AMD chips run hotter, use more power but at virtually all price points are the superior card bang for buck. If you have your PC in a place where noise and heat aren't an issue, then AMD are better. If your PC is in a room shared with other people (most notably your other half) then get nVidia as you'll get less complaints!

 

It isn't just a chip though is it? Its a lot more than just a chip! If something runs hotter and uses more power, it isn't "superior" - over the life of the card, you'll be paying for that difference.

[ZeroHour]

That was true around the AMD 5000/6000 series and the nVidia 400/500 series that were their contemporaries (the Fermi chip), but nVidia's current Maxwell chip is an absolute stonker for power efficiency.

 

AMD's current problem is how long it's been since they last released an actual new chip, not just a refinement of existing & lots of rebrands; I think it was the 7000 series three years ago.

 

An interesting chart I saw this morning, showing how AMD's market share is tanking at the moment: https://forum.beyond3d.com/threads/nvidia-shows-signs-of-strain.43294/page-161#post-1828480

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]30181[/ATTACH]

(click for bigger)

 

Thats pretty scary for AMD but at least they are making some money from console sales.

Maxwell is actually one I had not read about much as I planned to buy the next step nvidia stuff (aka the replacement for the 980 when it comes)

Nvidia did have issues with capacitor problems in the 280 causing them to fail much earlier then expected.

[ZeroHour]

It isn't just a chip though is it? Its a lot more than just a chip! If something runs hotter and uses more power, it isn't "superior" - over the life of the card, you'll be paying for that difference.

 

In fairness though people still bought nvidia when it was much hotter and drained much more power (previous gens) so its not a deciding factor for those then. I want things to run cooler but I want performance more.

I just get the feeling AMD is lacking R & D budget but its only a feeling/impression and I dont have facts to back it up.

[sonofsanta]

Thats pretty scary for AMD but at least they are making some money from console sales.

Maxwell is actually one I had not read about much as I planned to buy the next step nvidia stuff (aka the replacement for the 980 when it comes)

Nvidia did have issues with capacitor problems in the 280 causing them to fail much earlier then expected.

 

Judging by the pattern nVidia have used recently and the chip in the 980, the 1080 (if that's what they call it, and the snowboarder in me hopes they do) will be the bigger Maxwell chip that's currently in the Titan X, but at a more sensible price, so any reading you do about Maxwell now will be good to know for next gen.

 

This is the same pattern they used with the 600/700 series - the 680 was actually a small chip in the flagship card (GK104), and they held back the monster chip of the same architecture for the 700 series (GK110). 900 has a similarly "small" chip (the GM204 - the "04" at the end tells you its class) and the Titan X is based on the bigger brother, GM200.

 

The 1100 series will probably be a wholly new architecture, but Maxwell is a good 'un and there's no particular need to wait.

[localzuk]

In fairness though people still bought nvidia when it was much hotter and drained much more power (previous gens) so its not a deciding factor for those then. I want things to run cooler but I want performance more.

I just get the feeling AMD is lacking R & D budget but its only a feeling/impression and I dont have facts to back it up.

 

Oh, indeed. Back then, ATI/AMD were a better card than they are now though. We're talking about current experiences. I could go back 10 years and ATI would be the obvious choice.