New Card for 2011

Hi Guys,

Basically I have about £650 to spend on a GPU. I need to be able to play the games this year at 60fps+ hence the big budget.

Specs:

Intel core-i7 2700k @ stock
Gigabyte Z68X-UD4 Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard
16GB Corsair DDR3-1600
Corsair 750w Builders PSU
640GB Storage (unsure of the drive models, replacing very soon)

Soon to have a couple of SSDs. Current card is an ATI HD5770 (bought when my clan was deep into COD4 so it was all i really needed ;) )

Could any of you nice people please offer me advice on what to buy, Im thinking about a 6990 but I want to know if its worth waiting for the higher end 7xxx series

Regards

7970 is out so it should be available for sale very soon - I'd wait for that considering how much you're willing to spend.

The 7970 is out 9th Jan according to official statements, its gonna be a pita to get hold of mind you due to initial stock and should set you back around £450, if you can get one its mighty fast about 20% faster then the current 6970 and just below a 6990 without having to put up with the crossfire crap lol. Its also highly efficient and can in theory power off when not in use.

The 7950 is also due out 9th Jan, it looks like a binned 7970 but is around $100 cheaper.

The 7990 is flagged for a march release and will set you back even more.

(Released dates quoted subject to change lol)

And the 7890 is a further binned 7970; a Tahiti LE. 7970 will be the best bet for your budget, assuming team green doesn't get anything out before then.

For that sort of cash I would deffo wait for the 7 series to come out before I buy a gpu..

Quote:

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Originally Posted by pooley

For that sort of cash I would deffo wait for the 7 series to come out before I buy a gpu..

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This, definately! :)

Will the price of other cards fall once the 7 series hit the shelves?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by format

Will the price of other cards fall once the 7 series hit the shelves?

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They've hit the shelves.. and the answer is.. no

Due to lack of competition they've just created a new price tier. If supply ever catches up with demand then AMD will have to choose between continuing to make hay until nVidia bring out their cards much later, or dropping the prices to obselete the previous generation cards (for both them and nVidia) - if they do the latter then prices will drop. But for that to happen I think they need hearty supply of the new cards and little inventory of the old.

TBH I would buy a 6 series and wait for the newer Nvidia cards to come out later this year , then sell on the 6. I'm not sure the 7 series offer the massive price hit for performance over the 6's

But that would mean buying a high-end card, spending more on a relatively minor upgrade and selling the 6 series card for considerable less due to likely price drops at the time. The OP could probably just about afford it in the budget but it's a terrible waste of money IMO.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by format

Will the price of other cards fall once the 7 series hit the shelves?

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by kalniel

They've hit the shelves.. and the answer is.. no

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They never do. Ever. The previous series always has the price drops gradually since launch. The new series then takes up the old price points, give or take a bit, performance dependent.

The HD6990 4GB is around £500 on Ebuyer:

http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/powe...or-499-1112911

The reference HD7970 cards should be no more than £420 to £430. UK retailers are price gouging as usual so wait a while and don't pay their greedy prices. Cards were around the £420 at the beginning of yesterday and then all of a sudden jumped in price by around 10% or thereabouts.

Depend if you can wait until the 7990 comes out. Is it May it comes out?