Upgrade now, or wait?

I'm currently tempted to upgrade my "old" Ati 4850 which for years has done everything I need it to. I am currently seeing good deals for the 7850, however I read recently that the new line (8***) would be out in Q1 2013. The real question is should i upgrade now, or wait for the next generation, since the current line up is towards the end of its life? My PSU and motherboard support the latest range of GPUs, so no additional costs would be needed, however I don't have a HD monitor, yet! This is not a major factor, but in the future I would like to record in 1080p, and as i have two monitors I may need a card with either two DVI connections, or an adapter to run two.

So, would you upgrade today, or wait for the next generation?

What is your budget and what are the specifications of your system.

System spec
Intel Quad core Q9550 (skt 775)
4GB DDR2 ram
120GB SSD
PSU will support single graphics card happily

Not changing my system at this time (will wait for next generation)

Budget not really an issue, but happily spend upto £220 on a gpu, don't want to go above that. (ati 7950 etc)

I know that the bottleneck will be my motherboard ram, but i can live with that.

There are new series coming out every year, so you can keep waiting for every :p
Just buy it when you need it.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by big_hairy_rob

System spec
Intel Quad core Q9550 (skt 775)
4GB DDR2 ram
120GB SSD
PSU will support single graphics card happily

Not changing my system at this time (will wait for next generation)

Budget not really an issue, but happily spend upto £220 on a gpu, don't want to go above that. (ati 7950 etc)

I know that the bottleneck will be my motherboard ram, but i can live with that.

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You can get a 7950 within your budget.

I know this, but with the next upgrade coming out within 2 months (ish) should i jump now for a 78/9** or wait for the next generation. It's the tradeoff between old gen/new gen.

Would you (knowing that the next gen is only 2 months away), wait, or upgrade now?

I think Q1 could be Mar/Apr time. Do you need to upgrade?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by big_hairy_rob

I know this, but with the next upgrade coming out within 2 months (ish) should i jump now for a 78/9** or wait for the next generation. It's the tradeoff between old gen/new gen.

Would you (knowing that the next gen is only 2 months away), wait, or upgrade now?

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I'd be surprised if the new-gen has anything at less than £250 when it launches.

Thats fine. My budget could stretch to that (for next gen), but i draw the line at £300. The point is that I don't need to upgrade, though it's getting to the point where i should upgrade due to limitations, and that my current GPU has been heavily hit for years. I would like to upgrade within the next few months, though I could hold off. I read on a forum that Jan 2013 is the proposed release date for the next ATI cards, however I cannot see a January launch. I just was wondering what others (being in this situation) would do.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Oswald

There are new series coming out every year, so you can keep waiting for every :p
Just buy it when you need it.

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But the year ends soon and new gpu cards are about to come out in 3-6months time.

Hi big_hairy_rob,

With the Steam sale on and some good deals with bundled games on the 7900 series I'd look at a 7950. With 3GB VRAM and very overclockable (generally) if you can find one for around £220 you're getting a good deal. You can probably sell the bundled game codes for £40 so it could cost as little as £180.00 and I'm sure it'll last a few years.

As has been previously stated the new 8*** series is just around the corner but it may well be middle of next year before the 8950 equivalent is released. Even then drivers might be sketchy for a while and it seems as though AMD are producing good drivers for the 7*** series at the moment with the 12.11 release.

I guess if you can wait another 6 - 7 months then that's cool. I do think that there are some good deals around now though :)

Q1 2013 seems the earliest estimate for the HD8000 series,so it might be a while until they are released and pricing is unknown ATM. Regarding,the drivers though,I expect that since the HD7000 debuted GCN,and the HD8000 series is GCN,they should be in a relatively better state for the HD8000 series.

I would personally wait for the next gen series so it pushes the prices of this gen down. A little off topic but aren't all monitors made within like 10 years or so HD? Im pretty sure my old OLD Dell 15" monitor could handle 1280x1024

I love how you say "my "old" Ati 4850 which for years has done everything I need it to". Then question whether you should wait for next years cards as this years cards are coming towards the end of their lives haha :P Or did I misunderstand?

Anyways I'm not sure what your needs are but you don't seem to bothered about upgrading often so just get a 7XXX because it'll be cheaper! ;)

Trouble is, there's always something a few months off.

My attitude these days is to decide what it is an upgrade will do for me that the current system won't, and what that benefit is worth.

Then, I wait for the new products to come out at a premium price, and try to buy the old one at the sweet spot if price after it's gone down, and before it can no longer be bought.

So the answer to "Upgrade, or wait?" is ..... it entirely depends on what you want, because I (or others) may well do it a different way.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Saracen

Trouble is, there's always something a few months off.

My attitude these days is to decide what it is an upgrade will do for me that the current system won't, and what that benefit is worth.

Then, I wait for the new products to come out at a premium price, and try to buy the old one at the sweet spot if price after it's gone down, and before it can no longer be bought.

So the answer to "Upgrade, or wait?" is ..... it entirely depends on what you want, because I (or others) may well do it a different way.

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I disagree. Was there 480 580 and 680 months apart?

They was a year apart. For instance how old is the 680? Where is its replacement?