Help with picking a GPU

[Dayks]

Hello,

I am going to start building my first system this month.

The build I am looking at is as follows (sorry can't post links yet).

CPU - Intel® Cor​e™ i5 6600​K 3.5GHz
CPU Cooler - RAIJINTEK AIDOS BLACK
Motherboard - MSI Z170A KRAIT GAMING 3X ATX LGA1151 Motherboard
Memory - Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2666 Memory
Storage - Sandisk Ultra II 480GB 2.5" Solid State Drive
Video Card - MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card
Case - Fractal Design Define R5 w/Window (White) ATX Mid Tower Case
Power Supply - EVGA Super​NOVA 650W ​Modular Po​wer Supply

I am not looking at OC'ing at the moment but I am leaving the option open for the future. The system will be used mainly for Gaming and some light work.

My issue is with picking a GPU, I was set on the MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V until recently however with it looking like new GPUs will be released by both Nvidia and AMD this year I was wondering if it was worth waiting on purchasing a GPU 'till then.

Alternatively would it be worth waiting a little for prices to drop on the current gen and then use that until HBM2 is released on consumer boards (hopefully 2017).

Any advice would be very helpful, also if I have missed anything please let me know as it is my first build.

Thank you.

[DanceswithUnix]

Yes there will be new cards this year, though we don't know exactly when they will be in the shops. The AMD ones have been spotted running demos for some time, so a rumour of June seems reasonable. No-one has talked about seeing an Nvidia demo yet, hopefully they will be on the shelves at the same sort of time but that seems more hopeful atm.

Which games are you hoping to play? What spec monitor do you have? The 970 is a very fast card, you may well be able to get away with much less for now like a 950.

If you don't have a monitor yet, then note that Freesync saves you about £100 over getting an Nvidia Gsync, but that means swapping to an AMD video card.

[scaryjim]

... If you don't have a monitor yet, then note that Freesync saves you about £100 over getting an Nvidia Gsync, but that means swapping to an AMD video card.

Just to weigh in on this and the buy now/wait longer debate, just over £200 will buy you an AMD R7 370 and a 1080p Freesync capable monitor. The 370 should be able to push out 40 - 60fps in most games @ 1080p with a careful tweak of the settings here or there, which is pretty much the sweet spot for adaptive sync anyway, so that gives you a relatively enjoyable experience for gaming now, for less money then a GTX 970 on its own. Then when the new cards come out later this year you can upgrade both the card and the monitor...

[Dayks]

Yes there will be new cards this year, though we don't know exactly when they will be in the shops. The AMD ones have been spotted running demos for some time, so a rumour of June seems reasonable. No-one has talked about seeing an Nvidia demo yet, hopefully they will be on the shelves at the same sort of time but that seems more hopeful atm.

Which games are you hoping to play? What spec monitor do you have? The 970 is a very fast card, you may well be able to get away with much less for now like a 950.

If you don't have a monitor yet, then note that Freesync saves you about £100 over getting an Nvidia Gsync, but that means swapping to an AMD video card.

I have not yet got a monitor, past few years have been consoles for me but I am moving back into PC.

I have looked at freesync monitors and they look great but I am probably going to go for a 1080p for the moment looking to get a 1440p freesync/gsync monitor next year when they will have hopefully dropped in price a bit and with some more options.

I tend to play mostly RPG with the occasional FPS and racing games, there are a few like Dark Souls 3 that I would like to be playing, but I don't mind holding off for a few months for that, my PS4 backlog would take me that long anyway.

Just to weigh in on this and the buy now/wait longer debate, just over £200 will buy you an AMD R7 370 and a 1080p Freesync capable monitor. The 370 should be able to push out 40 - 60fps in most games @ 1080p with a careful tweak of the settings here or there, which is pretty much the sweet spot for adaptive sync anyway, so that gives you a relatively enjoyable experience for gaming now, for less money then a GTX 970 on its own. Then when the new cards come out later this year you can upgrade both the card and the monitor...

That does seem like a decent way to go, a r9 380 would only cost me 25 more, would it make much difference?

[jamiehard1989]

I have not yet got a monitor, past few years have been consoles for me but I am moving back into PC.

I have looked at freesync monitors and they look great but I am probably going to go for a 1080p for the moment looking to get a 1440p freesync/gsync monitor next year when they will have hopefully dropped in price a bit and with some more options.

I tend to play mostly RPG with the occasional FPS and racing games, there are a few like Dark Souls 3 that I would like to be playing, but I don't mind holding off for a few months for that, my PS4 backlog would take me that long anyway.



That does seem like a decent way to go, a r9 380 would only cost me 25 more, would it make much difference?

Yes it would.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[DanceswithUnix]

That does seem like a decent way to go, a r9 380 would only cost me 25 more, would it make much difference?

Yes, the 380 is a more up to date bit of silicon. It is generally faster but has big improvements in things like tessellation.

The 370 doesn't fully support FreeSync.

http://anandtech.com/bench/product/1590?vs=1591

[Dayks]

Yes, the 380 is a more up to date bit of silicon. It is generally faster but has big improvements in things like tessellation.

The 370 doesn't fully support FreeSync.

http://anandtech.com/bench/product/1590?vs=1591

Thanks, think I am going to go with the AOC monitor scaryjim recommended and an r9 380.

Should see my through to next year and then I can take a look at what everyone have or will release.

[MasterSpryce]

I would advise waiting, unless you are just really desperate to play games. Maybe you can get a cheaper GPU like the 960 or 380 then when you think the time is right sell it and get whatever is out.

[DanceswithUnix]

Thanks, think I am going to go with the AOC monitor scaryjim recommended and an r9 380.

Should see my through to next year and then I can take a look at what everyone have or will release.

Not tried one of those monitors, but my wife has the slightly more expensive http://www.ebuyer.com/720612-aoc-g24...onitor-g2460pf which does 144Hz. That's quite a nice monitor.

I have an R9 380, very happy with it.

[MasterSpryce]

How does it run the games you play?

[Rables]

Hi Dayks

I have a r9 380 4gb and really happy with it. I have this AOC monitor which is also freesync and a little cheaper.

http://www.cclonline.com/product/195...0-1ms/MON3671/

Not got many games at the moment, but it runs Far Cry 4 on Ultra at 1080p really well. No screen tear or noticeable slow down

[Dayks]

Hi Dayks

I have a r9 380 4gb and really happy with it. I have this AOC monitor which is also freesync and a little cheaper.

http://www.cclonline.com/product/195...0-1ms/MON3671/

Not got many games at the moment, but it runs Far Cry 4 on Ultra at 1080p really well. No screen tear or noticeable slow down

Have looked at that monitor but the 21.5" version was better reviewed in a side to side and seeing as I am moving from a laptop I expect the smaller might suit me for now.

Plus the 24" was reviewed as having a very warm colour temp which is not something I particularly like in a monitor.

[khanmein]

temp use iGPU & wait for new GPU release on this June after that, only decide.

[Dayks]

Well I have ordered my system and everything but my CPU cooler has arrived.

I ended up making a couple of changes to my final build.

CPU - Intel® Cor​e™ i5 6600​K 3.5GHz
CPU Cooler - RAIJINTEK AIDOS BLACK
Motherboard - MSI Z170A Pro (decided having a usb c on the back was pointless really so went with this as it has everything I need)
Memory - Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2666 Memory
Storage - Sandisk Ultra II 480GB 2.5" Solid State Drive
Case - Fractal Design Define S (Black no window) ATX Mid Tower Case (extremely rare I ever use an optical drive so the S looks good and I prefer in black.
Power Supply - Cyonic AU650x 650W ​Modular Po​wer Supply (Couldn't find any stock on the EVGA Supernova G2 and this is Seasonic and cheaper than GS so went with it)
Monitor - AOC G2260VWQ6 22"(21.5) Freesync monitor.

Have decided to hold off on a GPU for a month or two, may try to pick one up off of ebay when the new releases come out and hold out for HBM2.

Have hooked the monitor up to my laptop until the CPU cooler arrives and I can begin building, looks great and is definitely big enough, only problem with it is a very flimsy stand but may in future arm mount.

Thank you everyone for your suggestions.

[DanceswithUnix]

Have decided to hold off on a GPU for a month or two, may try to pick one up off of ebay when the new releases come out and hold out for HBM2.

A month or two before the new cards come out, the old cards should drop in price quite hard. That is how I got my R9 285 (now in my son's PC) for £120 when the usual price was £160.

[pne1234]

im still not convinced that the 970 prices will drop with the new 1000 series from nvidia. the new cards looks to be very high tier cards whereas there wont be a direct replacement for the 970 so i would assume the demand will be the same. the 970 is good for a few years yet. im prepared to be wrong but with no direct date for when the new cards will be released you could be waiting and waiting while during that time you could of been gaming