The topic title says it all... I'm sitting on £325 of cash at the moment and I'm wondering. Do I invest in a crossfire setup of two 6970's and use that for 2-4 years. Or do I wait for ATi's/AMD's 7xxx series to be unveiled. I'm hearing alot about the new cards and the manufacture and a new architecture if I'm not mistaken? So I'm pretty indecisive... Some advice would be lovely.
As always, the more information you can provide the better! Most importantly, what resolution do you play at, what do you play and what kind of performance are you looking for in those games, and what do you have now? The truly new 7xxx cards based on the new architecture won't be until Q1 2012, so January at best. If you've already got a system which you can handle using for another two months (January could mean the 31st, afterall) then you'll likely get the best performance for your money by waiting. If you're looking to last 2-4 years with this/these card(s) then two months isn't much to wait.
My opinion - Unless you current GPU just died and you need a replacement this very second, hold off till Jan. Even if release is the last day and turns out to be the 78xx cards first, we should start getting more information leaking through in the coming weeks and at least you can make a slightly more informed decision. I'd hold off, save another 50quid (Just incase) and get a 7970 and skip the heartache that can be crossfire.
Donate... me! You must be mad! Currently at 1920x1080 That's what I was thinking, have we got any ideas on price ranges for the 7xxx or are we guessing the standard £250-£400 per card that seems to be the price ideals these days? Of course if Nvidia offered me a second soul I might convert...
On the other side of things though crossfired 6970's is going to net you more performance than a single 7970 will
Firstly - Till we see benchmarks you can't say that. At a punt I'd say (or rather I hope) it will be a close call thing. With people making decent arguments given the information we know that we could be seeing performance increases of up to 80%. Then you got price, Xfire 6970s is 500quid at least.. Take Scan as example, 267quid for their cheapest 6970.. That's 534quid.. That to most people is ouch money (and also BRAWLS £325 is £200 short of that number). So the 7970 will run cooler, quieter, cheaper then Xfire 6970s.. Probably give performance in a similar ballpark.. and won't have any of the Xfire issues that reign the net.. Oh - And even if with waiting it turns out the 7970 is a steaming pile, new high end parts may knock some dollah off the 6970s.. As for nVidia, You might be waiting a while. As I see it 2 choices.. Pay through the nose now for something which may/may not be any good in a months time or wait a month and make a more informed decision.
Huh, CF 6970's is going to be able to handle any game for the next couple of years at least Oh well all this speculation isnt getting us anywhere lets just see what the next gen brings but IMO if you think a single 7970 will beat or even come close to dual 6970's in CF then you will be disappointed.
I believe I’m going to wait it out… 2 months can be enough time to save some serious cash. My 5870 seems to be on it’s way out very slowly (bless it) so lets see. Hopefully the 7xxx series will deliver and be fantastic and destroy everything I can throw at it. But then again maybe not. Cheers dudes, +rep for all
Ok so may/may not be any good was a bit harsh.. I was meaning paying for what you were getting. Besides you are offering a 500+quid solution to a 325quid problem.. I'd expect it to be same ballpark. There is a pretty big jump in tech with the new architecture and shrink. And heck, If it is between 70-80% and costs 180quid less than the xfire 6970s.. Sounds like a decent buy? They could bosh in the 7970 @ £350-380quid and continue selling 6970s at 270 till they run out of stock and launch the 78xx series?! You're right though, It is mostly speculation at the mo, Hence most people would suggest (If your current setup allows) waiting, and at least seeing what is going to be available in Jan. The 6970s aren't going anywhere..
Whilst I am not sitting on a wad of cash, I am also waiting with bated breath the release of the 7 series from ATI. The 6 was solid enough, but nothing to make you throw your money at them. Hopefully the 7 series will yield something as awesome as the 5870 was when it was released. As stated by others, hold off, save the cash, wait to see some proper specs.
Aye man, My 5870 appears to be slowly succuming to the power I use from it. Plus it really did not like BF3... I mean, really didn't like it. Me screaming "YOU WILL PLAY ON MAXIMUM!" probably wasn't good, but that isn't the point. Going to wait it out, Jan will come round I can add another £110 to my graphics budget aswell, so £450 nearly on a graphics card... hmm.
Ah I see, must have been confusing with another thread on here, I though he already had a single 6970
My 5870 is taking BF3 in its stride. Textures on ultra, shadows on medium, everything else on high with HBAO off and AA down to x2 or x4. Still looks stunning and runs silky smooth all-round.
I had my 5870 playing on a 1920x1200 24" Monitor with everything on Ultra except shadows on high, motion blur off (I don't like it) anisotropic filtering 8x AA turned down and v-sync on. I was surprised at how smooth it was; I had no frame rate problems at all. With the ATI cards you really have to get the correct AA setting, I cant remember which if the two options your supposed to use. Turning off motion blur makes a big difference too.
Aye I definatly turned that off aswell as it makes me eyes go funny after a while. I changed alot of settings but got alot of jumps here and there. Did my box in, I'm guessing it was something to do with the overclock but frankly, it worked for 99% of everything the 1% was BF3... PITA that it was.
good to see you inputting again Brawl my old son I can't find much on the net about 7*** cards .. but I'd hold out till next year see what the other camp have to offer also ..
With the green boys having obvious advantages in certain aspects with their cards, it's always annoying to have a slightly staggered release of GPU's with neither producing their stuff at the same time. Naturally, it makes sense for them, but if the 7 series is out in say... January, then have to wait a couple of months for the 6 series from nVidia, there is that period of humming and hawing over whether to wait or not. I really do hope that the 7 series does manage to produce something as awesome as the 5870 again. It is the best €300 I have ever spent on a single PC component since I got into them since the good ol' days of my PII 266.
The nice thing about both AMD and Nvidia is that they have so much on the line that they typically don't release anything that completely falls on its face, or when they do it's readily apparent even within their own lineup. It's just like with the 5870 which so many of us in this thread can relate to: It was released September 2009, Nvidia's counterparts didn't come out until April 2010. Was the 400 series really worth waiting for? Not really. Of course, if you were looking to buy a card in February 2010 it might have been a different story...