Need Help finding the Best GPU,@ Lowest Price.
 

Hello All,

I am looking to Upgrade My GPU , HD 6950 1Gb. The Card is For the System that is in My System Spec's to the Left. This is what I am looking For , A card that Run's All New Games like BF3 , and the like @ Full Setting's , as well as Some Future Proofing (or as close to it as I can get).

It will be Running a Single Dell Ultra Sharp Wide Screen 24" @ 1920x1200 60Hz.

Obviously I am looking to Get the Best Deal with the most performance for my Dollar, and this is where You Guy's Come in. If you see a deal That look's good , please post it here, I would Greatly appreciate it. The card's I am leaning to Are the HD 7870Ghz edition's. Anything AMD in that Price range ,and Cheaper. I am not opposed to a 7950 , if it can be purchased on Sale , or with an MIR. I will likely Sell the Free Games that Come with the card , if I go the 7950 route , to defer the Cost.(if it Does come with any)

So in a nutshell , Around the $200 area + or - some $$ , with NO LESS than 2 Gb of Memory. Unless it's a 7950 which will be less than Retail in the end since I'll sell the Games.I may also Sell my 6950 to further offset the Cost.

Any help would be Great , thanks For taking the time to Read my Post, and Have a great Day.

At the $200 price point you're not going to get much more performance. Even the GHz Ed 7870, which runs more like $240, is not nearly as fast as adding another 6950.

If Crossfire is not an option though, I would definitely say a 7950, esp a non ref one, would be much better than a 7870. A GHz Ed 7870 is very close to a ref 7950, but a decent non ref 7950, which I've seen as low as $250 lately, will OC pretty well and easily beat a 7870 Ghz Ed.

If you are interested in Hitman Absolution and Sleeping Dogs, but don't yet own them, this one comes with those AND the highly anticipated Far Cry 3 for free, plus 20% off MoH Warfighter. It's $280 right now, but keep checking prices.

That game bundle is good through Nov, but it also said through Oct last month, and they extended it. I'm guessing since it's the holidays, they may extend it through Dec too, but don't count on it.

You will want nothing lower than a HD 7970. I suggest you just save a little more money and get one.

Currently the least expensive I can find:

http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php?...FckWMgodaTcAXg <-- Superbiz is a good etailer. I've used them before. :)

Pick up another, used, 6950 for cheap monies and be happy with crossfire until you can save up enough money to make it worth swapping to a newer generation of card?

Seems the best value for money to be honest....

That's actually a 7950 you linked to there, not a 7970.

As for Crossfire, I'd feel more confident if it weren't for the fact that the only 6950 I've seen at a decent price ($109) is a used Sapphire on eBay with no return option.

There are other options than eBay of course for used gaming hardware though. Many tech forums have boards for used gear trading, buying and selling.

That said, about 4 yrs ago I stretched the life of my prior AGP based system by getting a factory refurbed X1950Pro on eBay for that very same price, $109, and Sapphire puts a full 2 yr warranty on their refurbs. Only difference is it starts from the date of manufacture, vs date of purchase.

I'd love to Try the CF option , Although I have a Corsair CX 600 which lack's the Power to Do so Properly.

As far as the 7870 Ghz, From the review's I've seen, it seems to be a VERY capable GPU, for it's price range. The issue is I was running Far cry 3 the other day , and my 6950 was REALLY not handling the ultra setting's that I like to run. Not to mention that it's a 1Gb edition 6950, which isn't helping anything. Also I have a contact @ powercolor who informed me that the New Myst edition 7870 ghz, would be arriving in L.A. this coming week, But since there are Labor worker strikes on the Shipping Dock's down there, that the Shipment would likely be delayed another 2-3 week's(atleast that is what they are expecting). I LOVE the look of that GPU, but My $$ situation leaves me NO room to be "picky" when it comes to this matter. So I guess I'll look into either the 7950/7970 option , Since apparently I was mistaken as to the performance level of the 7870Ghz Card's. Thanks Very Much For your Assistance , ALL of you.

with a 7950, I am maxing out BF3 without any issues at 1920x1200. It is overclocked to 1180 from 850 on the core though.

If you did want to go that route, there is a person selling 2x 6950s.

Nice, As far as BF3 goes, I have NO issue's @ all with my 6950, As you can see in these images I uploaded to another post the other day.
http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/sh...34#post2788934

My reason for wanting to upgrade is simply because I know that AMD's prices are Pretty Low now, and Would like to make the upgrade, since this one is Starting to Slip when it Comes to Newer titles. (although AMD Does have pretty low Prices often). It just Seems like it's time. I think I'll be Looking into Both 7950/7970 then.

And as far as CF'ing , I only have a 600 watt PSU in this PC, so that's not Really an option for me. Thanks Though.

I would recommend a 7970, but either one is a great buy, AMD did a great job on the 7000, they are some of the most agreeable cards they have come out with.

The Drivers are another issue...

If you sell that 6950 for around 180 or 200 you can get a nice 670 for the price range you are looking for. My 670 plays BF3 on Ultra with 2xaa at about 85FPS. I sold both games that came with mind and MADE a few bucks when it was all said and done.

I've had GREAT performance with the new Beta Driver that they released.
It has REALLY stabilized 7970's performance in my experience.
Went from Random Crashes in BF3 under 70% load, to Now, with Great performance and stability. I just Hope they release the Damn "official" version Soon , it's been Quite a while now with Beta Status. I couldn't OC This Damn Powercolor LCS 7970 even 50Mhz without issue's , but it's holding VERY well @ decent clock's now.And for what it's worth, it has an ASIC score of 81 I believe, (or Close ). Which from what I've heard, SHOULD make it a better Chip as compared to a 7970 with a lower Score. I don't know if I buy into it though.

But , yes I Agree that 7900, is My best option for performance, and a Worthy reason to upgrade, Since a 7870 would not be TOO much More speed.Some, but not alot.

Definitely a Viable option, Although I Do respect the Quality and Performance of the 6xx family GPU's, they are Not for me. I bleed red, Not Green.:)

Although I WILL give them a look. I have alway's had Good times with my AMD's.

Thank MM

I used AMD for many years. I have nothing against them. But the OpenGL support for AMD cards SUCK. Since I use Photoshop a lot thats not something I can take. I went NVIDIA out of rage.......and honestly I am glad I did. You should give them a look, if nothing else but to try something new. Plus a lot of games are optimized for NVIDIA from all that "The way its meant to be played" crap.

It would be really tough to sell a 6950 for 180-200, especially a 1gb. They usually set for between 150-170 for a 2gb. I'm not opposed to the 670 idea though, as they are nice cards, but a 7970 at the same would be more appealing in my little eyes :)

The other day? That puts it before even the Aus and Eur release dates. How is it you're playing FC3 PC state side well before the US release date?

I stay up Weird Hours, So The day's tend to blend together, and not to mention 35 year's of Partying. I apologize, two day's. I've used the other Day, for Last week, last month, hell anytime that I can't remember a Specific date to. I installed it on 11/29/12 to be exact, it's now 12/1/12, so Yeah the other day.

I hear ya there, I started out with Nvidia, but I made the switch and have been happy ever since. Honestly, I found a GTX 670 on New egg For $320-$330 , and I almost bought it. For me , it's just a matter of What their prices are when I'M looking, and what the performance to Price ratio is. No fanboy Shit, just practicality(and Bias). If I had been looking a few months ago, I would have gone 6XX ,since AMD was Really Lagging, but then they released the Beta 12.11 ,and I happen to be looking it seems to have lined up nice for me. That's all. Would I turn down a 680? HELL NO!. I had a couple 560's last year, but I ended up reselling in a couple of machines I built. But I DO definitely have a preference, just not a blind preference.