When to buy?

[Vertrucio]

So, with the holidays I managed to get enough extra cash that I can buy whatever the new hardware is that's coming out.

Sadly, I don't know when it's coming out. I've never had a top of the line card near release, and right now, there's games I'm playing that I really want to see maxed out at 1920x1200 at a stable, high FPS.

Anyone know when ATI plans to release it's next card? Also, what should I expect?

We know there's a new console generation coming in 2013, and that both ATI and NVidia are involved in making the new chipsets, which makes me wonder how much of that tech will make it into this next generation.

If it's too far, anyone know a good time to buy one of the current generation? Basically when you think the next major price drop is?

I've got Company of Heroes 2, Planetside 2, Mechwarrior, Hawken and more to play

Also, this upcoming generation seems to have an emphasis on GP Computing as an open standard, which makes me hopeful that programs I use like Zbrush, Max, Maya will make use of it.

[FreedomEclipse]

a AMD 7950 would be perfect for that resolution. if you got more money and would like more grunt under the hood then a 7970 would be the next step up.

[lilhasselhoffer]

A few questions.

1) What card are you running now?
2) Why include the consoles?


To the first. The 6xxx series competes well with the 7xxx series. It is generally not worth buying a new card of the same class (67xx to 77xx isn't worth the cost). How does the 8xxx series stack up, who knows. AMD has suggested (I don't remember the source, sorry) that 8xxx will be amazing. Initial reports suggested performance that should rival Nvidea's offerings, based on the gains that are generally experienced in a generation.

No concrete evidence. All of this is speculation.


As to the consoles, nothing. Consoles take years to design, so they won't have the equivalent of the 7xxx series graphics, let alone a 8xxx series chip.

[jboydgolfer]

Generally speaking with basically ALL product's, before a "next generation" launch is the time when previous generation's are @ their lowest price. But MANY retailer's have good deals on Current generation hardware. e.g. newegg , microcenter, In My experience, it helps to look @ each dealer that is in your area(or internet), and find out what they Regularly sell @ lower prices than others do, for example. I live in Mass, and I go to Microcenter for CPU'S , and some other thing's , however their GPU prices, and certain other thing's are NOT the best prices. Just take your time,and keep your eye's open for any deal's. In my experience , aside from the building , the Hunt is one of the Best parts of Building a PC.

Quarter 1-2 for new AMD/Nvidia stuff I'm sure, at least by then You'll definitely know when they'll be out.

[Easy Rhino]

honestly, my advice is to step up to one of the 1440p monitors for gaming if you are serious about how games look.