Are New Graphics Cards Oversold?

[mrbluee]

So I was thinking about buying a GTX 770 for £350
But I consulted my cousin and he still uses a 560ti and he still plays on high
so i'm thinking is there any point getting a top of the range graphics card
when I could just get the 660 at more than half the price?
So I still haven't asked my question, Are new graphics cards oversold and
just a waste of my money?, Please tell me what you think and what I should Do?

 

[dannyboy2233]

I would get the newest gen solely in order to future-proof.

 

[mactronix]

A lot of this comes down to what you actually want from your PC.
I have a PC upstairs that I tend to try new games on to see how the hardware holds up.
It has a HD 5850 and a Phenom II 555 BE at stock settings. It has no issues running the new Metro game (last light) and Far Cry 3 was fine as well.
Neither game was totally maxed out settings wise but both played with enough detail and eye candy switched on for me to appreciate the quality of the graphics engines the games employ.

As with CPU's you really don't need that much GPU horsepower to get a decent experience on a single 1080p
monitor.
Once you get up to the performance of roughly speaking the 7850 or 560ti then you are looking at "Nice to have" cards or cards for dual monitor set ups and larger screens.

What sort of set up is the rest of your PC ? and what type of gaming are you planning to do ? Some games obviously require a bit more GPU power than others.

Mactronix

 

[Dave Rainey]

That all depends on what resolution you game at, and what generation you buy. I would say the soon to be released 760 is a good buy. I am considering upgrading from a 6870 (comparable to your cousins 560 ti) to a 760 myself. Provided you are staying at a resolution of 1920x1080, a 770 is more than enough (but will be more likely to stand the test of time, and if you game @ resolutions over 1080 it would pay off). The 660 would be fine too if you are looking to save a bit for games and such.

so a list from top to bottom of performance and price
770, 760, 660ti, 660
all acceptable options, just depends on the resolution you play at. You could also get a factory overclocked model to squeeze a little more performance out of you choice. Just my two cents.