Best Graphics Cards For The Money: November 2011

[cleeve]

In this month's update, we discuss several price adjustments that impact our recommendations. We also look into the crystal ball and suggest that there may not be another graphics launch in 2011 as a result of several different factors.

Best Graphics Cards For The Money: November 2011 : Read more

 

[alhanelem]

my bday is pretty soon but i might get a new pc instead of a new gfx

 

[Onikage]

the logical step would be to wait, just 2-3 months, and then getting those 7000s 28nm sweetness....
in my case its going to be operation "HIGH-JUMP" from the old 4000s (4870 1gb) to HD7950 !!!

 

[ojas]

[citation][nom]Onikage[/nom]the logical step would be to wait, just 2-3 months, and to get those 7000s 28nm sweetness....in my case its going to be operation "HIGH-JUMP" from the old 4000s (48701gb) to HD7950 !!![/citation]
yeah...i'm waiting till Feb, so i hope they're out by then. Will be moving from a 9600GT to a GTX 560 price equivalent, if it's out.

 

[Guest]

I'll just hold on to my dual 5770s until this 7XXX series comes out. and then I'll wait 6 more months for the price to drop, and then I'll get them.

 

[vaughn2k]

HD5770, still there, 11 straight monhts!

 

[tacoslave]

im waiting for ivy bridge so i can get a whole knew settup since dudozer was a fail and get something high end again. Already bought 3 monitors and my phenom ii 940 and 6850 cant keep up its gonna be a good year next year.

 

[JustPlainJef]

I was hoping to get a new card in the spring. Good to know that something won't tempt me in the wintertime, as I just can't afford it...

As for other news on the video card front, unfortunately, we don't have our finders crossed for new graphics architectures in the last couple months of the year.

Oops.

 

[DSpider]

I thought the mainstream/low-end cards were expected to launch in late Q4 2011, while the high end cards would launch in Q1 2012: http://www.tomshardware.com/news/amd-HD-7900-XDR2-Rambus-Memory,13408.html

The mainstream VLIW-4 architecture (28/32 nm) could still come in time for the holidays. I have my eye on a HD 7670. At 60 W it will draw power straight from the PCIe slot (75 W). But not before benchies... First I wanna know if it's worth picking over 5750/6750 or even a 5770/6770, performance-wise.

 

[ewood]

[citation][nom]greghome[/nom]That just means the HD7ks are being manufactured as we speak....i hope......[/citation]
i like your reasoning. i didnt see the 69xx series as enough of an upgrade over my 5870 to justify upgrading but maybe 7xxx series will change that

 

[cappster]

I am looking forward to the 7XXX series as that should mean a price drop on the 6XXX series. And that equals pairing up my 6870 with a twin!

 

[chovav]

"In addition, some users have unlocked shader cores artificially disabled by AMD through a firmware update, transforming this board into an underclocked 1 GB version of AMD's Radeon HD 6970"

I thought it was only possible to do this with (certain) 2GB boards? as much as I know the 1GB board is completely different than the 6970..... I never saw anybody who successfully unlocked a 1GB 6950.

 

[Uni-duni-te]

[citation][nom]chovav[/nom]I thought it was only possible to do this with (certain) 2GB boards? as much as I know the 1GB board is completely different than the 6970..... I never saw anybody who successfully unlocked a 1GB 6950.[/citation]

There are severall people that were able to successfully unlock the shaders on the 1Gb boards. Just look at the techpowerup forums.

 

[pwnorbpwnd]

I'll keep my 6850 by my side, maybe get another in CF and sell them both for a 7000 series when they are out.

 

[fomoz]

Since you're including them in the choices, it would be cool if you included Crossfire and SLI options in the hierarchy. For example, GTX 590 ~ 2x GTX 570.

 

[Rogue77777]

I'm always looking at the Hierarchy chart, so I can compare the performance of the upper tier card, but they never go pass the HD4800 series in CF. I'm using 2 HD5870's and would like to know where they stand performance wise when compared to the GTX 580 & HD 6970 series cards.
So can you please start adding the upper tier SLI & CF cards in your performance chart?

 

[Guest]

I want to see xcrossfire 3-ways added to list.

 

[Teslarifle]

For some reason I can't find a single 6950 comes with a decent blower/vapor chamber style cooler that pushes the air out the back. How hard would it be for XFX to take the cooler they use on the 6970 and throw it on the 6950? Instead we get these fans that blow hot air off the heatsink right back into your case. Until the 6950's start coming with better coolers I'm going to hold off buying two.

 

[Teslarifle]

By the way PNY has the GTX 580 on sale for $450

 

[mikeangs2004]

By the way PNY has the GTX 580 on sale for $450

By the way the HD 5970 was on sale for $350. I can also get a used one for less than that price.

 

[Teslarifle]

[citation][nom]mikeangs2004[/nom]By the way the HD 5970 was on sale for $350. I can also get a used one for less than that price.[/citation]

That's like saying you can buy a used car for less than the price of the same one new. Kinda stating the obvious.

 

[JonnyDough]

[citation][nom]teslarifle[/nom]By the way PNY has the GTX 580 on sale for $450[/citation]

I spent $400+ on a card once. And yes, it was NVidia. I won't be doing that again. I can get an entire system for that much, and I won't have an overpriced space heater when I'm done.

 

[Guest]

I currently have a 4870 and recently upgraded all other components in time for Skyrim (I5-2500k, new MB, 8bg Ripjaw ram). After seeing thie comparison chart I'm wondering if I should crossfire another 4870, upgrade to a newer card or wait for the 7000 series to come out. Any suggestions?

 

[mikeangs2004]

I currently have a 4870 and recently upgraded all other components in time for Skyrim (I5-2500k, new MB, 8bg Ripjaw ram). After seeing thie comparison chart I'm wondering if I should crossfire another 4870, upgrade to a newer card or wait for the 7000 series to come out. Any suggestions?

4870 is not DX11 compatible but Skyrim doesn't need DX11.

 

[alidan]

[citation][nom]JagsFan86[/nom]I currently have a 4870 and recently upgraded all other components in time for Skyrim (I5-2500k, new MB, 8bg Ripjaw ram). After seeing thie comparison chart I'm wondering if I should crossfire another 4870, upgrade to a newer card or wait for the 7000 series to come out. Any suggestions?[/citation]

wait for benchmarks. for me, no mater the card, brethersta has poor preforming engines, i mean seriously, oblivion should run great on a 5770, but for some reason im constantly seeing choppy world, my brother is on a 4850, and fallout is choppy for him too, its kind of annoying considering better looking games run better on both.

before you jump off into a new card right now, id wait till benchmarks come out for skyrim, and user testimonials on performance. because it would suck if you got a high end card and found out that it didn't matter, the game still dips down allot during game play, sure your card may not get 100fps, but it gets 45, but both cards dip down to low frame rates.

if the game plays good, any you can live with it, hold off for the 7xxx line, if you cant, get a new 6k whatever is the higher end, as crossfire can get you good performance, but can also be really buggy at times