EVGA Step Up Program and 800 series

[Techfan654]

I was wondering if purchasing a 760 or 770 today would be a good idea and upgrade to the 800 series through EVGA when they arrive. Or should I wait out entirely for the new ones to come out. I know it is only 90 days which make me wonder if anyone thinks that the new graphics cards will come out by then. I know they say Q3 2014 but I am not sure when that is for Nvidia. Any ideas? I still run Intel HD 4600 from an i5-4670K.

 

[oOSlushyOo]

Well, this would mean that they would LIKELY release the 800 series anywhere between September 2014 and December 2014. It would be a gamble to purchase a 700 series card now in the hopes you could upgrade via the step-up program. If anything, I would either wait for the 800's release OR buy a 760 in or around August to put the odds in your favor that the 800's would be available for a step-up.

 

[Techfan654]

Well, this would mean that they would LIKELY release the 800 series anywhere between September 2014 and December 2014. It would be a gamble to purchase a 700 series card now in the hopes you could upgrade via the step-up program. If anything, I would either wait for the 800's release OR buy a 760 in or around August to put the odds in your favor that the 800's would be available for a step-up.

Better question then. Should I buy a 700 series card at all even if I come to terms with not being able to upgrade to the 800 series. Do you think the new tech will be so substantially better? Do you know how big a leap it was from Fermi to Kepler?

 

[oOSlushyOo]

I would say if you are not in dire need of a new GPU right this moment, wait for the 800's, they could very well prove to be a jump in performance. I think one of the major advantages of the "Maxwell" architecture will be it's wildly efficient use of power per the performance you get out of the card.

Some food for thought regarding performance jumps from one generation to the next:

Comparing the 680 to the 780 (GK104 v. GK110), there is roughly a 3,000 point differential in favor of the 780 in terms of the 3DMark11 benchmarks. HOWEVER, in game frames are actually relatively close. You are looking at roughly a 5-10 FPS difference between the two (high detail settings, etc.), and in some cases the 680 sneaks passed the 780 at certain resolutions.

With all this said, I think you would be happy either way really.

Keep this in mind too:

The 760 is a rebranded 670, both of which are GK104. The 770 is a rebranded 680, both of which are also GK104 based. The only true Kepler based cards are the 780, 780 Ti, and the Titan.