GPU upgrade for phenom ii 965

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Nov 29, 2015
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Hi all, I have an aging gaming rig that I'm trying to keep alive a little longer. Thinking about upgrading my video card for Black Friday and interested in your opinions.

Current specs:

* CPU: Phenom II 965 BE x4 @ 3.6MHz
* GPU: ASUS CUCore HD 5770 1GB
* RAM: 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR3 1600 Kingston HyperX Fury
* MB: ASUS M4A89GTD Pro (AM3 Socket)
* PSU: Corsair HX650W
* HD: Corsair Force GT SSD 120GB + Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 1TB

My goal is to be able to play recent titles including Witcher 3 and Fallout 4 on medium-high settings @ 1920x1080, 50+ fps. I'm waiting to upgrade my CPU/MB for the Oculus or HTC Vive, after they've had time to work out bugs and build up a game library. The options I'm considering are below:

0. Radeon HD 5770 1GB ($0)(http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121363) -My current card for comparison.

1. GTX 750 Ti 2GB ($155 CAD)(http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/MX50839) - veteran budget card that can run newer games at console-equivalent settings and performance (http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2015-the-best-pc-hardware-for-the-witcher-3).

2. GTX 960 4GB ($270 CAD) (http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/MX57214) - About the best my current system can handle without *serious* bottlenecking.

3. GTX 970 4GB ($430 CAD)(http://www.ncix.com/detail/msi-geforce-gtx-970-twinfrozr-2a-102245-1259.htm) - Recommended for price/performance in high-end systems. Would be seriously bottlenecked (~50%) in my current system but a more 'future proof' option, especially as it is minimum spec for the Oculus Rift. I'm concerned that the 4GB VRAM will be limiting in a few years though.

As you can see I'm shopping in Canada and we are getting slammed by the exchange rate. I can 'afford' all of these options but I would hope to see a significant improvement in game experience or longevity for each bump in price.

Where do you see the most value in terms of price, real-world performance and time to next upgrade?

To be a bit more specific, it will probably be at least a year until I upgrade MB/CPU. Maybe 2.
 
Solution
The GTX 970 will obviously be the fastest of those. But you will have some CPU bottleneck in many games, and not be getting the full performance the card has to offer. I have a Ph II X4 965BE @ 4.0 GHz that is able to keep up with my Evga GTX 960 FTW w/o bottleneck. Even w/o OC'ing your CPU, I would still recommend the GTX 960, unless you don't mind putting up with some CPU bottleneck.

As far as the 4GB (or 3.5 GB in the case of the GTX 970), I suppose it all depends on the resolution you game at... and the amount of detail they can cram into a 1920x1080 (?) display in the future. Keep in mind, the Ph II X4 965 isn't going to be able to keep up with a card that can utilize much more than that, anyway.
The GTX 970 will obviously be the fastest of those. But you will have some CPU bottleneck in many games, and not be getting the full performance the card has to offer. I have a Ph II X4 965BE @ 4.0 GHz that is able to keep up with my Evga GTX 960 FTW w/o bottleneck. Even w/o OC'ing your CPU, I would still recommend the GTX 960, unless you don't mind putting up with some CPU bottleneck.

As far as the 4GB (or 3.5 GB in the case of the GTX 970), I suppose it all depends on the resolution you game at... and the amount of detail they can cram into a 1920x1080 (?) display in the future. Keep in mind, the Ph II X4 965 isn't going to be able to keep up with a card that can utilize much more than that, anyway.
 
Solution