my next gpu upgrade?

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redpill

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Sep 7, 2013
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hi there, just under 1 year ago i embarked on my first pc build. My specs are as follows

Asus M5A97 R2.0 ATX AM3+
AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core
EVGA GeForce GTX 760 2GB Superclocked ACX Video Card
PNY XLR8 8GB (4GB) DDR3-1600
kingston 1600 (4GB) c9d3/4gx

However over the last few months the next gen of games like the new AC Unity, Shadow of Mordor etc seem to be stretching the card far too much for my liking. i would like to play games on high settings at least but i only seem to be able to get medium to low.

budget is obviously an issue and i wouldn't like to go over £300 for my next card (hoping to trade in or sell my current card). I'm a little disappointed as i was previously advised when buying my current card not to go for the 4gb option and i wonder now if that would have made any difference at all.

i haven't tried an OC on my 760 but i understand that it would make little difference given the performance boost i would get.

Any help would be appreciated.

Cheers
 
Solution
MeteorsRaining
To get the facts right:

FX 6 is not bottlenecking the card in any way. Nor will it bottleneck the 970 considerably once OCed. We're not living for 1 or 2 FPS difference here.

GTX 760 4GB has no added performance over 2GB version, the GPU isn't powerful enough to utilize the extra VRAM provided, you made a good decision by getting the 2GB version.

GTX 970 will maintain high-ultra settings for a couple years, since it can pretty much max out any game right now. It's not a midrange card, just a step below enthusiast level and definately a very high end card.

Avoid getting high end 700 series cards as they've been officially discontinued and no longer manufactured by major brands.

GTX 970 is a very viable option for serious gaming, w/o...
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I think that you already bottlenecking gtx 760 with current cpu ... so buying a new expensive gpu will not work. Problem with your gaming is not avg fps, but min fps (caused by cpu). Save money for new motherboard and cpu and then upgrade to higher level of gpu. Cheers
 
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i don't think the 6300 will be bottlenecking the 760, I'm sure others have better graphics cards running with a 6300 and have no issues with bottlenecking

 
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It most certainly will not bottleneck around the 6300. The extra vram might have given you a boost, but not much - modern games have taken a leap in terms of graphics demands - the flagship cards of AMD and NVidia (the R9 295x2 and the Titan Z, respectively) are barely keeping up with ultra settings at 4k with some new games. You'll get fairly decent performance from a GTX 980, but I doubt that you'll find one for your budget. You could get the GTX 970 and OC, but you'll not be getting high settings for very long.

Honestly, if you can wait a few months the cost of the new 900 series should come down (and, for that matter, the price of the 780ti). It's a tough time to be looking for a viable mid-range card.
 
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To get the facts right:

FX 6 is not bottlenecking the card in any way. Nor will it bottleneck the 970 considerably once OCed. We're not living for 1 or 2 FPS difference here.

GTX 760 4GB has no added performance over 2GB version, the GPU isn't powerful enough to utilize the extra VRAM provided, you made a good decision by getting the 2GB version.

GTX 970 will maintain high-ultra settings for a couple years, since it can pretty much max out any game right now. It's not a midrange card, just a step below enthusiast level and definately a very high end card.

Avoid getting high end 700 series cards as they've been officially discontinued and no longer manufactured by major brands.

GTX 970 is a very viable option for serious gaming, w/o fearing about VRAM issues in future.
 
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Solution


You may well have a point - I've had my head in 4k gaming for too damn long, keep forgetting 1080p is still the standard.
That being said, we ARE moving to 4k being the standard. And it's happening fast. If you're content at your current resolution for the life of the card, yes, the 970 will play most everything you throw at it for now quite handily. "Enthusiast class" IS mid-range (consider how it stacks up against the "flagships" in cost and performance).
Market trends tend to see previous generation cards drop in price fairly quickly when a new line is introduced, but again, you may well have a point - I'm still in extreme graphics land, where the prospect of crazy SLI rigs with heavily discounted cards may be worth it at some point.
 
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The whole point of your idea is not fundamentally correct, as you said it. 1080p is indeed the current standard for measuring GPU performance, we say GTX 760 is a mid range card with a 'on 1080p' factor. Since OP doesn't have 4k, and doesn't seem interested in it, there's no point going in that direction. It's just like saying, 'i5 is great for gaming but i7 will render videos better', and that is when OP is discussing about gaming. It's useless.

For the 'flagship' GPUs part. One thing which's missing is, both R9 295X2 and GTX Titan Z are dual-chip cards, 295X2 is just Crossfired 290X, and Titan Z is SLI Titan Black, and SLI GTX 970 or 980 easily matches them up. If we're comparing cards, me should limit to either dual chip or single chip cards.
 
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as MeteorsRaining said it will be unlikely that i will be going to 4k as i can barely run at 1080i at present, i think given the current price/performance the 970 sees to be the best option.

does anyone have an idea what i could get for gtx 760 with no box that's just under a year old?
 
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I'm not entirely sure I understand your stance on 4k - are you suggesting that technology is not rapidly headed in that direction? We're teetering on the edge of a leap forward (anyone else remember the early 2000s?) - These next couple years are going to see a significant jump in specs; the gaming industry has practically demanded it. One can only stay on top of the tech wave by either spending a small fortune or carefully guessing where the market will head - for once we KNOW where it's going.

As for the flagships, yes, they are dual GPU cards, but to say they should only be compared GPU to GPU would be to completely ignore the stability boost they give over their strictly SLI/Crossfire equivalents (yes, I'm aware how strange that sounds, but after working with both twin Titan Blacks and a Titan Z, I can honestly say that the Titan Z was significantly less irritating to deal with overall [though in fairness I can only speculate as to why that is]). Besides, a pair of 980s will set you back over $1400 with tax and a $1500 R9 295x2 will still flatten them in the UHD benchmarks. Heck, even the Titan Z, if you managed to snag one when they dipped in price around the end of October (also to around $1500) will match the setup AND use less electricity to boot.

I'll leave it at that (not exactly what this thread is for [though please don't take that as me trying to cut you off, I wouldn't be responding if I didn't enjoy discussing the matter]); as much as we seem to disagree philosophically, it is nice to have some informed discussion from time to time, methinks 😛
 
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Seems spot on to me - current used 760s are getting bids of around 120 US on ebay at the moment
 
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True (the term 'bottleneck is often scoffed at as an oversimplification for this [and other] reasons) - that said, the trend of game development is very much to lean more and more on GPU processing than CPU (though there are, of course, exceptions).
 
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For good game experience you don't want avg fps 120 with max fps 200 and min fps 23 (your cpu with high end gpu). All you want is avg 100 with max 150 and min fps 60 (good intel cpu with middle to high range gpu) ... at high resolutions avg frame rate really depends on gpu, but again to achieve good gaming experience you need min fps rate as high as possible (almost all of gpu reviews are showing us avg).
A few years ago, when I had phenom x2 (4 cores unlocked@B50-3.6Ghz) with hd 6870 I thought that I have good fps rate, but when I changed only mb and cpu (i5 3570k @ 4.4Ghz) all of the little lags in games disappeared.
That's just my point of view ... what I wanna say is that chain is as strong as it's weakest link.
Greetings from ex Yugoslavia (Slovenia) 😀
 
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Different manufacturers offer different deals - for the most part, no, they will be effectively the same. That said, each brand is different and the prices will vary (as will the clock speed). Pick the best deal you can find that doesn't undercut the base specs of the GPU if you don't have any particular brand loyalty.
Cooling and noise generation are the only other issues that often creeps up, so you should look for reviews that point out overheating problems with a particular 970 build.
 
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i guess id be looking for the cheapest 970 that i could get, if the basic reference model would suffice that would be the one that i would get.
 
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