Should I get another 6970 or wait for the new GPU's

[rds1220]

Ok so here is my problem and I wanted to see what you guys think. Right now I have a Radeon 6970. I like it but it is non reference so it can't fit a water block which is something I really wanted to try out. My question is should I get a another 6970 that will fit a waterblock or should I just wait not for the 7XXX series to come out? Also is there any idea of a release date and possible price list for the 7XXX cards?

 

[Chainzsaw]

Release date for 7x series cards is probably end of this year - early next year so don't hold you breath.

Even when the 7x series come out - they probably won't be much faster than the 6x series anyways.

What is your total system specifications (including PSU) and what resolution do you game at?

 

[rds1220]

Well thats perfect thats what I wanted to know. My next question was going to be is the 7XXX series really going to be that much better then the top of the line 6970-6990 cards. Everything is listed below:

GA-Z68x-UD4-B3
I5 2500k
8 gigs of Vengence
1 TB HDD
128mb SSD
Seasonic 850 Watt PSU
Gigabyte non reference Radeon 6970

Right now the monitor is set at 1280 X 1024. Its an old LCD monitor and thats the highest it will go. In the next month though I'm going to get a new monitor that will run at 1920 X 1080.

 

[Chainzsaw]

Wow you already have a solid system, very nice build.

They will probably make a 7990 version of the 6990 - but it will probably take even longer to come out than the "regular" 7xxx's.

What can't you do now than you can with 2 video cards?

You could add a second video card - but I don't think it would be worth the upgrade (cost) versus the FPS you would get with a 2nd video card.

I think your best bet is to wait for the new Nvidia GPU's and AMD GPUs.

 

[rds1220]

Right now there's really nothing it can't do. I just wasn't sure if the 7XXX was going to be any better then the 6970-6990 series out now. It looks like they're going to release the low and mid range cards first and then the high-end (maybe 7970-7990) later in the year. So it seems like it might not be until next summer or fall until they release the high-end cards. Maybe I'll just get the 6970.

 

[Chainzsaw]

Yeah good idea. Another 6970 would last you at least 2 years (with most games on max settings), depending on the resolution you use.

Heck if you did get a 2nd GPU, you could possibly even OC your CPU a little bit.

 

[ilysaml]

@ rds1220, you're right they will push the 78xx later this year and they will be more likely the HD 68xx series compared with previous HD 5xx series.

Speaking about the high end ones 79XX is really interesting. They are equipped with the new XDR2 rambus memory which is twice faster than GDDR5 in addition to 1 GHz frequency, more transistors and 28nm process.
They will exceed the current HD 69xx series including the 6990 with levels.
From Rambus:-

The XDR™2 memory architecture is the world's fastest memory system solution capable of providing more than twice the peak bandwidth per device when compared to a GDDR5-based system. Further, the XDR 2 memory architecture delivers this performance at 30% lower power than GDDR5 at equivalent bandwidth.

 

[spentshells]

@ rds1220, you're right they will push the 78xx later this year and they will be more likely the HD 68xx series compared with previous HD 5xx series.

Speaking about the high end ones 79XX is really interesting. They are equipped with the new XDR2 rambus memory which is twice faster than GDDR5 in addition to 1 GHz frequency, more transistors and 28nm process.
They will exceed the current HD 69xx series including the 6990 with levels.
From Rambus:-

The XDR™2 memory architecture is the world's fastest memory system solution capable of providing more than twice the peak bandwidth per device when compared to a GDDR5-based system. Further, the XDR 2 memory architecture delivers this performance at 30% lower power than GDDR5 at equivalent bandwidth.

I hate to say it I agree with you here, memory speed isn't going to be a game changer for the 78xx series.
It doesn't get the mem upgrade.
From what I have read its still based on what can only be explained as a refined and shrunk rv790 which despite the new naming is essentialy the same core with a shitload of shaders which are also likely to be refined.

 

[stingstang]

I was going to say the same thing as ilysaml. To be clear, the 78xx series is projected to be less powerful than the current 69xx series. (the upgrades will be in firmware, and power management)
My take is that you don't need any card upgrade at all, probably for another year or longer. The 6970 will eat anything at 1080p resolution for at least that long.

 

[rds1220]

The 7XXX series sounds like the Bulldozer of the gpu's. It sounds like it's not even going to be as good as the one year old 6970-6990's.

 

[spentshells]

I like that the 7xxx series is coming out I will have made it full circle from my first VGA card I bought for myself. All the way back to the 7xxxx series. I had an ATI 7500.

 

[neonneophyte]

the first 7000 series cards are the same as the 6000 series, just a smaller process. it will probably be a paper launch and supplies will run thin for months. prices for everything is only going up.

the 7000 series cards based on a new chipset are coming out next year. theyll suffer from the same problems, possibly worse. drivers may take months to get in order.

i for one would not wait

 

[rds1220]

Yea I think I'm just going to get another 6970. In the past how has the pricing worked on old cards when AMD releases a new generation? Will the 6XXX series go down or stay the same when the new 7XXX series are released?

 

[ilysaml]

for sure it will drop down about 20% or more than that.

 

[we1shcake]

a 6970 will be fine for now and the 7000 sereis will massively improve performance while drawing less power and being quiter, wait or youll regret it

 

[bruce555]

I agree, with the sit with your 6970 and wait for the new 7XXX to come out. Unless you wanted to buy another 6970 for xfire then buy another one right now. But it doesn't seem like that is the case.

Southern Islands has been in design for a very long time now and the current 6XXX generation is stale and old. The Northern Islands / GF110 have been around for a year where really they were just refreshes of Evergreen / GF100.

I'm expecting allot from both AMD and NVIDIA in this next generation. Being that AMD is moving to programmable Cores and both companies are no longer restricted to 40nm which really screwed with the GF110/Northern Islands initial designs.

So in short, unless you plan to xfire 2x 6970's wait for the new 7XXX series.

 

[we1shcake]

even if they keep the same architecture 28nm will alow a ton more shaders to be used and higher clocks, plus theres the xdr2 ram

 

[Cazalan]

A good monitor is much more important than a 2nd video card.
24"-27" are very affordable. Get a 30" if you can afford it.

 

[rds1220]

I wanted to do a crossfire so that's why I was asking. I am going to get a new monitor soon and I was probably going to get something between. 23 to 24 inches.

 

[Cazalan]

I would wait unless there's a game out now you can't stand playing with your current setup.

The HD 7000 serious should be a significant bump in performance. It's 40nm to 28nm shrink. Which would be like going from a HD 4850 to a HD 5850 (55nm - 40nm). Probably over 3000 shaders on the high end and 1Ghz clock.

 

[rds1220]

Ok but again it's probably going to be 6 months before the high end 7000's are released IF the 7000's are released on time. I don't know if I feel like waiting that long. I already have one 6970 and I think I'm going to get another to do crossfire. The 6970 should still be more then enough even for today's gnu intense games.

 

[we1shcake]

it wont be six months , id say 3 or 4 max

 

[rds1220]

Best answer selected by Rds1220.

 

[Warmacblu]

3 or 4 months max for the higher end cards to be released, then another 3 or 4 for the third party manufacturers to get their hands on them and refine them a bit. Add another 3 or 4 months for a refresh; that's the card you will want to purchase.

 

[rds1220]

So now I'm thinking of doing a complete 360 for me and going with Nvidia instead of AMD. My question is how is Nvidia's GeForce 285.62 Drivers? I have heard that in the past Nvidia has had drivers that can cause lots of problems including complete system crashes that can be recovered until a new install of windows is done. In general how are Nvidia's cards and drivers and how do they perform when paired in an SLI config?