Time for a full upgrade, or just graphics card?

[holyelvis]

I've got a 5-year old machine with an i7 920 CPU, 18GB of RAM, and an AMD 6900 series video card. Priced out a new gaming rig at about $1200, but that's a little much given most of the AAA titles I play I can also get on my XBOne.

Any thoughts from the folks here on whether just getting a new GTX 970 would provide sufficiently decent performance, or should I bite the bullet and upgrade the whole damn thing?

I should note that I'm not looking for much over 1900 x 1200 resolution, as that's where my primary monitor maxes out...

 

[Robert Cook]

that is a pretty potent build as of now, its processor is not new, but it is still pretty viable for gaming. adding a single 970 should make a pretty decent performance change and I really do not foresee a bottle neck at all.

 

[koffeeshop77]

all you need is a grafic card that i7 will take you quite a bit further no problems

 

[space55]

I'd definitely go with the 970. However, there are two issues:
1) Does your power supply support the 970?
2) The 970 has a memory issue - Basically the last 512MB are extremely slow. However, most AAA titles should compensate, but you should do your research.

Also, just a quick note. The reason you can play AAA titles on your XBox One is because they are drastically scaled down. The graphics are typically lowered to "low" or "medium" settings in a PC analogy for consoles. They are drastically underpowered compared to normal PCs.

 

[Mohd Mamat]

I'd definitely go with the 970. However, there are two issues:
1) Does your power supply support the 970?
2) The 970 has a memory issue - Basically the last 512MB are extremely slow. However, most AAA titles should compensate, but you should do your research.

Also, just a quick note. The reason you can play AAA titles on your XBox One is because they are drastically scaled down. The graphics are typically lowered to "low" or "medium" settings in a PC analogy for consoles. They are drastically underpowered compared to normal PCs.

Dont forget that XBOne runs at 900p 😛

 

[space55]

I'd definitely go with the 970. However, there are two issues:
1) Does your power supply support the 970?
2) The 970 has a memory issue - Basically the last 512MB are extremely slow. However, most AAA titles should compensate, but you should do your research.

Also, just a quick note. The reason you can play AAA titles on your XBox One is because they are drastically scaled down. The graphics are typically lowered to "low" or "medium" settings in a PC analogy for consoles. They are drastically underpowered compared to normal PCs.

Dont forget that XBOne runs at 900p 😛

I prefer 3p - Three pixels. One for the game, two for the error message you get when you boot up the game.

 

[Mohd Mamat]

the 3.5GB issue wont bother the GTX 970 that much anyways. nVidia most likely tweaked the game drivers for new games to optimize the fast+slow VRAM usage efficiently that the problems noticed on the early days of GTX 970 wont likely to happen again.
Had one myself, and its great even pushed to the limits without significant frame drops.

 

[Mohd Mamat]

I'd definitely go with the 970. However, there are two issues:
1) Does your power supply support the 970?
2) The 970 has a memory issue - Basically the last 512MB are extremely slow. However, most AAA titles should compensate, but you should do your research.

Also, just a quick note. The reason you can play AAA titles on your XBox One is because they are drastically scaled down. The graphics are typically lowered to "low" or "medium" settings in a PC analogy for consoles. They are drastically underpowered compared to normal PCs.

Dont forget that XBOne runs at 900p 😛

I prefer 3p - Three pixels. One for the game, two for the error message you get when you boot up the game.

XD i usually get those dead pixels on Forza and sometimes on COD AW

 

[schaft]

I agree with all the above said, your rig is still capable. You just need to get a good gpu to optimize it further. GTX 970 would boost your performance a lot from 69xx card. You forgot to mention the psu you have. But assuming your old gpu is 69xx card, then you should be fine with GTX 970 since it require similar wattage to operate.

 

[Robert Cook]

^ but might as well see the PSU also.