Upgrading an EVGA Geforce GTX560 for $300

[SpeedGeek]

I recently built a new rig featuring these parts:

Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core
CPU Cooler Corsair H55 57.0 CFM Liquid
Motherboard Asus GRYPHON Z97 Micro ATX LGA1150
Memory Corsair Vengeance Pro 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866
Storage Crucial MX100 512GB 2.5" SSD

But I decided to stick with my old Graphic card, an EVGA Geforce GTX560. Though it doesn't seem like it's really holding up very well with newer games like Dead Rising 3 or Metro 2033 or that new Lord of the Rings game. I'm getting a LOT of screen tearing on my monitor (27" LED Samsung hooked up with a DVI cable) and games are experiencing significant slowdowns at certain points.

Do you guys agree it's time for a new card? and what would you recommend in the $300 range? I use to only get Nvidia chips but looking at Toms Hardware recommendation it seems RADEON is leading the game now. Should I just go with this]http://www.amazon.com/AMD-Radeon-VisionTek-Graphics-900652/dp/B00FV10GF2/?&tag=bom-tomshardware-20]this recommendation [/url]and it will make everything run gloriously?

Or should I spend that money on a Playstation 4 and just forget about PC gaming all together

 

[Joseph DeGarmo]

For about $330, you can get a GTX 970 which will rip through pretty much any game you throw at it.

 

[MT6Anime]

Umm no don't go get a PS4. For the $300 price range I would save up the extra $50, or so and get the GTX 970. It's almost neck and neck with 780ti according to this benchmark. Although to be completely honest your 560 should run a while longer I'm personally using my old GTX 295 and still get really good frame rates and on high settings.

http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/high_end_gpus.html

 

[SpeedGeek]

Thanks for all the answers guys! super helpful. I'll definitely try the "Vertical sync" thing and Triple Buffering.

Do you really not recommend the Radeon cards? I feel like that's ALL toms hardware articles recommend anymore...

 

[logainofhades]

@ over $300, Nvidia is the way to go right now. The GTX 970 really shook things up, price wise. The R9 290 has started to finally drop to the $300 mark, if you cannot raise your budget further. It is still an excellent performing card, the GTX 970 is just better.

 

[SpeedGeek]

jas340, you're a genius. I made those two changes and performance has REALLY improved. Maybe this old GTX560 still has a few kicks left in it.

Should I overclock it to boost it even more? what tool do you suggest doing that in? it comes with the official EVGA PercisionX 16 software but I don't really understand how to use it.. They let you raise a bunch of bars but I don't know which ones I should raise and by how much...

As for the screen tearing - i'm STILL getting that. A bit less, but it's definitely still there 🙁

Should I try the "Adaptive (Half Refresh Rate)" option?

 

[logainofhades]

The GTX 960 will be out soon. It might be a good option for you. Your GTX 560 is somewhere in the neighborhood of an HD 7790/R7 260x performance wise, still.

 

[SpeedGeek]

How soon will the GTX960 be released? I'm assuming it's not going to be better performing than the 970, so how much cheaper would it be?

All the 970 I'm looking at online seem to be out of stock

 

[BlueJays92-93]

If you would have asked this question before you built your new computer I honestly would have said just go with the PS4 (I prefer PC gaming but I am not a PC master race person) but since you've already invested all that money in a new rig there is no reason to stop just shy of completing a great system. Right now go with AMD, they just dropped prices on a ton of their cards in effort to undercut Nvidia so you could probably get something pretty good at the moment.

 

[logainofhades]

How soon will the GTX960 be released? I'm assuming it's not going to be better performing than the 970, so how much cheaper would it be?

All the 970 I'm looking at online seem to be out of stock

Some that are in stock.
http://www.amazon.com/ZT-90101-10P-GeForce-GTX-Graphics-Card/dp/B00NPCE54C/ref=sr_1_13?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1412865817&sr=1-13&keywords=gtx+970

http://www.amazon.com/EVGA-Superclocked-256bit-Graphics-04G-P4-0974-KR/dp/B00NI64A7C/ref=sr_1_3?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1412865950&sr=1-3&keywords=gtx+970

http://www.amazon.com/EVGA-Superclocked-256bit-Graphics-04G-P4-1972-KR/dp/B00NI45AUU/ref=sr_1_5?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1412865950&sr=1-5&keywords=gtx+970