New GPU card for Skyrim : Othor Games

» Thu Dec 08, 2011 11:00 am

Good joke. You know the xbox360 has a 512 MB graphics card? That'd be worse than what he has in his PC.

I find it pretty funny how some people always think the XboX or PS3 had more power than anything. Seriously, it's also a PC if you think about it, just with less space and compatibility, which means worse hardware in general.

You do know he's trolling right?

» Thu Dec 08, 2011 3:14 am

Do I need to upgrade my Radeon HD 3870 512Mb?

Hard to say. It seems to be in the same class as my 9800 GT that I upgraded from recently. It wasn't a bad card and probably would have run Skyrim on low to mid settings but I figured it was due for an upgrade. It ran Farcry 2 on pretty high settings. I'm tempted to say no because I'm curious as to how well Skyrim will run on a card like that.

» Thu Dec 08, 2011 7:42 am

Ugh I'm reading this topic for information as I'm planning to upgrade my own GPU but the information is making my head hurt.

I was thinking a Radeon 6850 or so as it's rather cheap. Seeing as I have to buy a new PSU as well which will cost me around 50 euro and I want to stay on about 200 euro total.
But now I'm also hearing all this Nvidea talk, and am thinking how much better a 6870 is in comparison to a 6850...

:ahhh:

» Thu Dec 08, 2011 8:53 am

Ugh I'm reading this topic for information as I'm planning to upgrade my own GPU but the information is making my head hurt.

I was thinking a Radeon 6850 or so as it's rather cheap. Seeing as I have to buy a new PSU as well which will cost me around 50 euro and I want to stay on about 200 euro total.
But now I'm also hearing all this Nvidea talk, and am thinking how much better a 6870 is in comparison to a 6850...

:ahhh:

An HD 6870 is about 20% faster than an HD 6850. For comparison's sake an HD 6850 is a tiny bit slower than a GTX 460 (at stock speeds for both). A GTX 560 is a little slower than an HD 6870 (with both also at stock speeds).

» Thu Dec 08, 2011 2:13 am

Ugh I'm reading this topic for information as I'm planning to upgrade my own GPU but the information is making my head hurt.

Me too. My last major PC upgrade was in 2005 (128 Nvidia 7800GT, single-core AMD 3500+ and such..) and that rig runs Oblivion sufficiently well for me; though I was amazed at the time when I played Pyjamarama & Choplifter on a Commodore 64, so I guess some would consider me older than ancient

I'll guess I'll rebuild my rig after Skyrim is out (for example Oblivion turned out to be a rather more CPU intensive game than GPU intensive).

» Thu Dec 08, 2011 7:20 am

An HD 6870 is about 20% faster than an HD 6850. For comparison's sake an HD 6850 is a tiny bit slower than a GTX 460 (at stock speeds for both). A GTX 560 is a little slower than an HD 6870 (with both also at stock speeds).

So would you reckon the extra ~50 euro is worth it to buy a 6870 instead of a 6850?

» Thu Dec 08, 2011 6:48 am

I think it's time to upgrade my Nvidia 275GTX for a DX11 ready card.

Skyrim has an option for DX11 right?

I'm thinking of getting one of these 2 cards, and would love to get an advice.

EVGA GeForce GTX 560 Superclocked
http://www.asus.com/Graphics_Cards/NVIDIA_Series/ENGTX560_DC2DI1GD5/

Asus GeForce GTX560 TI 1GB
http://www.asus.com/Graphics_Cards/NVIDIA_Series/ENGTX560_DC2DI1GD5/

ppl are confused When you say " Skrim has an option for DX11 right? " ... ppl have been missleadi with this .. It will run off Dx11 just like every other game .. however it does not make ANY use of DX11 features ( like tessalation )

On another note the AMD 7XXX is due for DEC .. wait and see how that pans out before you save any money

» Wed Dec 07, 2011 11:06 pm

So would you reckon the extra ~50 euro is worth it to buy a 6870 instead of a 6850?

Well, that's a fair bit of money. They're only about $20 apart here in the US (and with that I'd definitely get the HD 6870)

» Thu Dec 08, 2011 3:08 pm

Well, that's a fair bit of money. They're only about $20 apart here in the US (and with that I'd definitely get the HD 6870)

Blegh, guess I'll spend the next days figuring it out!

» Thu Dec 08, 2011 2:25 am

Blegh, guess I'll spend the next days figuring it out!

You could use the MSI Afterburner software and overclock the HD 6850 to almost HD 6870 speed (for free!). Its pretty easy to do.

» Thu Dec 08, 2011 2:53 pm

OT: Can graphic cards accumulate "mileage" per se?

For example, A 275GTX for 7 years doesn't feel like it plays the same? <----does this make sense? Can they loose there "power" in a means to not perform well later in there life cycle?

» Thu Dec 08, 2011 2:14 pm

http://www.guru3d.com/article/geforce-gtx-275-review-test/16 is a benchmark of Fallout 3 on Ultra with 8xAA!!!!! The 275 still runs the game at 55-60 fps! You, sir, don't need a GPU upgrade...

Never said i hate my 275GTX

I have good experience with it, including FO3 which i played on max settings, & this is why I wanna stick with Nvidia.
I want a new one though because its doesnt supports DX11, & judging by the videos, the new engine in Skyrim will need much more horse power then FO3.

» Thu Dec 08, 2011 9:20 am

I just hope my ATI 5700 HD coupled with i5 quad core will be able to chew through the game on decent setting level.

» Thu Dec 08, 2011 3:33 pm

I think the GTX 560 Ti has a nice price/quality ratio. I'd say you go for it.

And I've even seen SOC versions of the Ti for as low as 200 euros. Big bargain for sure!

» Thu Dec 08, 2011 11:32 am

OT: Can graphic cards accumulate "mileage" per se?

For example, A 275GTX for 7 years doesn't feel like it plays the same? <----does this make sense? Can they loose there "power" in a means to not perform well later in there life cycle?

No, they just work until they break.

Not like power supplies that slowly fade away.

» Thu Dec 08, 2011 6:41 am

Mobile Radeon 6970 2GB will be more than enough for Skyrim since it's tested to play ultra high/high graphics settings on most graphic intensive games of 2010. I got the AMD 6990QM 2GB just in case.

» Thu Dec 08, 2011 3:22 pm

GTX 560 Ti is a great card. Cant go wrong with that one.

» Thu Dec 08, 2011 6:22 am

You could use the MSI Afterburner software and overclock the HD 6850 to almost HD 6870 speed (for free!). Its pretty easy to do.

Hmm I've never tried overclocking before. Mainly because I'm still relatively clueless about PCs and am afraid I'll annihilate mah babeh.

Good news is that I've found a reliable place to order GPUs with decent prices.
Radeon HD 6850 = ~130 euro
Radeon HD 6870 = ~158 euro
GeForce 560 = ~160 euro
GeForce 560Ti = ~220 euro

So considering I'm a cheap bastard I'll stick to AMD for sure.

P.s. There sure are alot of rich people hanging around here with their beastly cards.

» Thu Dec 08, 2011 9:06 am

P.s. There sure are alot of rich people hanging around here with their beastly cards.

I bought my GTX 560 Ti for 200 euro

I'm poor, too....but smart!!

» Thu Dec 08, 2011 1:41 am

A 460GTX will do, it's very cheap and powerful.

i agree.

sure the 6870 or the 560TI will max the game, but do u really need such a powerful card?!
i think these cards are more powerful than they are useful. they can max every game, sure, but the slightly cheaper cards can do the same on resolutions of 1680X1050.
If you plan on playing on 1900X1200 with AAX8 or whatever than you should go with the strongest and most expensive, but i havent seen a game that came out in the past 5 years that the 460 couldnt nearly max out in 1680X1050.

OP, If you a big gamer than go the extra mile. If you want to max Skyrim than do aim that high. you don't need to. take nvidia's 460.

» Thu Dec 08, 2011 11:57 am

i agree.

sure the 6870 or the 560TI will max the game, but do u really need such a powerful card?!
i think these cards are more powerful than they are useful. they can max every game, sure, but the slightly cheaper cards can do the same on resolutions of 1680X1050.
If you plan on playing on 1900X1200 with AAX8 or whatever than you should go with the strongest and most expensive, but i havent seen a game that came out in the past 5 years that the 460 couldnt nearly max out in 1680X1050.

OP, If you a big gamer than go the extra mile. If you want to max Skyrim than do aim that high. you don't need to. take nvidia's 460.

I agree with every word. Though i'm busy with my M.A. studies, I don't have a gf atm AND I MUST TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE SITUATION!
so yes, I consider myself a heavy gamer

when i buy hardware, i consider the future. i dont want to buy something i'll replace in 1-2 years. i think 50$ more dollars worth 1-2 years of delaying the next purchase.

(sry for my english)

» Thu Dec 08, 2011 1:44 pm

Do I need to upgrade my Radeon HD 3870 512Mb?

Yeah, I was in the same boat w/ an HD3650 512MB and was looking to spend about $100. After alot of research, ended up buying an HD6770 1GB for $89.99 on sale from amazon. I'm guessing you're a budget-minded gamer like myself, so 6770 is the best bang for buck right now.

» Thu Dec 08, 2011 3:09 am

I'm wondering what the best upgrade would be for my system.. right now i'm running a geforce GTX 285 GPU and my processer is an AMD athlon II 2x 250 (dual core) 3.0 Ghz
Im considering getting the geforce GTX 560 TI
OR
An intel i5 + new motherboard. (or is my CPU good enough? i personally would think so, but im no expert hehe)

So.. what would you guys suggest getting?

» Thu Dec 08, 2011 4:38 am

after reading this comparison between 4 different 560 cards, i think i made up my mind:

http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum/hardware-canucks-reviews/40552-nvidia-geforce-gtx-560-ti-roundup-asus-evga-gigabyte-msi.html

Gigabite's Ti card wins for me.

» Thu Dec 08, 2011 2:37 am

Do I need to upgrade my Radeon HD 3870 512Mb?

I'm hoping so

I'm planning on running Skyrim on my Radeon HD 4870 512Mb. Not really wanting to drop a bunch of money and a new GPU right now, I think it'll be fine.