1 pc for games at hi and recording....gpu?

[The549]

Hey all, I've been following the pc gaming graphics companies since i got my voodoo3. Love this site, especially during the release seasons.

So i have gotten back into pc gaming a bit, and will probably want a new video card. I'm gaming now. I'm happy with everything except for stalker and crysis warhead is almost totally smooth...been playing:
-crysi (plural? warhead, want to play the orig which i haven't installed yet)
-SC2 (runs fine already)
-Stalker CS...tanks with AA, haven't tried optimizing. not great performance at all high.
-that game supreme commander looks fun
-and I plan on buying a few new games in the future months.

Budget is 300 hundred (if I can hold off on a badly needed crash cymbal for a recording project... damn multiple hobbies), I have a AMD P2 955 at 3.4ghz and an hd4850 512 meg. 4 gigs DDR2800 ram. I wouldn't want to upgrade again for a year two. Playing now on 1280x1028, but may upgrade to something bigger (which is it's own conundrum...i like to play games at high detail, but don't want to shell out $400 for a gpu, however vertical resolution is very important when doing multitrack recordings - to see the tracks etc).

My deal with AA is that I really like it at least there...2x is fine but having none is really annoying. Thanks for ANY suggestions!

i'll bump possibly after the launch

 

[AlphaWolf]

I'd certainly wait until after the 68xx series launches next week. At the worst it will lower some prices.

 

[The549]

I'd certainly wait until after the 68xx series launches next week. At the worst it will lower some prices.

yeah def...unlike many purchase decision questors i actually don't have a forgone conclusion other than to wait at least for the 6xxx series...i'll probably want to get a new card before christmas.

 

[digitalwanderer]

I'd certainly wait until after the 68xx series launches next week. At the worst it will lower some prices.

What Alpha said, all the prices usually shift around right after a release. I think this is technically the very worst possible time to buy a graphics card, but at least you don't have long to wait.

 

[The549]

What Alpha said, all the prices usually shift around right after a release. I think this is technically the very worst possible time to buy a graphics card, but at least you don't have long to wait.

why, because of the next process size coming up?

 

[homerdog]

why, because of the next process size coming up?

Because the 6800 series comes out literally in a few days, with the 6900 series to follow supposedly before the end of the year. 32nm is still a ways off.

 

[digitalwanderer]

why, because of the next process size coming up?

No, I was thinking more of an upcoming new graphics card release this week or so from some company might change the prices of all the old models a bit...but I'm really not sure.

It would definitely behoove you to wait a week and see though.

 

[The549]

ah yes...well iave caught up that much already, but what about christmas? or waiting for the full 6xxx lineup? Would that return me significantly better prices to wait for antilles etc?

 

[digitalwanderer]

My crystal ball can't see that far, but we'll probably all have a much better idea about that pretty soon.

 

[AlphaWolf]

Cayman (the AMD november product) probably won't affect your price range too much, but who knows.

 

[The549]

Cayman (the AMD november product) probably won't affect your price range too much, but who knows.

ok, so i'm wanting to play the stalker series on high with at least 2xAA

anyone let me know if you think ddr2 800 4gigs, amd p2 955, and a 6870 could do that at 1600x900? what about 1900x1000?

 

[Davros]

Id say yes although you may have to sacrifice something

 

[AlphaWolf]

Id say yes although you may have to sacrifice something

a goat perhaps?

 

[Davros]

As long as its sacrificed to the Gaming Gods

 

[Davros]

It should be very do-able

To give you a rough idea
q6600, 3gb ram, gtx260

 

[homerdog]

Have you decided on anything yet? You'll certainly be satisfied by a <$200 1GB GTX460 or 6850 at your current resolution (and even at 1080p for most games), and you can put the savings toward a new monitor or that crash symbol.

 

[The549]

Have you decided on anything yet? You'll certainly be satisfied by a <$200 1GB GTX460 or 6850 at your current resolution (and even at 1080p for most games), and you can put the savings toward a new monitor or that crash symbol.

cymbal cymbal cymbal! yeah well right now I'm thinking the 6870 is a safe bet, unless the 460 is more future proof...I was wanting closer to 470 performance - min 1.5 or more years futureproof. I'm not in a big rush, few months or less is the timeframe. prob wait till november

 

[The549]

It should be very do-able

To give you a rough idea
q6600, 3gb ram, gtx260

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I get these occasional slowdowns (sometimes cured by going to the pda), when that happens i notice the memory in rs_stats goes well above the 512 megs of my 4850 and sometimes peaks above 1200megs. When it comes to twimtbp and optimizations and new games etc I just don't know what option is best, esp considering my gpu lifetime. leaning to 6870 but if the 470 used less power it would be quite appealing. I'm thinking i'll want bigger than 16x10 before another gpu purchase in the far future.

6870
460
470
?

speaking of goats....this dude who has even less knowledge of pc's than myself (a++ level, haha) was trying to help fix a buddy's computer....by getting on the ground and staring and listening to it.....now...I know there are a few things to listen for but based on his experience...i did want to ask "hey, you want me to wave a dead chicken over it too?"
the bones tell me it's the gpu doesn't have the 6 pin plugged in

 

[Davros]

Are you sure he was not kneeling in reverence before the mightyness of gods own Gaming machine, as I often do myself ?

I was wanting closer to 470 performance - min 1.5 or more years futureproof.

Does a 470 give you that over a 4850 ?

 

[homerdog]

Yes, GTX470 is a lot faster than 4850, and is DX11 compliant. It will at least last you a solid 1.5 years of "all max" settings in the vast majority of games.