Buyer's remorse

[Carfax83]

I bought two GTX 770 4GB editions today. At first it felt good, to be finally retiring my trusty overclocked 580s that have served me so well over the years.

But now I'm getting a case of buyer's remorse. I spent 900 bucks, for two cards that won't even see "appreciable" service until next year when the Witcher 3 (a true next generation game) comes out, and Maxwell, a supposedly massive architectural change over Kepler, also comes out.

The only game coming out this year that I'm interested in is Batman Arkham Origin, and two overclocked 580s can easily handle that game at maxed settings. Every other title that I wanted to get that came out in 2013, Crysis 3, Bioshock Infinite, Metro Last Light I already have, and played with ease on the 580s.

While Battlefield 4 looks great, I never play online, and I don't think there are any other titles coming out this year that would require me to upgrade from my 580s, other than Watch dogs which doesn't interest me either.

So basically, I feel almost like I spent nearly a grand for nothing. I know there's always something better coming around the corner, or down the road. Only a fool plays that game, especially with computer hardware.

But, I've never been one of those types that upgrades for the hell of it. I need a reason to upgrade, like a game that's coming out that will bring my rig to it's knees.

For all Crytek's talk, Crysis 3 wasn't the system buster that they said it would be, and thats a good thing because not only is it the best looking game I've ever played (in terms of graphics), it's perhaps the most well optimized game as well. I was able to play it at 2560x1440 very high settings, with 1x SMAA and v-sync off with an average frame rate of 40 FPS on two overclocked GTX 580s (900/1800/4400) and a 3930K overclocked to 4.4ghz.. For a game like Crysis 3, 40 FPS is very smooth too, so gameplay didn't suffer.

Assuming I keep the 770s, I would expect to bump the SMAA up to 2x and have much faster frame rates, but I already beat the game and don't feel the need for another play through other than testing.

Played Bioshock Infinite at 2560x1440 Ultra settings with great frame rates. Played Metro Last Light at 2560x1440 very high quality, tessellation maxed and advanced physx turned on.....again, with excellent frame rates.

So you see my point. My GTX 580s can easily last me another year which by then Maxwell will be out, and it's performance should blow Kepler out of the water..

So in your opinion, should I keep them or return them? They haven't even arrived yet, so if I decide to return them, I can tell UPS just to resend it back to Newegg..

 

[joneffingvo]

return them

 

[Plimogz]

Buy two more monitors and enjoy?

 

[ZGR]

Okay I thought about what I would do if I was in your situation...

I would sell the 580's and the 770's. Then I would buy 2 GTX 760's and SLI them. That's ~$500 for about the performance of a Titan/690.

That is a great performance boost to last you until Maxwell comes out because I'm sure you will buy 2 880's.


http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/geforce_gtx_760_sli_review,8.html

There is a Tomb Raider benchmark, more is in the article.

Two 760's should suffice 2560x1440 for awhile.

 

[JimmiG]

If you do have the $900 to spare and can't think of anything else you could spend them on that would bring more enjoyment, then keep the cards

 

[blackened23]

I'd keep the 770s. Staying up to date each generation on your hardware increases your re-sale value and ensures an easy an painless upgrade next time around. Just IMHO. Also, keep in mind that upcoming games this fall will have more in terms of VRAM requirements, already we're seeing games that make use of more than 2GB of VRAM - this will only continue being the case this fall. The 1.5 GB on the 580s will show their age - you'll have to lower AA settings and run without the highest quality textures and assets.

As an example, we've seen the PC version of BF4 using nearly 3GB of VRAM. With GTX 580s, if you hold onto them, you'll have to compromise on your visual fidelity - not so with the 770s. Say what you will about the next gen consoles, but many of the games look downright impressive. Killzone, Titans Fall, Destiny, to name a few - all of these games are using far more in terms of assets that prior generation AAA titles. The assets translate to higher than 1.5GB of VRAM, and the 770's VRAM will help you a lot when the PC versions are released this Holiday season.

Also, on the note of re-sale value: Consider that if you had bought 680s and sold your 580s last year, that you could have easily sold the 680s for 350$-400$ prior to the launch of the 780s. Many 580 users strategically sold at the right time to get a 680 for a minimal investment cost, 100$-150$ for a huge performance upgrade - Not too bad of an investment loss to stay up to date, at least that's my preferred method of doing things. This is just an example, if you buy 770s now you'll be in a much better position for upcoming games this fall, and upgrading to Maxwell will be that much easier.

 

[UaVaj]

based on your setting and your lack of need for maxed out iq.

return them.

until you feel that itch again for better iq. then upgrade at that time.

 

[2is]

Buy them when you need them.

 

[Remobz]

return it

 

[Qbah]

You sound happy with your 580s - return the 770s and keep enjoying what you have until you will need to upgrade (=games won't run the way you want them to run).

 

[Carfax83]

If you do have the $900 to spare and can't think of anything else you could spend them on that would bring more enjoyment, then keep the cards

I have 900 bucks to spare, but there are other things I can think to spend it on. A new front end on my car for instance :biggrin:

 

[Carfax83]

The 1.5 GB on the 580s will show their age - you'll have to lower AA settings and run without the highest quality textures and assets.

Honestly, I was SHOCKED at how well Crysis 3 ran on the 580s. When I bought the game, I didn't think I was going to be able to run it at very high quality, so I thought I'd wait until I upgraded my video cards and then play it. Of course my curiosity got the better of me though and I ended up playing through the first level, and I was shocked at how smooth the game was. That was back when I had my overclocked 920. Upgrading to a 3930K smoothed the game out even more..

And AA isn't really a big deal anymore I think. We have SMAA and FXAA, which manage to squash out 95% of those pesky jaggies with a miniscule performance hit compared to MSAA. As long as I can run at the highest texture detail and turn on all of the extra settings, I'm good.

As an example, we've seen the PC version of BF4 using nearly 3GB of VRAM. With GTX 580s, if you hold onto them, you'll have to compromise on your visual fidelity - not so with the 770s. Say what you will about the next gen consoles, but many of the games look downright impressive. Killzone, Titans Fall, Destiny, to name a few - all of these games are using far more in terms of assets that prior generation AAA titles. The assets translate to higher than 1.5GB of VRAM, and the 770's VRAM will help you a lot when the PC versions are released this Holiday season.

But just because a game will use 3GB of VRAM, doesn't necessarily mean it requires it. Bioshock Infinite by all reports can use over 2GB of VRAM at ultra settings, but I had no problems playing the game on my 1.5 GB 580s at 2560x1440 ultra settings.

Games will typically use the extra VRAM to preload assets and textures and what not, and not necessarily use it for rendering.

Also, on the note of re-sale value: Consider that if you had bought 680s and sold your 580s last year, that you could have easily sold the 680s for 350$-400$ prior to the launch of the 780s. Many 580 users strategically sold at the right time to get a 680 for a minimal investment cost, 100$-150$ for a huge performance upgrade - Not too bad of an investment loss to stay up to date, at least that's my preferred method of doing things. This is just an example, if you buy 770s now you'll be in a much better position for upcoming games this fall, and upgrading to Maxwell will be that much easier.

This is a GREAT point. I'm feeling the effects of what you just outlined, as I'm having a hard time selling my 580s due to the fact that I've held on to them so long.

I put them up on Craigslist, and all I've had so far are Nigerian scammers D: I can't believe Craigslist has gotten this bad. A few years ago, I would put parts up for sale and I would get local hits all the time. Now it seems you have a lot of foreign scam artists offering you nearly twice what the product is worth and sending you fake Paypal e-mails and what not..

What do you usually do with your old hardware?

 

[Carfax83]

Hmm, found another game I might be interested in. Assassin's Creed IV.

I've only played the first Assassin's Creed, mostly because at the time it was one of the most technically advanced games with DX10 and quad core support, but I never finished it as I got bored.....plus I don't really like stealth games that much.

But this one looks very interesting, and next generation:

Assassin's Creed IV gameplay reveal

E3 demo

The scale of the game to me is what impresses the most.. And unlike Far Cry 3, Ubisoft enabled the high end features like interactive vegetation and much more dense foliage for the next gen consoles and PC..

 

[Keysplayr]

I put them up on Craigslist, and all I've had so far are Nigerian scammers D: I can't believe Craigslist has gotten this bad. A few years ago, I would put parts up for sale and I would get local hits all the time. Now it seems you have a lot of foreign scam artists offering you nearly twice what the product is worth and sending you fake Paypal e-mails and what not..

What do you usually do with your old hardware?

FS/FT forum here, or another tech site you frequent, or Ebay.
Yes, you pay fees on ebay, but the system is pretty sound.

 

[echineko]

I bought two GTX 770 4GB editions today...

I was very interested to read your post, as I am currently in the process of assembling a new rig to replace my admittedly ancient setup. I'm grappling between getting two mid-level cards, or going for one single 780, and really having to think several times on it.

Let us know what you decide to do in the end, I for one am curious to know how you end up feeling.

 

[RussianSensation]

I bought two GTX 770 4GB editions today.
...
The only game coming out this year that I'm interested in is Batman Arkham Origin, and two overclocked 580s can easily handle that game at maxed settings. Every other title that I wanted to get that came out in 2013, Crysis 3, Bioshock Infinite, Metro Last Light I already have, and played with ease on the 580s.
...
I need a reason to upgrade, like a game that's coming out that will bring my rig to it's knees.

You answered your own question. If BAO is one game you are interested to play this year, along with AC4, all the other heavy titles you have already beaten, might as well return those 770s. By the time next gen games come out that you'll be interested in, there will be 20nm Maxwell/VI. Right now you are basically paying "insurance premium" upfront to try and future-proof with 770s for next gen games. If you were thinking insurance, then get 780 and upgrade to a 2nd one later. However, in your case there are no demanding games you are playing, which means you are paying this insurance premium for nothing.

Also, on the note of re-sale value: Consider that if you had bought 680s and sold your 580s last year, that you could have easily sold the 680s for 350$-400$ prior to the launch of the 780s. Many 580 users strategically sold at the right time to get a 680 for a minimal investment cost, 100$-150$ for a huge performance upgrade - Not too bad of an investment loss to stay up to date, at least that's my preferred method of doing things.

I agree with this strategy overall but 770s are going to be the worst cards for this. They are barely faster than 680s/7970GE and are going for $450 for 4GB versions. A $450 Maxwell card will put the lights out on them and in 12 months you'll be lucky to sell them for $250 on the used market. Just look what GTX760 did at $249 price level vs. 7970/670/680 cards. Those 770s are 1.5 years+ into the 28nm generation and are barely better than 7970 OC / GTX680. That means they stand to lose a lot of resale value next year. If you play games with mods where you ran into VRAM bottlenecks, you can just sell the 580s and get 2x 760s to you over.

760s OC is a great value upgrade from your 580s for the time being. If you sell those 580s for $120 each, your net upgrade will be about $260. That's very good.

$400 savings over those 770s.

 

[blackened23]

But just because a game will use 3GB of VRAM, doesn't necessarily mean it requires it. Bioshock Infinite by all reports can use over 2GB of VRAM at ultra settings, but I had no problems playing the game on my 1.5 GB 580s at 2560x1440 ultra settings.

Games will typically use the extra VRAM to preload assets and textures and what not, and not necessarily use it for rendering.

I just want to hit on this point for a moment; Bioshock infinite actually has preset textures and assets depending on the resolution and VRAM available. What this means is that the game actually looks different, especially at higher resolutions, if you have less VRAM - I wish I had screenshots but I have seen them. There are 1GB cards that actually run Bioshock just fine at 1080p, but there is a very big difference in how the game appears. Again, it has preset visual assets.

And this is a current game, it will get much worse this holiday season. Again, a lot of upcoming games will be very impressive and will have higher VRAM requirements. I don't want to start a PC vs console war as that is just old and tiring, but a lot of those games do look very impressive and do have much bigger assets and game worlds. That = VRAM, where your 770s would do you well.

Let me hit on the re-sale issue again. As far as re-selling hardware, I never use craigslist, I sell them on various FS/T forums. HardOCP, OCN, here, EVGA forums, etc - there are many places with very good, very reliable buyers and sellers - Craigslist is an OKAY method for selling, but like you mentioned is prone to scammers. If you stick to well known forums, have a good traders rating (such as Heatware) and sell to well known people via verified paypal/amazon payments/etc you won't have an issue. Ebay is also another great resource for selling.

This is all your choice of course, but if it were me in your position I would keep the 770s. But, if you were happy with the 580s that may be a reason to keep them...I don't think I would though. It's all your choice and money though, As an aside, I assume the non-performance factors aren't an issue to you? Such as heat, noise, power consumption, etc which would presumably favor the 770? Because I owned GTX 580s as well and one thing I remember is that in multi monitor mode, the cards did not manage power as well - power management was vastly improved in SLI with the GTX 600 and 700 series. Heck, in SLI, I wanna say that the 500s didn't downclock to idle modes as effectively as they did in single card, but a lot of changes were made with the kepler chip. In surround mode in particular, the kepler has a lot of power management features that did not work on the 500 and prior series, so you can actually idle at 324mhz instead of going near full speed as older generation cards did. I know this may be a non-issue to you, but it's a feature of the Kepler that i've grown to appreciate.

 

[Ventanni]

I'd return them. They're definitely faster than the 580's, but when the next generation of games come out (as you've stated you've played all the current ones), Maxwell will likely be available. The 580's are still no slouches by today's standard.

 

[lavaheadache]

Most people send me their old cards when they no longer want them. Do you need my address?

 

[Stuka87]

I would return one of the 770's, sell the 580's. And when you need the second 770, buy it then. Chances are it will have gone down in price a bit.

 

[blackened23]

I would return one of the 770's, sell the 580's. And when you need the second 770, buy it then. Chances are it will have gone down in price a bit.

This is another good option as well. Heck, a single 770 should be pretty close to 580 sli while being far better in other metrics (heat , noise, etc)

 

[TheUnk]

Maybe shoot for more remorse? Get 2 more monitors for Nvidia Surround and try to take advantage of your new power!

 

[Aristotelian]

I still use overclocked 580s in SLI at 2560x1440 and have only had to turn settings down slightly in some games (AA). I'm planning on upgrading when I upgrade my overclocked 2600K. For gaming, my rig hasn't really showed its age yet, and I bought it in 2010 at some point, if I recall correctly - towards the end of 2010 I think. I plan to use this rig when I need to lower quality/resolution, not AA - as I'm not that sensitive to it at that resolution.

 

[Eureka]

Honestly, if you aren't finding yourself using up the power, return it before you get stuck with that regret.

The best option is probably to return one of the 770s and sell the 580s. You get the benefits of single-card performance, but you still spent half of what you did. Keeping the 580s is another option but they will start aging eventually.

 

[AdamK47]

What is buyer's remorse?