Did I buy the wrong vid card for my build?

[AV1611]

All:

I just bought parts for a new gaming PC and am wondering if the video card I bought is a little weak for my purposes:

I have a Samsung 25.5 monitor at 1920x1200.

CPU: i5 4590 @3.3 stock with 3.7 Turbo Boost
RAM: G. Skill 2x4 GB DDR3 1866 CL 9
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-G1.Sniper Z97
Video Card: Sapphire 3 GB 7950 Dual X with Boost
Power Supply: Corsair CX600M 600 Watts
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 Black Pearl

I play Civ V, Mass Effect 1,2,3, Dragon Age: Inquisition, Deus Ex: Human Revolution. I will be buying Witcher 3 when it comes out.

By the way...... I'm currently gaming on my Asus G73 laptop with a Radeon 5870m and i7 720 @ 1.6 @ 1600x900

 

[Alex Sinov]

I think the GPU may be a little on the weak side. An R9 seems to be a safer bet.
The Witcher 3 System requirements.

 

[AV1611]

I don't have access to gaming sites at work, but would Witcher 3 be doable at 1080p? I can stand a few black bars on my monitor's screen.

 

[Alex Sinov]

I'm on my phone right now but I think it's safe to say it can. The question is how many frames per second would you be able to achieve.

 

[AV1611]

I'd be happy with 30 fps minimum frame rate with medium graphics quality. I don't have to play my games with maxed out eye candy. Also, it's not a first person shooter where high FPS is really important.

 

[lehtv]

In that case you'll probably be fine with the 7950.

 

[Ken g6]

I think the GPU may be a little on the weak side. An R9 seems to be a safer bet.
The Witcher 3 System requirements.

The 7950 is practically identical to an R9 280. Which matches the "GD Adjusted Requirements".

 

[AV1611]

I found an overclocking guide online for this particular 7950 card. It looks like it can easily be overclocked to stock 7970 RAM and GPU speed without even a voltage bump. Maybe I didn't buy the wrong card after all.

 

[mfenn]

It's definitely a little odd to buy a previous generation card when the current R9 2XX generation is already getting fairly long in the tooth. Whether it was worth it or not depends on the price you paid, there aren't significant architectural differences between the 7900 and R9 280 series.

 

[AV1611]

I picked it up like new for $120.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Don't feel bad, I picked up a pair of 7950 HIS 3GB GDDR5 cards off of Newegg with a Hot Deal for $130 ea.

A marked improvement over my 7790 1GB GDDR5 cards (also HIS).

Some of us can't quite afford the latest and greatest.

 

[AV1611]

Yep, this new system is a huge upgrade over my gaming laptop (i7 720qm @ 1.6 and Radeon 5870m) and my current tower PC (Core2Quad Q9500 and Radeon 3870 512MB).

Total cost for the parts in my initial post was about $630. I found a deal on a Crucial BX100 500 GB SSD on Amazon earlier tonight. It was $191. I had a $70 Amazon gift card, so actual cost to me was $121 with free shipping.

Don't feel bad, I picked up a pair of 7950 HIS 3GB GDDR5 cards off of Newegg with a Hot Deal for $130 ea.

A marked improvement over my 7790 1GB GDDR5 cards (also HIS).

Some of us can't quite afford the latest and greatest.

 

[lehtv]

I picked it up like new for $120.

Nice find IMO. That's what I got for my 7950 when I sold it after 2 years of use (a few months ago) . New R9 280 is only marginally faster but 50% more expensive

 

[monkeydelmagico]

It's a decent card and should game on med settings well. FWIW R9 280 has gone on sale for around that price though so buying a used previous gen card seems kinda silly.

 

[mfenn]

I picked it up like new for $120.

Definitely a good price for that card. :thumbsup:

 

[lehtv]

FWIW R9 280 has gone on sale for around that price though so buying a used previous gen card seems kinda silly.

R9 280 for $120 ? Madness

 

[mfenn]

R9 280 for $120 ? Madness

Yeah, I've seen it for $150 AR recently, but nowhere near $120.