GTX 970 or wait

[tigersty1e]

So I know AMD next gen cards are dropping mid 2015.

When are the next gen Nvidia cards releasing?

And will the GTX 970 cards drop by a lot when amd releases their cards?

 

[Majcric]

The card you have is more than adequate for most games. And even those with the highest performing Gpu's still have to compromise some settings. The true upgrade will come within the next 3-6 months.

 

[hunkeelin]

Look at history. Nvidia's card never drop their price when amd release their stuff. Only amd drop their prices when nvidia release their stuff.

 

[Final8ty]

Look at history. Nvidia's card never drop their price when amd release their stuff. Only amd drop their prices when nvidia release their stuff.

That's got to be sarcasm in regards to NV never drop there price in relation to AMD cards.

 

[Spanners]

Look at history. Nvidia's card never drop their price when amd release their stuff. Only amd drop their prices when nvidia release their stuff.

That's got to be sarcasm in regards to NV never drop there price in relation to AMD cards.

Maybe just not ancient enough. *old man voice* Way back in 2008 Nvidia dropped the price on the GTX 280 from $649 release price to $499. This was due to the HD 4870/50. People were even offered some partial refunds. I'm sure there has been other occasions.

 

[Qwertilot]

970 is a next gen NV card You mean biggest Maxwell? Rumours for that seem to be sort of soonish, but it might take a bit to arrive as a gaming card and - perhaps depending on how well AMD do/how fast they release - longer as a rationally affordable one. 3-6 months as noted. Maybe a bit longer for the cards you'd actually want for gaming.

That'll be the same gen as the 970/80, just bigger in all senses. Pascal won't be along for a while.

The 970's should trend down at some point but nothing enormous as they're a good price anyway and selling very nicely. Big Maxwell should logically cause the prices on the 980 to drop somewhat once it no longer has the premium from being their fastest card.

 

[amenx]

Look at history. Nvidia's card never drop their price when amd release their stuff. Only amd drop their prices when nvidia release their stuff.

You must have a short history with Nvidia.

http://www.cnet.com/news/nvidia-cuts-prices-on-gtx-260-280-graphics-boards/

 

[skipsneeky2]

You must have a short history with Nvidia.

http://www.cnet.com/news/nvidia-cuts-prices-on-gtx-260-280-graphics-boards/

Frys gave me the $150 difference in cash when i went back seeking a refund when the prices dropped.Surprised me.I accepted it of course over a refund.:thumbsup:

 

[Riceninja]

what's the rough time frame/generation for a $350 gpu to be 2x as powerful as 970? any guesses? since 970 is already 2x my 7950 im looking for a quadruple upgrade. is it possible at all this year?

 

[DownTheSky]

@ 14/16nm. Whenever that comes.

 

[Qwertilot]

Not this year at that price I'd think One of the pending massive things might reach 2 times performance, but it won't be cheap.

You're probably looking at the gen past the 970, which will likely get a huge die shrink to one of the various 14/16nm processes and HBM added for NV at least.
(Some of the pending AMD stuff might well already have that.).

Frankly they'd have to bungle the engineering fairly badly for that generation to not be a major leap in both net performance and perf/watt.

Not sure how long it'll be though, 18 months? Worth waiting for if practical in terms of the current performance of your card vs expectations I suspect.

 

[Final8ty]

Maybe just not ancient enough. *old man voice* Way back in 2008 Nvidia dropped the price on the GTX 280 from $649 release price to $499. This was due to the HD 4870/50. People were even offered some partial refunds. I'm sure there has been other occasions.

Its amazing how people forget even more recent events.

Nvidia Issues Aggressive Price Drops For GeForce GTX 780, 770 Graphics Cards

When you’re one of only two key players in the desktop graphics card space, healthy competition can be the catalyst for near-instant change. In the case of AMD versus Nvidia NVDA -4.95%, the benefit of that competition to enthusiasts has never been better: On October 29, Nvidia will slash the suggested e-tail price of its newer GTX 770 and GTX 780 GPUs by more than $150.
Nvidia's GTX 780 Now Only $499

Nvidia's GTX 780 Now Only $499

I had to double check that it was only 5 months ago when I shared the benchmarks for Nvidia’s newly released GTX 780. At the time it was a comparatively strong value, delivering performance close to its older brother Titan for $350 less.

Then, earlier this month AMD rolled out its R9 series, promising specifically that its flagship 290X card would not only outperform Nvidia’s GTX 780, but would do so for $100 less. As you can see from one of my internal benchmark tests below, they delivered on that promise.

The tech press seemed to unanimously publish that opinion last week when the embargo for AMD’s R9 290X lifted. Even yours truly who has typically been a fan of Nvidia for their build quality and exceptional drivers, found myself swayed by the compelling price/performance ratio of AMD’s entire R9 lineup.

A price drop from Nvidia was inevitable, but I’m not certain anyone expected one so drastic.

Tomorrow the GTX 780 drops from $649 to $499, effectively undercutting AMD’s R9 290X by $50. Factor Nvidia’s GeForce Holiday Bundle into the equation — serving up free copies of Assassin’s Creed IV, Splinter Cell Blacklist, and Batman: Arkham Origins in addition to $100 off the Shield console — and Nvidia becomes the clear price leader.

The R9 290X does marginally outperform the GTX 780, but with this new pricing my recommendation falls back to Nvidia.

Tomorrow also sees the GTX 770 fall from $499 to $329, doing battle with AMD’s $299 R9 280X. Purchasing the 770 also entitles consumers to Nvidia’s GeForce Holiday Bundle.

So why didn’t Nvidia undercut the 280X as well? I can’t answer that, but I can hazard a guess as to why they’ve positioned the GTX 780 at $499. Technically the 280X is an overclocked and rebranded Radeon HD 7970, while the 290X represents brand new GPU architecture from AMD. If I wanted to hit my competition where it hurts the most, I’d target their flagship product bristling with new silicon and technology.

Nvidia will likely explain these price drops as being influenced by their newly announced but still mysterious GTX 780 Ti, but such dramatic price drops after only 5 months is unprecedented. It’s more reasonable that AMD’s surprisingly strong R9 series — barely two weeks old — forced Nvidia into this corner.

The ironic thing here is that with Nvidia positioning the GTX 780 at $499 (which will be perceived correctly as a $150 price cut), AMD’s victory with its new flagship GPU may be short-lived — a victim of its own success — as Nvidia heads into the holidays with the better value. That is unless AMD responds in kind.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jasonev...drops-for-geforce-gtx-780-770-graphics-cards/

 

[RussianSensation]

So I know AMD next gen cards are dropping mid 2015.

When are the next gen Nvidia cards releasing?

And will the GTX 970 cards drop by a lot when amd releases their cards?

If you have to ask, keep waiting. If you wanted to upgrade and had the $, you'd have a 970 already. If you needed the performance, you would have bought it already. 4 months passed since 970 launched but you still haven't bought it. Doesn't sound like you are in a rush to upgrade. See if you can overclock your 7950 to 1.15-1.2Ghz. Still very good performance @ 1080P.

Right now a 970 has glaring problems like VRAM and well imo it's simply overpriced vs. a $240 after-market R9 290.

what's the rough time frame/generation for a $350 gpu to be 2x as powerful as 970? any guesses? since 970 is already 2x my 7950 im looking for a quadruple upgrade. is it possible at all this year?

You are underestimating the performance of your 7950. At your overclocks, the 7950 is about equal to a 680/1 Ghz 7970.
http://www.legionhardware.com/artic...z_edition_7950_iceq_xsup2_boost_clock,13.html

On this chart then ~ 680 = 107% vs. 158% for a 970. Add 15% overclocking boost from a 970, 158%*1.15 = 182%.

You want 4X the performance of a 7950 OC = 680 = 107% x 4 = 428%. The performance would have to about double that of a 295X2 and 2.4X faster than a 980. The chance of that happening at $350 in the next 2 years is 0. It will probably take until 2018 with Volta. Think about it HD7950 OC CF is ~ 980. There is no way there will be a card 2.4X faster than a 980 at $350 in the next 2 years. IMO, you are looking at 3 years minimum.

 

[Riceninja]

goddamit russian, way to rain on my parade.

pm me whenever u upgrade next and ill just buy that.

 

[RussianSensation]

goddamit russian, way to rain on my parade.

pm me whenever u upgrade next and ill just buy that.

My bad. At the same time it shows how great of a purchase the HD7950 was. Even back then I was telling gamers how much value it had overclocked vs. a 7970/680. The only reason I went for the 7970s over the 7950s was due to mining rates. Also, I don't think you need to wait for 4X the performance increase. I am sure even a 75-100% increase will feel nice if it means going from 35-40 fps to 60 fps.

What upsets me is that a lot of newer games are very GPU demanding but I feel it's more due to their poor optimization vs. truly next gen graphics quality. Games like Watch Dogs, AC Unity, Dying Light are pretty demanding but none of those titles makes me want a new card(s). I am not even sure when I'll upgrade. I want to see the performance of newer games in the next 3-4 months and then see when happens to pricing of current cards once R9 300/GM200 series drop.

 

[Riceninja]

yes, i bought the 7950 after reading pages of your preaching. it was great bang for the buck considering i sold the games bundle for another $50.

i wanted 4x performance precisely because im worried about the lazy programming that's going on. to be honest im not sure the 7950 can hold me through witcher 3 and gta5 with mods.

 

[garagisti]

380 will lag behind 295x2 and leaks from chiphell suggest that gm200 isn't going to better that either. I think HBM will help in gaming some, but the price point for 380 will more than likely be $400 and up. I think you will see 295x2 closer to 600, possibly plus rebates. It's just a guesstimate based on pricing of things right now and projected performance. It would be fun if amd brings a 380x2 to the table.