Which should be my next card for 1080p gaming at min 60 fps?

[GammaLazer]

Urgent response please as today is last day of sale!

Hi everyone! I am once again in need of an advice.

I have been using Asus ATI 7970HD DCII from last 2.5 years. I constantly get above 60 fps on most games unless they are badly optimized.
So I have been thinking that as I am getting a new 40 inch Samsung LED TV (1080p) for monitor and so I should upgrade my card too. Benefit is that I would get new warranty on the next card.
I am getting around $180 for 7970HD.

I would like to get the new card from Zotac as they provide 5 years warranty.

Please guide me if I am making a right decision in buying a new card or just wasting my money.

I am interested in NVidia 980 4Gb DDR5 from Zotac. Budget would be around $750 (Indian prices are around $100 -$150 higher than US ones so...)
Do I need to up my PSU as nvidia mentions on their website that 500W is minimum required!

My current specs:

Dell 23" monitor
i5 3570k Stock
16GB DD3 RipJaws G Skill RAM
Corsair CX 600 Watts PSU
Samsung 850 EVO 250GB
WD Black Enterprise 1Tb
Seagate 2Tb
CM Mech keyboard
Razer Death Adder Chroma
Deepcool Lucifer V2 CPU Cooler.

I would like to have the card for at least 4-5 years so future proofing is here.
Have been reading that 970 is more than enough for 1080p but has limited 3.5 gb vram. Do you think that 970 would be able to max out GTA V (ULTRA) and all upcoming games in next 3-4 years? If I go for GTX 970 then I should be sure that it is a future proof card and would be able to max out GTA V or Skyrim with mods or fallout 6 and games to come in next 3 years.
Also I have read that 970 isn't able to use full 4 GB vram but is able to use only around 3.5 gb.
How is the quality of nvidia cards now, as they have a reputation for having a lower quality than ATI ones.
If I go for 970, which edition should I choose?
Will I see much difference from my 70HD?
Or it's just an overkill?
I won't upgrade my 1080p 40 inch monitor for next 4 Years atleast.


Sorry No Tl;Dr!

 

[Techhog]

You can't max out GTA V with a 970 (well... to be fair, you'd be mostly okay until leaving the city), nor will you be able to max out all upcoming games for the next 3 years with any card. You need to temper your expectations a bit.

A 970 should be at least 50% faster than your current card, potentially more. If you need something to last a bit longer though, consider the R9 390. The extra VRAM might be better if you don't plan on upgrading for a while.

 

[boozzer]

you want it for 4+ years = don't get any 4gb cards. that narrows down alot of your choices. to be honest, it is kinda bad time to upgrade if you want to keep your gpu for 4+ years. as the next gen coming in 9 - 12 months would finally get a node shrink, the first in 3 years.

 

[GammaLazer]

You can't max out GTA V with a 970 (well... to be fair, you'd be mostly okay until leaving the city), nor will you be able to max out all upcoming games for the next 3 years with any card. You need to temper your expectations a bit.

A 970 should be at least 50% faster than your current card, potentially more. If you need something to last a bit longer though, consider the R9 390. The extra VRAM might be better if you don't plan on upgrading for a while.

Thanks for a quick reply!
If I plan to upgrade in about 2 - 2.5 years which is a better option. I was even thinking of getting a 980 ti but I want best bang for buck!

 

[GammaLazer]

I was even thinking of waiting for pascal GPUs but the thing is that I am currently getting around 180$ for my current GPU and if I wait for an year I may not even get 40$!
For a 2.5 years upgrade cycle which is a better choice - R9 390 or GTX 970?

 

[Stuka87]

With what you are wanting, wait for 16nm cards. Nothing on the market will do what you want for four years.

 

[Sohaltang]

can you CF another 7950 or 7970? What about a couple used 290's?

 

[GammaLazer]

can you CF another 7950 or 7970? What about a couple used 290's?

CF? If you are saying I can get another 7970 then yes I can? But would it be worth it? So much heat and still stuttering on crossfire!

 

[GammaLazer]

Final words guys! If I want to have the GPU for around 2.5 years then which is a better option @1080p - GTX 970 or R9 390? Priced same.

 

[RussianSensation]

Final words guys! If I want to have the GPU for around 2.5 years then which is a better option @1080p - GTX 970 or R9 390? Priced same.

R9 390 is a safer bet since GCN has real 4GB of VRAM (in this case 8) and GCN could perform better in DX12 due to superior Asynchornous Compute. If they are priced the same, I would buy a 390. This is a very sound strategy as it allows you to not overspend and save some $ towards a next generation 16nm HBM2 architecture graphics card.

 

[GammaLazer]

Price difference is about $100, 390 costing more.
And how much difference will I get with this upgrade from 7970 HD?
I have read that 390 has higher TDP, So will it run fine on my Corsair CX600 600W?
Can I crossfire them?

 

[positivedoppler]

If you want the card to last 4-5 years, I wait just a bit longer to see how the DirectX 12 thing pans out. I like the 970, but I would stay away from Maxwell if another 1-2 DirectX 12 games show that it lags badly behind AMD.

 

[Sohaltang]

CF? If you are saying I can get another 7970 then yes I can? But would it be worth it? So much heat and still stuttering on crossfire!

AMD pretty much fixed the stuttering issues. It might not be the best solution but another 7970 used would be cheap and accomplish many of your goals. At least until newer cards come out and we start to see more advanced games. Doubt you would lose much money in the next year or so as the used priced is already pretty darn low. Low out of pocket solution to hold you over.


The 280 is basically a 7970. So you would be looking at improvements from this graph. Also swap the 7970 out in the dropdown for a 970 and review. Then consider cost.

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/1058?vs=1032


Or check out this vs a 980. http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/1440?vs=1442

 

[RussianSensation]

Price difference is about $100, 390 costing more.

390 costs $100 more than GTX970 where you are at? In that case 970 is the better option.

And how much difference will I get with this upgrade from 7970 HD?

It depends on the game and if you have overclocked the 7970 and if you plan to overclock the 970/390.

At stock speeds, 970 is about 46% faster than an HD7970 925mhz at 1080P.

HD7970 stock is about as fast as a 380. Computerbase has a 970 43% faster and 970 OC (after-market simulated) about 49% faster:
http://www.computerbase.de/2015-08/nvidia-geforce-gtx-950-test/3/#abschnitt_tests_in_1920__1080

Since HD7970 is turning 4 years old soon, I personally think that's a very poor increase in performance given the time-frame, as it amounts to roughly ~10% per year. Everyone is different but I personally wouldn't upgrade to a new graphics card unless it was 75-100% faster at minimum if I waited > 3.5 years my existing graphics card.

Just to give you some context, it only took slightly more than a year for HD7970 to beat HD6970 by 64% at 1080P:

On top of that most HD7970s have no issues overclocking to 1100mhz on stock voltage (1.175V), and a lot of cards hit 1150-1200mhz at 1.256V. Essentially, HD7970 OC increased performance from HD6970 OC by closer to 80-100% (!) but when you are buying now, you'll barely get 60% more performance from a max overclocked 970/390 on average vs. a max overclocked 7970 but it's been almost 4 years since HD7970 came out in January 2012. If we look at stock vs. stock, it's way worse, closer to 45-48%. Sad.

I have read that 390 has higher TDP, So will it run fine on my Corsair CX600 600W?

Yes, it will work just fine.

Can I crossfire them?

I wouldn't do it on your PSU and if you are considering that option, might as well buy a GTX980Ti right away.

In your case, GTX970 and 390 (basically a refreshed 290) came 1 year ago+ and in that time the 970 barely dropped in price while 390 actually costs more than after-market 290 cards did. Therefore, I think you are buying at a bad time to be honest. The only justification I can see if that you can get $180 for your existing card if you found a buyer. Otherwise, I would just wait until 16nm 8GB HBM2 graphics cards in 2016 and buy then. GTX970 only has 3.5GB of VRAM and neither the 390 nor the 970 are that much faster than an HD7970 that they would last you 4-5 years.

If you really had a $750 US budget, just wait to get a new 16nm HBM2 card next year or wait a bit until prices on GTX980/AMD Fury come down as they would be a better upgrade from your card imo.

 

[GammaLazer]

Actually what I am thinking right now is that as its a bad time for an upgrade, no doubt. But i am getting 180$ for my used 7970 cash in hand. So if I buy a new 970/390 today for about $400 then I would spending only about $220 from pocket. But if I would wait for about an year then my 7970 then out of warranty would not fetch me anything. So i was thinking that I should use the opportunity to buy a new card right away and use it for about 2 years and then re sell it and buy the pascal one!
It would save me atleast 180$.
And my current budget is about 750$ then I would also be having about 500$ spare to utilize later when new gen cards come out!

 

[RussianSensation]

Actually what I am thinking right now is that as its a bad time for an upgrade, no doubt. But i am getting 180$ for my used 7970 cash in hand. So if I buy a new 970/390 today for about $400 then I would spending only about $220 from pocket. But if I would wait for about an year then my 7970 then out of warranty would not fetch me anything. So i was thinking that I should use the opportunity to buy a new card right away and use it for about 2 years and then re sell it and buy the pascal one!
It would save me atleast 180$.

Ya, I get it. Well if 970 costs $100 less than the R9 390 and based on the strategy that you described, it makes sense to spend as little as possible to get as much performance as possible and that means 970 wins in your market. There is no reason to spend $100 more for the 390.

 

[boozzer]

for 2.5 years, and for the 970 to cost 100$ less for you, go for the 970. just keep in mind that the 3.5gb vram might/could end up ruining your gaming experience after 1+ years.

gl. I honestly don't want to decide for you. hard choices.

 

[GammaLazer]

Haha every upgrade has been hard for the past 10 years. Things are changing so fast.
I will try to find a local retailer to minimize the gap of $100 and if I'm somehow able to bring it down to $50-60 then I'll go for 390.
What say?

 

[boozzer]

why not consider the 970 or 390 to be a stop gap card? sell it next year and get the 16nm gpu of 2016? that way even if 390 cost more it would not matter, as the resale value would be higher too. this entirely depends on the resale value of 970 vs 390 in your country.

 

[GammaLazer]

Yeah definitely, its a great idea and this way I would be able to get rid of my 7970HD and also a new gen card for a minimal loss next year.

 

[kawi6rr]

Final words guys! If I want to have the GPU for around 2.5 years then which is a better option @1080p - GTX 970 or R9 390? Priced same.

Between those 2 I would go with the 390.

 

[Seba]

Between those 2 I would go with the 390.

But later he said that those are not at the same price. GTX 970 is $100 less than R9 390.

Taking into account the money he gets for his old card and the local prices, GTX 970 is the best choice. But it will not be a top card for 5 years (there never was such a thing).

 

[hawtdawg]

FYI, if you want to run Witcher 3 maxed at 60fps, you will need a 980ti

 

[GammaLazer]

But later he said that those are not at the same price. GTX 970 is $100 less than R9 390.

Taking into account the money he gets for his old card and the local prices, GTX 970 is the best choice. But it will not be a top card for 5 years (there never was such a thing).

As per current prices at best and biggest computer market here in my country the difference is of about 127$ in between GTX 970 & R9 390.
I want to keep the card for at most 1.5 years and then upgrade to next gen. As suggested by boozzer I would use it as stop gap card. Only reason for buying now is that I am getting a good price on older one.
Which is a better deal right now 970 or R9 390?

 

[Silverforce11]

Just hold onto the 7970 until 14/16nm GPUs. OC it a bit, its still got some legs.