Worth upgrading Radeon 6950 on i3 machine for SW Battlefront (160$ budget)

[kommisar]

My gaming machine has an i3-2120 (3.3 Ghz), 8gb ddr3, h61 mb and a radeon 6950 vc running windows 7.I normally play multiplayer fps games like Battlefield and I am eyeing SW Battlefront. I game on a 768p 60Hz screen. I am willing to sacrifice visual quality for the best frame rate and smoothest gameplay experience.

I am thinking about upgrading the video card and the budget is $160. Do I upgrade at this point or am I going to be disappointed for the performance I will get at my resolution in my preferred games?

 

[IllogicalGlory]

For Battlefront, there is a serious issue affecting AMD cards on low-end CPUs like yours.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nlMJ7Ysdzk

Hopefully this gets fixed at launch, but as it stands:

My recommendation is either upgrade to a 750 Ti for around $90 - $100, or get a 960 4GB (though the cheapest available are $30 over your budget).

A 960 might be bottleneck by your CPU though. If you're looking for a good experience at 1366x768, a 750 Ti is probably your sweet spot. You could also experiment with some DSR.

Alternatively, you could try and get a secondhand i5 processor and stick with you 6950. It should be able to about match 750 Ti performance, though these old architectures can choke in newer games.

 

[tential]

Wait for the game to come out and see how your system handles it in its most polished form.

 

[poofyhairguy]

Is that a strict $160 budget or can that be after a rebate?

If after rebate here is a GTX 960 that hits the target:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127844&Tpk=N82E16814127844

 

[thesmokingman]

Wait for the game to come out and see how your system handles it in its most polished form.

I concur. It's not broken yet, so don't fix it until it's broke. Wait for the game to release and see.

 

[tential]

In case you didn't see my post in your other thread op, playing an fps on your TV online for pc gaming will not work in your benefit. Already tried it, was a miserable experience. The lag from a TV is awful for pc gaming online especially fps.

Unless you have a specific TV meant for this (given the budget, monitor, etc I doubt it) I would stick to your monitor.

I exclusively pc game on tvs /Big screen and you need to spend quite a bit to play an fps online and actually have an enjoyable experience

 

[happy medium]

factory overclocked ,MSI Titanium gtx960 4gb for 180$ AR and promo code.and a free game
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127898

Should be a good match for your cpu.

OR a EVGA SSC gtx950 for 139.99$ or 129$ AR !
that's a great deal !
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814487158

overclocked 950,

 

[kommisar]

Great suggestions. I'm really interested in the 960. At my gaming resolutions, is 4GB vram going to make any difference?

Also anyone got a link to SW Battlefront tests using a R 6950? I'd like to get an idea of the frame rate improvement if I went from R 6950 to GTX 960. You know because I would hate to drop $180 on a video card and get 5 fps improvement.

 

[IllogicalGlory]

4GB won't be necessary for 1080p Battlefront from what we've seen. At 768p, 2GB should be enough for anything, but you may want to upscale to 1080p or above. You might need that extra 2GB if you do that, depending on which games you play and on the future.

 

[AtenRa]

I will suggest you wait for a month for the game to get out and see how each GPU will perform, especially if they will release it with DX-12.

 

[kommisar]

I will suggest you wait for a month for the game to get out and see how each GPU will perform, especially if they will release it with DX-12.

This is wisest course since there is no data I could find for my existing video card and the game will be out soon.

 

[happy medium]

Great suggestions. I'm really interested in the 960. At my gaming resolutions, is 4GB vram going to make any difference?

Also anyone got a link to SW Battlefront tests using a R 6950? I'd like to get an idea of the frame rate improvement if I went from R 6950 to GTX 960. You know because I would hate to drop $180 on a video card and get 5 fps improvement.

I'm gonna be real honest with you...
For your resolution you don't need or in the near future need 4gb of vram.

With your current cpu the gtx950 with only be like 2% slower than the gtx960. ANd direct x 12 wont matter because this is the fastest gpu your cpu will support without bottlenecking.

AMD cards do not like weak cpu's, I do not suggest a AMD card in this situation.

Before the deal goes away I strongly suggest you buy the gtx950 for 129$ AR before you miss the boat.
The gtx 960 and 4gb of ram is not worth the extra 50$ in your case.

 

[kawi6rr]

I will suggest you wait for a month for the game to get out and see how each GPU will perform, especially if they will release it with DX-12.

+1 This right here is the smartest course of action.

 

[nurturedhate]

I'm gonna be real honest with you...
For your resolution you don't need or in the near future need 4gb of vram.

With your current cpu the gtx950 with only be like 2% slower than the gtx960. ANd direct x 12 wont matter because this is the fastest gpu your cpu will support without bottlenecking.

AMD cards do not like weak cpu's, I do not suggest a AMD card in this situation.

Before the deal goes away I strongly suggest you buy the gtx950 for 129$ AR before you miss the boat.
The gtx 960 and 4gb of ram is not worth the extra 50$ in your case.

Just to make sure I understand you. You want him to buy an Nvidia card RIGHT NOW. This is before the game is released.

You are telling him to buy an Nvidia card RIGHT NOW even though the game releases a week before black friday and there is no way a better deal could be had on any other card, including Nvidia cards, during black friday and cyber monday?

Is that what you are saying?

 

[Spanners]

I agree with the majority on this one just wait and see what happens when the game releases. You're running a pretty modest resolution and seem to be willing to compromise settings. You may be fine with your current gear.

 

[happy medium]

Is that what you are saying?

Are you saying the gtx950 will go below 130$ on black Friday? I highly doubt that.
He could enjoy his card for a month with other games he plays till then.
The 950 overclocked is the best he can hope for with his resolution and cpu anyway.
It will max just about any game at 720p, so tell me ,
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE AND WHY WAIT!

Are you saying there is a better card for 130$?
ARe you saying that the EVGA SSC gtx950 is not a great deal at 130$ with a free game?

Is there some card I don't know about that will be released for 130$ that will somehow make his cpu faster?

 

[fourdegrees11]

Can someone show where an i3 with an AMD card gets smoked by the same class Nvidia card?

Anyway, the best deal for $160 is probably a 280x off eBay.

http://m.ebay.com/itm/XFX-R9-280X-R...2-3GB-DDR5-EXCELLENT-/331684893076?nav=SEARCH

 

[happy medium]

Can someone show where an i3 with an AMD card gets smoked by the same class Nvidia card?

Anyway, the best deal for $160 is probably a 280x off eBay.

http://m.ebay.com/itm/XFX-R9-280X-R...2-3GB-DDR5-EXCELLENT-/331684893076?nav=SEARCH

I think it was already posted in this thread and many other threads and is common knowledge.
AMD cards don't play AS NICE with slower cpu's.

In the op's case the 280x wont be much faster than a gtx960/950 anyhow with his slower i3 cpu @ 720p resolution. DO you see my point ?
Or is this gonna be another "make the guy buy an AMD card even if we screw him thread"!

 

[nurturedhate]

I think it was already posted in this thread and many other threads and is common knowledge.
AMD cards don't play AS NICE with slower cpu's.

In the op's case the 280x wont be much faster than a gtx960/950 anyhow with his slower i3 cpu @ 720p resolution. DO you see my point ?
Or is this gonna be another "make the guy buy an AMD card even if we screw him thread"!

You are the one shouting to BUY AN NVIDIA CARD NOW in this thread. Most everyone else is taking a logical approach and saying wait and see how things shake out.

Why are you the outlier?

 

[happy medium]

SO no counter arguments? Cant answer any of my questions? Just ask me why I choose to give the OP a fantastic deal? ok I guess.

 

[fourdegrees11]

All I see are benchmarks you posted showing the 280x a good deal faster. I'm honestly curious about the question I asked in my last post because I've never seen that data before

I think it was already posted in this thread and many other threads and is common knowledge.
AMD cards don't play AS NICE with slower cpu's.

In the op's case the 280x wont be much faster than a gtx960/950 anyhow with his slower i3 cpu @ 720p resolution. DO you see my point ?
Or is this gonna be another "make the guy buy an AMD card even if we screw him thread"!

 

[nurturedhate]

SO no counter arguments? Cant answer any of my questions? Just ask me why I choose to give the OP a fantastic deal? ok I guess.

It had nothing to do with the recommendation and everything to do with the delivery.

To the OP, if what you are looking for is maximum fps with little to no regard for visuals then I would suggest looking for an i5 2400/2500 or an i5 3570 if your motherboard supports ivy bridge.

You are already basically at the bottom for resolution. If everything is currently on low at 768 you may well be hitting the limit on what your cpu can provide.

This is simple enough to test. You say you play bf4 (assuming bf4 over bf3), get something like MSI afterburner, turn all settings to low, use the on screen display to show gpu usage, if it is less than 90% most of the time you are cpu limited. In that situation a new video card won't make a whole lot of difference.

 

[happy medium]

It had nothing to do with the recommendation and everything to do with the delivery.

To the OP, if what you are looking for is maximum fps with little to no regard for visuals then I would suggest looking for an i5 2400/2500 or an i5 3570 if your motherboard supports ivy bridge.

You are already basically at the bottom for resolution. If everything is currently on low at 768 you may well be hitting the limit on what your cpu can provide.

This is simple enough to test. You say you play bf4 (assuming bf4 over bf3), get something like MSI afterburner, turn all settings to low, use the on screen display to show gpu usage, if it is less than 90% most of the time you are cpu limited. In that situation a new video card won't make a whole lot of difference.

He is not cpu limited with a 6950.......ANd a i3 will play most games just fine.
A gtx950 will probably give him 2 or 3x the fps that he has now in BF4.

 

[nurturedhate]

He is not cpu limited with a 6950.......ANd a i3 will play most games just fine.
A gtx950 will probably give him 2 or 3x the fps that he has now in BF4.

Please show me where an sandy i3 will have minimums of no lower than 60fps in a BF4 64p multiplayer map.

I asked the OP to test it so we can find out. You are saying it won't. Please provide the data. Sandy i3. Minimum no lower than 60fps.

 

[tential]

I'll reiterate OP,
You should wait.

You're in a thread where people are giving you recommendations to spend money, while owning setups that are 2+ times the worth of your setup in cash, and they'll spend far more than $160 on their next GPU upgrade.

Wait. See how the game plays when it releases. Then upgrade if you want to.

But it all depends on your budget/life style and how flexible you are for cash and much this money will impact your finances...
If it's just meh $160 then spend it now and enjoy it.
If every dollar counts and you don't got much saved, you're stupid to spend it now before the game comes out if that's the reason you're purchasing the card is for that one game.....