Do you plan on upgrading your video card this year?

Zardon

Discuss !

Vikingod

I won't be this year. The 4870 is perfectly good for me (thanks again DH), so I'll have it for the next year or so. Maybe upgrading next year to a whole new system if the need arises (and funds provide).

__________________

temeteus82

So far I'm going to nVdia ... I had few ATi cards and they all had issues with my main screen... I still don't know what caused them...

__________________

Lowfat

Need an option for 'Yes, but I don't know if it will be either ATI or Nvidia'

__________________
27" iMac: i5 750 * 80GB X25-M G1 * 4GB DDR3 * HD4850
Stacker: 2600k * P8P67 Pro * 4GB DDR3 * 80GB ioXtreme * 30GB X25-E * (2) HD6950 * Asus D2 * Enermax Revo85+
HWD: (2) Xeon E5649 * EVGA SR-2 * 6GB DDR3 * 8800GTS * 1000W Antec
FT01BW: (2) Xeon E5645 * EVGA SR-2 * 6GB DDR3 * GTS210 * Gigabyte 800W Odin GT
Storage: (2) Sans Digital TR8M-B * 29TB

lepel

I'm thinking about downgrading. Not really but, the 4870x2 I have makes such a racket imo, hehe. I was interested in those HIS IceQ cards for a while, but I'm pretty happy at the moment.

procupine14

No upgrade in store for me as of yet. I'm happy with my current setup so there's no need for me to drop money into anything new. But if i do it will just be a second 4850

__________________
HTPC/file server: Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit - AMD Phenom x4 9850 - 4GB OCZ DDR2 800 (2x2GB) - 1TB WD Black - 4 x 1TB Hitachi DeskStar in RAID 5 - ATi TV Wonder Digital Cable Tuner - HIS Raedon 4850 512MB - ASRock N68C-S UCC mobo - OCZ ModExtreme Pro 500W PSU

GF's Gaming PC: Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit - AMD Phenom 9850 - 4GB OCZ DDR2 1066 - 500GB Western Digital GP - HIS Raedon 5770 1GB - ASUS M3A78-EM - Zalman 650W PSU

Media Streamer: Win 7 Pro 64-bit - AMD Athlon x2 3200+ - 4GB SuperTalent DDR2 800 - 250GB SeaGate Barracuda - MSI K9N6PGM2-V2 - ASUS Raedon 5450 SILENT - FSP group 250W PSU

Judas

wouldn't mind sticking another HD4870x2... but i really would like to wait for the june/july ATI cards to arrive

__________________

BlueMak

I don't see me upgrading for at least another year, unless I earn the lotto or something and want to waste some money. I am very satisfied with my 4870X2 on this system and the 8800GTS on the system back home. Even if AMD or Nvidia or Intel release something that is twice as powerful this year, I won't consider it. That doesn't mean I am not excited to see more innovation and speed (I am looking at you Intel) or that I won't accept a freebie, but buy one? nah.

__________________

The people who are regarded as moral luminaries are those who forego ordinary pleasures themselves and find compensation in interfering with the pleasures of others(Bertrand Russell)"You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap women around for five years because they didn't wear a veil,You know, guys like that ain't got no manhood left anyway. So it's a hell of a lot of fun to shoot them." - Lt. Gen. James N. Mattis
This is slavery, not to speak one's thought. [Euripides-The Phoenician Women (c.411-409 B.C.)] http://www.macedonia.info/FALLACIESANDFACTS.htm Sic semper tyrannis.

swimtech

No, I voted I had just upgraded, and considering how many years I usually wait, having added a second 3870 card in the second half of last year "feels" like a recent upgrade.

The Crossfired 3870's I have handle everything I want to do, or play, at my monitor's 1680x1050 resolution as well - so it'll be awhile unless some outstanding software comes along that I just really want to use.

I can imagine too, that adding a second card to an existing card will be a great lower cost option for a lot of folks - the scaling has matured and looks to be really worthwhile in a lot of cases now - for both AMD and Nvidia GPUs - although energy consumption vs performance isn't optimal compared to obtaining the latest GPU...

__________________
It's not so much getting your way that matters or not - what matters is how you go about getting it.

ET3D

Not planning to buy a new card, but I do hope to stick a new Radeon 4650 in my PC.

I'm still not sure what configuration I want to use.

First is to use 3870+4650, where the 4650 is used for trying out GPGPU stuff (since it has a more advanced core than the 3870).

Second is to use the 4650 alone. Not nearly as good performance as the 3870, but may be enough (I'll have to check), and most likely my PC will run cooler, be quieter, and perhaps even take less power (though as I understand it it's a GDDR2 card, so it's not great in terms of power).

Third is to buy a second 4650 and do crossfire. Might be faster than the 3870 (though sometimes considerably slower).

All that said, this year still has quite a few months to go, and if either ATI or NVIDIA come out with a ~$100 D3D11 card this year, that'd definitely make me think about buying.

CDsDontBurn

can't upgrade my gfx card w/o upgrading my whole computer

I agree!

__________________

scipioafr

I plan on it in the fall, most likely nvidia

Dark Lord

id like to, but i doubt i will. i cant afford it. i need to build a complete system, since im still on AGP/S939/DDR

__________________

OldBuzzard

I'm a definate MAYBE

I just upgraded my CPU to something that finally let's my 3970 X2 'do it's thing', and I'm quite happy with the performance I'm getting as of now.

However, should ATI come out with a new GPU supporting DX 11, I' d have to give upgrading some serious thought.

I didn't vote since none of the choices reflects my stance on the issue.

__________________
When looking for a reason as to why things go wrong, never rule out sheer STUPIDITY

Judas

far as i understood it.. the 3870's and up all support all the features of dx11.... they are already implemented

__________________

CDsDontBurn

even if ATI or NVIDIA came out with dx11 supporting hardware, you wouldn't be able to use it immediately. you would need to wait for the OS and games to support dx11 before you can even use it. if anything, i'd say wait for the 2nd gen dx11 supporting hardware before upgrading to a dx11 supporting card.

__________________

Mac Daddy

Yes I am

__________________
"My mom said the only reason men are alive is for lawn care and vehicle maintenance." - Tim Allen

Al_Vampyre

Not for my main rig but I'd like a VDPAU compatible nvidia card for my HTPC sometime this year

__________________
"Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit; wisdom is knowing not to put it in a fruit salad" - Brian O'Driscoll - Ireland Rugby Team 2009 Grand Slam winning Captain.

ET3D

They don't. First of all the 3xx0 family lacks some features for the compute shader, which the 4xx0 family does have (which is why I said I want the 4650 for GPGPU). Secondly, even the 4xx0 family is missing things like the DX11 tesselator (it does have one, but more primitive), 16K x 16K textures, etc.

Edit: Actually, it looks like the compute shader in D3D11 will support older hardware like the 3870. However, it will have more limited features.

BTW, having put the Radeon 3870 in my new PC, I've realised as a result that most of the fan noise from my PC was that card (not including the annoying MB fan, when it malfunctioned, though it's now back to normal). So there's a decent chance that I'll be downgrading to the 4650. I'll have to see how well it works for my needs, but it was really nice to have a quiet PC (the GeForce 6600 I had there had only passive cooling).

Edit: Having looked at some 4650 benchmarks, I have a feeling it won't be enough, and I'll stick with the 3870, with the 4650 as a secondary card. But we'll see. I'll test it when I get it.

Edit 2: Having just seen this review, I really hope what they say about the card's noise isn't true, though I found another review saying it's noisy. The competition said that CatalystMaker is using this card and is happy with it, so that's somewhat comforting, but I'm still worried now.

RE III - Frankie

I will upgrading to twin SLI 9800GTX's 1GB onboard RAM, 738MHz Cores, PhysX. To make use of my SLI ready Memory and Asus SLI MB.

blibbax

I'm in the same position, also thanks to DH. If I don't upgrade this PC any further, I might even put the 9800 in my next PC further down the line, as I only gae at 1440x900, and for the games I play the card is monstrous overkill.

Sounds like fun! Just on a side note though, you can use any memory with SLI btw - "SLI ready" has nothing to do with SLI, it just means Nvidia approved.

__________________

lepel

So any idea what you shall be getting?

btw, did you buy that ikari mouse already, or did you not get enough salary last thursday?

Neshi

have just upgraded to a 4850 and I love it to bits! No going back to the x1950xt I had, this is much better!
It will be a long time before I upgrade again, or maybe a 2nd 4580 first.. This'll probably last for a year

__________________
If one does not attach himself to people and desire, never shall his heart be broken. But then, does he ever truly live?

Life is just too damn short for if's and maybe's

Judas

ah.. ok..... i thought the 3870 and 4870 supported nearly all the dx11 features..

obviously nothing out today supports the one major feature that dx11 is pushing and that's Ray Tracing... Intels Lebrea (spelling) however is saposed to

__________________

Zardon

Nice to see you are paying attention. intels "larrabee" is a poll option

Judas

it's morning yet.. i won't be waking up completely for another 3 hours

__________________

BWX

No, they cost too much-

I'm saving for a nice car. Maybe next year. I feel as though I got ripped off buying expensive video cards over the past few years- they just make games that kill the card 6 months later- and then Nvidia quite supporting drivers for your "new 500 dollar video card" way to early. ATI doesn't seem to have the right price/performance ratio yet like they used to either.

__________________

ET3D

Why are you saying that DX11 is pushing ray tracing? Nothing in it about that.

BTW, DX11 as an API will support all card levels that have pixel shader 2 and up, so a D3D11 programmer would be able to use the same API to program for all cards. However, there would be a serious limitations on the features that could be used on these cards. The 4xx0 family does have a lot of advanced features, but it's not "full DX11".

lepel

Where did you get one of those?

aimless45

No need to upgrade for me until more games are released that really pushes the limits of my current setup.