What should i do?

[Riceball]

Hey guys right now i'm sportin' the specs in my sig and i've been thinking about a video card upgrade from my X700 to a 7800GT, since i just got the money for it. But i'm still debating whether i should get the 7800GT now, or wait until the new G71 core and ATI's new core. The only games i have trouble maxing out are BF2 and Quake 4, all my other games i can max out fine, like CSS. I'm just not sure it's worth it to upgrade now, or later. Are the new cores going to kill the ones out now? Are the prices for a good card going to go up? If anyone can help me out, i'd really appreciate it.

 

[bonehelm]

no one can exactly tell you wether the prices of good cards will go up or not, but im sure that a 7800GT will be able to last for a good couple of years before it is considered as today's voodoo2.

no worries, look at that 6600GT...from few years ago...from doom3 to half life 2 to today's cod2, it runs all those stuff fine. people always think that the technology is advancing very quickly, but nVidia and ATI is not stupid, if a card that came out 2 months ago got totally owned by a new card, why do you think they will even release the old card ? not that they dont know they will be releasing a way better card in a short period of time.

so my buttom line is : see what you wanna play in the future. if you want to play oblivion, ut2007 and stuff like that, a new core would be very nice to have. just to remind you though, once the new cores are out, the old card's prices will drop and become extremely adorable and attractive.

 

[Cobalt]

True, with the cost of the cutting edge cards these days still being a little on the high side (IMHO anyway), it's difficult to say. The 7800GT would last you for 2 - 3 years without too much trouble, though depending on if you really *need* anything more before the new cores are released you may be better keeping your money in your pocket and getting the next generation chipset.

You'll get top of the line performance (albeit probably at a price) but I guess you'll also have bragging rights.

Then again, although I doubt top of the line cards will be any more expensive than they are now, the "old" top of the line cards like the 7800 are bound to fall in price by some margin upon the release of the G71 cards.

John

 

[beedubaya]

A friend of mine tells mr that the that the lighting model on Unreal Engine 3 is way too complex for the 7800 series cards to do well at anything over 1024x768, which is why I sometimes go overboard on my requirements predictions.

Riceball, like me, has an LCD with the resolution of 1280x1024. How long do you think it will be before the 7800GT can no longer play 1280x1024 in new games?

 

[Ridlyn]

I dont think that will happen until the unreal 3 engine comes out, so i'd wait, until the G71 core or even the G80 if you have enough patience

 

[BandwidthHogg]

Yeah, I agree with Ridlyn. I would wait until the G80 comes out personally. It will be the most future-proof thing to do.

I can't wait for Unreal Engine 3. Like others I've seen at this forum, I am saving money for PC upgrades when it comes out.

 

[Cobalt]

Should be fantastic, the Unreal Engine has impressed me previously and I'm particularly looking forward to it this time around since I will have some reasonable hardware to view it on.

Currently gone with the cheaper 6800GT option, but with PCI-Express I'll be looking to upgrade in a year or so to one of the new generation cards. Well, if my wallet can take it anyway...

 

[PZEROFGH]

Wait and then upgrade so i can pwn you in everything we play for longer

but seriously wait as it is a waste of money and then you will have to upgrade again

 

[BColes]

I would wait until the G80 comes out personally. It will be the most future-proof thing to do.

Here's an idea, keep waiting till the next card comes out and when it does wait till the next one... and repeat...